The current system is discriminatory in that it targets and separates people with different incomes. It helps politicians to divide and conquer the masses. The middle class makes up a majority of the population so it's very easy to point at the rich and say “Look over there at all they have, we want to tax them since they have more then you do. Is that fine with you?” The middle class gets jealous as is human nature and instead of aspiring to become rich as well they are content with punishing those who are more successful than themselves. History has shown time and again that when the rich get taxed more the increase in taxes always trickle back down the brackets. So in effect people support taxing the rich and end up taxing themselves.
It also discourages the ideals that the country was founded on. The more you work and the more you earn the more the government takes. Does that seem logical to you? Or does that seem like a mild version of Socialism, the government trying to keep everyone equal (in the wrong way)? For the equality that this country was founded on a flat and equal tax would be correct. No person is treated differently from any other and all have the same opportunities and potential.
For a very basic example I use one of my own personal experiences. When I was in my early 20's I was a server for a national restaurant chain. I worked roughly 30 hours per week and earned around $1300 after taxes per paycheck. I would on occasion open new locations where I earned more money (pre-taxes) and worked more hours (about 40 per week). I ended up making more money and sadly moved into a higher projected tax bracket as a result for that paycheck. My resulting paycheck was about $1350. So even though I earned hundreds of dollars more and worked more hours I made about the same amount of money. To me this was devastating, I worked harder and longer and ended up in the exact same place I was. The message that sends to young people in the work force is terrible.
Now obviously at the end of the year my total income determined my actual tax bracket and determined if I got money back or owed taxes, but the short term effect of seeing that on a paycheck calculated down to the cent hurts anyone's thought process. I recently had a friend who makes very decent money get a raise that moved him just slightly into a higher tax bracket and now he actually makes less money then he did before the raise. Does that seem right? He has a salaried position and can't change his annual income up or down but because he is just over the tax bracket limit he gets screwed.
