Thursday, July 19, 2012

Skin in the game: top 20 percent of wage-earners paid about 95 percent of all income taxes

Fairness:

The [accompanying] chart ... is based on data in the recently-released CBO report "Distribution of Household Income and Federal Taxes, 2008 and 2009," [PDF] showing the share of federal income taxes paid by income group in 2009.  In 2009, almost all (94.1%) federal income taxes collected were paid by just one-fifth of Americans (top quintile) and the top 1% paid almost 39% of all taxes collected.  In contrast, the lowest and second quintiles were net "tax collectors" because that 40% of Americans received more in refundable tax credits than they paid in income taxes.


But all we hear about is how the rich don't pay their fair share of taxes, and proposals for increasing taxes on "the rich," like the one from Warren Buffett discussed here

Joe Biden calls this having "skin in the game".

"We see a system where everybody pays their fair share. Where the middle-class tax cut is maintained, and where no one making a million dollars a year or more pays a lower percentage in income than middle-class and working-class families. Where everyone, and I mean everyone, has skin in the game and no one gets played for a sucker.

Skin in the game? Yes, I agree with that. What about the bottom 60 percent putting some skin in the game?

No one gets played for a sucker? Yes, I agree with that. How about taxpayers recoup the billions Obama sent to his campaign bundlers for their phony "green companies"?

What Biden said actually makes sense, though not in the way he'd intended.


Hat tip: BadBlue.com/Money.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Notice that the bottom 20% is living better than the middle 20%, without having to work.

Must be why I see so many "oppressed-class" folks driving Yukons and Escalades, without ever working a day.

The worst part about this graph is, the Progressives and our current regime want to make that line from the upper to the lower straight.

So that the lowest quintile is being given as much money without doing a thing to earn it as the highest quintile is earning by working their butts off.

The POOR in this nation drive ESCALADES and TAHOES.

And they laughed. And laughed.

-Taqiyyotomist from Gateway Pundit

fadge said...

Let's call it what it is, Doug.

You don't have an Escalade and you want one.

You see black people driving Escalades and assume that they are in the bottom 20%.


directorblue said...

Ah, fadge, pulling out the race card when you know nothing about me.

How many inner-city schools do you mentor in?

How many years you been doing that?

True, I don't drive an Escalade. I drive an exotic sports car and, no, I'm not jealous of anyone who's successful.

The Democrats are the party of racism, race warfare, class warfare, religious warfare, and the like.

Conservatives hold the biggest tent of all: the freedom tent... and it is the antidote to the collectivism you advocate that inevitably leads to tyranny, despotism and misery.

Jason said...

Demokrats biotch about the rcih yet I don't know of any poor Dems on Capitol Hill. Do you? Wife and I are in the top 10%. We don't flaunt it. 48 year old house, 2006 Scion xA (customized), 2012 Camry Hybrid, '83 Caprice souped up and in the works. Over-seas vacation every 2 years.