On Taxing the Rich

I just wanted to get some facts on here about the real tax burden on the top one percent of Americans. The reason for this is that in principles I am for a balanced approach when it comes to deficit reductions that includes comprehensive and real cuts in entitlement programs and other domestic programs, but also an increase in revenue in the form of taxes, both through the closing of loopholes and the raising of taxes on the top one percent.

I am deeply disappointed that the debt negotiations that occurred in the past few days gave the fringe elements of the Republican Party everything they wanted, including attention to their ludicrous demand for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. The most glaring omission was new revenue, with the White House putting on a shameful display last Sunday on both Meet the Press and This Week, when Senior Advisor David Plouffe failed to directly address questions from both shows regarding the lack of revenue increases in the budget deal.

This Week interview:
http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/video/interview-david-plouffe-14198499

Meet the Press interview:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/vp/43961242#VpFlash

If this country wants to get the economy growing, we must abandon the rhetoric that giving tax breaks and lowering the taxes of the top one percent will drive investment and economic growth. It is much more beneficial to spur small businesses and higher education through tax breaks to parents and small businesses. These are the places where the money will be spent and put into circulation the fastest, and have any stimulus shielded from the whims of finance markets.
The top one percent of Americans earn 16.8 percent of all income in the country, and pay about 25.6 of all federal taxes. (http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/numbers/displayatab.cfm?Docid=2995&DocTypeID=2) Though this may sound unfair at first glance, it is taking place in an environment where income inequality is increasing at such a fast pace that  it is no longer sensible to tax the wealthy at such a low rate, specially in a time of crisis where the poor and the elderly are being asked to make sacrifices through reductions in their state-provided benefits.

Ours is a society in which we are all in it together. I reject the Ayn Rand way of thinking and anything that seeks to defend the "right" of someone to get wealthy and ignore the problems plaguing the society around them. Giving money to the wealthy few may create a few white collar jobs, but that is not what this country needs right now, and it is not what American voters are looking for when they turn to the government for help.  Fair in this case is not the same as equal. The rich are not equal to the poor, so it is unreasonably to claim that the country should implement equal tax burden. It is so unreasonable, I cannot help but think it a crude tongue-in-cheek joke. A lady in Lynbrook wrote in the Metro news paper last week, in the opinions section, asking when we will be satisfied taxing the rich. I wish to directly answer her question. I am not an egalitarian and I firmly believe that an innovative and wise person who earns their wealth is certainly entitled to enjoy a higher standard of living, but we will stop taxing the rich once the rich, specially the super rich in the top one percent, stop manipulating the political system to get away with explosive gains at no cost, and once the super rich learn that they live in a society that they two are responsible for.

I ask you, reader, do you believe that the super wealthy have a responsibility to the society they live in? That in a time of crisis they too must shoulder a burden and take on that higher tax on corporate jets and luxury items? Or do you believe that if as a society we ask that, that Atlas will Shrug?

Here is an interesting PolitiFact fact check on Secretary Geithner that I think you should read:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/jul/12/timothy-geithner/geithner-says-top-1-percent-have-tax-rate-low-20s/