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Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Archie Meeties who wrote (67227)	9/11/2008 11:12:37 AM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

Measuring for the past eight years is measuring from the peak of a bubble, not measuring real durable trends, but even ignoring that real income has not declined. Wages don't represent all income, or even all compensation for work. Another stat used to distort the picture is "household income" which has increased very slowly, but the average size of a household has declined. "I’ll bet a million dollars against any member of the Forbes 400 who challenges me that the average (federal tax rate including income and payroll taxes) for the Forbes 400 will be less than the average of their receptionists." If you consider his full tax burden he would probably lose. He is a major owner in a number of companies that pay income tax, then he pays additional tax on the income that gets distributed to him as his personal income, he's only counting the later. The same would hold true for many others on the Forbes 400. Even excluding that he might lose. The average Salary for a receptionist in the US is $25,575 ( cbsalary.com ) Assuming a single person making that much money, with no other income, but also no deductions (no kids, no mortgage, no IRA or 401K, or Health Savings account, or any other kind of credit or deduction), the taxable income would be $16,625, the total tax paid would be $2093, or 8.18% of the gross income. (calculated at dinkytown.net ) If the receptionist has kids various credits and deductions could make the net tax burden zero or even negative. Payroll tax would add another 7.65%, for a net tax burden of between low single digit and just under 16%, depending on deductions. (You could consider adding the employer contribution as well since it depresses wages, but if you do that you reasonably have to include a portion of corporate taxes for Buffet and the Forbes 400). I doubt that the Forbes 400 generally have such low net tax rates, I know that most rich people (say the top 5%, the top 1%, or the top .1%) do not. And if economic conditions are supposedly so bad, what is supposed to be the cure? Higher tax rates? Please....