A flat tax sounds fair but isn't. It would increase the burden on the poor and reduce the burden on the rich. Of course it is a popular idea with Republicans, who are making a concerted effort in exactly that direction. Robin Hood in reverse.The point is that almost 50% of Americans pay no federal income tax at all. The top 1 percent of income earners paid 38 percent of all federal income taxes in 2008, while the bottom 50 percent paid only 3 percent. Forty-nine percent of U.S. households paid no federal income tax at all.
http://www.heritage.org/budgetchartbook/top10-percent-income-earnersEveryone should have some skin in the game. That includes the 49% of Americans who paid no federal income tax at all.
