Reply #29: I think the bottom line [View All]

[1932]

is that Democrats have to talk about allocating the tax burden fairly, and then also point out that you pay taxes in more ways than just on your 1040.

Poor people and middle class people do well with Federal Income tax. People who pay Alt. Min. Inc. Tax get totally screwed. Super rich people who have a low ratio of earned income to unearned income make off like bandits. Dividends and long term capital gains get taxed at lower rates than any form of income. Those are the people who have seen the burden shift of themselves in a big big way, and that started back in '98.

But Democrats also need to talk about the way states have been picking up the federal slack in ways that shift the burden on to poorer people, like with sales tax and property tax.

And they need to talk about how corporations are now carrying so little of the income tax burden even though they're doing better than anyone in society.