One of the biggest debates in Washington today is whether the tax rates for the rich should be increased to help fund our budget deficit. This is not just a federal government issue, but also a local issue that affects everyone. This discussion goes back to our lecture about income inequality and how one would expect most people would prefer to tax the rich so that the rest of the people benefit. It is clear that in New York, people prefer the most obvious choice of taxing the rich and lowering middle-class rates. This is the logical solution that we came to in class, but we also discussed other reasons why Americans might not want to adopt such a tax scheme. These reasons included higher income mobility (possibly a myth in the US), negative views towards the poor, and racial heterogeneity. In a state like NY, it's easy to see how the legislature may be able to tackle some of these reasons on a smaller-scale, but on the national level, there may be too many differences among voters to come to a consensus on this type of tax legislation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/07/nyregion/cuomo-and-legislative-leaders-agree-on-tax-deal.html
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