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The week's question
In December 2024, in the thread "Re: BRK: Why Not XOM?", BreckHutHigh asked the members: "What about the long road trips with kids?" This week it is put to everyone again. The button below opens the small thread re-asking it - read what others have said so far, then give your own answer as an ordinary reply.
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Halls of Shrewd'm / US Policy
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Author: MisterFungi   😊 😞
Number: of 84350 
Subject: Re: What sticks in my gullet
Date: 08/04/24 3:23 PM
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That 10% of the taxpayers pay 90% of the taxes and half the population pays no taxes at all ...

First, the stat is wrong. The top 10% (by income) pay 76% of (income) taxes, not 90%. (source: taxfoundation.org - Latest federal income tax data)

Second, a big part of the reason why they pay a large share of income taxes is because they enjoy a large share of the income!--about 53%. (same source)

Third, as others here have noted, the notion that "half the population pays no taxes at all" ignores federal payroll taxes (Social Security, Medicare), which are regressive and capped for upper earners, as well as a host of state and local taxes (sales, gasoline, property, etc., etc.) that are typically even more regressive.

I'm honestly not trying to play "gotcha". As someone who taught this stuff for more than 40 years, I'm doing my bit to keep the facts on the table.

You know what, evil Trump is at it again. When elected, he promises to eliminate taxes on tips which of course only benefits his millionaire-on-a-tip-income buddies.

Trump will promise anyone anything to get elected. He also promised oil company CEOs a giant windfall of goodies "on day one" if they would donate $1 billion to his campaign. (washingtonpost.com - Trump oil industry campaign money)
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This community has written 84,309 posts about US Policy. The article-length ones it recommended most:
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