mame
Well-Known Member
A lot of righties on these boards like to complain about how "the bottom 50% pay no income taxes" and that the "rich already pay more than their fair share" - but that claim is misleading, and I'll explain why...
First of all it's true that the rich pay the most income taxes while many of the poor do not pay any income taxes but what's also true is that most Americans pay most of their taxes in payroll taxes. The trick here is that righties are making it seem like the rich pay more than they actually do while making the poor look like lazy bums who pay nothing.
So here's the facts, 25% of people who make $1 million or more pay less than a 12.6% effective tax with both payroll and income taxes considered; Meanwhile, 40% of those in the 30-40k bracket pay 12.9% or more on their much smaller income - also with both payroll and income taxes considered. So the "Buffet" situation is actually quite common, many secretaries - and other working class Americans - pay more taxes as a percentage than many of the richest Americans.
now, in general our system seems to be sufficiently progressive but there are a few holes in the system... My info is coming directly off of this:
My point is, some millionaires and billionaires are very clearly not paying their fair share at the same time cuts are taking place to important social programs for the poor as well as services like education, etc... Is it really too much to ask that the most well off in our nation pay at least as much as the working class, especially in this time of need?
First of all it's true that the rich pay the most income taxes while many of the poor do not pay any income taxes but what's also true is that most Americans pay most of their taxes in payroll taxes. The trick here is that righties are making it seem like the rich pay more than they actually do while making the poor look like lazy bums who pay nothing.
So here's the facts, 25% of people who make $1 million or more pay less than a 12.6% effective tax with both payroll and income taxes considered; Meanwhile, 40% of those in the 30-40k bracket pay 12.9% or more on their much smaller income - also with both payroll and income taxes considered. So the "Buffet" situation is actually quite common, many secretaries - and other working class Americans - pay more taxes as a percentage than many of the richest Americans.
now, in general our system seems to be sufficiently progressive but there are a few holes in the system... My info is coming directly off of this:
My point is, some millionaires and billionaires are very clearly not paying their fair share at the same time cuts are taking place to important social programs for the poor as well as services like education, etc... Is it really too much to ask that the most well off in our nation pay at least as much as the working class, especially in this time of need?
