NICK GILLESPIE: Evil Bush Tax Rates Made Rich Bastards Pay More Taxes! “For all the yammering about the wisdom or tragedy of extending Bush-era tax rates, precious little hot air has been expended on, like, looking at what effects the goddamn things had on who paid how much tax. Back during the 2008 election, Joe Biden used to say that it was ‘patriotic’ to ask the rich to pay ‘their fair share’ in taxes. What that widely repeated nostrum misses is that the rich (however defined) have been paying a greater share of income taxes in the aughts. Below is a chart from the Tax Foundation that lists the percent of federal income tax paid by each income group. Whatever else you want to say about the Bush tax rates, they made the wealthy pony up more of the whole.”

Yes, the big problem with our current system is that most Americans pay too little in taxes. If I had my way, everyone would pay at least some income tax, however small their income — and that amount would rise and fall, directly, with how much Congress spent that year.

UPDATE: Reader Dave Lange writes: “Gillespie’s article is just one more piece on the pile of evidence that the two most important pieces of tax reform we need are a flat tax (low rate, no deductions) and the elimination of withholding – including FICA. But who are we kidding? This would eliminate opportunities to pay favors to preferred constituencies, and inform the citizenry exactly how much they’re paying for the government they’re getting. Both of which are seen as bad things by the ruling class.” Yes, it’s hard to get the political classes behind anything that reduces opportunities for graft.