why does it discourage people from spending their money, they have more money to start w/... and if you figure out the numbers, lets say you are getting taxed 22% on your earnings and you are paying an average state tax of 6%.... you are losing 28c on every $.

now imagine that the tax on items is 20%... you are still getting charged 8% less.

im no math genius, and my grasp of the whole idea might be skewed... but thats how I understand it.