Comments about ‘U.S. taxes more progressive than Europe’

It's time that the US taxing system be revamped and adjusted to limit and cut taxation for all people and business. The US system is the only tax system where inflation makes government grow in wealth and power. Economic growth was the balance in limiting taxation and the growth of socialist government, but now with a zero growth economy and a 15%-20% inflation it has overwhelmed the checks and balances in government expansion. And government does not want to give up that financial power to establish more socialism in the nation.

Taxes are proportional to consumer spending and with debt, not incomes or prosperity. Incomes have decreased by 50%&plus over the last 10 years and inflation grows by 20% a year means that what people earn now is being taxed at 1,000% of what taxes were 10 years ago on less incomes. This is so subtle a tax increase that people don't even realize how much more of their incomes and debt are feeding government growth. Using debt means you are spending beyond your means or income and keeps government growing and poverty our new level of the economy.

What a lame argument. First, no one uses the term "progressive" for the tax code except in reference to tax rates on individuals or households. Second, the article is only about income taxes but should have included payroll taxes, too. The tax rates on lower incomes would then come out more similar to those with higher incomes. Third, a careful study on this topic would look at "effective" tax rates, that is, the actual amounts as a percentage of income paid by rich and poor after all their tax breaks and accounting tricks.

Progresive taxes= economical repressive taxes! All we ever hear from Democrats is,"tax the rich". The "rich" are already paying nearly 80% of all income taxes paid into the federal treasury while nearly 50% of Americans pay no federal icome taxes at all! How much should the rich pay? It couldn't be true that the government spends too much could it? $16 trillon national debt and growing by a billion/day couldn't teach liberals a thing, could it?

I am often amazed at the "spin" the left puts on taxes and the damgage to our economy that this causes our country. American corporations are hampered by highest taxes in the world, government enviromental and business restrictions that NO other country has to deal with. Then when we can't compete with other industrial countries, when jobs go overseas and when our tax bases erode,liberals demand even more taxes, more regulations that destroy jobs and they wonder why so many Americans are on food stamps, getting uemployment checks and why our economy is is such a mess! There is a real reason nearly everything is made in China, Taiwan or India and until we elect leaders who understand these problems and fundamentally change things, America will contiune to decline in every way possible! That's why this next election is the hast exit on the highway to Greece!

It is unfair for any citizen to pay a higher tax rate than another. It is also unfair for any citizen to pay no taxes.

That's what "fair" means.

Mountanman,

I am amazed at the spin the right puts on taxes. The complain mightily about income taxes, but ignore sales and FICA taxes. They don't seem to be to concerned that I pay a higher FICA rate than anyone who makes over $100,000 per year. They don't seem to concerned about the fact that lower and middle income wage earners pay a higher proportion of their income in sales and usage taxes than they do. They don't seem to concerned that I pay a higher tax rate on my residence than they do, because I only have one and they get a huge deduction on their second third fourth etc. residences.

Oh and by the way there is a real good reason the pay the majority of the income tax, that seems to complicated for the right to grasp. The reason that the rich pay more income taxes is because they have the majority of the income. It always cracks me up when the Hannity and Limbaugh quote the percentage of income tax paid by the wealthy but as soon as some one want to point out how much of the income the wealthy have, they cut them off.

The class warfare that the rich are waging against the middle class needs to end. The fact that matters is that in the last 5 years the wealthy have seen great increasing in their income and the lower and middle class have lost income.

Fred44,

I thought we'd been through this. You even admitted that data show that everyone's income has grown significantly since 1977. Are you just being dishonest?

screenname,

No dishonesty here, yes everyone's income has grown since 1979. But when we look at the growth of income adjusted for inflation the growth for the lower and middle class has been minimal (under 12% for all categories), and the growth for the wealthy has been rather significant (over 80%). If we look at growth in income adjust for inflation from 1945 to 1979 each group was virtually equal, with the lower income actually growing faster than the wealthy. I am a believer in the truth but different than my friends on the far right, I like the whole truth.

I am immediately skeptical of of the Mercatus Center and GMU because of its underlying philosophical position. I would also say that it is a simplistic view and that figures are often misinterpreted or reported to tell the story that the writer leans towards. I've seen this so many times. Be careful of what this really means.

Now, that being said, Tyler Cowan who leads the Mercatus Center has an blog on ethnic dining in the DC area that is really fascinating. It's a great resource.

Fred44,

"The fact that matters is that in the last 5 years the wealthy have seen great increasing in their income and the lower and middle class have lost income."

"Yes everyone's income has grown since 1979."

And yet, you say, "No dishonesty here..."

That speaks for itself. Also, as we discussed earlier, the LOWEST 20% has seen their income increase by 18% since 1979 AFTER inflation. The lower, middle, and upper middle classes have seen their income grow by between 40 and 80%. Yes, the top 20% has seen their income grow by a much larger margin, but the vast majority of Americans have seen their income grow significantly, most of which is simply because of the economy, and not because of anything they did or are.

In spite of the progressiveness of the tax laws, we are obviously still doing something wrong. Doctors continue to earn more than janitors. We must crank up the tax rates on the wealthy until this injustice is rectified.

Mountainman: "I pay a higher FICA rate than anyone who makes over $100,000 per year"

That is only true as a percentage of total income - but FICA is not a typical tax - it is for Social Security benefits that you will recive when you reach retirement age. It would be unfair to tax the full amount of incomes above 100,000 when the payout rates for social security are capped and do not increase for those with high incomes.

Your argument basically includes the idea that the wealthy should pay more for the same level of benefits. WHat's next, paying more insurance if your income is higher? (oh I forgot - we have that now with Obama care.)