Must Read from Today's WSJ

Over the doors to the IRS building in Washington, D.C. are the words attributed to Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes: "Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society." In my view, every American who makes money in the US should pay taxes. If in fact there are 38 million workers who are not paying taxes, and they submitted but a $100.00 a year (less than 30 cents a day) -- that would raise 3.8 billion dollars to the coffers of the U.S. There should be no excuses, no exceptions. If you are an American, and earn money, you should and must pay taxes, even if nominally. Everyone should be grateful for living in the U.S. and should be proud to be an American. Mary

If you think we have an immigration problem now, wait until we are giving away the store. People can flood here for tax refunds, free health insurance and the rest of the socialistic agenda. I have been a Reagan Democrat (read Tip O'Neill Democrat) my entire life, but I love this country too much to see it turned into the next France. My Canadian colleague the other day was trying to "cheer me up" by telling me how socialism isn't too bad once you get use to it. You go with less, take fewer trips, etc, but society as a whole is benefitted. I never felt so depressed in my life listening to him explain away the American Dream!!!

They are both pushing Socialism. Who are you going to vote for? Bad or Terrible. Great choices! It sure looks like a bumpy ride from here.

It won't make one damn bit of difference who wins the election. The country is too divided. If Obama wins, the minorities will figure it's payback time with all that implies for everyone. If he loses, they will claim they've been cheated and the result will be the same. We will still be in the middle of a recession/depression with high unemployment( mostly minorities ), high food and fuel prices or outright shortages, and raging inflation. We will still be in a war or 2. We will be economically pressured by China, Russia, and others. We will still have to deal with massive illegal immigrant problems and high crime rates. Tempers will be very, very short. There will be blood in the streets before next summer. Count on it. Plan accordingly.

This election is about saving our country. I understand that many American's are hurting but if Obama gets elected they will hurt even more. He is moving toward socialism. What all of the main stream media, ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, and CNN do not see coming is that they have given up their freedom of the press by not letting America know who Barack Obama really is. They have all chosen to take a blind eye to his past. All they seem to care about is that they were there when, if elected, the first black president made his speeches. The fairness doctrine only works if you do exactly what you are told to do and say. Once that happens you are no longer free. I know you will not put this on the web but Obama will lead this country into the greatest depression ever. Not God bless America but God save America.

We are on the brink of the most dramatic change in our country's history. We are rapidly going from a capitalist economy to a SOCIALIST government. The people in this country need to wake up and stop looking for the easy way out of their financial problems. Failure to do so will doom this country as we know it. Hugo Chavez must be ecstatic that we are leaning in his socialist direction. Using chavez as a simple example, maybe the socialist tending Americans should take a very close look at the lives of the people in Venezuala. It is not a pretty picture. Poverty is very abundant there. America, if you elect Obama and have both houses controlled by the democrats that is exactly where we are heading. A disatrous combination. I hope socialism dies on November 4, 2008. I am cautious but hopefull.

This is certainly illustrative of Mr. Obama's tax goal to "spread the wealth around." I wish that in the interest of simple honesty (or basic integrity), some of the other, more liberal papers would print such statistics. I'm sure the owners of those papers read the WSJ and sre certainly conversant with the obvious tax-paying imbalance. Maybe we should "spread the taxes around".

I would note that the article speaks to "tax filers". The situation is significantly worse if you consider how many Americans (and non-Americans that live here)are not in the numbers because they do not file a federal tax return.

I couldn't agree more. The tax proposal that Obama is proposing is good old class warfare. The only good idea being thrown around is a flat tax for everybody and eliminating the almost 65 thousand pages of the tax code. That would be fair to everybody. It is a shame but the American dream is turning into the American mandate with the wealthy (whomever that is) shouldering most, if not all of the burden.

You dont earn the title most liberal senator in congress without a little socialism. It is kind of sad that this is just being picked up. But Im still guessing noone will want to talk about it. Instead we will get more stories about how Tina Fey looks like Sarah Palin.

That editorial says it all. In the New York area the "poor": Pay no taxes. Get food stamps. Get heating fuel subsidies. Free or subsidized housing The children are fed breakfast and lunch at school. "Free" medical insurance via Medicaid. Some get paid to get good grades, go to the dentist, get a library card (I kid you not). Low-cost or free day care. Get rebate checks for the taxes they don't pay. Senator Schumer wants to give out 'broadband' subsidies so the poor can get faster internet connedtions. The list goes on an on.... In New York the middle class get: The shaft

wow, thanks for this insight...too bad it is looking more and more like Obama is going to walk away with this election, and more of my money......