"Income inequality claims spark tax policy debate"
By Jim Angle
President Obama has made clear that one of his chief themes this election year will be income inequality, and the Washington Post editorial page joined the fray Tuesday with an editorial bearing the headline "A new study links income inequality to the Bush tax cuts."
At issue, action in the Bush years to lower taxes on investment income such as capital gains.
"Why are we taxing work, that is to say wages and salaries - at a higher level than wealth? Which is to say - basically gains from existing capital," says Michael Linden of the liberal Center for American Progress.
Other analysts say investment income should be taxed less because the economy is in desperate need of job creation.
"We are looking at long-term economic growth, and the key to that is taxing income and investment and savings at a lower rate," Scott Hodge, president of the Tax Foundation, said.
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