[Susannah]

"Labor is way over-taxed. Wealth is sometimes barely taxed at all"

Democrats had 8 years to modify the tax system to "tax the wealthy", and instead they gave tax cuts to major corporations, then taxed the middle class.

How is wealth barely taxed? I know one person who lives in NYC and with federal, state and local taxes he pays 62% of his income in taxes (that's just income tax).

For all the wealthy people who claim they don't want their tax cut, I'd be happy to help them with their tax with-holding and return forms so they can overpay taxes.

[DPB101]

"Labor is way over-taxed. Wealth is sometimes barely taxed at all"

Don't get me wrong here. I'm for lower taxes for everyone. But once one has wealth, a tax deductable and/or low tax life-style is not difficult to do.

Consider a company which goes public. The insiders become millionaires on paper. No taxes are paid. "It is only paper " you say. Well, yes and no. It is collateral which can be used to create more income. While someone working at McDonald's has to pay for transportation to work with after taxed money, the new millionaires fly around in a corporate jet which is a business expenses. The invest, if they choose, in tax free munis. They form foundations and put the family to work there in a favorable tax environment.

[Maximum Leader]

Umm, you're kind of making DPB's point. That 62% income tax rate is on labor.

If you sell stocks or receive, you're only at taxed (now) at 15%. Better yet, if you never sell the stock but rather just use it as a collateral on a loan, you're not taxed at all. If anything Edwards understates his case. The payroll tax is 7.65% on the employee side AND on the employer side, so it's really over 15% coming out of the employee's pocket.

I agree with DPB, it's embarassing that Johnny Edwards is making this point. But it's a sound one.