SHHHH!!! Don't tell the Democrats.

According to this item in the news, stay at home moms are undertaxed. Well, I know it does not say it outright, but think about this: there are about 5.4 million (that is 5,400,000) women who 'stay at home', and they should be making about $132,000 annually, for a total of over $700 BILLION (712,800,000,000, to be inexact). Assuming that they are only in the 15% tax bracket, that means the government is losing $106,920,000,000 (over $100 BILLION a year in income taxes alone. Add to that the 12.9% payroll tax on the first $90,000 (another $62 BILLION) and you are talking some real money. Not to mention that since they are not being paid in real money, there is the negative impact on local sales taxes, state income taxes and luxury taxes that would be paid on the boats, diamonds and BMWs that would be bought with all that extra income. All of society, in fact, is hurt. Oil companies get less, since there are 5.4 million fewer commuters. Car companies, likewise. Restaurants suffer from these same tax-evaders fixing meals at home, so they hire fewer dishwashers, busboys and waiters (a key bottom rung on the corporate ladder). Other service industries suffer as well. Clothing stores, daycare centers, lunchmeat companies--where does it end?

Sigh. It is amazing we ever became a world power with so much inefficiency. With a little work, though, and the right tax policies, I'm sure we can fix this gross inequity.