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This is the Washington Examiner. They exist to be a conservative mouthpiece. Not a single thing they write is unbiased or even has any pretensions to be.

by 1_2__4 9y ago

mi100hael 9y ago
If the same words were penned under the Washington Post banner, would they still be conservatively biased?
- mikeash 9y ago
  Yes. Lying that the rich pay a disproportionate amount of taxes is clear right-wing bias no matter who prints it.
  - mi100hael 9y ago
    What if the CBO prints it? > Households in the highest income quintile received a little more than half of total before-tax income and paid more than two-thirds of all federal taxes in 2013 (see Figure 1). Households in other income groups received considerably smaller shares of before-tax income and paid considerably smaller shares of federal taxes. https://www.cbo.gov/publication/51361 https://www.cbo.gov/publication/51361
    - mikeash 9y ago
      I imagine that "more than two thirds of all federal taxes" is actually correct. There are two important differences from the article: "more than two thirds" is dramatically lower than "95%," and "all federal taxes" is not the same as "taxes." I'm complaining about a media outlet lying by pretending that the federal income tax is the only tax that matters. You've responded by linking to a CBO publication that considers other taxes, not just income tax. That reinforces my point.
      - mi100hael 9y ago
        From that CBO link... > In this report, CBO analyzed the distribution of four types of federal taxes: individual income taxes, payroll (or social insurance) taxes, corporate income taxes, and excise taxes. So it's not like it's including sales or property taxes or whatever else. For all intents and purposes, that's "income" tax. And the report is from 2013. This Washington Examiner article explicitly states (with a WSJ link for source) that the disparity has dramatically widened in recent years: > That may be the highest ever. Just two years ago, it was 84 percent, according to the Wall Street Journal. (https://www.wsj.com/articles/top-20-of-earners-pay-84-of-income-tax-1428674384 https://www.wsj.com/articles/top-20-of-earners-pay-84-of-inc...) Federal income tax provides nearly half of all federal revenue. It's not the only tax that matters, but it's certainly the most important and most visible. And any reforms will have the most impact to average citizens of any tax reform.
        mikeash 9y ago
        Yes, that report doesn’t include all taxes. It’s also completely up front about it. It says “federal taxes” in the title and throughout the article. I have no problem with analyzing a subset of taxes. I have a problem with analyzing a subset of taxes and lying about it by just saying “taxes.”
        Retric 9y ago
        Ignoring social security which caps at relatively low incomes and makes up such a high portion of federal taxes makes your analysis meaningless. Compare someone making 1 billion per year in capital gains from foreign investments vs someone making 30k per year in social security.

This is the Washington Examiner. They exist to be a conservative mouthpiece. Not a single thing they write is unbiased or even has any pretensions to be.

by 1_2__4 9y ago

This is the Washington Examiner. They exist to be a conservative mouthpiece. Not a single thing they write is unbiased or even has any pretensions to be.

mi100hael 9y ago

If the same words were penned under the Washington Post banner, would they still be conservatively biased?

mikeash 9y ago
Yes. Lying that the rich pay a disproportionate amount of taxes is clear right-wing bias no matter who prints it.
- mi100hael 9y ago
  What if the CBO prints it? > Households in the highest income quintile received a little more than half of total before-tax income and paid more than two-thirds of all federal taxes in 2013 (see Figure 1). Households in other income groups received considerably smaller shares of before-tax income and paid considerably smaller shares of federal taxes. https://www.cbo.gov/publication/51361 https://www.cbo.gov/publication/51361
  - mikeash 9y ago
    I imagine that "more than two thirds of all federal taxes" is actually correct. There are two important differences from the article: "more than two thirds" is dramatically lower than "95%," and "all federal taxes" is not the same as "taxes." I'm complaining about a media outlet lying by pretending that the federal income tax is the only tax that matters. You've responded by linking to a CBO publication that considers other taxes, not just income tax. That reinforces my point.
    - mi100hael 9y ago
      From that CBO link... > In this report, CBO analyzed the distribution of four types of federal taxes: individual income taxes, payroll (or social insurance) taxes, corporate income taxes, and excise taxes. So it's not like it's including sales or property taxes or whatever else. For all intents and purposes, that's "income" tax. And the report is from 2013. This Washington Examiner article explicitly states (with a WSJ link for source) that the disparity has dramatically widened in recent years: > That may be the highest ever. Just two years ago, it was 84 percent, according to the Wall Street Journal. (https://www.wsj.com/articles/top-20-of-earners-pay-84-of-income-tax-1428674384 https://www.wsj.com/articles/top-20-of-earners-pay-84-of-inc...) Federal income tax provides nearly half of all federal revenue. It's not the only tax that matters, but it's certainly the most important and most visible. And any reforms will have the most impact to average citizens of any tax reform.
      - mikeash 9y ago
        Yes, that report doesn’t include all taxes. It’s also completely up front about it. It says “federal taxes” in the title and throughout the article. I have no problem with analyzing a subset of taxes. I have a problem with analyzing a subset of taxes and lying about it by just saying “taxes.”
      - Retric 9y ago
        Ignoring social security which caps at relatively low incomes and makes up such a high portion of federal taxes makes your analysis meaningless. Compare someone making 1 billion per year in capital gains from foreign investments vs someone making 30k per year in social security.