Comments on: Where are You on the Inverted Income Tax Pyramid? http://toughmoneylove.com/2009/04/14/where-are-you-on-the-inverted-income-tax-pyramid/ The Hard Truth about Money and Personal Finance Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:09:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: Rick Beagle http://toughmoneylove.com/2009/04/14/where-are-you-on-the-inverted-income-tax-pyramid/comment-page-1/#comment-3957 Rick Beagle Tue, 14 Apr 2009 22:02:21 +0000 http://toughmoneylove.com/?p=3219#comment-3957 By the way, you realize that you made an excellent case for why the concentration of the wealth and the policies that encourage that trend are a bad idea? If you concentrate the wealth, you concentrate the taxes... duh. People on the lower end of the scale do not want to be there and most are working to improve their lot (many of those are people just starting out). I spent a large number of years in this category both as a member of the military and as a student in college (my own lost decade). I will be damned if I apologize to anyone for being poor during this time frame.... Peace. Rick Beagle By the way, you realize that you made an excellent case for why the concentration of the wealth and the policies that encourage that trend are a bad idea? If you concentrate the wealth, you concentrate the taxes… duh.

People on the lower end of the scale do not want to be there and most are working to improve their lot (many of those are people just starting out). I spent a large number of years in this category both as a member of the military and as a student in college (my own lost decade). I will be damned if I apologize to anyone for being poor during this time frame….

Peace.
Rick Beagle

]]> By: Rick Beagle http://toughmoneylove.com/2009/04/14/where-are-you-on-the-inverted-income-tax-pyramid/comment-page-1/#comment-3956 Rick Beagle Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:54:10 +0000 http://toughmoneylove.com/?p=3219#comment-3956 This is a whine article completely written in a state of disgust after doing your income taxes right? If being poor is such a good deal, then give up your lucrative salary and become a poor day laborer. Then, you can do that happy dance every April 15th! Don't let that whole worrying about food on the table, medical concerns and the plethora of other issues involving money interrupt your "low tax" dance. Get a grip, and pay your taxes. Rick Beagle This is a whine article completely written in a state of disgust after doing your income taxes right? If being poor is such a good deal, then give up your lucrative salary and become a poor day laborer. Then, you can do that happy dance every April 15th! Don’t let that whole worrying about food on the table, medical concerns and the plethora of other issues involving money interrupt your “low tax” dance.

Get a grip, and pay your taxes.
Rick Beagle

]]> By: Ahead of the curve? http://toughmoneylove.com/2009/04/14/where-are-you-on-the-inverted-income-tax-pyramid/comment-page-1/#comment-3954 Ahead of the curve? Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:20:55 +0000 http://toughmoneylove.com/?p=3219#comment-3954 Taken from a Time magazine blog refuting this piece: "If you define "burden" as the percent of your income that goes to income taxes, it has actually gone down over the past decade for those at top 10% of the income distribution (as it has for every segment of the income distribution). The effective federal income tax rate for the top decile was 16% in 2006, the most recent year for which data is available, down from 18.3% in 1996—and 18.2% in 1980, before the dawn of the Reagan revolution. It went even lower in the Reagan years, bottoming out at 15.4% in 1985. The percentage of all income taxes paid by those in the top 10% has gone up over the years, but this has little to do with tax rates. It's because the percentage of income going to the top 10% has been rising, to 41.6% in 2006 from 36.5% in 1996 and 30.6% in 1980. (These numbers are all from the Congressional Budget Office.) So Fleischer real complaint appears to be with rising income inequality. Right?" Taken from a Time magazine blog refuting this piece: “If you define “burden” as the percent of your income that goes to income taxes, it has actually gone down over the past decade for those at top 10% of the income distribution (as it has for every segment of the income distribution). The effective federal income tax rate for the top decile was 16% in 2006, the most recent year for which data is available, down from 18.3% in 1996—and 18.2% in 1980, before the dawn of the Reagan revolution. It went even lower in the Reagan years, bottoming out at 15.4% in 1985. The percentage of all income taxes paid by those in the top 10% has gone up over the years, but this has little to do with tax rates. It’s because the percentage of income going to the top 10% has been rising, to 41.6% in 2006 from 36.5% in 1996 and 30.6% in 1980. (These numbers are all from the Congressional Budget Office.) So Fleischer real complaint appears to be with rising income inequality. Right?”

]]> By: Ahead of the curve? http://toughmoneylove.com/2009/04/14/where-are-you-on-the-inverted-income-tax-pyramid/comment-page-1/#comment-3953 Ahead of the curve? Tue, 14 Apr 2009 20:44:43 +0000 http://toughmoneylove.com/?p=3219#comment-3953 What about the fact that these lower income taxpayers do in fact pay a significant amount of taxes in the form of state sales taxes, state property taxes, Federal ocial security and medicare taxes? These taxes take a big bite out of the lower income salary. In fact if you compare ALL TAXES paid (including the Federal income tax) I suspect you'd find a bit more sympathy for those lower income types. In fact the earned income tax credit (pure socialism in many people's opinion) actually has done a significant amount to pull lower income children and lower income earners out of poverty. What about the fact that these lower income taxpayers do in fact pay a significant amount of taxes in the form of state sales taxes, state property taxes, Federal ocial security and medicare taxes? These taxes take a big bite out of the lower income salary. In fact if you compare ALL TAXES paid (including the Federal income tax) I suspect you’d find a bit more sympathy for those lower income types. In fact the earned income tax credit (pure socialism in many people’s opinion) actually has done a significant amount to pull lower income children and lower income earners out of poverty.

]]> By: SJ http://toughmoneylove.com/2009/04/14/where-are-you-on-the-inverted-income-tax-pyramid/comment-page-1/#comment-3949 SJ Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:09:06 +0000 http://toughmoneylove.com/?p=3219#comment-3949 Awesomeeee... The counter argument would be a marxist approach right =)? Awesomeeee…

The counter argument would be a marxist approach right =)?

]]> By: Retiredat40 http://toughmoneylove.com/2009/04/14/where-are-you-on-the-inverted-income-tax-pyramid/comment-page-1/#comment-3946 Retiredat40 Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:54:23 +0000 http://toughmoneylove.com/?p=3219#comment-3946 There is just one little item that they always forget to mention and that is that the top 1% has 90% of the nation's wealth. I'll trade with them any day if they'd like my lower tax rate. The govt knows that you can't get blood from a turnip. You gotta tax those that have it. And they've got plenty of it and despite all this unfair taxation, the margin just keeps getting bigger. There is just one little item that they always forget to mention and that is that the top 1% has 90% of the nation’s wealth. I’ll trade with them any day if they’d like my lower tax rate.

The govt knows that you can’t get blood from a turnip. You gotta tax those that have it. And they’ve got plenty of it and despite all this unfair taxation, the margin just keeps getting bigger.

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