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Politics : View from the Center and Left
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To: quehubo who wrote (125402)11/24/2009 1:41:44 PM
From: cnyndwllr  Read Replies (2) of 542133
 
Q, your "who pays taxes" chart compares only two variables; the percentage of the population at certain incomes and the percentage of the nation's total taxes that they pay. That simplistic comparison will always make it appear that the system is grossly unfair to the small percentage of people who pay a much higher percentage of the nation's total taxes.

Most of the "it isn't fair to those who earn the money" charts are designed that way. But remember that we don't tax people, we tax dollars, so why don't they highlight the critical third variable; the amount of gross income earned at each level compared with the amount of the nation's total tax paid at that level? That should still be a disproportionate share since we have a progressive tax system but it will be dramatically less disproportionate than the binary chart you've referenced.

In addition, the few charts I've seen that do show the critically important third variable use NET income versus gross income. That's misleading, however, since accounting tricks, depreciation write offs and other tax loopholes allow the very rich to reduce gross income far below their real spendable level of income.

So if you happen to find a chart that uses all three variables to paint a picture of the "fairness" of the system, I'd think that would be a much better place to begin a discussion with respect to whether the basic American values that have driven our nominal tax policy for generations result in some kind of an unwarranted windfall for most of us and are grossly unfair to those of us at the very top income levels. Ed
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