Making this an issue is insane.
We can never win on this issue.
Why? Because as long as Romney has more money than anyone anywhere, he is not paying enough.
Zippy says things like “I should pay more,” but of course he doesn’t. If he really believed that the wealthy should pay more, he would lead by example. THAT is the issue we should focus on if income and wealth are to be a campaign issue.
The way to handle this in a debate is for Romney to say something like this:
My personal philosophy on wealth is to be as productive as possible and make as much money as possible. In the process of doing this, I create many, many jobs and provide a means for many other people to make a good living. In terms of taxes, I believe that they are much too high, but I pay what is legally required of me. I believe that I am better suited to decide how much of the money I have earned to give to others than the government is. And I choose to give a substantial portion of my income to others. If I gave all of it away, my income the following year, and therefore my charitable giving would be substantially less. That would create a short term windfall for charity at the cost of long term giving. I believe that would be irresponsible of me as a charitable person.
And now I would be happy to hear about where Mr. 0bama spends his personal income. In particular, I’d like to hear about what charities and causes he gives to and why he allows his brother to live in a hut.
Since when is paying a higher tax rate virtuous? If all is legal, higher is dumb.
But lay it out there as a choice for the voters: is this the America you want? And, BO, then try raising the Capital Gains rate to triple other countries and watch Atlas Shrugged occur over the next 4 years.