“For the 400 U.S. taxpayers with the highest adjusted gross income, the effective federal income tax rate—what they actually pay—fell from almost 30 percent in 1995 to just under 17 percent in 2007, according to the IRS. And for the approximately 1.4 million people who make up the top 1 percent of taxpayers, the effective federal income tax rate dropped from 29 percent to 23 percent in 2008. It may seem too fantastic to be true, but the top 400 end up paying a lower rate than the next 1,399,600 or so.”
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Business Week (Go read the whole interesting/infuriating article.)
I have no problem paying taxes. But it still baffles me how a larger portion of MY money belongs to the government, but a smaller portion of RICH PEOPLE’S money belongs to the government. I understand marginal tax brackets and all that, and I’m not for a flat tax, but effective tax rate — that’s overall, correct? So how is it that rich people’s money belongs more to THEM than my money belongs to ME? This is where the conservative ideological argument loses me.
It’s also where the Tea Party loses me. Do they base their tax policy proposals on the possibility that one day they might be rich, and if/when that happens, they don’t want Uncle Sam reaching into their pockets? Because as long as the rich pay less taxes, percentage-wise, than the rest of us, the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer. It’s a self-defeating proposition that makes it more, not less, difficult to transition into that higher tax bracket.
(via thepoliticalpartygirl)
(Source: politicalpartygirl)
