So I opened my paycheck today---well---actually I get direct deposit....

[BlueStreak]

24. That is the big issue, not taxation.

The big issue, as you said, is that for many working Americans, our income has not even kept up with inflation, if we were fortunate enough to keep a job.

Please understand that the big corporations that are running things absolutely LOVE an 8% unemployment rate. That is enough employment to keep the economy going, but it is enough unemployment to force people to work for shitty pay and constantly shrinking benefits.

The central goal for EVERYTHING we do at this point should be to achieve a 5% unemployment level or lower. At that level, wages will naturally rise, the government will take in a lot more tax revenues and put out a lot less in food stamps.

The biggest corporations have never been more profitable, so an increase in wages will simply not threaten them in any substantial way. There is a risk of greater inflation as wages rise, but if we use those additional tax revenues to reduce the deficit, that will hold inflation in check.

It is absolutely ridiculous that our central focus today is on austerity. The focus should be on 5% unemployment, period. That would fix most of what is wrong in our economy today.