Taxes, Taxes and More Taxes

So the Democrats are huddling in Iowa talking about a couple of interesting tidbits. First, they want to roll back the social security exemption for incomes above $200,000. So let's get this straight - the Democrats want to get rid of the doughnut in the perscription drug plan but they want to create one in social security - taxing people who, in theory, they already are going to tax with their failure to renew the current tax rates. So the Democrats are in effect proposing approximately a 5.6% income tax increase (see notes at http://www.ctj.org/html/gwb0602.htm) and a 6.2% social security tax increase on the wages of the top 5% of American wage earners. That's an 11.8% tax increase on income over $200,000. Meaning that someone earning $300,000 would see their taxes on the last $100,000 of their income climb from about $34,000 to $45,800...and we're back to punishing success in the name of redistribution. I have no problem with a progressive tax system but there comes a point where it is not good for the economy, right to specifically target one group of individuals for redistribution. Of course, we have also heard from several Democratic candidates about their desire to restrain federal spending by cutting all sorts of programs...no wait that was just a fantasy.