Boiling it down to basics:

A dollar will be more productive almost ANYWHERE in the private sector than in the hands of government wealth redistribution programs. Which is where the Democrats want to put it.

Productivity has an exact meaning. It doesn't mean just transferring wealth from one group to another to buy votes.

Once you get past all the fog and smoke, all the articles being posted have one thing in common: Lost tax dollars are automatically assumed to be destructive to American society and the economy.

What I am supposed to believe is that a dollar lost to the government is always somehow a disaster. Any taxes that are not collected are bad for the nation. Any cuts in Federal spending are to be avoided. Hell, any cuts in the RATE OF INCREASE of Federal spending make Democrats tear their clothing and roll in ashes. I've seen it.

However, increasing taxes on the private sector is just fine. Add a surtax. Add a luxury tax. Raise the rates. Add a AMT. Don't EVER cut a tax. According to this thesis, a dollar lost to the private sector will have no effect on the economy, and in fact, no one will ever miss it. The private sector can cut its budget pretty much on demand, with no ill effects.

Sorry. I don't buy this. And neither should anyone else. It's easy to bash the rich, because most people don't really know how the rich got that way, what they do with their money, where it goes, and where it ends up. Sure as hell most people don't know the first thing about economics.