True welfare for the rich

You can find the recommendations of the Tax Reform Panel here. I'd like to draw everyone's attention to the following section on page 5.

                                                 (Simple Plan)                                 (G&I Plan)
Dividends received                   Exclude 100% of dividends                 Taxed at 15%
Capital Gains received             Exclude 75% of corporate gains          Taxed at 15%
Interest received                      Taxed at regular tax rate                     Taxed at 15%

If you just skipped down to the section I was referencing you should also know that 15% is the LOWEST tax bracket. "So what?" you ask? Democrats are always screaming about subsidizing the rich (or welfare for the rich, etc). Republicans are always screaming about welfare and a system that encourages people to not-work. Here you've got a classic case of that. The result of this system would be that a person who works for a $200,000 a year salary will pay higher income tax than someone who lives off of investments and earns $200,000 a year in interest. Isn't that exactly what we want to discourage. We don't want to create a plateuad system whereby certain people can sit back and rest on their laurels. We want a system where people are encouraged to work and continue investing.

Side note: There is a specific exemption for financial institutions to continue to use interest expense to reduce tax liability. Thank goodness.