Maybe I should be embarrassed by stealing so many posts from HotAir, but then they get paid to blog. Here is a report about an op-ed by Ari Fleischer, who used to work as communications director in the Bush administration. The simple idea he presents (not new to him, but the one printed today) is that all taxpayers should actually pay some income tax. Remembering that there is plenty of blame to go around, in 2005, after Bush tax law changes, the bottom 60% of earners, representing over 25% of income, paid less than 1% of income taxes. The top 10% paid 72%. How is this fair?
Our current President wants everyone to have 'skin in the game.' O.K., I agree. To do that, however, everyone has to feel a little, just a little, pinch. Now that nearly 50% of income taxpayers owe no taxes, are paying ZERO or even getting a refund (How do you get a refund when you owe no taxes? It's just a welfare check, pretending to be a tax refund), those people have no concern for the costs of government. If everyone had to pay, at least a little, then maybe everyone would start to understand just how much this Leviathan really costs.
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The government claims that one of its purposes is to prevent the majority from exploiting the minority. However, here's an exploited minority for you.
ReplyDeleteAccording to U.S. Government statistics, the top %1 of taxpayers (a measley 1 out of 100) paid nearly 22% of the total personal income tax bill in 2005. That over one fifth of the entire tax burden! The bottom 50% of taxpayers (or 1 of every 2 taxpayers) contributed just 12% to the tax bill (about one eighth). Many paid no taxes at all.
The follow chart shows how unbalanced the current tax system was back in 2005. Under the Obama Administration, the burden will fall even more heavily on the "producers" of wealth and away from the "consumers" of government services.
http://perotcharts.com/category/taxation-charts/page/9/
Nearly every taxpayer has one vote. Even if all choose to exercise their vote, the majority can (and will) vote to exploit the minority of high-earners. Is this fair? Is this sustainable? Is this American?
The problem, even recognized by the Government, is out of control spending. And apparently, it is only forecast to become worse, much much worse.
Congressional Budget Office Estimate of President Obama’s Budget
http://perotcharts.com/2009/03/cbo-estimate-of-the-obama-budget-2009/
And here's another steaming pile of good news, courtesy of the U.S. Government, prior to the current financial meltdown. According to the Government's own admission, we are on "an unsustainable fiscal path."
A Citizen’s Guide to the 2008 Financial Report of the U.S. Government http://www.fms.treas.gov/fr/08frusg/08guide.pdf
Mr. Howell,
ReplyDeleteHow could you be so shortsighted?
"Now that nearly 50% of income taxpayers owe no taxes, are paying ZERO or even getting a refund (How do you get a refund when you owe no taxes? It's just a welfare check, pretending to be a tax refund), those people have no concern for the costs of government."
People get a refund because they paid taxes they didn't owe.
Think of it this way. If you paid me $1000 per month for a year when you didn't owe me any money in the first place, I would then owe you $12,000 at the end of the year. When I pay you back, would that be a welfare check? Not at all. It would be a refund of money you had deposited into an account that pays 0% interest.
OK.... "the top %1 of taxpayers (a measley 1 out of 100) paid nearly 22% of the total personal income tax bill in 2005."
ReplyDeleteWhat percentage of the INCOME did that top 1% bring in?
Actually, in 2006 the top 1% of earners earned 22.1% of all income, but paid 39.9% of all income tax. The top 10% of earners earned 47.32% of the income, but paid 70.79% of the taxes. Anonymous was wrong about the numbers - it's worse than he said. This is not fair, in any sense.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/250.html
Oh, and about the refunds. I should have been more precise. Millions of people receive direct welfare checks from the IRS in the form of "refundable tax credits." The most well-known is the Earned Income Tax Credit. It's not just that you end up paying zero in taxes, you actually get a check from the IRS so that you have a net positive. There are more of these coming in the Obama budget. So, yeah, these are welfare checks. I repeat: everyone who earns money should have some tax liability - everyone should understand that government costs something. The more people who understand that, the fewer will be standing in line with their hands out.
ReplyDelete