Who pays all the taxes?

I hear a lot of people saying the rich don't pay their fair share of taxes, and when they do this I usually show them the picture to the right.  It shows quite clearly that the rich pay more than their fair share.

This data was from the 2005 Internal Revenue Service Data. The share of total income taxes paid by the top 1% of wage earners rose to 34.27% from 33.71% in 2002. Their income share (not just wages) rose from 16.12% to 16.77%. However, their average tax rate actually dropped from 27.25% down to 24.31%

Then thing to consider here is that most of the top 50% are not millionaires, but hard working people. Many of them are small business.  Most only make thousands of dollars.  Many are married couples who file jointly and make over $29,019.

Also, consider the following:

• The top 1% pay over a third, 34.27% of all income taxes. (Up from 2003: 33.71%) 
• The top 5% pay 54.36% of all income taxes (Up from 2002: 53.80%)
• The top 10% pay 65.84% (Up from 2002: 65.73%).
• The top 25% pay 83.88% (Down from 2002: 83.90%). 
• The top 50% pay 96.54% (Up from 2002: 96.50%). 
• The bottom 50%? They pay a paltry 3.46% of all income taxes (Down from 2002: 3.50%). 
• The top 1% is paying nearly ten times the federal income taxes than the bottom 50%! 
• The top 1% earns 16.77% of all income (2002: 16.12%). 
• The top 5% earns 31.18% of all the income (2002: 30.55%).
• The top 10% earns 42.36% of all the income (2002: 41.77%)
• The top 25% earns 64.86% of all the income (2002: 64.37%) 
• The top 50% earns 86.01% (2002: 85.77%) of all the income.

So, those are statistics from ten years ago.  So, now you want an update.  Well, today the statistics are about the same in proportions of who pays what, although the rich continue to pay more and more.  

Here are the updated numbers:

• The bottom 50%, it's next to nothing that they pay.
• The share of all federal tax revenue paid by the 1% has doubled since the 1980s.
• The top 20% of income earners have gone from paying 65% of all federal taxes in 1980 to 90% in 2010. 
• The top 1% are paying 30% of all tax revenue. 
• The top 20% are paying 90% of all collected tax revenue; this includes couples with two kids making more than $150,000.

Last year, to prevent the Bush tax cuts from expiring, republicans agreed to increase taxes on the rich.  That means that starting in 2014, the rich should expect to pay even more.  So taxes just keep going up on the rich to pay for the entitlement programs for the 52% who don't pay taxes. 

Plus there have been 442 tax increases since Obama was elected, many of which will effect the people Obama considers is rich, which pretty much on anyone who makes over $150,000.

This is exactly the reason why I am for getting rid of the progressive tax, because as it stands, 52% of American do not pay any taxes, and therefore don't care that taxes keep going up.  Why would they care, if they don't pay any?  If they paid into the system, then perhaps then they'd care. 

It's time to end class warfare, and stop hating the rich

They say it's not fair that the rich don't pay their fair share,
even though the top 50% pay 86% of the taxes. 

Just to be blunt here, I'm tired of people bashing the rich.  I'm tired of the class warfare where politicians pit the poor versus the rich.  I'm tired of people saying that it's not fair that the rich have so much money while the poor have so little.  I'm simply tired of it.

Instead of bashing the rich, we should set the rich up on a pedestal for our kids to see what can happen in America.  We should teach that anyone can become rich, all you have to do is work hard and be willing to relocate.

I think the reason for the class warfare is that some people actually believe, based on some idealist theory, that there is only so much money to go around, and if one person has a billion dollars, that's a billion dollars that other people can't have. They think that if one person is rich it's at the expense of everyone else.

But that couldn't be further from the truth.  The truth is that there is plenty of money in the pie, plenty of money for everyone to be rich.  That's what America is all about, creating equal opportunity for everyone.

One of my favorite quotes, and I can't remember who said it:

America is an idea: We promise equal opportunity, not equal results.

I love that quote.  Some people just don't get it.  They think America is about equal results, and so they take from those who have and give it to those who have not. That's where this idea about redistribution of wealth comes from.

But who creates all the jobs in the country?  I would be willing to bet that the poor don't create many jobs.  The people who create jobs are the middle class and the rich. The people who create jobs are the people who make money.

So, instead of trashing the rich, we should be thanking them.  They have made America what is is today.  They are the ones who have made America the greatest nation in the history of the world.

The rich are the reason we have iPods, and iPads, and Google Chrome books, and cable TV, and satellite TV, and computers, and Internet, and spaceships, and electricity, and what have you.  We all as a nation have made it possible, but the rich have made it real.

So, the next time you want to trash talk the people making most of the money, think again: thank them helping to make America the greatest nation in the world.

Rand Paul. It was my hero Rand Paul who said the above quote.  But I don't think the quote originated with him, but he was the most recent to talk about it.  I love it. I also love Rand Paul, and I pray someone like him becomes our next President, but I digress.