>>Isn't a graduated flat tax a contradiction in terms?
>
>I don't think it is. If you make under 20,000 per year, you pay 10%, if you make over 500,000 per year, you pay 30%, no deductions, no trusts, no nothing. You earn, you pay.

I'd agree a lot if such a concept was bound to/corrected for buying power evaporating - what do you "earn" if you sell something for a profit of 10% of base amount of $ but buying power of the $ eroded 7% in the time between buying and selling ? The reduced tax on capital income makes sense in my book (as far as such a thing can be said for tax codes). It might give also more of an incentive not to buy that much on credit - where a compromize between US and german habits might be the proper way to handle money ;-)