This Obsession With Taxing The Rich ignores the surreal fact that most of our nation's income tax revenue goes to pay the INTEREST ONLY on our debt and does not even begin to pay for the myriad Federal programs so beloved by many posters here. The disconnect between revenues and expenses is so large that saying 'not taxing the rich more is gonna cost us trillions' is a joke - look at the numbers. The rich paying 40% income tax (max rate) not high enough for ya? then add in sales tax on everything purchased (another 7-8%), property tax on all real estate and property and businesses they own (another 2% per year, which becomes 100% over a lifetime) fuel tax, various local taxes, hotel taxes, use taxes, excise tax - and then the chunk the govt takes out of the estate when a rich person dies - you are looking at MOST OF THEIR WEALTH for God's sake. The issue here should not be how much income a person makes or how much they have accumulated, but how do we stop the unfair enrichment due to a rigged game and the unfair poverty due to same. It shouldn't require cunning for a working person of average intelligence to accumulate an adequate retirement for themselves - and creating retirement funds via taxation does not create any wealth - it all has to come from somewhere. So, maybe we should remember what Jefferson warned about allowing a central bank, and reconsider the stupid bill that was just passed in the name of 'financial reform' which expanded the Federal Reserve Bank's powers, while leaving it immune from an audit - UNBELIEVABLE. Jefferson warned that such an entity - through the corporations that sprung up around it - would eventually deprive the people of the nation of all their land and all their wealth. So, here we are - griping about the millionaire down the street, who is by now very luke warm about even thinking about hiring anybody in this risky environment, only to be rewarded with higher taxes for their efforts - while ignoring the Global pirates who have literally 1,000x as much and who acquired it through manipulation of the system at the highest levels of government and regulatory bodies while the people on this board are all angry because somebody got a swimming pool (which they hired local talent to build). Read "Web of Debt" and "The Creature From Jekyll Island" to get a grip on our true history, rather than continuing to spout the same Left vs Right nonsense. Given that profound corruption riddles the FDA, our Federal health care system is mostly 'waste' because the very science is tainted and the protocols are essentially bought and paid for due to conflicts of interest. Our Federal Reserve Bank which operates in secret, for God's sake, is profoundly corrupt and has robbed us blind. Our corrupt National Security policy has produced immeasurable suffering and insane spending along with our 700 military bases scattered around the globe (note that Ron Paul has called for the closure of most of these for many years) and ask yourself just how many poor there would be in this country if we didn't have Federal programs that so efficiently fleeced us? This comes down to a difference between local control (good) and centralized control (almost always bad) and is very much affected by the scale of the population. When people are governed from great distance, government tends to drift into profound corruption and oppression - read the Constitution, it was written specifically to eliminate the traps that mankind repeatedly falls into - read the Bill of Rights carefully - every one of them has an important role in protecting the little guy from an oppressive state. And if you think socialism or communism is the way to go, take the time to visit with a former citizen of one of those countries who went to great personal sacrifice and effort to come here, and ask them what they think. They will glare at you like you are an ignorant, gullible fool and they will be horrified that you can vote.

Anon 13:23, Sure, those immigrants would have served their societies well to have stayed and fought for a Constitutional Republic as was envisioned here, but I do not begrudge their impatience - life is short, after all - and if you are surrounded by hopeless fools, it makes sense to relocate, perhaps. Those people didn't come here to seek socialized medicine or stimulus programs, I can tell you that - they came to seek opportunity and to live as free people, and not under the big umbrella of a collectivist society. We have been living under the cloud of fear for so long that we have forgotten that human beings are inherently productive and wealth producing on our own - if we take away the parasitic oppression of an over-reaching state, though it's various agencies - all designed to address the various threats, supposedly. Think about many jobs would be available if earners didn't have to fork over half of their winnings to the various state entities (when you add up all Federal and local taxation, it works out to that staggering amount). We live in one great big emergency by now - Economic, Environmental, Terrorist, Pandemic Global Emergencies - all of them have coincidentally sprung up very large, very powerful Global entities to 'save us' from these threats. They are run by unelected officials who are essentially appointed by Global Corporations, who by now run our politicians too. Corporations are the abstractions that embolden people to do the most selfish and irresponsible things and this was not always the case - they have arisen in the shadow of the Central Banks of the world - just as Jefferson warned. We are reduced to a controlled herd - scrapping with each other over the crumbs - exploited by race, economic class, and religious differences, we are beginning to effectively act as one another's wardens - our job is to fight each other, to be in debt, and to never question the authority of these banks. Again, I draw the distinction between the millionaire down the street and the multi-billionaire puppeteers who run the show, including the Federal Government. I would rather work for the Millionaire than be a slave to the state. We must audit the Federal Reserve Bank - keep your eye on the ball - ignore class, race and religious differences and instead focus on ending these wars and restoring the Bill of Rights - all of them. Read the Creature From Jekyll Island and Web Of Debt - find out how we became debt slaves, don't play into the hands of the globalists.