Comment by jeffreymcmanus

I don't understand the often-repeated conservative talking point that "almost half of all filers pay no income taxes at all". There are only two kinds of people who pay no income taxes at all: the desperately poor and the super-rich (who are taxed on investments at the 15% long-term capital gains rate). Is the conservative proposal really that we should tax the desperately poor? Because that seems not only a terrible public policy choice, but an extremely inefficient way to close our budget gap.