It would be a simple solution to just cap the amount that can be itemized at a level that most (90%) households would not be affected by (say $25K). That way, the middle class isn't affected AND the government earns a little more income. It helps, but it won't solve the bigger problem of runaway spending.   I would...more

M&DFree, maybe not being able to borrow from China is a good thing. Our government would have to learn to write a budget based on tax income (i.e. balanced budget).  Sometimes, tough love is the only solution.

'another investor' had the same idea I came up with. Maybe we should have a tiered tax on investments and tie it to a person's earned income. Like make capital gains tax 15% for investment income up to the level of a person's earned income (or an arbitrary  maximum amount, say $150,000), then the tax bumps up to their ...more

Death by Merry-go-round.   I think we have a Darwin Award candidate here.

Don't the American voters and (gulp!) our politicians realize that we are spending our future generations into poverty? Everyone feels like 'I'm entitled to it, because they promised!'   I hope someone soon sees that they were empty promises made to get you to vote for them. I, for one, do not want to see my childr...more

This author fails to take into account the effects on the money stream between buying domestic and import.   When you buy domestic products, your money stays in the local economy. If I recall my college economics correctly,  for every $1 spent on manufactured goods, $3 is generated within the economy due to continu...more

Our government's spending is so out of whack ($3 spent for every $2 that comes in) that any sane person with some knowledge of economics knows that it can't keep going on like this. Either spending must come down, income must increase, or some of both - at least to the point where it looks like our senators and represe...more

While the author is correct that congress could rescind the Roth tax advantage at any time, the backlash would amount to political suicide (like cutting Social Security for the elderly).   That said, just about most of the reasons the author gives to not convert are poorly thought out or just plain wrong. Make my c...more