Days of Change

Day 1257 – Tax Day

People have described this as being the week President Obama tried (and failed) to roll out the Buffet rule. Of course, this was no accident. Besides the disparity in Warren Buffet’s tax rate, Obama also threw down the gauntlet by releasing his tax returns and demanding Romney do the same. This is an income tax week special.

Just to be clear, Hilary Rosen’s ill-fated words were part of the overall message. Rosen was trying to say that Ann Romney was to the manor born and therefore part of the 1% who doesn’t “understand” what it’s like for Americans. Of course, 99% of Washington politicians and cable news personalities also fall into the 1%, including Hilary Rosen.

As people are reminded that they have to pay a lot of money to pay for the care Obama claims to bring to the country, Obama needs to find a scapegoat. He chose the wealthy. The Buffet Rule mostly affects those who own a piece of a business. In many cases, it means that they took a risk in the first place, beside the fact that the business has to pay corporate tax on the capital gains that the recipient “only” pays 15% on. Warren Buffet could just get a salary check instead, and the Treasury would get less total revenue.

Here’s some other interesting tax facts.

• This year, workers did not get $400 in Obama money and now have to pay that much more in taxes.
• The Obamas made almost $800,000 in 2011. Somehow, Obama pays a lower tax rate than his secretary, even though he doesn’t get capital gains income (as far as I know).
• Joe Biden gave just over 1% to charity. I think Mitt Romney’s percentage was about 10 times higher.
• Romney has little in the way of public tax information. Obama has nothing in the way of academic transcripts. financial aid paperwork, client lists or medical records.
• GE pays 0% in corporate taxes. Many other corporations pay 35%, the highest rate in the whole world.
• The bottom 90% of income earners pay about 30% of income taxes. Half of federal revenue is from personal taxes. 9 out of 10 people pay for about 15% of the 60% of the federal budget actually not in deficit.
• The 99% pay about 60% of income taxes. That means the put upon 99% are paying about half of what we are borrowing this year, and roughly 4 times the interest on the debt.