Originally Posted by semtex

Well, let's not forget that Nissan had to be bought/bailed out by Renault many years ago! But yes, I agree, America isn't truly capitalist anymore, and it hasn't been for decades. For the record, I have no objection to the wealthy helping out the less fortunate via taxes. It's not like I'm against taxation or anything like that. What irks me (and has irked me long before Obama came onto the scene), is progressive taxation, where the more you make, the greater percentage you pay. I would prefer a system where everyone pays a flat percentage of their income as income tax. So it doesn't matter if you make $10k per year or $500k, you're always going to pay the same percentage to income tax. The wealthy are still going to end up contributing more to the public treasury than lower income individuals, as n% of $500k is going to be a lot more than n% of $10k. Point being, one doesn't have to make the wealthy pay a higher percentage in order for the lower income folks to benefit from their wealth.