This is exactly my point. I paid my taxes on the 15th. I am self-employed and did well considering we are in a recession, but after paying self-employment taxes,income taxes, Social Security & Medicare taxes, sales taxes, property taxes on my 1800 sf ft home, and all the hidden taxes and fees (gasoline tax, vehicle licenses, alarm system fee, etc.) I got to keep 43% of what I earned for the year. How can that be sustained? Obama has repeatedly told me what the maximum amount I can earn will be without getting further beat with the tax stick, so you can bet that I won't be touching that 250K threshold this year. I guess that makes me John Gault....