Comments on: Update: More on Taxes and Class Warfare

By: Gordon Parker

Gordon Parker — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 20:23:17 +0000

The charge of “Taxation without Represenation” is unfounded in this case. The higher income distribution folks are very well represented in federal government. Even more so if you weight the percentage of goverment people by power (e.g. president and his cabinet are top 1% income earners, etc.)

By: NatureBoy

NatureBoy — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 20:49:30 +0000

The fact that the fourth quintile pay almost no tax and the lowest 20% pay a negative tax, raises the point of represntation without taxation. The lowest two quintiles have a strong incentive to vote for people who will raise taxes because it won’t cost them anything (so they think) and it might benefit them. Higher taxes suppress prosperity and productivity so they hurt everyone. The Fair Tax (national retail sales tax) http://www.fairtax.org would be fair to all income levels and would give all citizens an incentive to keep taxes low. Because of the built-in “prebates” all taxpayers would be protected from taxation on all spending up to the poverty level. This is too small a space to explain all the many benefits of the FairTax but the web site answers all questions thoroughly.

By: The Glittering Eye

The Glittering Eye — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 14:49:58 +0000

Catching my eye: morning A through

Here’s what’s caught my eye this morning: A Guy in Pajamas relates a conversation from a Japanese bar that I found rather interesting. It’s hot girl-on-girl action as Ann Althouse comments on a Camille Paglia reading she attended last night….

By: Dave Schuler

Dave Schuler — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 14:42:29 +0000

Thanks for the good discussion with more light than heat (unusual in discussions of this subject). Based on the description at the link you cite at the CBO, the numbers in your table include the payroll tax and assign the imputed income (from both the individual and employer contribution) to income in the appropriate quintile and both the individual and employer contribution of the payroll tax to taxes paid cf.:

The income measure used includes pretax cash income plus income from other sources. Pretax cash income includes wages, salaries, self-employment income, rents, taxable and nontaxable interest, dividends, realized capital gains, cash transfer payments, and retirement benefits; taxes paid by businesses (corporate income taxes and employers' shares of Social Security, Medicare, and federal unemployment insurance payroll taxes); and employees' contributions to 401(k) retirement plans. The comprehensive income measure also includes in-kind benefits (Medicare, Medicaid, employer-paid health insurance premiums, food stamps, school lunches and breakfasts, housing assistance, and energy assistance).

Emphasis mine. Note that Medicare and Medicaid benefits are counted to the income side. So when this is taken into account the entire system is very mildly progressive (nearly flat).

By: The Club for Growth Blog

The Club for Growth Blog — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 14:21:14 +0000

Thursday’s Daily News

It’s More than Judges – Larry Kudlow, National Review A Taxing Trend – David Keating, National Taxpayers Union The Senate’s Dr. Pain – Robert Novak, Townhall The Gas Tax Is Still a Terrible Idea – Chris Pope, AEI Diagnosing The…