This image above was provided by the White House and shows the front page of Barry "Almighty" and Michelle's tax return. The White House says Barry and his family paid more than $160,000 in federal taxes last year. Barry's 2011 federal income tax return shows reported adjusted gross income of about $790,000 last year. About half of the first family's income is Barry's salary. The White House says the rest comes from sales of the books that Barry has supposedly written.
Is anyone but me getting more than just a little fed up with Barry's continuing to harp on his never-ending mantra of income redistribution disguised as being all about what's his odd interpretation of "what's fair?" Fair for whom exactly? Fair for those Americans making over $50,000 who consistently end up paying the lion's share of the federal taxes that are to be paid? Because as recently as 2010, according to statistics compiled from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by the Tax Foundation, those people making above $50,000 had an effective tax rate of 14.1 percent, and carried 93.3 percent of the total tax burden.
In stark contrast to that, those Americans making less than $50,000 had an effective tax rate of only 3.5 percent and their total share of the tax burden was a mere 6.7 percent. Meanwhile, Americans making more than $250,000 had an effective tax rate of 23.4 percent and their total share of the tax burden was 45.7 percent, or nearly 7 times as much. And out of the 143 million tax returns that were filed with the IRS in 2010, 58 million, or 41 percent, of those filers were non-payers. What a deal! Where do I sign up for that? In other words, only 85 million of us actually paid taxes. The rest, continue to enjoy what is pretty much a free ride, and in fact even make money at tax time.
Make money at tax time, how's that exactly? Well, because Tax Foundation data also shows that while nearly 60 million people didn’t actually pay any income tax they received a whopping $105 billion in refundable tax credits from the IRS. So how the Hell does that work? You don't pay any taxes in and yet you're entitle to a refund. I know, it's all courtesy of that little give away program fondly referred to as the "Earned Income Tax Credit." Additionally, statistics from the Tax Foundation show that the federal tax code is now 3.8 million words long, and growing. To put it another way, that would be 3.5 times longer than all seven books of J.K. Rowling’s famous Harry Potter series, combined.
Ok now back to this issue of what's fair, that Barry continues to push. As evidenced by the fact that those making more that $250,000 paid nearly twice as much in taxes as those making less than that amount, and 7 times as much as those making less than $50,000, I would argue that they are already paying, what Barry likes to refer to as being, their fair share. And that's coming from someone who makes less than $250,000. However, those who are not paying anywhere near their fair share are those who make up the nearly 60 million people in this country who pay little to nothing in taxes and yet, who every year, reap huge benefits come tax time the form of substantial "refund" checks.
Look, I'm a very firm believer in the fact that if we're going have an income tax in this country, then everybody, and I do mean everybody, needs to be paying in something. Also, this cockamamie scam called the "Earned Income Tax Credit" should be completely done away with. But when a majority of those taking part in this little scheme who are also members one key Democrat constituency or another, I feel fairly confident in saying, that that ain't gonna happen any time soon. And how many of those in that 58 million who pay no income taxes can also be listed as being very firmly in the Democrat camp? The Democrat philosophy behind the constructing of the tax code as it presently exists has always been to make it much more conducive to vote Democrat.
So what has happened to we Americans so that now so many us think that we're actually entitled to a free ride on the backs of our fellow citizens? When did we lose that sense, that was always uniquely American, of self-reliance and individual responsibility? When did it become accepted behavior, even fashionable in some circles, to be nothing more than a parasite on the rest of society? These questions are not meant to be rhetorical, although, no doubt, many will view them in that light. I truly do worry about where this country is headed when so many now view themselves as somehow being owed something. Especially when it's their own actions which have, in turn, created their personal circumstance. I fail to understand why it is tat I must be made to pay for the bad decisions of others.
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