My 500th post - A tax reform rant

[Cresent City Kid]

"Tax Reform" is a broad term that ranges from abolishing all taxes to taxing the rich back the the Stone Age. People talk about simplifying the tax code, but the complexities usually involve deductions that nobody wants to give up. Here, I will describe my version of tax reform, and invite you to share yours.

As my signature line suggests, my main concern is the top bracket. A simple return to Clinton era rates would be an improvement, but my idea is a little more radical. We have a progressive system that taxes top earners more, but the top rate is essentially flat. What I mean is those making $300 thousand and those making $300 million pay the same percentage. Every time a rate increase for the high bracket is brought up, the ones at the lower end of it are showcased as the victims, small businessmen who will have to lay off workers, blah blah blah. Why don't we update the structure of the top brackets to reflect the income disparity within it? We all know how income for the top 1% has skyrocketed. I say we should set tax rates that mirror actual income distribution, the ultimate unflattening (Grover Norquist's nightmare). This would reduce the pressure on the small businessman, and perhaps restrain the compensation free-for-all that spawned our current economic crisis.

Ironically, simplification won't be easy. Like I said, it involves deductions that that will be hard to give up. Both parties use deductions to influence behavior, Obama to use green energy, and Bush just to be rich in general. I don't exect my propsal to unflatten the top rate to be applied, and I have less hope for any simplification of the tax code.

But at least I have a place to rant about it. For that I would like to thank DU for the opportunity, and the posters here who take the time to read my zany ideas. For my 1000th post I might do a "best of".