* Bob Crantz wrote, On 5/3/2007 12:48 PM:
....
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how
our tax
system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from
a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they
just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas
where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics University of Georgia

For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not
understand, no explanation is possible.

The professor leaves out a few details worth keeping in mind: The
poorest 40% is not just lazy people looking for a free beer. It
includes retired people, kids and college students, people with
disabilities, and a large part of the armed forces. And while they
pay a smaller portion of their income then most, they do pay some, and
they also have to pay the same sales tax on many consumer items.

And at the other end of the scale, most of the people above the 40th
percentile pay roughly the same part of their income. With the tax
cuts, the super-wealthy actually pay a smaller percentage of their
income than the upper middle class.

And of course this only includes federal tax; the state tax system is
often very regressive. In FL, for instance, the wealthiest by 2.7% of
their income in state taxes, while the poorest 20% pays over 14%.
Even in states like MA that try to be non-regressive, the
super-wealthy get a significant break.

The result of this is that pretty much across the board, almost
everyone pays about the same tax, as a percentage of their income. It
comes out to about 30%, but for the super-wealthy, its closer to 26%.