What is under reported are the actual variations between the two tax tables, pre-tax cut year 2000 and tax rates for 2010, which are about to sunset.
Wages in America, Most of Us are Have Nots
71% earn less than $42K.
50% earn less than $26K
40% earn less than $20K
Low wages, high tax rates are the big story. Not the measly 4.6% increase on the wealthy, imo.
Analyze the tax rates and remember that all wage brackets also pay 7.65% FICA.
Having the data, it is obvious:
The only thing that TRICKLED DOWN were our wages!
This is the third in what is becoming a series to help us SEE the FACTS to help us wade through the DISINFORMATION and Purposefully Confusing media coverage. Meet the Press today was unabashedly deceptive propaganda:
You can find the tax rates for years 1913 - 2010 here. It is fascinating to scroll through this PDF file to see that the higher income earners' tax rates have been as high as 92% and 70% for decades. Reagan changed that! Bush I, Clinton, and Bush II followed suit.
Can you imagine that those who are making these decisions, all high wage earners, have any vested interest in returning to the historical tax rates: 50% - 90%?
Tax Cuts for the Middle Class: What Middle Class? Nearly half of American families live on under $45,000. The median income is under $30,000. 40% of Americans earn under $20,000. WE ARE POOR, FOLKS!
So all this talk of the HUGE problem if the tax cuts sunset, will have little affect on the majority of workers, UNLESS you are SSSP. And THIS IS THE ISSUE THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED. When there is only one wage earner in the home, they should pay less tax than marrieds because of their one wage has to cover 100% of housing, insurance/health care, food, etc.
It helps explain why so many are uninsured and losing those homes they should never have been sold in the first place, not at the prices that were charged.
Here is the recent Social Security Chart that shows how income is distributed as of 2009. This chart shows what percent of the work force is earning how much. This is where the % and wage figures below are taken from:
Here are the two tax tables so you can easily compare the changes from 2000 and 2010 tax rates:
ANALYZING THE NUMBERS, BASED JUST ON THE TAX RATES
71% of workers in 2009 earned less than $42,000
Singles got a 3% tax cut: From 28% to 25% (a lot higher than married couples pay)
Marrieds tax rate didn't/won't change. It was and will remain 15%
66% of workers in 2009 earned less than $37,000
Singles got a 3% tax cut: From 28% to 25% (a lot higher than married couples pay)
Marrieds tax rate remains the same for both years 15%.
54% of workers in 2009 earned less than $30,000.
Singles earning $30,000 got a 13% tax cut. Should a single person earning $30K be taxed at a rate of 28%? When marrieds only pay 15%? That is much to high a difference, and it is difficult to not construe this huge variance as a Penalty for Being Single (or SSSP).
41% of workers earned less than $20,000 in 2009. 41% is worth repeating.
Finally, the Marrieds and the SSSPs are paying the same rage, 15% for both 2010 and 2001.
41% of earners WILL PAY THE SAME TAX RATE regardless of whether or not the Bush/GOP Tax cuts remain or sunset, based just on the tax rate charts.
And the poorest among us? Again, based just on the tax rates, acknowledging that there are thousands of pages of tax codes/deduction/credits etc.
The poorest, lowest wage earners, many who are disabled, are facing a 5% increase in their tax rates. From 10% - 15%
And the wealthiest among us? The wealthiest are facing a lower rate increase than the poorest among us. Only a 4.6% increase. From 35% to 39.6%
HOW IS THAT DEEMED JUST BY ANY THINKING PERSON???
There are some other sunset considerations. It will be political suicide for either the DEM or the GOP to allow the following to sunset. Especially because so many have lost their jobs/health insurance and forced to work for even lower wages and even part-time.
Marriage-Penalty Relief & Child Tax Credit
Both sunset in 2010.
More relief for married parents -- and single parents as well -- can be found in the acceleration of the child tax credit to $1,000 from $600 for tax years 2003 and 2004. After 2004, the rules revert to levels enacted in prior legislation: a $700 tax credit for calendar years 2005 to 2008; an $800 credit in 2009; a $1,000 credit in 2010, after which the credit disappears.
Because the cost of these breaks to the government coffers is nominal compared with the rest of the package, CCH's Mr. Luscombe believes it's likely the provisions will be re-enacted for years 2005 and forward.
It's been a long time since I had to play with Child Tax Credits. But here is the pertinent portion of the table: It is too large to display the entire 2000-2012 table here.
Here are the IRS deduction rules for 2010:
IR-2009-93, Oct. 15, 2009
WASHINGTON — ...Key provisions affecting 2010 returns, filed by most taxpayers in early 2011, include the following:
The value of each personal and dependency exemption available to most taxpayers is $3,650, unchanged from 2009.
The new standard deduction for heads of household is $8,400, up from $8,350 in 2009.
For other taxpayers, the standard deduction remains unchanged at $11,400 for married couples filing a joint return and $5,700 for singles and married individuals filing separately.
Nearly two out of three taxpayers take the standard deduction rather than itemizing deductions, such as mortgage interest, charitable contributions, and state and local taxes.
Various tax bracket thresholds will see minor adjustments.
For example, for a married couple filing a joint return the taxable income threshold separating the 15 percent bracket from the 25 percent bracket is $68,000, up from $67,900 in 2009.
The annual gift tax exclusion remains unchanged at $13,000. (You can receive up to $13,000 in gifts with no tax liability)
I hope you will take some time to figure out how and/or if you will be affected if the tax cuts sunset.
Then please join me in demanding that tax rates for everyone match the same tax table as Married Couples. Again, they did from 1913 - 1949.
It's time to stop Punishing workers that are not married with tax rates on their low incomes only 11.6 points less than than what high wage earners pay. It's wrong.
This is the true picture of wages in America:
What this says is 50% of Americans are earning $26,261 or less. That's poor people! That's less than $505 a week before taxes! Today, these are the lucky ones.
When Average Income is touted by the media don't be fooled. It's chimera.
The median income is the amount that is closest to the reality of our wages, and even the median is a tad higher than reality:
END OF DIARY
_________________________________________________
Here are the charts needed to push back with facts, when the Cat F'd Commission launches its attack on the American workers and our social safety nets:
AND DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT TOUCHING SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE.
SS and Medicare ISN'T the problem. We fixed it under Reagan. All of us have been depositing a bit over 15% (employer/employee) of wages for 20+ years in order to cover the baby boomers. That's why it's solvent until 2035.
The above are configured if the tax cuts are not sunset, supporting the need to increase our revenues/taxes. If the cuts are sunset, the above charts will show a healthy budget balance if spending is kept under control. NEVER allow a President to create any unfunded wars or programs like BushCo did.
Debt is the problem. George W. Bush & Company's debt consisting mostly of the Tax Cuts for the Wealthy explains our deficit:
Deficits and Tax Cuts are like Siamese Twins:
The richest country in the world, so-called, has a lot of Poor People. It's shameful:
When we succeed in bringing this country from the brink of becoming a Banana Republic, do you think we can address this unnecessary and harmful reality:
And this is NOT acceptable for the country that touts WE ARE NUMBER ONE! Poverty stricken children become unhealthy adults, unless, of course, this tactic continues decade after decade to produce 19 year olds with only one option: The Military.
And, yes, many of the highest poverty areas include Native American reservations. Will we never learn empathy and compassion in this country!
But we can see where the money is:
We returned right back to where we were when the Depression happened.
And we wonder why only 25% of our children make it through college? They are poor.
How do we help them? We make them into Debt Slaves. Shameful:
TWEET
TWITTER
FACEBOOK
Please follow on Twitter: WarOnErrorDKos
Have a great holiday weekend. There are many things to be thankful for.