I don’t buy the double taxation argument for a second. You know, Bush wants to get rid of taxes on stock dividends in large part because it’s double taxation. In my opinion, that’s ridiculous. We frequently get double taxed all the time. Like, we get taxed on our income, then when we spend it, we get taxed again in sales tax. Or other taxes.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with double taxation at all. It’s just all about the proper allocation of taxes, which things to tax at what rates to get the necessary revenue to run the government. If taxing both companies on earnings and investors on dividends is an appropriate allocation of taxes, then it’s perfectly fine. It might be that reducing or getting rid of taxes on dividends is reasonable. But if it is, it’s for reasons of best allocation. That double taxation is inherently wrong – I think that’s a ridiculous argument.