Effective Tax Rate For High Income Households Has Decreased - I Bet Ari Fleischer Is Surprised!

[Median Democrat]

A couple of newspapers have come out with stories complaining about how the tax burden of the rich has increased, and arguing that the rich are bearing an unfair share of taxes. Of course, no mention is made in these stories of the fact that income disparities have grown tremendously under Dubya. For example, here's an op-ed in the WSJ by Ari Fleischer complaing how under Bush, the rich ended up paying more income taxes. Of course, he neglects to mention that they also made a whole lot more income.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123958260423012269.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

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Picture an upside-down pyramid with its narrow tip at the bottom and its base on top. The only way the pyramid can stand is by spinning fast enough or by having a wide enough tip so it won't fall down. The federal version of this spinning top is the tax code; the government collects its money almost entirely from the people at the narrow tip and then gives it to the people at the wider side. So long as the pyramid spins, the system can work. If it slows down enough, it falls.

It's also what's called redistribution of income, and it is getting out of hand.

A very small number of taxpayers -- the 10% of the country that makes more than $92,400 a year -- pay 72.4% of the nation's income taxes. They're the tip of the triangle that's supporting virtually everyone and everything. Their burden keeps getting heavier.

As a result of the 2001 tax cuts enacted by a bipartisan Congress and signed by President George W. Bush, the share of taxes paid by the top 10% increased to 72.8% in 2005 from 67.8% in 2001, according to the latest data from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

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Well, I am sure Ari will be really surprised to find out that the effective tax rate on the top 1% has remained steady or has decreased under George Bush. I am sure it is just an oversight on his part, because who would seriously spread such an obvious lie in a respectable paper like the WSJ.

:sarcasm:

http://www.cbo.gov/publications/collections/tax/2009/effective_rates.pdf