rod03801:

> Well the problem with someone like G.E. is taken care of by fixing stupid tax loop-holes. NOT increasing taxes. Increasing taxes will just have G.E. finding loop holes for that too.

That's precisely the point. You say that the rich pay their fair share, but the truth is that they don't. All those "loopholes" are the exemptions and tax breaks that the rich can exploit to get away with paying less taxes. The entire taxation system (and that is not only in the USA but in most western capitalist countries) is designed to favor the rich and make sure that they pay far less taxes than the middle class. There is a myriad of exemptions and breaks that the big corporations can employ, and when that is nor enough they lobby for even more tax breaks. That is what is happening now. Republicans are pushing for tax breaks, but on behalf of big corporations. GE paid $0 in taxes. that's right, the third largest company in the world paid NO taxes in 2010. Then you have to wonder what other corporations are getting away with, and why the dificit is so bad. Is it because of massive spending or because of tax breaks for the rich? In reality it is both, but the proposed solution is to cut spending and at the same time give more tax breaks to the rich. That means that the burden of sustaining the deficit falls on the middle class, while the poor have less services from the government they elected.