Flat Tax Plans and Growing Resentment on Both Sides

The problem is that neither side is willing to move towards the necessary actions required to get to a balanced budget. This is especially true of the Left which will not cut spending in any meaningful way. Of the various flat tax plans, Cain's 9-9-9 plan is revenue neutral, Perry's is set to create stimulus. But the real problem isn't with revenues, like Europe, the problem is with expenditures which are so high that it's estimated income taxes would have to rise to above 65% to bring the budget into balance, that is assuming there will be no drop in economic activity which defies standard economic theory.

It's also interesting to note that every tax plan is rigorously attacked for the "costs" of the plan by the left, but spending on social programs and such are never treated the same.

The demand for lower taxes reflects growing frustration with the current system where a shrinking few are increasingly asked to shoulder the burden. With around 47% of wage earners paying no income taxes whatsoever, the rest are being asked to pay more and more.

Reasonable people would adopt a revenue neutral plan that gets rid of tax breaks for special interests, corporations and the like, but unfortunately, there is an unreasonable side that refuses to bring expenditures in line with revenues.

I will ask this unreasonable side how they propose to bring the budget into balance using tax increases alone. As stated, income taxes would have to rise to above 65% and I've seen higher estimates. Add to that State income taxes, property taxes, and SS/Medicare taxes and the tax burden approaches 100%. This again assumes that there will be no change in economic activity with a nearly 100% tax on income. Once again, I ask how this proposal can be called reasonable by any thinking individual. Instead of rhetoric about the rich, I simply ask for a proposal that includes reality. There are simply some Americans that refuse to deal with the problem at hand and use rhetoric to try and preserve a system that is clearly unsustainable. We need to make changes because we have to. Unfortunately, the first stage is admitting that there is a problem in the first place and too many are not even at that first step.