" The government serves the good of the nation and you pay taxes. And then you die. That is life. Accept it or you will pop a blood vessel and the government will no longer get your precious money. "

" "But when the government is allowing you to keep more of YOUR pie slice than it is proportionally for the people who have very little or none, something is not right."

The people that have very little or none usually don't end up paying any taxes at all. When I made very little to none, I always got every penny back from the government that I paid out over the year. Now that I make more, I pay out every year. Less in recent years than in the past, but I pay out nonetheless.

Besides, the government has no business ALLOWING me to keep the money I make, as far as I'm concerned they don't deserve a penny of it! I do not work for the benefit of the gov't, as we're not Cuba or North Korea just yet. We'll see what happens if the "lightworker" gets elected or not. Judging by his associations and philosophies, he'll push us in that direction. "

" Leon, you're sooooowrong about the "Penalty for being successful" crap!
You can be successful all you want! But when the government is allowing you to keep more of YOUR pie slice than it is proportionally for the people who have very little or none, something is not right.
There's no argument over it--the Rich have been getting a free ride. And the poor and Middle class are getting $crewed. "

" The cherry-picked ‘facts” about taxes stated by Christopher Roe require some context and clarification.
While it’s true that the adjusted gross income (AGI) of the “bottom 50%” grew by 4% annually, what’s also true is that since the end of the recession in 2002, AGI has risen by over 81 percent for the top 1 percent (an average of over 20 percent per year) and 17 percent (an average of around 4 percent per year) for the bottom 50 percent.
Furthermore, the 4% increase by the Lower 50% has been proven to be wholly inadequate to keep up with the rising economic pressure of higher fuel, food, and Health Care costs, to name a few.
In 2004, median senior total pay among America's top 350 companies rose by 10 percent in that year alone,, even as median total shareholder returns in those companies fell by more than 5 percent. In the year 2006, 43 million of these top AGI earners used exemptions, deductions and tax credits to get back every dollar that the federal government withheld from their paychecks during 2005, and some even got money back! Lately we’ve seen multi-million “Golden Parachutes” while companies continue to cut pensions and benefits, and jobs get exported to cheaper-labor countries.
There is no argument here, people—the Rich keep getting richer, the poor keep getting poorer. And more and more, “The Poor” used to be the Middle Class!
The technical term is “Income Disparity”. And studies have shown that high inequality reverberates through societies on multiple levels, correlating with, and causing, more crime and civic unrest, poorer mental/physical health, and shorter life spans. The USA has the GREATEST Income Disparity in the world—and ranks, dismally, only 44th in Life Expectancy. Our Infant Mortality rate--which is considered a good indicator of the overall economic health of a nation, continues to fall to shocking levels.
So if Christopher Roe is going to infer that Republican tax and economic policies to be continued under John McCain will somehow NOT “favor the Rich”, I suggest he get his “facts” straight.
The choice we have in this election is between more-of-the-same, or a re-defining of the tax policies to allow the lower and middle class some relief from this economy, and to the unfair burden which has been placed on them by the Republican policies. The statistics DO NOT tell the whole story. There is virtually unanimous agreement that the Income Disparity is growing every year, and this can only bode ill for ourselves and our nation. "

" Since when are people that make over $250,000 a year "the richest people in the nation"? I work for a small business, a few million a year in revenue. The state of the economy being what it is, a tax hike of that magnitude will hit us very hard (I see the figures as part of my position), and people could lose their jobs. That's not affecting "the richest people in the nation", it's affecting "poor working schlubs" like me and my coworkers. That's what this incredibly STUPID tax plan will do. The owner can sell off and start over, and that's his right because of the amount of hard work he's put into his company, but the rest of us will have to struggle to find comparable jobs.

That's why I care about "the tax rates of the richest people in the nation". It's a penalty on being successful. "

" I have NO pipe dreams of becoming wealthy. I'm happy being unemployed and getting Gov. checks in direct deposit. I don't even have to go to the bank. If, in the past few years the taxes have increased for the wealthy and decreased for the lower incomes, why make that gap wider? What's wrong with keeping it the same or making changes the same for all. Now ole' Barney says to spend more and INCREASE TAXES. "

" Why are you poor working schlubs so worried about the tax rates of the richest people in the nation? You act as if they are taking money out of your pocket. Is this part of a sick dream you have of being wealthy. Even most of the rich don't seem to worry about paying a few percent more in taxes. Where is this obsession coming from? "

" The rebates you mention have been going on for years. They are called income tax credits. Obama didn't create them. "

" CR wrote "Under the Bush administration the top 1 percent, 10 percent, 25 percent, and 50 percent of all income earners have paid an INCREASINGLY higher percentage of the income taxes." The question is WHY would you want to spread that gap even more? Obama is not Robin Hood. Why give rebates to people who don't pay taxes? That's welfare, or maybe leaning to socialism. Letting Bush's tax cut expire alone will raise taxes. "

" You stated a lot of statistics but what is the problem? It makes sense to me. If this system was not in place, the distance between the poor and rich would only be wider. I don't know why so many are concerned about the wealthy paying a few percent more taxes. You won't be paying in that bracket in your wildest dreams. "