Sorry about that, but just as I was typing the conclusion to my comments, the car alarm went off on my Bentley. I ran out to the driveway just in time to see a guy driving away in it. I figured that he deserved it more than me, so I just let him keep it. I didn't really need two of them anyway.

Now, as I was saying, those European countries mentioned have some of the highest tax rates in the world. What else do they have? Downgraded debt, massive budget issues, and an unsustainable amount of social program spending.

In 1960, one fourth of federal spending represented payments to individuals, in 2010, that figure was up to two thirds of federal spending . The elderly population is about 13% of the total population,soon the percentage of the US elderly population will be significantly higher. Thus, our tax and spend model will fall apart(it is already) as not enough new workers will be in place to support the older workers(social security, food stamps, Medicare, Medicade, SSI, etc).

Simply put, you can't legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. But you can educate and job train the poor so that they can become prosperous, or at least self-sufficient. Education and training are the keys, not government handouts.