Since this is now a political board I can't help but pose this question for the board: Right now under current federal tax law, a self employed small business person with $50,000 taxable income pays federal income tax of $8694 and self employment tax of $9023 and state tax of $4500 depending on the state. The effective tax rate is 44.4%. Now take a trust fund baby with the same taxable income of $50,000 generated by dividends and stock sales. The trust fund baby pays federal income tax of $2408, self employment tax of $0 and state tax of $3546. The effective tax rate is 11.9%. Our tax policy is obviously designed to foster investment in publicly held companies. Here is the question: Should our nation's tax policy encourage earning a living by the sweat of your brow or should our tax policy encourage investment?