Submitted by Ace Tracy, Sep 12, 2007 08:00

Your rationale that income shouldn't be taxed twice seems to forget that for the middle class their income is taxed at least 3 times: Federal & State income tax, Social Security tax, and finally local sales taxes. What the AMT does is virtually eliminate the value of deductions for the middle class. Why should we be paying up to 50% of our income in taxes while the super wealthy, who own up to 80% of stocks in the USA, be taxed at only 15%. What would be fair and economically sensible is to exempt from taxes the first $100,000 in dividends and interest, eliminate the income cap on Social Security, and tax all short term profits at 50%, and finally eliminate the AMT for incomes under $500,000. And if we want a flat tax as conservatives propose, let's start on corporate AMerica - put a flat tax of 25% on all corporate earnings no matter what industry they are in. That would save corporate America $billions in tax reporting and stop distorting the economy by favouring certain industries such as oil & gas.

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