A Modest Tax Proposal

First, only the title of this post is inspired by Jonathan Swift; the content is not.

I'll try to keep this posting brief and try to avoid historic references. Instead I'll just outline the model and leave out any justifications. That can be dealt with in the comments (if anyone actually cares enough to read this post and reply).

Edit: I don't see a way to set this as a work in progress.  I have a LOT more to write.