Posted by Bill Nazzaro on March 18, 2004 at 07:34:31:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: More Bad News posted by Thomas on March 17, 2004 at 16:55:11:
Thomas,
See Common Sense's post. Life is not fair. If a rich person who makes $500,000 per year pays 50% of her income in taxes, she only has $250,000 to live on. If a person making $50,000 pays nothing in taxes, they have 1/5 of what the rich person has after taxes.
That's a hypothetical. Let's look at our current system. People who make money from investments pay 15% in taxes. They pay no payroll taxes on this. My wife and I are in the top bracket. Something like 28%. We also pay 15% in payroll taxes. And a flat 2.4% in state taxes. So if you make money through work, you pay more taxes than if you make money through the work of others. Yes, investment is important. But so is a strong working and middle class.
One last point. During the Eisenhower administration, the top marginal tax rate was 90%. The top rate now is 28%. Who do you think made up the difference? The middle class.