That helps explain this...

http://thememlingindex.com/hillary_clinton_net_worth-wealth.html

Hey, Kevin: I really think you'd be interested in this story.
.

Must make tax cuts permanent nnnnooooowww!

{this has been a missing Fafblog moment.}

Remember the payroll tax applies to the first $100K or so. The effect on the 400's overall tax rate would be miniscule.

Don't just think in terms of taxation policy, minimum wage dropping in real terms and losing force as a standard setter, immigration, etc. Consider banks etc. paying higher interest rate on bigger deposits. Money is fungible, they should have to pay everyone the same rate of interest. Then there's the cost of debt, fees, etc,: if it costs the institution X to run an account then charge everyone that instead of under-balance fees.

Class warfare: bring it on!

The nation's top 400 taxpayers reported a total of $85.6 billion of income on their federal income-tax returns for 2005

I wonder how much actual income they had, as opposed to reportable and taxable income?

Wrong again, Kevin Dumbo.

Taxes are far too high. We have a regressive, confiscatory tax policy in this country. I pay far too much in taxes. I am simply not able to invest as much as I would like to create the kind of opportunities that would, in turn, possibly create more opportunities for others. I am frustrated beyond belief. I voted for Bush and raised money for him and all I got was a measly series of pathetically small tax cuts.

What you don't understand is that anything above 10% just goes to wasteful programs anyway. I'm sorry that you can't go without your welfare checks and your Medicare, people, but why should I have to pay for your idiot grandmother and her poor health issues? Maybe if she ate right and walked a little more this wouldn't have happened to her.

Anyway--the goal is 10% and no serious discussion of tax burdens can begin until we get it to that point. Then we can ease it down to about 7%, which should be adequate in the providing of the common defense.

Seven percent! That is my rallying cry.

What is so very sad is the way misinformed poor and middle class taxpayers support the increasing regressivity of the tax code and want it to get even more regressive! I have been hanging around another on-line forum lately, where the commenters are not nearly as sophisticated as the ones on Political Animal, and they all think taxes should be reduced even more for the very wealthy! One guy said he managed an Arbys, but thought that "the rich were getting soaked and it's only gonna get worse if Hildabeast (Hillary Clinton) gets elected". I tried to politely inform him that the "effective" tax rates that the very rich are paying, may be less than his, to which he replied "Good!". Astounding.

The modern conservative movement has done an absolutely remarkable job of brainwashing ordinary Americans into voting against their own best interests.

I say we should offer the rich a deal--let everyone pay a flat tax, or even a regressive tax rate. But we as a society also cap the protection offered correspondingly.

If a bank or brokerage takes in your money, police and the courts will only protect, say, the first $100K. Then you're on your own. Insurance regs only keep the insurance cos. in line for the first $1M of life insurance, the first $500K of home insurance, etc. Beyond that if they swindle you, tough luck.

Wonder if they'd think that was a fair exchange...they'd find private security arrangement a tad more expensive, I think!

Divdends are taxed at spit.
Certain bonds aren't taxed at all.

The income tax forms underestimate the money pouring into the money bins of the ultra-rich.

Why should Norman have to pay taxes so the government can just waste the money on schools and roads and such, when he could use it to invest in cool stuff?

It is interesting the Republicans view Reagan as having cut taxes. What he did was cut the income tax and raise the payroll tax. The payroll tax goes into the SS trust fund where it is used to buy government bonds to finance the general fund deficit. A great system if you are rich.

What is so very sad is the way misinformed poor and middle class taxpayers support the increasing regressivity of the tax code and want it to get even more regressive! Posted by: The Conservative Deflator

I again cite William Gates Sr. anecdote about encountering a skycap really hoping that congress would repeal the inheritance tax. To paraphrase Thomas Frank, what's the matter with this country?

These are the kind of people who need to be turned upside down and shaken until their ill-gotten gain comes flying out.

The payroll tax goes into the SS trust fund where it is used to buy government bonds to finance the general fund deficit. A great system if you are rich.

Especially since some of them are now claiming that it doesn't have to be paid back. What a scam.

Anyone who has income over a million should be assessed a wealth tax. This will encourage alot of consumption by them which will inject the much needed liquidity into the economy and solve the crisis du jour - the subprime debacle. At the same time the wealth tax can be used to pay down the deficit and fund Social Security and Medicare/aid. Another problem solved. Yay.

In case it wasn't clear, a wealth tax is assessed on one's assets (not income) so it generates *alot* of revenue but only from those who won't be hurt by it.

According to David Kay Johnston roughly 30% of the super-rich income is not reported (vs. 99.9% for wage earners), so .7*18%=12.6%. Boy does it pay to be rich.

Even worse than that, lownsloav8r, if progressives don't repeal ill-conceived Bush's tax laws, the estate tax goes away completely in 2011. Then, a rich, wastrel son or daughter of a billionaire (like say, Paris Hilton) could inherit $500 million tax-free, invest it in certain tax-advantaged municipal bonds, and never pay a dime of taxes in their pathetic lives!

Who among us has the arrogance to assert this is fair or equitable (expecting Norman Rogers to appear as if on cue....)?

Taxes are too high! We should abolish all current taxes and replace them with federal, state and local VATs. Then consumption would be curtailed and people might save something, instead of spending everything they make on declaring bankruptcy so the rest of us can pay for their profligate life styles!

Really, you guys are all communists, aren't you? I mean, who would dare suggest that we should pay for infasturcture to keep the country from literally falling apart.

As usual they neglect to mention FICA/Medicare.

If you are going to compare the Federal tax rates by $200-million-per-year Richie Rich with the tax rate paid to median-income Joe Briefcase, you run into a sneaky little problem with the question, "what exactly is Joe Briefcase's income?"

From Joe's point of view, he probably thinks it is the number on Line 1 of his W-2 form. This isn't Joe's "real" income, you know; Joe never actually holds this sum in his hand, this number only exists on that form. And from his employer's point-of-view Joe's pay is 7.65% higher than W-2 Line 1, as the employer is required to match the 6.2% FICA tax on Line 4, and the 1.45% Medicare tax on Line 6. From Joe's employer's point-of-view, Joe's total FICA tax rate is 12.6 / 107.65 or 11.70%, and the Medicare tax rate is 2.9 / 107.65 or 2.69%.

Almost certainly Richie Rich's compensation doesn't include any hidden additional 7.65% paid by some company's accounting department. If Richie is self-employed, he pays both halves of the FICA and Medicare taxes. But whatever part of Richie's income that is realized as capital gains is not taxed for Medicare at all, and he only pays FICA on the first $97,500 of his income, the FICA tax rate on the remainder also being zero.

So for purposes of computing effective tax rates, to compare Richie's income with Joe's income it could be argued we should start with Joe's total compensation, the visible 100% on W-2 Line 1 plus the hidden 7.65%.

Taking Richie's reported income tax fraction - 18.23% - plus FICA at 0.006% (that's 12.6% of the first $97,500 and 0.0% of the rest of the $200-million) - plus at most 2.9% Medicare tax (however, if the $200-million were 100% capital gains, the Medicare tax rate is 0.0%) we get a total Federal tax burden of between 18.2% and 21.1%. As the largest part of most $200-million incomes is invariably gotten as capital gains, not straight salary, the correct figure is certainly down at the low end of that range.

Comparing same to same and looking at Joe's income as what his employers pay out, Joe Briefcase pays 12.6% of his W-2 Line 1 income as Federal income tax, or 11.7% of his total compensation - plus 11.7% FICA - plus 2.7% Medicare for a grand total Federal tax rate of 26.3%. But suppose you insist on looking at Joe's income as W-2 Line 1 and nothing else. Then in that case his total Federal tax burden is 12.6% plus 6.2% plus 1.45% for a total of 20.25%.

It's not a recession; it's republican prosperity.

My spouse just got laid off. We are both educated and have worked hard ever since we were able to work. We both worked as high school students, and put ourselves through undergraduate and graduate schools. I am sure that with the cost of higher education, we wouldn't be able to educate ourselves, because our parents are not rich or entitled.

The American Dream is a MYTHOLOGY. The politicos, standardistos, the idle rich, and the CEOs who make more money than they could ever spend in a lifetime have wrecked this country, because of GREED.

Bush, Cheney, and their friends should be tried for the horrible things they have done, and then put in one of those jails they like building.

Personally, I am embarrassed to be an American. Ever since Reagan took office, the United States has spiraled downward. So, we have had 8 years of Reagan, 4 years of Bush, 8 years of Clinton, and another 8 years of Bush. Guess the presidency is a dynasty after all.

We bailed out Kuwait. Did you know that the Kuwaiti people don't have to work! They have free education and free health care. The Kuwaiti people all have servants and their carpets are threaded with gold. Who profits. Oh, I know George W. and his friends.

We have the stupid NCLB Act. Who profits? One more time, friends of Bush. And this is all done in the name of accountability. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Schools are not factories as the air heads would like us to believe.

Wake up citizens and smell the roses for the roses are dead and stink.

We have politicos who pat each other on the back, but have not a clue. Congress people have the best medical benefits, the best pension (hey, they don't even have to worry about social security, they have their own gold lined pensions plans, and they vote themselves raises to boot.) And the rest of us worry about basics. We have been sold out.

The unemployment rate climbed to 5.1 percent in March from 4.8 percent, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Friday. About 80,000 jobs were lost.

At the same time, the income tax rates for the wealthiest was only 18.23%. For the rest of us suckers the income tax rate is between 30% and 35%. The housing market is a complete mess and the dollar is at the lowest level ever. Welcome to REPUBLICAN prosperity. The extreme inequality is a result of the tax system distributing wealth upwards. So the zillionaires income tax rates have been slashed form 30% to 18%, plus these jerks have had their incomes double in size.

The unjust war in Iraq is soaking us. There are more rent a cops than I have ever seen before. The marketeers/racketeers/bean counter types are laying off the workers who actually create wealth.

Welcome to these United States of America where our fragile democracy is at risk, while we work our butts off trying to make ends meet.

How many houses does one need? How large a home does one need to have? How many fancy cars does one have to drive?

We do not have a democracy. We have a theocracy and dynasties. Ever wonder who goes to war? Certainly not the children of our politicos.