CBO Report: Top 20% Of Wage Earners Paid 68% Of The Taxes
The left tells us that we shouldn’t cut taxes for the rich because the rich not only don’t need tax cuts, they’re not paying enough in taxes. The problem, based on the facts, is that it’s almost impossible to cut federal taxes for anyone but “the rich” given how lopsided the federal tax burden is distributed:
The top 20 percent of earners — the top quintile — bore 67.9 percent of the federal tax burden in 2009. The middle quintile paid 9.4 percent, while the lowest paid .03 percent of the federal tax burden.
This is not simply an ideological issue about tax rates and who should pay what. This is a societal issue. If a majority of the population is able to vote themselves larger government – more services, more goodies, etc., etc. – at the expense of a minority of the population we create a moral hazard whereby government spending grows irresponsibly.
Everyone needs some skin in the game. We might not see such enthusiastic support for bigger government if more citizens were carrying the burden of that government.
Tags: Economy, jobs, Taxes
