From: utzoo!utcsrgv!thomson Newsgroups: can.politics Title: Re: Fixed rate vs progressive tax Article-I.D.: utcsrgv.1016 Posted: Fri Feb 11 11:17:31 1983 Received: Fri Feb 11 12:35:20 1983 References: utcsrgv.1015 I have long felt that the only reasonable tax scheme is to increase the basic deductions (personal and dependents) so they reflect the real cost of basic (maybe even poverty-level) subsistence, then tax any income after that at a flat rate. Eg. the deductions for a single person should amount to $8k or so, a family of 4 maybe $12k. I was particularly peeved when Judy Erola recommended that the deduction system be fiddled to encourage procreation. It is an indicator of the incredible arrogance of our federal government that she would even consider your and my fecundity the business of the Feds (the same government that had 'no business in the bedrooms of the nation', remember?) and consider the basic tax deductions (which I believe should reflect how much money you *need*) appropriate tools of Cabinet policy.