More to Uncle T

Uncle T,

You wrote: "Now, after paying all those taxes, and still being able to 'manufacture some wealth,' you want to take that wealth and redistribute it to the person who couldn't manufacture any wealth 'just because' it is a 'moral incentive.'"

The moral question is: How much wealth -- created thanks in part to the freedoms, guarantees, and opportunities provided by our society -- should we let any one person accumulate before it's morally justified to say "Give something back"?

You call it "stealing" to tax the very rich (even though they're already taxed -- are they being "robbed" now, and if not, at what point does it become "stealing"??). Yet you see no problem with the fact that many of them got rich thanks to the fact they're living in the US of A. You act like they created wealth in a vacuum. You act like we should be down on our knees thanking them, and never vice-versa. You never once acknowledge that they owe the USA a great debt for their wealth creation. (If you need me to spell out the reasons why the rich should be thankful, I will, but I hope you know what I'm talking about).

I agree 100% that we should tax the working and middle class less, or nothing. You'll get no argument from me. They pay more than their fair share in income to run our government, and get much, much less in return than the rich, who get sweetheart trade deals, huge tax breaks, interest-free loans, an educated workforce, port and transportation infrastructure for their businesses, etc., etc.

If the current tax system, which unfairly burdens the middle class, isn't "class warfare," then I don't know what is. It's not class warfare if the rich admit that "we're all in this together" and they have a debt to pay to society for the wealth that they enjoy. People like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have come out in favor of the estate tax, and have said that the super rich should pay more tax. They realize the current tax system encourages a hereditary aristocracy of wealth, thanks also to our money-fueled political system.

You've fallen into the same trap as a lot of smart market watchers: You think GDP and the stock market are the best indicators of the nation's economic wellbeing. Whether that wealth is accumulating at the top and not trickling down to improve people's lives, well... you don't worry about that. The economic statistics on that score are not so clear-cut, so it's easier not to think about the issue at all.

This may sound crazy to you, but "creating wealth" is not an end in itself. If that wealth, wherever it may be, is not improving people's lives, then it's not worth a hill of beans. That's where you conservatives fall flat on your faces -- you worry so much about Big Gubument and what it's taking from you personally, that you forget about the general welfare. If the current tax system isn't serving the general welfare, but instead allowing more & more wealth to accumulate at the top, then I say it's IMMORAL, BROKEN, and desperately in need of REFORM.

It's about people, Uncle T, not just dollars & cents.