Spread the wealth...

I have been doing some reading and it is interesting that there has been a lot of talk about "spreading the wealth". I guess this means that you would take money from the wealthy and redistribute it to the lower income level of the population. This has been a thought of the federal government for a long time. Here are two examples of this thought, Teddy Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. The two big socialists (as you know).



Teddy Roosevelt was for a progressive tax system. That means that the higher your income, the higher percentage of tax you would pay. Theodore Roosevelt championed the idea that the rich should not only pay more money but a higher rate, arguing explicitly that it contradicted the spirit of socialism. (source: http://blog.beliefnet.com/stevenwaldman/2008/10/teddy-roosevelt-socialist-advo.html).



Ronald Reagan helped promote one of the most widely used tools of redistribution of wealth, the Earned Income Tax Credit.

The United States federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC or EIC) is a refundable tax credit. For tax year 2007, a claimant with one qualifying child can receive a maximum credit of $2,853. For two or more qualifying children, the maximum credit is $4,716. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and siblings can also claim a child as their qualifying child provided they shared residence with the child for more than six months of the tax year. However, in tie-breaker situations in which more than one filer claims the same child, priority will be given to the parent. A foster child also counts provided the child has been officially placed by an agency or court. There is a much more modest EIC for persons and couples without children that reaches a maximum of $428.^[1] (Source: Wikepedia)

Enacted in 1975, the initially modest EIC has been expanded by tax legislation on a number of occasions, including the more widely-publicized Reagan EIC expansion of 1986. Many people have used this to better their lives.

Neither of these two past presidents were socialists. Nor are either of the current presidential candidates.