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The top 1% of earners pay more than 40% of the total federal taxes. Moreover: "the top 1 per cent paid more tax than the total paid by the bottom 90 per cent co

The top 1% of earners pay more than 40% of the total federal taxes. Moreover: "the top 1 per cent paid more tax than the total paid by the bottom 90 per cent combined."[1] Those taxes fund defense, social security, national parks, interstate highways and many other services that benefit everyone. [1] https://www.ft.com/content/d17e9240-c61e-11e7-b2bb-322b2cb39656 https://www.ft.com/content/d17e9240-c61e-11e7-b2bb-322b2cb39...

cmiles74 8y ago
I think it's important to remember that the top 1% can only claim credit for funding over 40% of the total federal taxes because they have managed to suppress the growth of wages for the bottom 99%. Since they have captured so much of the wealth, they have robbed the bottom 99% of the ability to sustain their own the country. This isn't a function of generosity or humanitarian sentiment and to imply otherwise would be, in my opinion, dishonest. As we see the top 1% decide to pay less and less of the tax burden (a burden they have placed on themselves), we'll see more crime and unrest and roads rot and the social safety net touted in this article begins to disappear.
soundwave106 8y ago
A couple of qualifiers: A) This only refers to income tax, and does not count more regressive federal taxes (FICA) or state taxes (sales tax). It's interesting that I can easily find sites with aggregate tax distribution by income level for income tax pretty easily (https://taxfoundation.org/summary-latest-federal-income-tax-data-2016-update/ https://taxfoundation.org/summary-latest-federal-income-tax-...), but finding sites with aggregate tax distribution by income level for FICA seems difficult... B) It's worth keeping in mind that the top 3.65% do earn 17.5% of aggregate income (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United...) Obviously the United States is progressive taxation overall, but I feel that this oft-quoted bullet point way over-simplifies the American tax landscape.

cmiles74 8y ago

I think it's important to remember that the top 1% can only claim credit for funding over 40% of the total federal taxes because they have managed to suppress the growth of wages for the bottom 99%. Since they have captured so much of the wealth, they have robbed the bottom 99% of the ability to sustain their own the country. This isn't a function of generosity or humanitarian sentiment and to imply otherwise would be, in my opinion, dishonest. As we see the top 1% decide to pay less and less of the tax burden (a burden they have placed on themselves), we'll see more crime and unrest and roads rot and the social safety net touted in this article begins to disappear.

soundwave106 8y ago

A couple of qualifiers: A) This only refers to income tax, and does not count more regressive federal taxes (FICA) or state taxes (sales tax). It's interesting that I can easily find sites with aggregate tax distribution by income level for income tax pretty easily (https://taxfoundation.org/summary-latest-federal-income-tax-data-2016-update/ https://taxfoundation.org/summary-latest-federal-income-tax-...), but finding sites with aggregate tax distribution by income level for FICA seems difficult... B) It's worth keeping in mind that the top 3.65% do earn 17.5% of aggregate income (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United...) Obviously the United States is progressive taxation overall, but I feel that this oft-quoted bullet point way over-simplifies the American tax landscape.