A good argument for keeping the Bush tax levels

NPR (yes, that NPR) has a clear and consistent argument regarding extending the 2001-2003 tax structure.  Dan Kennedy of Media Nation loves it too, and it is a well-written and well-informed article.

Here is where the debate lies...many people can try to define "rich" but it's impossible to define it in dollar terms.  Back in the 1970s, earning $35,000 was a small fortune because the minimum wage was $1.60.  Today, earning $35,000 isn't much, especially where the minimum wage is $7.50 an hour.  In order to earn what you earned in the 1970s, you'd have to make at least $100,000 a year.  So for Congress to define "rich" is an exercise in futility.

Also, the famous canard of "high income earners pay most of the taxes" or "low income earners pay no taxes at all" are both false.  The government finds ways to take money no matter what your earnings and taxation level. 

High income earners, despite paying a high amount of taxes, have the ability to reduce them through retirement account disbursements, investing, donations, writeoffs, and spending, so that when their tax bill does come around, they will either pay far less than they expected (and they have the ability to do so) or get a refund.

The low income earners, despite receiving credits and appearing not to pay income taxes, pay a huge amount of consumption taxes - that is, the government will dilute the credits that they gave to the low-income earners anyway through sales, sin (alcohol, tobacco), property, utility (fuel, electricity) and excise taxes, plus fees that function as taxes, like license renewal and registration.

In my opinion, the best thing to do is to execute class warfare card through the media.  The media is equally guilty of misinformation to the public; they do no service by trying to gin up anger between one sector of the public and the other.  In fact, the public relations the media is trying to do for the government is obnoxious and wrongheaded - they should shut up and do the research first (like NPR did) before they go on camera.  It will save them a lot of embarassment later on.