APRIL MEANS TAXING TIMES.

In Reason, George Mason economist Veronique de Rugy offers five tax myths.

1.  The Rich Don't Pay Their Fair Share.
2.  We'll Fix the Budget Deficit by Taxing the Rich.
3.  If You Can't Tax the Rich, Tax Corporations.
4.  Capital Gains Should Be Taxed Like Ordinary Income.
5.  Tax Cuts Pay For Themselves. 

It's worth reading through her elaborations in full, and, yes, the political economy of taxation does not favor either Democrats or Republicans.  I'd note further that while she compares flows with flows in evaluating only income taxation in her first point, governments tax consumption and wealth as well as income: consider sales taxes, particularly those that vary by type of good, e.g. no tax on food at the grocery store and high taxes on food at restaurants (I'm looking at you, DeKalb, Illinois) and property taxes, which is to say, the way in which localities fund their schools, and which can be assessed on other personal property, consider registering your automobile or your boat.

Her third and fourth points get into the weeds of tax incidence, which makes reckoning exactly how much of a corporate profit tax is borne by its owners rather than its suppliers or workers: and that spills over into determining how much appreciation of capital has already been taxed in other ways.

On his Substack, David Henderson offers four technical thoughts about taxation.

1.  High marginal tax rates cause economic harm.
2.  High tax rates also cause tax avoidance.
3.  Making tax rates the same would likely reduce the demand for government spending.
4.  Most people, not just high-income people, think a proportional tax on income is more fair than a graduated tax with higher rates for higher-income people.

The first and second points are related, with the economic harm presenting as excess burden and the tax avoidance presenting as people changing their behavior in addition to looking for ways to shelter income, which Milton Friedman once quipped was "losing money in order to pay less tax" or words to that effect, and both of those distinct from, oh, in Steve Martin fashion, making a million dollars and not paying any taxes on it.  I'd like to see stronger support for the third and fourth points.  The third, in particular, suggests that politicians promise pie in the sky that some fellow behind the tree will pay for.