I agree with CR's post at # 134. The wealthy aren't "cheating" on their taxes, they're simply working within the rules set forth by gov't. That being said, those who don't pay any taxes committing fraud in fed programs are straight out stealing. They're taking something they haven't paid anything for.
The top 1% pay approximately % 40 or so of federal income taxes. This begs a larger question, why should the wealthy have to pay a higher % in tax than someone who's poor. Does a wealthy person use more of the federal highway system? Does the military protect the wealthy person more than the poor person from foreign aggression? Does the Medicare/SS serve the wealthy more than the poor person?
Let's not forget all the wealthy aren't just the "evil, rich, country club republicans". Many of the rich are Dems....but as long as they can influence members of Congress to protect their interests it makes sense to send a few thousand to Dems/libs. There are many areas where you will never have a R/con congressperson.
I'm not OK with Medicare, Welfare and other types of fraud, of course not it's against the law. If you've followed my posts over the years, I support FairTax, you can find info on it here:
www.fairtax.org
FairTax will be revenue neutral, closes the tax loopholes used by the very rich and is a point-of-sale tax. Same rate for everyone, rich buy more they're taxed more.