My buddy Grant Lawrence over at Bodhi Thunder posted this mind blowing graph which solidified a few things I had been thinking about:
Original Source trueslant
I’ve heard a lot of Conservatives (Most who make less than $50,000) complaining that under Obama’s tax policy half of the US population, those making under $50,000 a year, won’t pay any federal income tax. Their complaint seems to be that taking the section of the US population that has 2.5% of the countries wealth off the tax rolls turns this country into a “secular, socialist machine" in the words of Newt Gingrich.
The federal income tax on the bottom third of the country has from the beginning been a social engineering tool, you pay in a small percentage of your wages and then get it back, so as you move up the economic ladder to the point you do start paying in it’s barely noticeable. Obama has merely pushed this up so the bottom half, instead of a third get all their money back.
How this is part of a “secular” machine is beyond me, but as far as the “Socialist” complaint I can address that.
Taking 2.5% of the nations wealth off the tax rolls won’t do jack to affect the Federal Budget, even if they were taxed at 18% that would still only send less than half a percent of the nations wealth to the federal government, a raise of 1.3% on taxes on the top 1% would more than cover it.
The top 1% of the nation will be paying their fair share because they get more benefits from the government. Besides the direct corporate welfare in the form of subsidies to industries, businesses in America get a lot of benefits, like stability, a fairly educated workforce (although that has been under attack) and cheap oil.
Having the bottom half of the country not paying Federal Income Tax so they can spend more on things they need (and not revolting) is not socialism it is a way to balance out who pays for the benefits of our society.
So to all the people upset about Obama’s tax cuts for the bottom 95% of the country and making it so the bottom half don’t pay any federal taxes at all, especially those making under $50,000 a year, I say, “Shut-up Stupid, putting money in the hands of people who need it most helps the country to be stronger.”
