Joe - You really are clueless about the demise of family farms in Western Pennsylvania and Ohio and the rest of the country. I guess it just doesn't fit into you neat little progressive world that taxes hurt the middle class the most.

Cass - You were talking about the Bush Tax Cuts - the "death tax" is one of those tax cuts that is set to expire. The income tax will go up for everyone if those tax cuts are left to expire. The tax rates revert to pre-2001 levels. You are talking about re-distribution of wealth - you want to tax the rich and give to someone else. No one said or promised that anything would be fair. It is a myth that the more you make the less you pay. It is a fact that the wealthy pay the majority of taxes in this country right now and that the lowest 40% of the population pay no taxes. That will change in Jan. if the tax cuts are left to expire.

Warren Buffet did not pay less in taxes than his secretary. He paid his taxes at a 17.7% rate on $46 million in earnings while his secretary paid her taxes at the 30% bracket. His rate was lower than hers because he had more in the way of deductions - which is only natural for a high earning business owner like him. But to think that he paid less in total dollars is not correct.

I agree with you that there should be a flat tax of some type with the only deductions perhaps being the interest on a mortgage and education expenses. It will never happen because the tax code is the only real selling point for influence members of Congress have.