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Is there any reason why one should exclude the other? Legolas Send a noteboard - 23/02/2012 07:32:09 PM
Wow, talk about Two Americas.....one that foots the bill, the other that feeds at the trough for free. Time for the freeloaders to start paying their fair share!

The Heritage Foundation is right that it doesn't say much good about the American tax system if half of the population doesn't pay federal income taxes. But I fail to see how that in any way invalidates the point about the unreasonably low taxes paid by the super-rich.

Other than that, the article doesn't mention an important point I learned about one of the previous times I was discussing the topic, which is the payroll tax / FICA. They do pay that, and Wikipedia informs me that for three quarters of Americans (i.e., including the lowest-earning half of that half that does pay income taxes), their payroll tax is higher than their income tax. So it's all a matter of how you look at it - if you include the payroll tax in your definition of "federal income taxes", considering that it is a federal tax levied on one's income, that fifty percent (excepting the retired and unemployed) does in fact pay federal income taxes.
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Why Joel is CRAZY - Nearly Half of All Americans Don't Pay Federal Income Taxes - 23/02/2012 04:43:15 AM 1417 Views
A not so hypothetical situation... - 23/02/2012 05:46:44 AM 846 Views
Your paying more money now than then. Lower rate but more money *NM* - 23/02/2012 07:52:51 AM 511 Views
Accurate statement, but not a justification *NM* - 23/02/2012 03:44:55 PM 402 Views
Re: A not so hypothetical situation... - 23/02/2012 02:39:43 PM 949 Views
I don't know much about that. - 23/02/2012 03:53:27 PM 783 Views
Why the heck do you think the current tax system is skewed to the rich? - 23/02/2012 03:18:43 PM 985 Views
That's a fair question - 23/02/2012 03:52:08 PM 871 Views
You're operating under the same fallacy he does - that people should pay income taxes. - 23/02/2012 12:05:52 PM 1039 Views
In much the same way - 23/02/2012 01:40:58 PM 994 Views
Same argument re: fallacies - 24/02/2012 02:52:17 PM 822 Views
Was meant as a joke reply - 02/03/2012 06:30:15 PM 1014 Views
Joel is crazy, but I highly doubt that this is "why" - 23/02/2012 01:36:37 PM 1031 Views
HA! HA! Very well played! *NM* - 23/02/2012 03:49:35 PM 357 Views
You mention this statistic all the time. - 23/02/2012 02:16:47 PM 718 Views
Obviously, we are talking about the bottom 50%..... - 23/02/2012 03:22:43 PM 753 Views
How do you account for retired folks? - 23/02/2012 04:18:59 PM 966 Views
social security isn't taxable either *NM* - 24/02/2012 04:21:21 AM 417 Views
Easy... he doesn't. - 25/02/2012 02:56:05 AM 701 Views
I wonder how much of that statistic is students - 23/02/2012 02:22:58 PM 980 Views
Federal taxes - 23/02/2012 04:18:22 PM 845 Views
Your figures are fairly unrealistic - 23/02/2012 04:54:44 PM 1039 Views
Not entirely. - 23/02/2012 06:30:18 PM 789 Views
On exempting SS income: - 25/02/2012 02:30:43 AM 791 Views
Is there any reason why one should exclude the other? - 23/02/2012 07:32:09 PM 841 Views

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