Testing the hypothesis: The wealthy don't pay enough taxes

Obama SOTU 2010 redux: "If we truly care about our deficit, we simply cannot afford a permanent extension of the tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans." Top 1% already pay more than bottom 95%

Excerpts:

The rich in this country pay far more than their fair share. And not only does bottom 47% of taxpayers pay no federal income tax, but the bottom 40% GET MONEY BACK! The top 5% pay about 60% of the federal tax bill. It's now gotten so bad, so unfair, that the top 1% pay more in federal taxes than the bottom 95%.

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Let that sink in for a moment. From a prior post: Fleeced: The upper 1% earned 19.6% of total income before tax, and paid 41% of the individual federal income tax. "No other major country is so dependent on so few taxpayers"

As for Obama’s assertion that fleecing the top 2% is “about promoting America’s success,” I have two points of fact to refute any such notion. 1) Taxing that 2% a bit more will make a negligible impact on the record deficits that Obama is racking up. The tax increases will amount to tens of $billions in relation to a deficit that will be a record $1.5 TRILLION (or $1,500 Billion). But more importantly 2) as a matter of historical fact, each $1 in higher taxes results in $1.17 of new spending.

Comment: Worthwhile read with charts