Democrats say they support a progressive tax which is good. We already have a progressive tax at the federal level, however, many State and city taxes are straight taxes. A straight tax is where everyone is taxed equally. For instance everyone is taxed at 10 %. That seems fair but it puts a heavier burden on the poor. A millionaire can afford ten percent but someone earning just enough to live on can’t afford ten percent, so we have a progressive tax where the higher your income, the higher percentage of tax you pay. That way the rich carry a heavier part of the burden. That may seem unfair but it puts the burden on those who can best afford it. However, the problems are in the details. Those earning less than needed for a basic living still suffer. As a result, we have a standard deduction for the taxpayer and any dependents to allow a minimum basic income before the taxes begin to exempt those earning below a living wage. That helps them to put all their income into surviving. We have a system where the tax is taken out as it is earned. That is good because there is no allocated tax burden waiting for you at the end of the year, if you lose your job. There are also deductions for work-related expenses for those who are self-employed. An employee gets paid for his work and gets to use all that for what he needs to live on, however someone who is self-employed does not get to keep all he earns. If he buys books for $5.00 each and sells them for $10.00, he can’t keep all that. He must use $5.00 from each book to buy more books to sell. As a result, our tax system allows him to exempt the cost of the books he purchases and other expenses like rent, utilities, and other expenses that are needed to sell the books. That is far since he is only taxed on what he gets to keep.