All the
serious noise in Washington about this nation's exploding public debt burden conveniently ignores the fact that both sides of the ledger are contributing to the problem. It is not just more government spending on entitlements, but less revenue from the rich. For
US Person taxing the rich is simply a question of fundamental social equity, while the Obamatron has to think about the proposition because they are the ones who will fund his billion dollar reelection campaign. These two charts from
Thinkprogress.org encapsulate the federal income tax unfairness:
The tax rate for the richest 400 Americans has been cut in half in twelve years. 150 of those 400 pay an effective rate of less than 15% using aggressive tax sheltering techniques and the Bush tax reductions for the rich. While their taxes have dropped, their income has gone ballistic:
Any legitimate budget debate has to include tax equity if middle and working class entitlements are to be cut. Otherwise, its just corporatist posturing:
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| [credit: Mr. Fish, Harper's Weekly] |
The tax rate for the richest 400 Americans has been cut in half in twelve years. 150 of those 400 pay an effective rate of less than 15% using aggressive tax sheltering techniques and the Bush tax reductions for the rich. While their taxes have dropped, their income has gone ballistic:
Any legitimate budget debate has to include tax equity if middle and working class entitlements are to be cut. Otherwise, its just corporatist posturing: