the general public's lack of understanding about taxes only allows the inside the beltway crowd and the Buffets of the world to say stupid crap like this and get away with it...and it also creates more problems because they forgive increases in taxes which hurt them more in the long run.

If you ask the average joe whether he would take a 1% increase in FICA or a 5% increase in his income tax rate...he'd probably say he'd take the 1%...but in all likelihood that 1% increase would result in him paying more overall taxes because he's paying nearly 0 after arriving at AGI. This is the case for 1 of every 2 filers.

And this is how the Fed works. They've created something that noone understands so they can manipulate it without arousing suspicion.

People want a progressive income tax system. We have that. They want the rich to pay more. They do.

If you want to reform the OTHER taxes then make damned sure thats what you talk about clearly. Allowing the taxes to be muddled together only increases the chance that they will continue to get worse and not better.