Conservatives who have been so ferociously fighting to protect the wealth of the top 2% from taxation will have further reason to revile the tax collecting agency.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/04/15/135433844/irs-chief-lays-out-vision-for-agencys-future

Just another example of America's bully socialist Government stealing money from the "job creators".

I think you dont understand some of our opinions. I could care less if you get rid of the loop holes. In fact I think that is a good idea. I don't think the taxes should be raised though. That only hurts the professionals that make it into that bracket. The people that went to school a long time or started a business that make enough to be in the high bracket but not enough to have the access and connections to hid their money.

I don't agree with you.

I think Barack Obama sucks and this is all his fault!

What don't you agree with?

Your statement suggests that you believe:

If the progressive tax system were steepened to where the point where the top "earners" were allowed to retain only, say, 50% of their take-home pay, as opposed to their present 85% of their take-home pay;

If they still remained at the top of the heap, richer than anybody else;

They would no longer have the incentive to spend all that time in school and work hard in their business in order to remain at the top of the heap;

They would just give up and, say, sell leather belts on the boardwalk because it just wouldn't be worth it to go to the trouble.

Is that your meaning?

No that has nothing to do with what I said. Not even in the ballpark. I said raising taxes doesn't hurt the people that have the connections to hide their money (CEOs and alike that make millions of dollars a year) say in a foreign country. It hurts the professionals. The doctors and dentists and lawyers etc that could make maybe 300k a year. I didn't say they would give up I said they shouldn't be taxed more. And no they keep 65% as is not 85% The tax rate is 35%.

No. These people get all their income as capital gains. Maximum 15% tax rate.

You think these people don't have tax accountants smart enough to help them avoid those onerous ]b]marginal tax rates?

Here is something I dont get Art,


I have voiced/posted opinions that some deem 'un american' because I try to be understanding of the plight of other countries and honest about the flaws of our own

I have voiced/posted opinions that some deem 'un christian', for that same reason(regarding israel and islam)

I supported the healthcare reform which will create an equal status for all to have access to necessary healthcare

I support what they call 'entitlement' programs which I think are needed to help our citizens who fall into times of need but otherwise(try forty or fifty years of their life) have been/are productive and paying into the system that keeps it all running


I am told america is the best place on earth and full of 'christians' and people dont want their taxes going to this or that or the other because this is america and they basically should be able to just live free for free or at the most, only contribute in their own small communities,,,,


why is it that these same christian, patriotic, politican hating americans arent willing to contribute to more than their own well being but expect someone sitting in DC to look after the well being of EVERYONE at all times

I am more than willing (at any income level I achieve) to pay more taxes if the return on it is a safer, healthier, better educated citizenry,,,,,so where are all the other GREAT americans who are so sure DC is always wrong,,,why when faced with a sacrifice of their own do they usually whimper and whine and protest?



we have enjoyed the 'spoils' of the spending and now that it is time to pay the piper we all want to just point unilaterally at government? I dont get it. Making a unilateral increase in taxes to get things closer to balanced would be the simplest fix, but Lord knows we could never get enough of those america loving patriots to go for it.

My Dearest Msharmony,

I am not the person to ask. I can only guess that it's a fierce aversion to sense of responsibilty that is imposed from without. I am struck by how many Conservatives profess a willingness to exercise charity of their own volition. we just have to take their word for that. Private charity has never been, and can never be adequate to meet the needs of our fellow man. Plus, everybody wants to retain their prerogative to discriminate between those who "deserve" their charity and those who don't. Personally, I don't want to have the burdon of responsibility for that kind of judgmentalism.

There seem to be a number of people who just can't sleep at night so long as somebody out there is getting something that he doesn't deserve. These would normally be people who don't enhance our vision of the potential beauty of the world. People we would rather not have to deal with.

Personally, I would just like to see everybody have what he needs, without having to jeapardise his health or dignity to "earn" it.

Another thing that puzzles me is the personality of the extreme capitalist. I have always said that, if somebody were to devise a way to provide eternal peace and prosperity for everybody in the world at no cost, these people would vote against it. Go figure.

I agree, that whole notion of being 'deserving' does sometimes go to rather bizarre extremes.

No the Doctors Lawyers and dentists don't get capital gains tax.