Taxes? Why do liberals want the wealthy to pay more?

According to the Office of Tax Analysis, the U.S. individual income tax is "highly progressive," with a small group of higher-income taxpayers paying most of the individual income taxes.

In 2002 the latest year of available data, the top 5 percent of taxpayers paid more than one-half (53.8 percent) of all individual income taxes.

The top 1 percent of taxpayers paid 33.7 percent of all individual income taxes in 2002. This group of taxpayers has paid more than 30 percent of individual income taxes since 1995. Moreover, since 1990 this group鈥檚 tax share has grown faster than their income share.

Treasury Department analysts credit President Bush's tax cuts with shifting a larger share of the individual income taxes paid to higher income taxpayers.

The share of taxes paid by the bottom 50 percent of taxpayers will fall from 4.1 percent to 3.6 percent.

The share of taxes paid by the top 1 percent of taxpayers will rise from 32.3 percent to 33.7 percent.

http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/incometaxa...

Just look at the liberal constituency, that will explain everything.

Young people are idealistic and have no clue how economics works. They are mired in indoctrination by the public school system and universities, and their impressionable minds easily fall victim to Hollywood movie stars and musicians.

Lazy people and illegal aliens LOVE liberal political philosophy. It allows them to continue to be lazy and steal from the rest of us through tax funded entitlement programs.

The very wealthy, including entertainers and the media corporations, don't have to worry about getting sapped by high taxes like the middle class does. They are typically elitist and think they should be able to tell others how to live their lives. They don't give a damn about personal freedom, as long as they get their way.

However if they don't get their way they are the first to whine and become hysterical, making bizarre comparisons between Bush and Hitler, etc. The fact that Hitler and fascist ideology are both within the same socialist realm as Hillary Clinton and Obama never seems to register with the liberals.

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Of course the rich pay most of the taxes. Nobody else has the money to pay them. But it is not who pays, but how much they pay and not only the individual income tax matters.

Warren Buffet offered a reward to any billionaire who pays a higher percentage of tax than his secretary.

The percentages of where the tax fall haven't changed much since 1986, but the absolute dollars have, as has the effective rate, which has gone from 35% to 15% for many. Also remember that the effective rate of tax on compensation for a worker earning minimum wage is 7.65% but for a person earning $500,000 a year pays 0.02%

So the system is progressive until you reach $102,000 a year, then it starts to become regressive as employment taxes and sales taxes phase out and capital gains comes in and the top 35% bracket are reached.

As of 2001, the top 1% of households (the upper class) owned 33.4% of all privately held wealth,

so it woud stand to reason that they would pay 33.7% as you mentioned.....

http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesameric...

In terms of types of financial wealth, the top one percent of households have 44.1% of all privately held stock, 58.0% of financial securities, and 57.3% of business equity. The top 10% have 85% to 90% of stock, bonds, trust funds, and business equity, and over 75% of non-home real estate. Since financial wealth is what counts as far as the control of income-producing assets, we can say that just 10% of the people own the United States of Ame

So exactly what is your freaking point? You think the wealthy pay to much taxes compared to the people who are not wealthy? Do you know about the many different kinds of write-offs the wealthy enjoy which severely limit the amount of taxes they actually pay? Now you want to shift the burden to the people who actually can't afford to pay even the minimum amount of taxes but do anyway? Well, I don't know who's fault it is, but things like that just don't add up.......

the bottom line is votes.

Its a way of bribing the mass of voters to vote for them.

The dems are saying to the masses, "ah, so you are full of envy and jealousy of the rich and successful because you are a bunch of losers, well, vote for us and we will go to the houses of the rich and successful, take away their stuff, and then we'll give it to you"

even if people disapprove of killing innocent human beings (abortion) the dems are counting on their greed , (we'll give you money that we took away from the rich if you just look the other way when we kill babies) and unfortunately, there are many people who will take them up on their immoral offer.

the govt is spending more than they take in. taxing the poor doesnt raise much cash. taxing the rich is where the money is.

either the govt needs to spend less or the rich have to pony up. the poor is not a source of funds. if you have a problem with govt finances, GWB and the republican congress have run things for 6.5 out of the last 8 years. tell them about it.

the conservatives have run the show for quite a while. why has the situation gotten worse? clinton left a budget surplus.

Most libs don't really know the statistics that you posted. Most libs don't base their opinion on facts, their opinions come directly from their emotions. Sure, it sounds good in theory to take from the rich to give to the poor...but it doesn't work. We'll be a socialist country if that happens.

Beware: if Obama gets elected, we'll have two groups of Americans ---- those who pay taxes and those who don't (they will be 100% dependent on the govt.)

Because they believe in lawful violence and theft. I don't support crony capitalism, but their is nothing wrong with being successful. Some reason liberals think that successful people owe others handouts.

It is one of the main reasons why I moved away from the liberal party to libertarian party. Liberals don't have a strong sense of economic justice nor economic understanding.

Modern day liberals are not really liberals. They abandoned their classical liberalism philisophy long ago for socialism.

Because they are wealthier they can afford to pay more and should pay more.
I will never ever understand Republicans. Why do you hurt yourselves just to punish the poor. Most of you are just like us. And you're supposed to be better Christians than anyone else - It doesn't add up. I don't get it!!!

It'll keep going up as long as you all keep eliminating the middle class; when you have only rich and poor, of COURSE the rich will pay the largest proportion because the poor have no money. Now the top few know how the middle class have felt all these years!!

your stats say under Bush the wealthy pay more taxes?

did Republicans vote in and constantly promote a liberal?

"Treasury Department analysts credit President Bush's tax cuts with shifting a larger share of the individual income taxes paid to higher income taxpayers."

Because the rich people have more money. You want to tax the poor people and send them into even deeper poverty? Yeah, that'll work. Wealthy people can afford to pay more. Poor people can't. It's as simple as that.

Because they don't pay their taxes

http://www.newsweek.com/id/143775/

Because instead of trying to strive to be a better person and better citizen who contributes instead of takes -they want to penalize those who do. That's not freedom.

first we have to get you guys to START paying taxes....

http://www.newsweek.com/id/143775/

The middle class have been supporting the wealthy too much for too long.

Let's let the wealthy pay more for a change.

Want someone to take care of them. Should be equal tax for all. I don't think because you make more, you should pay more. ***

"Stay Poor, Vote Democrat."

"Vote Democrats, you stay poor."

Because they think they are modern day Robin Hoods - take from the rich to give gov't handouts to the poor.

Why does this worry you? It is doubtful you are even CLOSE to the top 5% of tax payers, let alone 1%.

So they can divide people up into groups and then exploit them for votes.

Should we tax the poor to pay off this huge deficit or should we pass it on to our progeny?

because the middle class income has gone considerebly down in the bush yrs while wealthy became more wealthier

Revenge! They can't stand to look so worthless and inept....

under the bush years my taxes went from 15% to 25%
where the hell is my Tax cut ?

It is part of their mantra! It's like when an election is coming up the Dems always tell retirees that the Republicans will take their Social Security away!

Marxist / Socialist Policies mandate wealth redistribution!

Taxing the rich always sounds good to them and it allows them to blow more money on useless liberal programs that usually don't work!

A flat tax would probably make more sense but the Dems are against that too! Under Forbes' flat tax proposal family groups would not have to pay any tax on a $36,000 salary!

When Reagan lowered the tax rate on "rich people" the revenue collected increased! If taxes are raised on the "rich" at such a rate that they feel is unfair - the "rich" find ways to shelter that money and business owners pass that 'extra taxes' on to their customers. Some business owners will simply sell their companies and put thousands of people out of work - collecting unemployment and cutting into federal budget even more!

No one should really get a free ride on taxes! You use the roads, you take advantage of the police, school, military protection and other public services that taxes pay for. Everyone should pay something unless your income is too low.

The following applies to most radical, left-wing, socialist liberals:

1) Liberals do not believe in true individual freedom
2) Liberals do not like the fact that left to our own methods some people will achieve more than others and that is not fair in their view, thus they want the government to make us all equally poor. Liberals would rather have us all eual and poor than 90% of us wealthy and 10% poor.
3) Liberals despise anything that promotes opportunity, wealth, and freedom because they lead to unequal outcomes for people as some people have more talent & ambition than others. This is why liberals do not like capitalism & free trade between free people.
4) Liberals think that big government & high taxation is the means by which to punish individuals and achievement by taking from those that produce and giving to those that do not. This promotes their poor but equal mentality.
5) Liberals are dangerous to our nation and freedom and must be politically defeated at every turn.

God Bless America, the land of the free.

Should the poor man who pays $4 a gallon for gas and needs his car to work, have to pay 4 percent to the government ontop of all the sales, excise, toll, road, property, and local and state income taxes, with a few dollars left at the end of the day?

Or is it fairer to make the rich guys who have much more money than they will ever need in 4 life times pay 33 percent, and pay the same $4 per gallon of gas, have chauffers driving them around, jet planes jetting them around, and anything else they want, and pay the same amount in excise, sales, toll, and local and state income taxes.

Who can afford it more?

A regressive tax is one that is facially fair (i.e. everyone pays the same percentage), but in practice it is much more onerous on the lower income earners and hardly a gnat's hair of an annoyance to the wealthy.

The rich man can afford to pay the taxes. The poor man cannot afford to eat.

If taxes are a part of the great USA that we love, and dare not complain about why are you questioning them? But I digress, none of like to pay taxes, but less face it. Shouldn't someone who makes 50k pay more in taxes than someone who makes 30k, even if we both pay the same% isn't that still more?The fact is no one likes to pay taxes, but how can you really justify the wealthiest people paying the least? How can you justify a family whose combined income is 70k paying the same in taxes as a family whose combined income is 100k. ? How can you honestly say the family whose income is 100k deserves to pay less, bc they work harder? We both know that is not true. I am a VP of finance, who makes 3 times the local police officer, so how is it that I deserve to pay less, and don't give me that bull about those who make more put more into the economy, bc that is a lie. Those who make more are ususally more educated about money management. So we are masters at getting more for less. Less educated, middle class tax payers are more likely to make the impulse purchase, charge the credit cards to the max, buy the house,car ,furnishings and etc, that they can't afford. SO please explain this logic to me!

First of all, your data is so old that it's irrelevent. Second, the wealthy have more, and can therefor pay more. Percentage based taxing, based on income, is the only way to ensure there is enough money coming in to support the amount going out. Yes it's true.....you can't squeeze blood from a stone there smart guy. Poor people aren't going to make up the difference if taxes are lowered for the rich, and the money isn't going to come from space. Cons spend, spend, spend, 4 billion dollars a week in Iraq and Georgia ranks 48th in a nation ranking 17th in the world in education. Yep, even rich kids are stupid. So keep on whining about 33.7 percent tax brackets for the rich and rest assured, as soon as the deficit reaches a hundred gazzillion dollars, China will end up owning your self richeous behind. Guess what, I don't need old data to tell me that. Common sense, you've either got it, or you don't.

They want to redistribute the wealth. to the people who do not work. Take from the rich and middle class and give to the poor as long as its not their money.
and in response to an answer above : no the poor should not have to pay the te huge defficit We should cute all the pork projects and slimm down the welfare progams by removing all ilegels currently collecting wellfare. make those capable of working get jobs. and remove the ones who seem to consider welfar a way of life. provide it only to the truley dissabled and the ones temperaraly down on teir luck. It dose not take a rocket scientist o see were the problems are "Liberal Programs run wild"

In response to an answer bellow: Therich do pay more.They pay the highest % already and they have more money so thus they pay the greateramout Why raise there % even more to punish them for being sucsessful?