If this isn't proof, I don't know what is

Do people even read anymore? Do they have any concept of what's going on? Can anyone else read this and remain unconcerned about the
direction that these bastards are taking our country? This goes back FAR - what it does is restores to the wealthy the status quo ante to 1911 -
before we had an income tax. However, it does NOT bring any tax relief to those who have nothing. It does make it simpler - NO DEDUCTIONS. Just "what did you earn? Send in [this] much."

Are you really in favor of letting the wealthy pay NO tax on investment income, NO tax on capital gains, NO tax on inheritance, NO tax on property appreciation, and NO tax on passive income (rental property?) Are you REALLY in favor of having only those who aren't lucky enough
to own property and money that grows on its own pay the entire tab of the Federal government? What would it do to you to have your mortgage
deduction taken away, and your state property tax deduction taken away? Do you realize that your PERSONAL tax bill would increase sharply
as a result? Look at what else this proposes - NO MORE FAMILY DEDUCTIONS. No disability, no DEPENDANT deductions.

How can you read this and not want to go knock the snot out of the nearest Republican who lords over you how they're "fiscally conservative?" This isn't at ALL conservative, it's a GOD DAMNED REVOLUTION and no one's talking about it.

Bush advisory panel pushes simplified tax filing process
Home mortgage deduction would be done away with
By JESSICA HOLZER
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

SUMMARY
The tax panel's proposals would simplify the filing process

• Simplifying taxes: A presidential advisory panel proposed two plans for making it easier to file income taxes.

• What they would do: Both plans would eliminate or redesign most deductions and credits, including those relating to health benefits and home mortgages.

• Initial reaction: Some lawmakers expressed concern that taxpayers in their states could lose out under the proposals. The White House has made no commitment to accept the recommendations.

WASHINGTON - President Bush's tax-advisory panel backed an overhaul of the tax code Tuesday that would slash levies on investment income, make it easier for Americans to save tax-free and repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax — a parallel tax system introduced in 1969 to ensure that the wealthy paid taxes but that has increasingly ensnared the middle class.

However, people should not expect their tax bills to shrink, panel members said, because the proposals would also kill or cap many popular tax breaks and credits, including education, state and local taxes and the home mortgage-interest deduction, which many politicians consider sacrosanct.

Instead of the deduction, homeowners with modest mortgages, adjusted by region, would get a tax credit of 15 percent of their interest payments.

In place of losing the current tax breaks, taxpayers would get a reduction in marginal income tax rates, lower taxes on some investments and new retirement and family tax savings plans.

'Simple, fair, pro-growth'
Still, the tax panel said its centerpiece proposal — the so-called "simplified income tax" — will be a huge improvement over the current system.

"It's a simple, fair, pro-growth plan," former Sen. Connie Mack, R-Fla., the panel's chairman, said.

The simplified income tax would cut the number of tax brackets from six to four, pushing 75 percent of taxpayers into the bottom 15 percent bracket. It would also ease tax-filing paperwork, in part by collapsing the numerous family and personal tax breaks into one family credit.

"Most taxpayers will be able to file on one page and pay at one rate," said Charles Rossotti, a panel member and former Internal Revenue Service Commissioner.

President Bush asked the nine-member, bipartisan panel to recommend changes in the tax code that would eliminate the minimum tax without reducing revenues. The tax is projected to generate $1.3 trillion for the Treasury over the next 10 years.

To encourage savings and investment, all dividends paid out by U.S. corporations would be tax free and capital gains rates would be cut to between 3.75 percent and 8.75 percent. The plan would also set up three savings plans that would replace numerous ones currently available for retirement, medical expenses and education.

Effect on health benefits
Aside from crimping the mortgage interest and other deductions, the plan would also cap the unlimited employer-health insurance deduction to $11,500 for families and $5,000 for individuals. As a result, workers might see their employer-provided health benefits trimmed.

The abolition of the state and local tax deduction would likely rouse taxpayer opposition in states, such as New York, with hefty property and state taxes.

Panel members said eliminating these deductions is the best way to pay for the repeal of the AMT, which was established to ensure that wealthy taxpayers with many deductions would still pay some taxes. The Alternative Minimum Tax will affect 4 million taxpayers this year and is projected to include 51.3 million by 2015.

As an alternative proposal, the panel also endorsed "the progressive consumption tax" — which comes closer to a fundamental overhaul of the tax code.

The plan's selling point is a provision to allow businesses to write off all purchases of equipment and other capital investments immediately, an idea that economists say would spur more capital investment and faster growth.