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[David- n Hampton, VA]

Lulu....siding with Cypressgirl for a bit....look at this graph about WHO PAYS TAXES. The point is....the system, while unweildy and horrible to deal with at times.....already taxes those that are capable of paying the most more. The "little" guy is getting the break already.

[loria]

maybe i am daft, but it would appear that the top 25%includes the top 1% and the like, so the graph is a bit misleading--what i would like to see is how the top 1% proportion of their income compares to persons in the 5-2 %ile, etc--that- at least to me--would offer truer comparisons

[loria]

one other thing that chart doesn't present is what the Adjusted Gross incomes for those thresholds are--
the AGI for the last category was $31,987 in 2006
i don't know about you, but that doesn't strike me as alot of money.

[David- n Hampton, VA]

Loria,

Here it is from the IRS......maybe it will be clearer in this view

[loria]

can you supply a link?---my middle aged eyes can't see that too well

[David- n Hampton, VA]

Sure....it came out of an article by Adam Geller (Associated Press). Our paper the Daily Press ran it Sunday, but I just spent about an hour looking for it....no luck.

But I did find it here http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081025/ap_ ... the_wealth

[David- n Hampton, VA]

Loria,

Tried making it bigger for you also.....here it is again

[David- n Hampton, VA]

Well, That didn't work.

Sorry.....must be above my computer skill set.

[Lulu76]

My tax bracket (I'm using last year's figures here), which is the 25% tax bracket, is for people who have an AGI of $31,850 to $84,999. I think that's how high it goes up, I am at the very bottom of that bracket. And, like I said, it sucks being in the middle, and that chart proves it.

But the chart also proves my point about the disparity in this country. While the poorest of Americans only pay 3% of the total tax bill, they pay 13% of their income to taxes. According to this chart, I'm guessing Warren Buffett and Bill Gates are only paying 19% of theirs. How is that fair, really?

I think there should just be a certain percentage that EVERYONE pays. No loopholes. No thousands of pages of tax code. I pay X%, Bill Gates pays X%. Yeah, his tax bill would be more than mine, but that's not going to make me lazy. Like I said, I'd love to pay more taxes, because that would mean I'm making more money.

[cypressgirl]

You pay 25% in income tax and you think Bill Gates pays 19%??????????

I'd love a flat tax! I've been for it all along. Let's all pay 35% and call it quits. I'd vote for that in a heartbeat. Abolish the IRS and throw away that rediculous tax code that no one can understand. I'm with ya' Lulu!

[David- n Hampton, VA]

Lulu,

I think it all comes down to personal choices.

I am not a millionaire. I think I could have been one, if I wanted to be one...but made choices early on and in later years that drove me away from that condition. I am also not a penniless homeless drunk on the corner somewhere. Again because I made personal choices that drove me away from that destiny.

People should be responsible for their choices. Most of the people who are poor in America COULD have changed their condition but chose not to for a wide variety of personal reasons.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that I am saying that poor people are lazy, stupid, etc. Don’t think that I am saying they do not work very hard for their money. That is not it at all.

My daughter has a degree from a prestigious University. She is 31 and has spent 10 years working in a Verizon or MCI call center as a phone sales person. She worked real hard at it. Recently she was “let-go”. Now she is on unemployment and living in my home. Bad choices and worse friends. That is what brought her to where she is.

My 29 year old son only went to college for one year at a small community college in Texas. He owns a 700K home in Williamsburg, another beach front home in the Outerbanks of NC has a Porche, a Lexuz, a Toyota Land Crusier, two jet skis and two motorcycles. His wife and two kids are seen enjoying the good life around South Folrida at least three-four times a year.

He made better choices…..and he also worked real hard at it.

I shouldn’t be taxed to pay for my daughters bad choices. My son shouldn’t have to give up some of the life style he worked really hard to build to pay for people that didn’t have the same drive and motivations he had.

[loria]

according to Dave's first chart--the bill gates' of this world pay 19%....

[David- n Hampton, VA]

Oh, and I am with you on the flat tax thing. Lets all pay 25%.....and the Nation will have more income than its ever had.

In fuedal days when the prince came down and "taxed the peasants 15%....they were horrified. Many revolted and set up new systems.

Now we are all paying 40-50% (when all taxes are added togehter.)

[Teddy Salad]

A couple points I'd like to make on taxes. Income tax discussions for some reason usually exclude the payroll tax (Social Security and Medicare) that everyone who has earned income pays. The social security tax is 6.2%. The medicare tax is 1.45%. Double these numbers for the self-employed. However, the social security tax stops at $102,000 of income, which makes it a regressive tax. Medicare tax has no cap, which makes it a truly flat tax.

A flat income tax would hardly simplify the federal income tax code. It would make the final calculation simpler, but the rest of the complicated mess would remain. I favor going to a national sales tax (sometimes called the FAIR tax) and doing away with federal income taxes entirely. Some states, including Texas, have no income tax. Why can't the federal government do the same thing these states do?

[Anthony]

Guys I am really afraid to jump in here - being the "moderator" and all - but don't forget, in any discussion of "taxes", that there are many more (taxes) than just the federal income tax. Often times getting stuck on this one tax can really muddy the picture and/or skew the argument.
Peace out!