I agree. Penalizing people for working and getting a paycheck makes little sense. Wealthy people pay a much smaller tax rate than middle income earners due to l

I agree. Penalizing people for working and getting a paycheck makes little sense. Wealthy people pay a much smaller tax rate than middle income earners due to low capital gains, which just adds to the wealth gap. I'd like to see a move away from income tax to a more equitable progressive consumption tax (necessities < consumer items < luxury items), increasing short-term capital gains (active traders, etc) and eliminating long-term capital gains (retirement, etc). And bravo on your inexpensive living comment. I believe there's a huge need for reasonably priced housing, but zoning does not allow for it. I read somewhere about how mobile home parks are not getting built any more because middle class and up don't want to see them. It's a similar situation with nimbyism in places like San Francisco. This results in lower income folks spending the majority of their income on housing, widening the wealth gap. What's interesting is it's the middle income and up who are screwing themselves in the long term by marginalizing the very people they depend on. What's even more interesting is that this situation is not the result of free market capitalism, but crony capitalism (aka. cronyism). The market is being manipulated by the wealthy who intentionally restrict choice of those who don't have a voice via the police power of the state (lobbying, etc).