a. People are not PUNISHED when making lots of money.

b. People are ASKED to contribute.

His feeble attempt to purport the facts as something other than what they are, is euphemistic and wrong. People are told - NOT asked - how much to pay and they are MULCTED for achieving more. Whether one agrees or not that people should be consulted or how that can be accomplished doesn’t change that Thomas’ premise was specious.

Perhaps, Thomas should rephrase what he actually meant.
Though, I am sure he did.

As to the many wasteful social programs and useless spending that are not cut back or reined in, conveniently some ignore WHO are the beneficiaries of keeping those programs alive; and which party stands to gain the most from keeping people down and dependent. That is, democrats!

How can democrats repudiate the very things that keep them in power? They can’t. Therefore they battle to justify them, even demonize their opponents - to maintain in place whatever necessary to stay in control, no matter how counterproductive; no matter how little or no return those programs actually produce.

Unfortunately, for them, not everyone is mesmerized into the lie that the “government (i.e. liberals) know what’s good for us, better than we do. There lies the ongoing fight between libs and cons.

Class, race and gender inequality are some of the things democrats pretend to fight against, instead exacerbate by the very policies they push forward.
Class-warfare, race-baiting and gender-fighting are at the very core of their agenda and the reason Jackson and pals are democrats.

It’s been said before, but apparently some are deaf, that conservatives do not envision a world without taxes. That’s utopian and foolish. Instead, what conservatives want to see happen is a more balanced view of taxation than the present kind or the one we will get if a liberal gets into the W.H. A society, where everyone - not only the few - pay in, and where those who contribute are not doubly punished in the name of liberal “fairness.”
Small difference to some, huge to others.

Short of an epiphany Jim and I will continue to differ.

Euphemistic take. I bet a huge number of people would beg to differ on your rendition of reality. Personally, I don’t recall, EVER, being asked by the State or the Federal government whether I would consider paying in, nor how much I would contemplate sending.
I think it’s none of your business what people want to do with their money, however, I think your “charitable” attitude should be tested in the real world.
How about you willingly sending more taxes with your return? After all, if this whole thing is voluntary why stop at the bracket you are in?

As to “punishment” it comes down to perspective and values. No rationalization is going to sweeten that pill.
Many like me, would rather choose WHO and WHERE to send their “extra” money, instead of the government ripping us off and deciding the allocation of our hard-earnings.

I hardly think people will stop striving to make more money because they may get taxed slightly more. Lets not go completely over-board here. Paying taxes is also not a penalty. You don’t get punished when you make lots of money, you get asked to contribute back to the system that allowed you to make that money.

I think the American/Corporate motto of increasing your profits at all costs has proven that it doesn’t work for society as a whole. SImply look at how corporations are doing in this economy vs. how the working man is doing. So maybe paying a little more taxes off my $200,000 income will pay for some better schools and help someone ward-off foreclosure on their home. Small price to pay in my opinion.

Revenue from Income taxes dropped during the first few years of the Bush administration, even though capital gains taxes were cut, even now they aren’t at their peak as a measure of GDP, seems to me an indication of a loss in revenue

Now I agree while Obama’s straight plan to raise the capital gains tax doesn’t work, neither does your idea of just cutting it, because you will stand to lose revenue from income taxes. No you reform the taxation, the lower brackets currently pay 5% in cap gains tax, they shouldn’t pay any taxes on it, but the highest two bracket pays only 15%, they should be more like 20-30%, and the rest should be between 5-20% depending on bracket. This should be in addition to a base tax that covers all income

And you do raise taxes when you are running deficits in the 400 billions and no one is willing to cut spending, McCain keeps cutting back on what earmarks means, he went from 60 billion to less than 20 billion in under a week.

Either you get out of Iraq and cut defense spending, alsong with reforming Medicare, medicaid, social security, cut aid to Israel, etc.

Or you pay higher taxes, there is no free lunch