Are the Rich Paying Enough?

"The belief that the tax code is skewed to benefit the rich is one that many Americans share. When pollsters ask whether high-income people are paying too much, too little, or their fair share in federal taxes, 60 percent or more of respondents routinely answer: too little. But the data tell a different story. By any reasonable standard the rich pay far more than their fair share. According to the latest (2007) IRS data, the top 1 percent of US taxpayers earn 22.8 percent of adjusted gross income but pay 40.4 percent of all federal income taxes. By contrast, the bottom 95 percent of taxpayers, who earn 62.5 percent of the income, pay just 39.4 percent of the income tax burden. That bears repeating: The income tax burden of the top 1 percent, who comprise just 1.4 million taxpayers, now exceeds that of the bottom 134 million combined. While economic resentment makes a potent political brew, the hangover it leaves can be fierce. Democrats should resist the clamor to soak the rich, and remember instead Paul Tsongas's admonition: 'No goose, no golden eggs.'"

Governments delude themselves when they imagine they can easily raise all the money they want by soaking the rich. The rich always have other options. When taxes grow too onerous, high earners can adjust their economic behavior. ...cut back on their investments, forgo new business opportunities, seek out tax havens, or work fewer hours. The impact is felt not only in lower-than-expected tax revenues, but in lower rates of growth and productivity and job creation. Jobs are disproportionately created by those who have money to invest. “You can’t have employment and despise employers.’’
--columnist Jeff Jacoby

Full article here.

This coming January watch for the economic brakes to slam. The Bush tax cuts will be over. Most wealth and job creators are small business. One of the reasons already for slow economic growth is these job creators have put their money on the sidelines. They know that the Dems and Obama will take anything more that they earn. That bottom 134 million people should pay too. Economists break earners into quintiles. Since the government is against the flat tax or fair tax and want to keep the progressive tax system, then the lowest quintile (under $15,900 per year) should pay at least 3%, and increasing maybe 3% per quintile. You live here, you contribute. Everyone knows, that if you don't pay for something yourself, you don't appreciate it. I'm a Fair Tax guy, but I'd settle (for a little while) for everybody, and I mean everybody contributing.