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Old 07-14-2004, 09:45 AM   #57 (permalink)
Superbelt
This vexes me. I am terribly vexed.
 
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Location: Grantville, Pa
See, you use your words in a very ambiguously deceitful way.
I already said that the top 5% pay a larger share of total taxes. And larger than they did 5 years ago, sure. But they pay a lower relative Percentage than the rest of the nation as a whole.

The top 50% of the wage earners pay 96.78% of the taxes collected.

Now, the Rich. The top 5%, as I have defined it, pays 53.25% of ALL taxes. Yes 5% of America pays for over 1/2 the tax! Wow! How unfair!

Well, actually, this strikes me as totally fair, since the top 5% of America controls 57.4% of the wealth (at least in 1998):

Take a look at the distribution - the top 20% control more than 80% of the wealth.

The top Top 5% are paying below their fair share. They are paying 53%, when they control 57%.

Wealthy skewed tax cuts are a big culprit for that discrepancy.
And taxes being cut, a big part, are the top 5%'s vast assortment of stock portfolios, (taxes dropped entirely after next year) which for many account for their entire yearly income. Allowing them to live tax free, while I have to pay my share.
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