I have been very, very poor, have worked hard and am pretty comfortable now. It's easier for me to pay taxes now. It may be a higher dollar amount, but it doesn't hurt like it did back then. Why shouldn't I contribute? We all use the roads, my kids went to public schools, and my grandchildren do. I can afford to pay more than my kids can afford. In fact, if I have to pay a higher percentage of my income now that I can afford it, that doesn't seem unfair to me.

All of us were born into a world that others had built with their labor and sweat. They planted trees, built roads and bridges, libraries and schools with their taxes. We all owe something back, none of us did it alone.

These are the tax brackets:
# 10% on income between $0 and $8,375
# 15% on the income between $8,375 and $34,000;
# 25% on the income between $34,000 and $82,400;
# 28% on the income between $82,400 and $171,850;
# 33% on the income between $171,850 and $373,650;
# 35% on the income over $373,650;

If my son is earning $30K a year and has to pay 15% in taxes, that's about 4500, plus social security, which brings down his take-home pay to around 25K. It's pretty tight to live on that when rents are around 1000 a month, plus utilities. Car expenses, food, etc. But if I earned 200K and paid 33% -- or owed that much because I'd hire a good accountant to find shelters for me -- I'd be paying around 60K which is way more than my son, but I think I could live pretty well on 140,000.

But I don't earn that much and have plenty. We live pretty simply but I think we live well even though we aren't extravagant.

The financial crisis has roused a lot of folks to find out where all the money went, and what I've learned makes me sick. Our tax money has bailed out the Wall Street bankers and they're hoarding it. These guys have sent 5 lobbyists per every congressperson to write laws in their favor, which enabled them to make money, while the rest of us don't have lobbyists writing laws to help US make money. One thing we should be able to agree on is that the rich should pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes. If you look at that graph, do you really think it's fair that someone who earns up to 8,375 a year should pay as much as 10%??? And do you really think it's going to be a burden for someone earning 250,000 a year to pay 35% Back in the 1950s, they actually WERE paying more like 50% in the higher brackets. And adjusting for inflation, families did better then.