Broseidon

Dear Liberals, I have a question that puzzles me and I'd like some of your input as I, a fiscal conservative, can't grasp the justification for increasing taxes on the rich(higher than they are now).

These "Occupy Wall Street" protesters are unnerving me a bit with their chants of "tax the rich" and "arrest the rich!" This just strikes me as a Liberal "Tea Party": unorganized, unregulated, and easily discredited. I realize that it's easy for them to advocate raising taxes that don't affect them so they can get more benefits, and I feel easily enticed too. However, I don't see the logic of it very well.

When I ask my Liberal colleagues about these issues, all they do is ramble about the "corrupt Republicans" and how Bush "ruined the country" while the Democrats where trying to "fix the mess." The only definitive answer they gave me was that the rich weren't paying "their fair share" and needed to be taxed more. I've also been told that America's economy boomed when we had higher taxes on the rich, and bringing taxes back up will bring our jobs back.

My question is twofold: What is the "fair share" that the rich need to pay, and how does the economy boom through higher taxes? Seeing that the rich already pay more in taxes than the rest of us, and that most of them are self-made(Gates, Jobs, and Buffett to name a few) shouldn't they get some sort of reward for their hard work? And how does taking money out of the economy through taxes increase prosperity? Considering that the Rich are the movers and shakers of the economy, wouldn't they be enticed to leave, let along spend less?

Don't get me wrong: I support a flat tax with the same rate for everyone, but why should the rich be forced to pay a higher rate because they have more to pay?