The 1%

Baby, You're a Rich Man
Excerpt:

Overall, the top 1% of U.S. households have a net worth above $6.8 million or at least $521,000 in income, according to data from the Federal Reserve and the Tax Policy Center in Washington. The cutoffs for the top 5% are $1.9 million in net worth, or $209,000 in income.

Needless to say, these national figures obscure large geographic differences. A prince of income in Danville, Va., is a relative pauper in New York City. 

In Danville, the threshold for the top 1% of earners kicked in at $179,000, while it took $588,000 to reach the top 1% in New York City and northern New Jersey, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal of U.S. Census Bureau data from 2007 to 2009 collected by the University of Minnesota Population Center.

The income threshold for the top 1% falls midway between Danville and New York in places like Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Atlanta; Rochester, N.Y.; Miami; San Luis Obispo, Calif.; and Peoria, Ill.

Comment: Image source. Interesting article. Read for definition of the "ultra rich". I don't think we have any relatives who are 1% but probably 2 who are in the 5%

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