my connection with the tea party

[Maitre]

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I saw an article from the WSJ a couple months back that looked at the amount of taxes paid by the top 2% as a function of what percentage of income they pay against what percentage of income the middle class (those making $25k to $75k for a family of four per year) and the top 2% were paying between 18% and 22% of their income in taxes where as the middle class was paying between 25% and 28%. As it goes, the fact that the Tea Party, and the Republicans as a whole, can't recognize that taxes have to be raised against this top 2% (and, as I said, a number of the top 2% are boggling over why their taxes aren't higher) is astounding.

I heard an interview on NPR's Fresh Air last week or so about the percentage of income that American's pay in taxes compared to Europeans, and the interviewee was adamant that American's would balk at the tax burden leveed upon Europeans, but it occurs to me that a full comparison of services was not presented with this discussion.

As someone who paid in that 22-28% range last year, I can tell you that I don't have a significant problem with my tax burden, but what I do have a problem with is the labyrinthine deduction/credit system that is applied under the US tax system. Quite simply, in my view, the rich can pay lower percentages in taxes because they can afford better tax planning services. Me, I depend on my own understanding of the tax code and what I can figure out from the tax prep software.

I’m just realizing how little I'm adding to the discussion here. Sorry for that, but I would like to draw attention to the following:

On the core issues, there is a semi-fleshed out general guideline, found at http://www.teaparty-platform.com:

1. Eliminate Excessive Taxes
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5. Abide by the Constitution of the United States

To my mind, I think #5 ought to be a higher priority for a political party. Just like upholding the law ought to be the highest priority for the legal system.