Keeping People in Poverty

Since a few of my European friends read my blog I wanted to share this information with them so we can compare personal income tax rates:

Single Person - 2007 USA Federal Income Tax Brackets

US$ 0 to $7,825 = 10% federal income tax rate
$7,826 to $31,850 = 15%
$31,851 to $77,100 = 25%
$77,101 to $160,850 = 28%
$160,851 to $349,700 = 33%
$349,701 and over = 35%

These income levels and tax brackets are of course called a "progressive" tax system because as you make more money the government takes even more of your earnings. However, let me highlight two of these income brackets which are taxed at the 10% and 15% levels.

Now since the US federal government declared that our "poverty level" in terms of income (in 2006) to be $10,400:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States#The_official_measure_of_poverty

Let's take notice of the obvious -- we have American taxpayers currently in the 10% and 15% federal income tax brackets who are earning the federal poverty salary level YET our government still demands they pay a portion of their income to the Internal Revenue System.

Personally I want to completely eliminate our personal income tax since it is not only a form of theft it is an invasion of personal privacy! I thought the US Supreme Court declared in Roe vs. Wade that the Constitution protects personal privacy thus making abortions legal in the USA but for some reason this personal privacy protection does NOT extend to how and how much I earn my income?

Yet I know we don't have the votes in Congress to eliminate personal income taxes so my default position is the "flat income tax." Just to make up some numbers -- how about a 15% income tax for all taxpayers/households for earnings above and beyond $150,000? Now that would not only simplify our tax compliance system but it would also raise known/consistent revenues for the government (which I oppose but it is a compromise to get us away from our current plantation system known as the IRS) but most importantly it would bring TRANSPARENCY to our tax system and eliminate the class warfare that exists with today's progressive tax rate system.

Yours in tax slavery,

Todd