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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Srexley who wrote (565236)	4/15/2004 8:13:09 PM
From: Steve Dietrich	Respond to of 769670

The payroll taxes are federal taxes. The government (including Bush and the Republican congress) count and spend that money as general revenue. When we hear that Bush's budget will run a $521 trillion deficit that's counting the SS surplus money as general revenue. Without it, Bush's deficit would be more like $700 billion, and all the deficit projections for the next 10 years would be much worse too. <<What about the point so often made by demos that Bush's tax cuts are only for the rich?>> It's a lie to claim Democrats say that. They say it's mostly for the rich, too much for the rich, and i certainly agree with that. Steve Dietrich

To: Srexley who wrote (565236)	4/15/2004 9:38:59 PM
From: Steve Dietrich	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

<<They pay about 7 5/8% in FICA/MediCare,>> Most economists (including Republican economists) count the full 15% as paid by the employee as they figure the employer passed the cost along in lower wages. From the House of Representatives web site: house.gov Economists generally agree that the entire burden of the employer's share of the payroll tax is ultimately shifted to workers in the form of lower wages. Therefore, it is appropriate to include the employer's share of the payroll tax when analyzing the burden of the payroll tax. At any rate i'm sure you realize that those in the top bracket aren't actually paying that rate on all their income. Here's a chart of where federal revenue comes from: law.wustl.edu That's for 2002. For 2003, 55% of federal revenue comes from income taxes and 35% comes from employment taxes. So i hope you can see just how unfair it is to only talk about income taxes when employment taxes are running surpluses and are such a large part of the federal revenue pie while income taxes are running massive deficits. Steve Dietrich