Five tax lies from the 1% the RW presents as fact- "well known"

[Harry Dresden]

The mega rich have tripled their wealth under voodoo while the rest and the country go to hell. Taxes on the whole are way too low- 12% corporate EFFECTIVE tax. You believe a lot of Pub BS. We need DEMAND- the rich, banks, and corporations are SITTING on record amounts. Ideological idiocy.

so if i start practicing Voodoo.....i can possibly TRIPLE my wealth.....

 

[Harry Dresden]

Like Obama, I would only raise taxes on the rich and make the corporate effective rate 20-25% ASAP- and raise the min wage to 10.50, the equivalent of 1968's, by 2014.
I think i'd like capital gains to be the the same as income rates, person by person. And a lot of making taxes SIMPLER.

.......was that Frankie?.......

 

[Harry Dresden]

At the moment, everyone pays the same percentage in all taxes and fees. The rich always used to be said to be more fortunate, and wished to thank the country. Now they think they did it all., arrogant twits. See "Mitt". LOL Reaganism and greed are a disaster.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

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1. The Rich Pay Almost All the Taxes

That's simply not true. The percentage of total taxes paid by the very rich (the top 1%) is approximately the same as the percentage paid by middle class Americans (the 4th quintile, average income $68,700). Here are the details:

Internal Revenue Service figures show that the very rich paid 23% of their incomes in federal income taxes in 2006. The middle class paid about 8% of their incomes in federal income taxes. Based on U.S. Congressional Budget Office figures, the very rich pay just under 2% of their incomes toward social security, while the middle class pays just under 10%. According to a study by The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the very rich pay about 7% of their incomes in state and sales and property and excise taxes, while the middle class pays approximately 10%. Another year of Bush tax cuts will reduce the taxes of the very rich by at least 3% more than the middle class.

So total taxes for the very rich are 29% of their incomes (23% + 2% + 7% - 3%). Total taxes for the middle class are 28% of their incomes (8% + 10% + 10%). These figures agree with CTJ's 2011 estimate of total taxes paid.

2. Tax Rates Are Too High

In 2009, the United States ranked 26th out of 28 OECD countries in total federal, state, and local taxes as a percent of GDP. Only Chile and Mexico had lower tax rates.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "federal taxes on middle-income Americans are near historic lows." For taxpayers in the top 1%, the tax burden has fallen dramatically in recent years.

At very high income levels, beginning at about the million dollar range, federal income tax actually becomes regressive. Effective tax rates level off at about 25%, and then go down from there. This is because all incomes over $388,000 are subject to the same 35% maximum. The $4 billion hedge fund manager pays no more, percentagewise, than the $400,000 doctor. In fact, even less. At the highest levels most of the income comes from capital gains, which are taxed at 15%.

How about corporations? Even worse. They paid only 12.1% in 2011, dramatically lower than the 25% average since 1987. According to U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) figures, they're paying about a THIRD of the inflation-adjusted share of GDP paid by corporations in the 1960s.

Five Tax Fallacies Invented by the 1% | Common Dreams

More later- it really is ridiculous...

Based on U.S. Congressional Budget Office figures, the very rich pay just under 2% of their incomes toward social security, while the middle class pays just under 10%.

6.2% is just under 10%? Wow, liberals are bad at math.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

2. Tax Rates Are Too High

In 2009, the United States ranked 26th out of 28 OECD countries in total federal, state, and local taxes as a percent of GDP. Only Chile and Mexico had lower tax rates.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "federal taxes on middle-income Americans are near historic lows." For taxpayers in the top 1%, the tax burden has fallen dramatically in recent years.

At very high income levels, beginning at about the million dollar range, federal income tax actually becomes regressive. Effective tax rates level off at about 25%, and then go down from there. This is because all incomes over $388,000 are subject to the same 35% maximum. The $4 billion hedge fund manager pays no more, percentagewise, than the $400,000 doctor. In fact, even less. At the highest levels most of the income comes from capital gains, which are taxed at 15%.

How about corporations? Even worse. They paid only 12.1% in 2011, dramatically lower than the 25% average since 1987. According to U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) figures, they're paying about a THIRD of the inflation-adjusted share of GDP paid by corporations in the 1960s.

Compared to foreign countries, U.S. corporations paid a smaller rate of income taxes than 24 of 25 OECD countries analyzed by the Office of Management and Budget and the Census Bureau.

Most stunning is the shift in taxpaying responsibility from corporations to workers over the years. For every dollar of workers' payroll tax paid in the 1950s, corporations paid three dollars. Now it's 22 cents.

3. Tax Cuts Boost the Economy

In the 1970s, University of Chicago economist Arthur Laffer convinced Dick Cheney and other Republican officials that lowering taxes on the rich would generate more revenue. The delusion has persisted to this day.

Soon after the Reagan tax cuts, in 1984, the U.S. Treasury Department came to the logical conclusion that tax cuts cause a loss of revenue. A 2006 Treasury Department study found that extending the Bush tax cuts would have no beneficial effect on the U.S. economy.

Other sources confirm that economic growth was fastest in years with relatively high top marginal tax rates.

The reality is that supply-side, trickle-down economics simply hasn't worked. Various economic studies have concluded that the revenue-maximizing top income tax rate is anywhere from 50% to 75%.

4. Eliminating Tax Breaks for the Rich Wouldn't Significantly Reduce the Deficit

First of all, just eliminating the Bush tax cuts on the highest-earning 5% of Americans could knock $150 billion off the deficit. Congressional Budget Office data shows that the tax cuts have been the single largest contributor to the return of substantial budget deficits in recent years.

But there's so much more. The IRS estimates that 17 percent of taxes owed were not paid, leaving an underpayment of $450 billion.

Most of the annual $1.3 trillion in "tax expenditures" (tax subsidies from special deductions, exemptions, exclusions, credits, and loopholes) goes to the top quintile of taxpayers. One estimate is $250 billion a year just to the richest 1%.

Another $100 billion could be retrieved by collecting taxes from Fortune 500 companies at the 26% rate paid from 1987 to 2008. CTJ puts the figure at over $200 billion.

Worse yet is the loss from tax havens, which the Tax Justice Network estimates as $337 billion.

Despite some overlap in these figures, it all adds up to a pretty good chunk of the deficit.

5. A Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) Would Hurt the Economy

This fallacy would have us believe that a tiny tax on financial transactions is going to hurt the economy, even though the underlying reason for our economic collapse was the excessive, reckless, unrestrained, free-for-all trading of trillions of dollars of speculative derivatives.

The inventiveness of this fallacy is impressive, with claims of lost jobs, harm to ordinary investors, and the threat of exchanges moving overseas. The Wall Street Journal calls the FTT a "sin tax."

An FTT isn't likely to interrupt the global trading frenzy or cause any sudden defections from financial megacenters. The United Kingdom has had a tax on stock trades for decades, and the London Stock Exchange is humming along as the third largest exchange in the world. The CME Group, made up of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, had a profit margin higher than any of the top 100 companies in the nation from 2008 to 2010.

On the contrary, the FTT has extraordinary revenue-generating potential, on a global scale. The Bank for International Settlements reported in 2008 that annual trading in derivatives had surpassed $1.14 quadrillion (a thousand trillion dollars!). For the U.S. alone, revenue estimates by the Center for Economic and Policy Research and the Chicago Political Economy Group approach a half-trillion dollars annually.

And at the more basic level of simple fairness, it should be noted that while an American mother pays nearly a 10% sales tax on shoes for her kids, millionaire investors pay .002 percent (2-thousandths of a percent) for a financial instrument. That kind of tax disparity is what really hurts.

Paul Buchheit is a college teacher, an active member of US Uncut Chicago, founder and developer of social justice and educational websites (UsAgainstGreed.org, PayUpNow.org, RappingHistory.org), and the editor and main author of "American Wars: Illusions and Realities" (Clarity Press). He can be reached at [email protected].

Various economic studies have concluded that the revenue-maximizing top income tax rate is anywhere from 50% to 75%.

The purpose of the US economy is not to maximize revenue for government, comrade.

 

[francoHFW]

For the economy, shyttehead...jeebus H ...

Voodoo is totally discreditted- the non rich, DEMAND, and infrastructure are a mess...and thanks for the depression and the stupidest wars ever...great job, Pubbies...DUH.

 

[Two Thumbs]

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1. The Rich Pay Almost All the Taxes

That's simply not true. The percentage of total taxes paid by the very rich (the top 1%) is approximately the same as the percentage paid by middle class Americans (the 4th quintile, average income $68,700). Here are the details:

Internal Revenue Service figures show that the very rich paid 23% of their incomes in federal income taxes in 2006. The middle class paid about 8% of their incomes in federal income taxes. Based on U.S. Congressional Budget Office figures, the very rich pay just under 2% of their incomes toward social security, while the middle class pays just under 10%. According to a study by The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the very rich pay about 7% of their incomes in state and sales and property and excise taxes, while the middle class pays approximately 10%. Another year of Bush tax cuts will reduce the taxes of the very rich by at least 3% more than the middle class.

So total taxes for the very rich are 29% of their incomes (23% + 2% + 7% - 3%). Total taxes for the middle class are 28% of their incomes (8% + 10% + 10%). These figures agree with CTJ's 2011 estimate of total taxes paid.

2. Tax Rates Are Too High

In 2009, the United States ranked 26th out of 28 OECD countries in total federal, state, and local taxes as a percent of GDP. Only Chile and Mexico had lower tax rates.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "federal taxes on middle-income Americans are near historic lows." For taxpayers in the top 1%, the tax burden has fallen dramatically in recent years.

At very high income levels, beginning at about the million dollar range, federal income tax actually becomes regressive. Effective tax rates level off at about 25%, and then go down from there. This is because all incomes over $388,000 are subject to the same 35% maximum. The $4 billion hedge fund manager pays no more, percentagewise, than the $400,000 doctor. In fact, even less. At the highest levels most of the income comes from capital gains, which are taxed at 15%.

How about corporations? Even worse. They paid only 12.1% in 2011, dramatically lower than the 25% average since 1987. According to U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) figures, they're paying about a THIRD of the inflation-adjusted share of GDP paid by corporations in the 1960s.

Five Tax Fallacies Invented by the 1% | Common Dreams

More later- it really is ridiculous...

Liberals should never be near money or numbers.

Math fail. Find your HS algebra, assuming you got that far, teacher and beat the shit out of him for pushing you through the system

 

[francoHFW]

Jeebus what a dumb asshole...

 

[Two Thumbs]

At least I can do math and not have to resort to super editing to get the "facts" I want and then do the spin.

 

[francoHFW]

So you're a Dem, not a Rush/Foxbot? I misunderstood. Welcome to the fight against the forces of evil bullshytte...Nite!

 

[Harry Dresden]

For the economy, shyttehead...jeebus H ...

Voodoo is totally discreditted- the non rich, DEMAND, and infrastructure are a mess...and thanks for the depression and the stupidest wars ever...great job, Pubbies...DUH.

ah Frankie.....your back on the drugs......got any more?.....

 

[Harry Dresden]

Jeebus what a dumb asshole...

Frankie?.....oh wait its you.....

 

[Harry Dresden]

So you're a Dem, not a Rush/Foxbot? I misunderstood. Welcome to the fight against the forces of evil bullshytte...Nite!

so what?.....now you think your Batman?....

 

[Ariux]

I guess you are his personal accountant and you know his entirelife situation. I think not.

I know your brain is soft and watery. I don't kneed to know someone's personal accountant to know that a situation is highly improbably and not representative of typical situations. You're passing on bullshit.

No the middle class should not be screwed, everyone.. EVERYONE should pay their fare share. Regardless of class, regardless of social status, no one gets a 100% free ride

You want tax cuts for the rich meaning you want the middle-class to pay yet more taxes. How fucking stupid are you that you can't understand this concept?

Do you know what you're talking about? The rich and middle class pay 100% of income taxes and the bottome 40+ - pay zero.. zip, nada, nothing. Unacceptable.

To think that you can tax the rich at an insane rate, because they have more money than you is nothing more than envy, and economic stupidity.

The poor pay a quarter of their earnings to taxes, which is plenty, and more than many rich people pay in taxes So, your tax argument is ignorant. Why don't you complain instead about how much in handouts they're given? And, while you're at it, why don't you complain about how much in tax breaks the rich are given, which the middle-class can't take advantage of.

 

[Ariux]

6.2% is just under 10%? Wow, liberals are bad at math.

You neocons are liberals. And, yes, liberals are bad at math. The Social Security tax is 12.4%. Hiding half doesn't change that.

 

[francoHFW]

"Neocons are liberals"? Lying Big Gov't by and for the greedy rich, yes.

1. The Rich Pay Almost All the Taxes

That's simply not true. The percentage of total taxes paid by the very rich (the top 1%) is approximately the same as the percentage paid by middle class Americans (the 4th quintile, average income $68,700). Here are the details:

Internal Revenue Service figures show that the very rich paid 23% of their incomes in federal income taxes in 2006. The middle class paid about 8% of their incomes in federal income taxes. Based on U.S. Congressional Budget Office figures, the very rich pay just under 2% of their incomes toward social security, while the middle class pays just under 10%. According to a study by The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the very rich pay about 7% of their incomes in state and sales and property and excise taxes, while the middle class pays approximately 10%. Another year of Bush tax cuts will reduce the taxes of the very rich by at least 3% more than the middle class.

So total taxes for the very rich are 29% of their incomes (23% + 2% + 7% - 3%). Total taxes for the middle class are 28% of their incomes (8% + 10% + 10%). These figures agree with CTJ's 2011 estimate of total taxes paid.

See OP. Even the poor pay as much as the rich in all taxes and fees, and almosttwice as much as corps.
Pub dupes! FCS!

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

6.2% is just under 10%? Wow, liberals are bad at math.

You neocons are liberals. And, yes, liberals are bad at math. The Social Security tax is 12.4%. Hiding half doesn't change that.

What's a neocon?

Are you claiming 12.4% is just under 10%?
Wow, your IQ is just under 10.

 

[Ariux]

6.2% is just under 10%? Wow, liberals are bad at math.

You neocons are liberals. And, yes, liberals are bad at math. The Social Security tax is 12.4%. Hiding half doesn't change that.

What's a neocon?

Are you claiming 12.4% is just under 10%?
Wow, your IQ is just under 10.

A neocon is a liberal asswipe that claims to be conservative. In defense of big government, they love to ignore the existence of most of the taxes that the middle-class pays.

Why 10% instead of 12.4%? Not all income of the middle-class is subject to the Social Security tax, making the effective rate less than 12.4%.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

You neocons are liberals. And, yes, liberals are bad at math. The Social Security tax is 12.4%. Hiding half doesn't change that.

What's a neocon?

Are you claiming 12.4% is just under 10%?
Wow, your IQ is just under 10.

A neocon is a liberal asswipe that claims to be conservative. In defense of big government, they love to ignore the existence of most of the taxes that the middle-class pays.

Why 10% instead of 12.4%? Not all income of the middle-class is subject to the Social Security tax, making the effective rate less than 12.4%.

Yeah, liberals who claim to be conservative are annoying. So what?
Big government should be cut, alot, right now.

Why 10% instead of 12.4%?

I'm correcting the bad math of the OP.
Some idiots can't add.

 

[USMCSergeant]

François Hollande won the French presidential election on Sunday

Sunday's victory means France will have its first Socialist president since Francois Mitterrand, the country's president from 1981 to 1995. In voting Sarkozy out of office, French voters expressed their discontent over Europe's debt crisis.

Hollande's victory could have far-reaching implications on Europe's debt woes. According to the Associated Press, Hollande has promised a 75-percent income tax on the rich and "wants to re-negotiate a European treaty on trimming budgets to avoid more debt crises of the kind facing Greece."

If the progressive, or socialist liberals have their way, this could be in our future. Thankfully, America is not a democracy.