Wow...
The willingness of some here to take the hard-earned money of others and give it to someone else is baffling. "You're successful, and have worked hard to get where you are, but some other people haven't been successful, so we're going to take from you and give to them". We're going to punish people for being successful? And how does this encourage achievement in others. Kids grow up seeing money being taken from those who work hard and succeed, and seeing those who don't work hard get a check in the mail every month while sitting at home watching TV or playing videogames. Which one would YOU do if those were your choices? Now how can we expect that kid to care about education, go out and get a good job, and help with the future prosperity of the country?
The US got to where it is by people doing what people do best: working hard, being creatvie, coming up with new technologies and better ways to do things. You build a better mousetrap, and you get ahead. And now everyone wants to PUNISH those people who work hardest, are the most ingenious or creative, and who are the most successful?
I'm not talking about ability to afford it or ability to not afford it, I'm talking about the message and the philosophy of it. A progressive tax system is fine, as long as you're not pushing it too far. And a progressive tax system doesn't imply welfare. Under a progressive tax system, the poor just pay fewer taxes. What we're looking at is the poor actually receiving FREE MONEY, the government giving them money on top of the money on which they didn't pay taxes. This is welfare, this is wealth redistribution, not a "progressive tax system", because that money will be coming directly out of one person's pocket, and directly into the pocket of someone else. Bad idea, and a bad road to start down.
