A friend just pointed out why all these people who are making a buck-three-ninety-eight an hour at WalMart or the local version of the Qwiki-Mart are so vehemently opposed to taxing the rich (and shifting the tax burden off of themselves and the likes of themselves if they move up to middle-class income levels):
They think they could be millionaires, too, and they don't want taxes getting in the way of that.
Well, it's nice to dream and I really believe that people can rise up in a variety of ways, but intelligence should factor in there somewhere, too: even if you're a millionaire, you still have an obligation to help people. You still need to contribute to the overall communitas. Paying more taxes is not something I'm particularly keen on doing (no, I'm not a millionaire, but I'm sure that I make enough that I'd start getting hit by higher tax rates, too), but I think that it's the Right Thing.
Having said this, I strongly believe in a flat tax system of whatever percent is appropriate (10%? 12%? 17%?) for everyone with some cut-off somewhere for a decreed poverty line. The amount of money we spend just to process returns would be eliminated, the forests of trees of tax forms would be saved, and the net effect would be more money overall... all good for the communitas.
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