I've really gotta run right now. We are due for lunch at my niece's. HOWEVER, just wanted to make one quick comment on the Tax Foundation - - which you claim is "non-partisan." "Non-partisan" is not the same as "disinterested." If you want to know how disinterested the Tax Foundation is, or is not, you should check the sources of its funding. But I admit, that's not to discredit its facts and figures, which are sometimes useful. I'll comment later on the rest of that post.
http://www.taxfoundation.org/candidates08/compare/About the Tax Foundation
Our Mission
The mission of the Tax Foundation is to educate taxpayers about sound tax policy and the size of the tax burden borne by Americans at all levels of government. From its founding in 1937, the Tax Foundation has been grounded in the belief that the dissemination of basic information about government finance is the foundation of sound policy in a free society.
What Do We Stand For?
As a nonpartisan educational organization, the Tax Foundation has earned a reputation for independence and credibility. However, it is not devoid of perspective. All Tax Foundation research is guided by the following principles of sound tax policy, which should serve as touchstones for good tax policy everywhere:
Simplicity: The tax system should be as simple as possible, and taxes should be easy to understand and comply with.
Transparency: Taxes should be as visible as possible to taxpayers, and should make clear who and what is being taxed.
Stability: Tax law should not change continually, and changes in tax law should not be retroactive.
Neutrality: Taxes should aim to raise revenue with a minimum of economic distortion, and should not attempt to micromanage the economy.
Growth-Promotion: Taxes should raise revenue for programs while consuming as small a portion of national income as possible, and should interfere with economic growth, trade and capital flows as little as possible.
How Should Journalists Describe Us?
The Tax Foundation is a nonpartisan tax research group based in Washington, D.C.
The Tax Foundation Story
The year was 1937, the heart of the Great Depression. During the previous decade, first under Herbert Hoover, then under Franklin Roosevelt, federal spending had climbed 170 percent; over the previous five years internal revenue collections had risen 198 percent.
Concerned about the effect such expansion might have on private sector growth, a small group of business executives gathered in New York City to discuss how they could monitor fiscal activities at all levels of government and convey the information to the general public. They decided to launch an organization which, through research and analysis, could inform and educate Americans using objective, reliable data on government finance.
In the subsequent seven decades, the Tax Foundation has been a national leader in promoting a sense of "tax consciousness" in the public. Its distribution of information has helped provide policy makers with the lay of the land in the ongoing debate over tax and budget policies, as well as with a greater understanding of the policies proposed.
In its seven decades the Tax Foundation has earned a reputation for its independence in gathering data and publishing information on the public sector in an objective, unbiased fashion. As a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt educational organization, the Tax Foundation exists on voluntary contributions from philanthropic foundations, corporations, and individuals across the country.
Again, as an aside... why would I want to listen to anyone disinterested in a subject. The claim to be NONE partisan... not bi-partisan. Disinterested is not an opinion that I would court in anything meaningful in my life.
