Witnessing the Meltdown
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Response to an e-mail about taxes
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My response to an e-mail forwarded to me...
> Subject: Taxes
>
> Every year an independent tax watchdog group analyzes the average tax
> burden on Americans, and then calculates the "Tax Freedom Day". This
> is the day after which the money you earn goes to you, not the
> government.
>
> This year, tax freedom day was April 11th. That's the earliest it
> has been since 1991. It's latest day ever was May 2nd, which
> occurred in 2000. Notice anything special about those dates?
The two relevant paragraphs from
http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxfreedomday.html are:
"April 11th is three days earlier than 2003’s Tax Freedom Day of
April 14 and an amazing 21 days earlier than in 2000, when the boom
and bubble pushed tax burdens to a record high, and Tax Freedom Day
was postponed until May 2 (see Figure 1).
""Federal tax cuts have made the average American tax burden lighter
in 2004," said Tax Foundation President Scott Hodge. "Because the
bubble in 1999 and 2000 boosted tax collections to artificially high
levels, the drop since then is all the more dramatic. In fact, it is
the biggest drop in America's tax burden for at least a century.""
It can be argued if the boom & bubble "boosted tax collections to
artificially high levels" or if in fact Uncle Sam was collecting
taxes commensurate with the generation of wealth.
> Today John Kerry gave a speech in which he claimed Americans are
> actually paying more taxes under Bush, despite the tax cuts. He gave
> no explanation and provided no data for this claim.
For an excellent book on how the tax burden has shifted from the
Super Rich (< %1 of US taxpayers which control vast majority of
wealth, one source I've seen is that the top 0.25% owns more wealth
than the remaining 99.75%) see:
Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit
the Super Rich - and Cheat Everybody Else
by David Cay Johnston
Bush's tax cuts are simply an acceleration of a trend over the last
20+ years.
You, your parents, myself, my brothers and I suspect most of my
clients aren't in the top 1% which (IMHO) are generally thought to be
the 'target' of any potential legislation to 'raise taxes'.
The Johnston book contains an section how the 'average John & Jane Q
Public' has been convinced that these tax cuts which benefit a class
of people who live lifes of which it is difficult to even imagine by
shifting the liability from the super-rich to themselves is actually
in their best self-interest.
> Another interesting fact: Both George Bush and John Kerry are wealthy
> men. Bush owns only one home, his ranch in Texas. Kerry owns 4
> mansions, all worth several million dollars. (His ski resort home in
> Idaho is an old barn brought over from Europe in pieces. Not your
> average A-frame).
I wonder if any of these homes were Theresa Heinz Kerrey's prior to
marriage to John?
> Bush paid $250,000 in taxes this year; Kerry paid $90,000. Does that
> sound right? The man who wants to raise your taxes obviously has
> figured out a way to avoid paying his own.
I haven't looked at his returns. Perhaps he & Theresa filed
seperately?
From what I've read, prior to his marriage to Theresa, he wasn't
exactly living the life of the rich playboy. I certainly don't
recall him having the kind of business 'luck' which seems to have
befallen George.
I suspect the simple explanation is that John Kerrey had less income
than George Bush in 2003.
> Pass this on. Only 162 days until the election.
Will do :-)
Cheers,
Brendan
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