Dems want to raise revenue.So why not tax the 47% that currently pay no Federal Income Tax?

That's the ultimate goal. Look at taxes under Clinton. You pay in a huge amount of taxes during the year, get enough of a refund for a tank of gas, Washington keeps the rest.

Taxes won't cut it. Taxes are fundraisers or ways to create a little extra revenue. They are NOT suitable for paying back $14 trillion. It would take stripping 100 Bill Gates of everything they own to make a dent in it.

Like S says, poor folks already pay enough Taxes with Sales Tax and Gas and Utility Taxes and all the other Stealth Taxes people are hit with (you know, the ones a good accountant can bounce a Guy out of paying and leave them to the poor folks to pay). There are no quick fixes, the Deficit will be dealt with slow and steady ahoy.

The Bush tax cuts gave tax breaks for all income levels. It resulted in many people who not only pay no taxes but they get a check back from the government. So when people say that Republicans catered only to the wealthy, that is completely incorrect.

At this point, I believe the wealthy should be paying more taxes. I'm conservative but the reason the economy isn't growing has little to do with taxes on the wealthy. Corporations are using their profits to buy equipment that reduces their labor force rather than expanding it. That leads to more efficiency but leaves more people out of work. It allows these businesses to make bigger profits which is a good thing but I see no reason why they can't pay more taxes as well. Soon people in this country won't be buying their products because fewer and fewer will have a decent job.

The best thing to do for the economy now is to repeal the health care bill. Its a jobs killer and always will be. Also the financial reform isn't helping a thing. They went from one extreme to the other.

Thanks to George W. Bush and the rest of the Republicans' middle class-destroying policies, these people have no money to tax. Most have debts that exceed their assets. You can't squeeze water from a rock. So-called actual taxpayers, at least a portion of them, have consolidated most of this country's wealth into a small number of hands. Those people are the only viable source for the tax revenue so desperately needed.

Folks who fixate in the Federal Income Tax are either disingenuous, or dishonest.

Current effective tax rates (ALL taxes and fees, as a percentage of total income):

Poor: @ 16.3%

Middle-class: @ 37%

Rich: @ 16.6%

Were we to levy a "poor tax" of a single percentage point so that all Americans had Federal Income Tax liability, the Poor would pay a higher effective tax rate than the richest Americans (@ 17.3 %).

Something's just wrong with that.

The only taxation system that would be fair, make sure EVERYONE is paying for govt., and wouldn't allow those living off the govt. to do so tax free.... The Fair Tax.

A consumption based taxation rather than an income based one. The rich buy more stuff and more expensive stuff, so they would pay more like the Dems want. The poor, the entitlement crowd, and even the illegals would be contributing for the services the govt. provides as the conservatives want. Class warfare could be resolved and politicians could finally find one less thing to be divisive about in their rhetoric.

And just think.... We wouldn't have to file income tax returns anymore! Just have to retool (and probably be able to reduce the size of) the IRS to collect a "sales tax" vs. chasing after income tax.

Thats what northern Europe does. They have a more regressive taxation because its the only way to raise a lot more revenue without growing the economy.

A better idea would be to return the top tax rates to the level that they were under Clinton. Clinton had budget surpluses.

The wealth in this country is continuing to be increasingly concentrated at the very top. It would make no sense to tax the people who already don't have much money and have increasingly less money. Those individuals also help the economy by spending all or nearly all of the money that they receive.

Use common sense instead of trying to push an ideology.

If someone has income they should be taxed even if it's a nickle they should be taxed...every person in this country benefits from taxes paid so it's only fair everyone should pay something. I know a couple with 3 children, they earned $20,000 last year and received a $9,000 refund due to having 3 children.

Gee, I don't know genius, probably because those who are exempt are such because they can't afford to pay taxes. You can't bleed a turnip, but I know that doesn't stop you people from wanting to try. I mean, who cares that even after paying taxes, those who pay the most are still VERY well off, because we should try to get poor people to give the only money they have so the well-to-do don't have to pay as much, so then they can be even BETTER than very well off. Yeah, that sounds fair, doesn't it?