The Europeans adopted a "flat" tax and then added an income tax on top of it. In Texas we have no income tax but we have very high property taxes. Now we have strong proposals for higher property taxes plus an income tax. This "flat" tax movement scares the bejeezus out of me because there is NO guarantee that the income tax will die with its implementation.
By the way, the pension laws are scandalously in favor of the rich, and Bush made it worse. I know, because I run my firm's pension plan. And I really enjoy the extra 2K, going up to 5K, that I get to put in because I am over 50, on top of the embarrasingly large amount that I can otherwise put in (along with my partners, but they are under 50, so I get to put in even more than those robber barons relatively speaking though), while giving pennies to the hourly folks. My avarice only goes so far though. Every penny that goes into the plan for the hourlies, is fully vested. Divesting because an hourly quits, because he or she is tired of working for a high strung asshole like myself, is a bridge too far. And there you have it.