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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (44723)	10/1/2003 2:18:55 AM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

China Senator Charles Schumer, Democrat of New York, joined by 3 stupid Republicans (Dole, Graham and Bunning), are proposing an across the board tariff on Chinese goods unless the Chinese revalue their currency. If the Chinese currency is truly undervalued, shouldn't we be grateful for the discount our citizens get when they buy Chinese goods? If WalMart gave every American a discount card entitling them to 40% off at WalMart, and Mr. Schumer took it away from them because Target was losing sales and jobs, how do you think people would react? I think they would not be happy. Forcing the Chinese to revalue will simply raise the price of Chinese goods and lower the standard of living for most Americans. schumer.senate.gov Posted by Bruce Bartlett at 11:21 AM \| link

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (44723)	10/1/2003 2:22:55 AM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

Tax Data - The IRS has just released new tax data for 2001. They show that the share of total income taxes paid by the wealthy fell for the first time in many years, and rather sharply as well. In 2000, the top 1% of taxpayers--ranked by adjusted gross income--paid 37.4% of all federal income taxes (excluding payroll, estate and other taxes). In 2001, this share fell to 33.9%. This data will undoubtedly be used to show that the Bush tax cut benefited the rich disproportionately. However, a closer look at the data indicate that the tax share decline was due entirely to the stock market collapse and the recession. The aggregate AGI of the top 1% fell by $243 billion, reducing their share of total AGI from 20.8% to 17.5%. The income threshold for those in the top percentile fell from $313,469 to $292,913. This fall in income is what led to a decline in aggregate tax payments by this group from $367 billion to $301 billion. Proof that the tax cut was not responsible for the falloff in taxes paid by the very rich is shown by the fact that the average tax rate they paid actually went up slightly, from 27.45% in 2000 to 27.5% in 2001. I would also note that this year for the first time, the IRS has broken down the figures for the very wealthy into finer detail. Previously, data were available only for the top 1% and top 5%. Now, data is provided for the top 0.1% and the top 2%, 3%, and 4% in addition to the usual data. Unfortunately, no historical data is provided, so it is very hard to analyze the new details. Following are the URL's for the IRS data: Standard tax shares data with historical detail back to 1986: irs.ustreas.gov New data with further detail on the top 5%: irs.ustreas.gov Main IRS statistics page: irs.ustreas.gov Posted by Bruce Bartlett at 10:34 AM \| link