So now we are about to go over the “fiscal cliff” because the Republicans and Democrats can’t agree on how to penalize the rich. The Dems want to increase tax rates on the wealthy while the GOP want to constrain tax loopholes and deductions to achieve the same revenue goal: about $50 billion. This turns out to be an ATM fee on the total $1.3 trilllion deficit.  But why should we raise taxes on the wealthy while lowering them for the middle and lower income folks in the first place? Generally speaking the well to do tend to be better educated, have more knowledge, skills and abilities. They work very hard. THEY ALSO TEND TO BE THE JOB CREATORS. We live in the land of freedom and opportunity and these folks chose paths that required education, lots of it. By and large that education paid off. This is not to say that folks in the lower income strata did not work as hard as the wealthy folks. It is just that the wealthy ones took on more education, in some cases at great cost, which increased their skills and abilities, and paved the way to upward mobility. Why do we want to transfer their wealth?  Why penalize the wealthy for their education,  knowledge, skills and hard work ? The administration talks a good game about investing in education while at the same time making investing in a education a tax penalty.