This is the dumbest thing I have heard in some time!! People, as you know, come in all shapes and sizes. I happen to be 6'4", and according to some charts, my 230 lb body weight makes me "obese". Really?!! At the recommended weight of 185 lbs, I would be practically a human skeleton, with little strength or energy to perform daily tasks.. First of all, we need to drop the term obesity- it's shock value is long lost due to overuse. Yes, many people are overweight; not so many are actually obese. Obesity is a severe, imminently life threatening condition. Second, we need to stop trying to coerce, bribe, or threaten those whose physical conditions or lifestyles do not meet favorably with our expectations.

umm... how about industry leaders and business owners running industry? And property owners , who pay taxes, owning property? I hope you aren't suggesting that government can run things better. Government control is the problem. Government's job is... to govern. And keep their noses out of everything else.

Massachusetts is now so far removed from its colonial roots it will never find its way back. The greedy, grasping monarchy of 18th century Britain has only been replaced with an even greedier state government that is nothing more than a mechanism for collecting revenue from the rest of the state and feeding it into the city of Boston in the form of water and sewer rate relief, subsidies to the MBTA, and sops to the union thugs that have a stranglehold on construction in the city- think Big Dig. Corrupt, greedy, tone deaf and uncaring. That's why I moved to NH!!

It's interesting that you created an argument, then destroyed it almost in the same breath. You can argue for "progressive" tax rates that soak the rich. But if you argue that taxes should be based on the services received, you have contradicted yourself. A wealthy person and a poor person living in the same town should, by your first argument, pay differing amounts of tax in the name of progressivity. By your second argument, because they both drive on the same streets that are maintained and repaired by the same town government , have their trash picked up once per week, receive the same police and fire services etc. they should pay the same amount. Which is it?

Exactly! Just another sop to the unions. Railroads are built using only union labor, and only union people are hired to run them. And we all would end up paying for this.

I wouldn't take issue with your statement that rich people use "loopholes", those exceptions in the tax code that we refer to as "legal deductions" when we claim them on our own tax returns. But I would like to make two points... First, anyone who breaks the law ought to be punished. But these loopholes are legal. No one who takes advantage of such a provision in the tax code is breaking the law. Second, regardless of how the rich reduce their tax liability, the fact remains that they, though a very small percentage of the population, still pay a vastly disproportionate share of taxes, so that the top few percent pay more than every one else combined. Unless you simply hate the rich, you must admit that's not fair.

Maybe I am simple, maybe I am unrealistic... but not only do I not see an argument for soaking the rich, I don't even see an argument for making one American citizen pay more than any other to support government. If you make double what I earn, and we pay the same marginal tax rate, you are paying double what I pay. Yet we drive on the same roads, our trash is picked up once per week, our military defends us both... you get the idea.. Even a flat tax isn't fair. Does anyone at the coffee shop ask you what your income is so that they can charge you a different amount for your coffee than the next person in line? Am I missing something here? My heart doesn't bleed for rich people- I just don't hate and resent them the way many seem to.

Actually, the Brits were acting like liberals. Their prime minister Neville Chamberlain decided that, instead of confronting Hitler and the evil he represented, he would "sit down and negotiate" with him. Chamberlain returned from that trip proclaiming "peace in our time", proudly waving a worthless piece of paper. For shame...

Right here...."Fewer than 5 percent of Americans list illegal immigration as one of their top issues, according to recent polls."

More of your drivel.... nobody here is buying what you are peddling dude. I could follow you around the internet all day flagging your lies- my you have been busy!