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Originally posted by preten2b:

I'm not trying to justify why tax code gives exceptions. Just the attempt to change it again. Why do they give child credits? the US wanted families. Why do you get any mortgage deductions at all? They wanted to encourage home ownership. They could all be argued as good ideas, or unnecessary complications of IRS code.

Fair enough. I'm just getting grumpy about always being penalized or demonized for being "rich". Though we aren't poor, we really are just a couple who worked our asses off for 50 years, and with some discipline and good choices we reached a good income in the last 10 years of our careers. With a little bit of luck, and a boatload of risk, we have turned a nice profit on our home.

I can assure you the tax code is downright punitive to people like us. Meanwhile the popular sentiment of "tax the rich bastards" is growing, and the freebies going out to so many are increasing.

We are not The Rich.

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I can assure you the tax code is downright punitive to people like us. Meanwhile the popular sentiment of "tax the rich bastards" is growing, and the freebies going out to so many are increasing.

Yes...

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Which is yet another bunch of reasons we need a flat tax. For everyone. With few if any restrictions. Fair tax I think some call it.

Yes. Imagine if it were simplified and truly fair? How much we could all save on 'compliance'?

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Yes, tax law should fit on a single postcard. There are many disparities there. However if one is able and chooses to work and buy in an expensive market where jobs usually pay better or school districts and police are better, (location-location-location) ect, then I see it as a local market force to me, not a federal tax subsidy which we all share.

Yes. The perception and reality is that the tax code isn't just about revenue it's about behavior and redistribution and favoring some over others.