The Age of the Tax Barons

So long, progressive taxation. Welcome to the Empire of the Rich. Abandon all hope, ye mere working stiffs who live here.

While everyone is busy talking about the impending war with Iraq, the Bush regime has quietly trotted out probably its most radical economic proposal yet:

Eliminating the income tax. And replacing it with a national sales tax.
[more]

For my young readers that haven't had any economics — an income tax is usually progressive while a sales tax is always regressive. A progressive tax is one where the rich pay a larger percentage of their income in taxes than those poorer than them while a regressive tax is one where the poor pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than the rich. The reason a sales tax is regressive is that a rich person spends a very very very small percentage of his income on taxable items like clothing or music or parts to fix his car. Most of what poor people spend their money on is taxable. Read the above.