[KeyWest]

Basic error in this is th assumption that only the rich own stocks. Obviously, the writer has never heard of 401ks or any other retirement funds.

[freeper12]

look all taxes are unfair IMO, but it is political suicide for the republicans to push to cut the inheritance tax (which only affects people with mult-million dollar estates) and the cap gains tax, which is mostly going to benefit the upper income tax player...especially when the gov't is already running several hundred billion dollar defecits, and states are all near bankruptcy....

Now argue all the economics all you want...republicans push this one thru and I predict we loose two of the following next election : senate majority, house majority and/or whitehouse.

Now knowing that it is completely political suicide, and will make for great campaign attacks by the democrats, and sure to be an issue that sticks with voters...I am pretty darn sure that is exactly what they will push for...read...aim...shoot yourself int he foot.

I for one would rather see the republicans majority to do some reall CUTTING of government waste while they control everything...a lot oeasier to argue for tax cuts when the gov't is running a surplus.

[machman]

Yes, major flaw in the analysis. Soooo many people have exposure to the stock market and don't even know it.

Of cousre the Globe doesn't get to the easy way around the problem that only giving a tax break to "the rich" can be fix the double taxation of dividends. The simple answer is eliminate the taxation at the corporate level. To me, it makes much more economic sense, treat the income given to owners of the company the same tax treatment that income given to debtors of a company are given. This of course would reduce the tax incentive of corporations to overly leverage their balance sheet, which, as we have seen recently, at times in not a very good thing.

[glory]

Well dividends are not taxed in retirment accounts--you get taxed at your income tax rate when you take ANY money out though and penalized if you take it out early(with some exceptions of course), but this does ignore those Americans in the middle class who are investing outside of their retirment accounts or who just hold their money earning interest in a bank. We fit the bill--we regularly send money to DRIP programs.

[Leisler]

Don't employees own chunks of Southwest, United Airlines, etc? Wouldn't employee owned, part or whole, companies benifit?

[Alberta's Child]

Good point, but dividends paid within 401(k) or IRA accounts are tax-exempt anyway.

The best case for eliminating the levy on dividends is that company profits should not be taxed twice, as they are now . . .

This editorial completely misses the point. The best case for eliminating the tax on dividends is that doing so will encourage companies to actually pay these dvidends instead of paying zero dividends and reporting nebulous "earnings" (whatever the heck "earnings" are).