For years now, Republicans have argued for lower and lower capital gains taxes. I’ve never seen the rationale for treating investment income as preferential to hard work; low capital gains taxes just translate result in lower taxes for the very rich. As it turns out, Mitt Romney is a perfect example of this:

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney released tax records on Tuesday indicating he will pay $6.2 million in taxes on a total of $45.2 million in income over the years 2010 and 2011.

Bowing to increasing political pressure to provide more detail about his vast wealth, the former private equity executive released tax returns indicating he and his wife, Ann, paid an effective tax rate of 13.9 percent in 2010….

Under the U.S. tax code, capital gains are taxed at 15 percent, compared with a top tax rate of 35 percent for wage earners….

The tax rates Romney reported paying could add fuel to a national debate over the fairness of the tax code, and coincides with broader concerns about income inequality symbolized by the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Is anybody really going to try to defend this as good policy? Mitt Romney made $45 million, but he’s paying a lower tax rate than most middle-class Americans.

As Warren Buffett put it, it’s time for us to stop coddling the rich. Romney’s low taxes aren’t helping our economy. They’re not helping anybody but Mitt Romney. Romney and his super-rich buddies are paying lower taxes — and raking in a greater share of total national income — than they have in decades. Is it so unreasonable for us to ask them to make some sacrifices?

After all, the political establishment constantly demands sacrifices from the 99 percent.