How About That...
So much for the Democrats' claims that Bush's tax cuts were for the rich. According to this article at OpinionJournal.com, "the Bush years compare very well by tax and income equality to the sainted Clinton era."
...[T]he new data show that the bottom 50% of Americans in income--U.S. households with an income below the median of $44,389--paid a smaller share of total income taxes in 2004 (3.3%) than in Bill Clinton's last year in office (3.9%). That 3.3% is the lowest share of total income taxes paid by the bottom half of earners in at least 30 years, and probably ever. The majority of American families with an income below $40,000 pay no income tax at all today, and many of them also get a welfare subsidy from the Earned Income Tax Credit that effectively offsets much of what they pay in payroll taxes.
By contrast, Americans with an income in the top 1% paid 36.9% of all federal income taxes in 2004, down slightly from 37.4% at what was the height of the dot-com boom in 2000. But the top 5% and 10% of earners saw an increase in their tax share over that same period, with the top 5%'s share rising to 57.1% in 2004 from 56.5% in 2000. If this isn't the definition of a highly "progressive," a k a redistributionist, tax code, we don't know what is.
Will this stop liberals from claiming that Bush has only been good for the rich? No. Of course not. They still can't admit the economy is in good shape.
Posted by Matt at September 5, 2006 09:27 AM
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Remember, according to the left, if you get taxed less, that's a "gift from the government", when in reality it means that the government merely takes less than it did before.
If the left really thinks the Bush tax cuts are so unfair, let them each calculate the difference between what they now pay and what they would be paying before the cut, and give the difference to the charity of their choice. If it's really so important to help the poor, as they claim, then they should be able to do this without going through the government.
Posted by: Bigfoot at September 5, 2006 09:56 AM
But the AMT is still alive.
There is an estimated one trillion dollar underground economy that lives tax free.
We have a 55,000 page tax code that is so complicated that the tax writers in congress have to hire outside accountants to prepare their taxes.
The Republican Party needs to take the initiative and abolish the IRS, undertake draconian cuts in the size of the federal government, and institute the fair tax (Consumption based) system.
Posted by: Bob at September 5, 2006 10:08 AM
I will be patiently waiting for the leftists gangs to comment on this today.
Hey...how about a Hat Tip?
:)
Posted by: Warriornation at September 5, 2006 10:58 AM
Bigfoot, They're the same with the death tax! They never leave their estate to the feds but they want you to leave yours. They want higher taxes but never do so on their own. Even Bigmouth Gates and Buffett leave theirs to tax shelters, and certainly the Kennedy, Kerry and other libs do the same.
HYPOCRITS all.
Posted by: SEW at September 5, 2006 11:23 AM
Posted by:
Paul at September 5, 2006 11:30 AM
The very first sentence of the article says it all:
One sure sign that the economy is doing well is when the left revives that old political warhorse, inequality.
One of my biggest problems with liberal Democrats is that they almost universally believe equality trumps every other human condition. But when Liberals speak of equality, they generally mean equality of outcome, not equality of treatment or opportunity. That the only time we've ever had a "misery index" was during the Democratic administration of Jimmy Carter, speaks volumes about how Democrats view equality.
It should be interesting to see how our resident Libs spin this.
Posted by: Retired Spook at September 5, 2006 12:07 PM
As I've said from the beginning this was the biggest tax cut for the poor in history. The bottom tax bracket got a 240% higher cut than did the top tax bracket. This comes as no surprise to anyone who looks at the facts.
Posted by:
CJ at September 5, 2006 12:34 PM
I am not sure a consumption based tax is a good idea. If it taxes all consumption (say food) then the poor will be hit the hardest. A luxury tax would bring up the argument of what is a luxury? How about a flat tax, say 15% of all income over a basic number, say $25,000 a year? The numbers could be worked out, but you get the idea.
Posted by: kjstrouble at September 5, 2006 03:19 PM
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Remember, according to the left, if you get taxed less, that's a "gift from the government", when in reality it means that the government merely takes less than it did before.
If the left really thinks the Bush tax cuts are so unfair, let them each calculate the difference between what they now pay and what they would be paying before the cut, and give the difference to the charity of their choice. If it's really so important to help the poor, as they claim, then they should be able to do this without going through the government.
But the AMT is still alive.
There is an estimated one trillion dollar underground economy that lives tax free.
We have a 55,000 page tax code that is so complicated that the tax writers in congress have to hire outside accountants to prepare their taxes.
The Republican Party needs to take the initiative and abolish the IRS, undertake draconian cuts in the size of the federal government, and institute the fair tax (Consumption based) system.
I will be patiently waiting for the leftists gangs to comment on this today.
Hey...how about a Hat Tip?
:)
Bigfoot, They're the same with the death tax! They never leave their estate to the feds but they want you to leave yours. They want higher taxes but never do so on their own. Even Bigmouth Gates and Buffett leave theirs to tax shelters, and certainly the Kennedy, Kerry and other libs do the same.
HYPOCRITS all.
Ok
The very first sentence of the article says it all:
One of my biggest problems with liberal Democrats is that they almost universally believe equality trumps every other human condition. But when Liberals speak of equality, they generally mean equality of outcome, not equality of treatment or opportunity. That the only time we've ever had a "misery index" was during the Democratic administration of Jimmy Carter, speaks volumes about how Democrats view equality.
It should be interesting to see how our resident Libs spin this.
As I've said from the beginning this was the biggest tax cut for the poor in history. The bottom tax bracket got a 240% higher cut than did the top tax bracket. This comes as no surprise to anyone who looks at the facts.
I am not sure a consumption based tax is a good idea. If it taxes all consumption (say food) then the poor will be hit the hardest. A luxury tax would bring up the argument of what is a luxury? How about a flat tax, say 15% of all income over a basic number, say $25,000 a year? The numbers could be worked out, but you get the idea.