<html>Dear Conrad: In this country, people who are more efficient at making money are already penalized for it, and I am all for a flat tax or a consumption tax instead of all this garbage going on today.    I don't know if it will ever happen, especially after seeing some of the attitudes of some of the people I tune for here in Vermont, what I was proposing would say that if you want to work more hours in a year, therefore earning more money, you would not be at risk of being bumped up to the next tax bracket.  I really believe that people who work long hours for their yearly income deserve better than to have government say they will take a larger chunk of it regardless of how much effort was put in.    If you were to become more efficient, your standard of living would improove, and you would also get more work because you would be more compeditive.  At the very least I wish as a piano tuner that there were a sliding scale instead of brackets so I never have to worry about making too much money.  I am also displeased that I have to hire an accountant because the system is so horrendously complicated! --Chris </html>