Parents love stores like Payless: The inexpensive shoes it sells are perfect for youngsters who outgrow them an average of four times a year. But here's a shocker: Those cheap kicks are taxed at a rate that's at least six times higher than more expensive footwear.
True, 47% of Americans pay no federal income tax. But, as a recent study points out, when all the other taxes we pay are factored in, the poor often pay a far greater percentage of their income in taxes than the rich.
On Tuesday, Texas Governor and GOP presidential hopeful Rick Perry finally entered the tax debate with "Cut, Balance and Grow," a startling new flat tax plan that borrows freely from Herman Cain's 9-9-9 proposal. But would it help American workers, or slash, topple and shrink the U.S. economy?