Zombie Tax Lies
The claim that only rich people pay taxes is a zombie lie â€" something that keeps coming back no matter how many times it’s killed by evidence.
So, let’s try another shot to the head.
Yes, high-income people pay the bulk of the federal income tax. But that’s not the only tax! And while the income tax is quite progressive, the payroll tax â€" the other major federal tax â€" isn’t; and state and local taxes are strongly regressive.
Citizens for Tax Justice (pdf) has the goods: combining all taxes, federal, state, and local, we get this:
http://www.ctj.org/pdf/taxday2011.pdf
The overall system is barely progressive at all.
And here’s the thing: the people peddling this stuff about those lucky duckies who don’t pay tax because their incomes are low know all this, because it has been pointed out many times. They are deliberately trying to
deceive you.
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/22/zombie-tax-lies/?smid=tw-NytimesKrugman&seid=auto
No... you are changing the argument. 90% of the time the issue or discussion du jour is income tax.
I'm not changing anything. Gretchen Carlson, the Fox News host, said last year, “47 percent of Americans don’t pay any taxes.†John McCain and Sarah Palin both said similar things during the 2008 campaign about the bottom half of Americans.
Ari Fleischer, the former Bush White House spokesman, once said “50 percent of the country gets benefits without paying for them.â€
They may know good and well that they are only talking about income taxes, but they deliberately phrase it to make uninformed people think that half the country is getting a free ride.
QuoteThey may know good and well that they are only talking about income taxes, but they deliberately phrase it to make uninformed people think that half the country is getting a free ride.
Well there you go then. I'm sure those "uninformed people" (buck toothed half wits?) appreciate you clarifying things for them...
REALLY?? :o ::)
About half the country is getting a ride on federal income taxes. does that include all taxes oh not at all. But the rubes wont figure that out.
Quote from: BridgeTroll on April 22, 2011, 04:24:02 PM
I'm sure those "uninformed people" (buck toothed half wits?) appreciate you clarifying things for them...
Unfortunately, those uniformed buck toothed half wits don't get their information from me.
Maybe that will change if Roger Ailes ever returns my calls...