Alternative Minimum Tax

[SC Skins Fan]

There are myriad problems with your post, beginning with the fact that you are clearly drawing from a highly partisan site operating under the guise of being strictly looking at 'the issues'. I'm running off to the gym so don't have time to respond in full, but briefly ...

1) Universal health care and "socialized medicine" are not synonymous. Providing citizens with health care coverage - and Obama is going light on this issue by not even discussing a single-payer plan - does not mean that doctors work for the government. It means the government pays the bill. Currently I pay $5,000+ a year to be on my wife's health insurance, and my deductibles are such that I really can't get any real meaningful medical treatment without paying out of pocket anyway. Basic point is that you should get your information from a less partisan source. When you start seeing phrases like "socialized medicine" and "government bureacrats" that is a tell-tale sign you are probably getting a slanted view.

2) I hate it when I see some guy in a beat up truck with a "Fair Tax" bumper sticker. Taxing consumption is a regressive form of taxation. Quite simply, people who don't make a ton of money (such as myself) spend nearly their entire income. People who make lots of money do not, they save, invest, etc. This is why people fought for progressive tax structures at the beginning of the century. Tax reform is necessary, but taxing consumption is not the answer.

3) I really should try to avoid the 'Parking Lot'.

Originally Posted by Slingin Sammy 33

Here's what Obama and McCain plan to do about our tax situation:

Obama - Roll back the Bush tax cuts, increase Capital Gains to at least 20%, possibly 28%, cut taxes for families making under $ 75K, keep estate taxes. He is on record as voting for keeping the AMT as is, and against removing the Estate Tax. With a Democratic majority in both Houses of Congress we will pay more in taxes under Obama.

Barack Obama on Tax Reform

Obama is also pushing "Universal Health Care" aka "Socialized Medicine" which will push our tax burden even higher and have our health care system managed by government bureacrats. Imagine needing a medical procedure but having to make a "political contribution" to get it done. This is common in countries with socialized medical systems.

McCain - committed to push legislation to permanently repeal the AMT. McCain is committed to reducing other taxes as well.

McCain Staging Site

Our current situation is this; there is a huge disparity in who pays the lion's share of taxes in this country. My numbers may be slightly off, but the top 1% of wage earners pay 34% of the taxes in the US. The next 9% pay another 33% and the rest pay the final 33%. The top 50% of wage earners pay approximately 97% of the taxes.

The top 1% made 14% of the total income yet paid 34% of the tax burden. The bottom 50% earned 14% of the total income, yet only paid about 3% of the tax burden.

What do we do? FairTax. Americans For Fair Taxation: FairTax is a consumption based tax so you basically "pay-to-play".

1) FairTax will eliminate corporate taxes bringing millions of jobs back the the U.S.
2) FairTax takes the power away from Congress of giving tax breaks to favored groups or companies.
3) Enables workers to keep their entire paychecks
4) Refunds in advance the tax on purchases of basic necessities.
5) Abolishes the IRS and repeals the 16th Ammendment.

We also need to be more involved in holding our political leaders accountable and greatly reduce "pork" spending. We need to get rid of congresspeople who hide $ 90K in their freezers, or build "bridges to nowhere", or appropriate millions to family and associates. This stuff is happening on both sides of the aisle and needs to be stopped.

Impose Term Limits - 8 years for Reps, 12 years for Senators.

Our government is supposed to serve the people, not the people serving the government. The more control (taxes, regulations) given to government the more it will take, until we are a socialist state. If we look at the government's power from 1900-1950 vs. 1950 to now, we are much further down the path to socialism than many believe. As few nudges upward in the tax rate and a few expansions in government programs and our tax burden would be close to 50%.

P.S. The current administration has been as much to blame for this as any Democrat.