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

Another SOTU view - Obama clueless on deficits

David Walker: Obama Has "No Coherent Strategy" for Tackling Deficit or Creating Jobs

Excerpt:

Every good fight needs a good strategy. But, the fiscal fight this country has been battling for the last few years hasn’t got one says David Walker – the so-called “Paul Revere” of fiscal responsibility.

“We have no coherent strategy to be able to improve our competitive posture, to be able to generate job growth [or] to be able to deal with our structural deficit,” says Walker, Founder and CEO of the Comeback America Initiative and also the former U.S. Comptroller General.

If Walker is right, the United States is in serious trouble. This year the U.S. deficit will hit $1.5 trillion and if left without remedy will grow to $18 trillion by the end of 2021.

President Obama touched on our dire deficit situation during his second State of the Union last week, but Walker felt he did not go far enough. He believes as the executive of the country President Obama should have laid out specifics on out how to move this country forward. “We heard a lot of talk about it in the State of the Union,” he says. “We hear a lot of talk about it from politicians on both sides of the political aisle. It is time for action. We need results, not rhetoric.”

Comment: the Comeback America Initiative