One of the key points in liberal dogma is that the "lower classes" are overburdened with taxes which go to support those evil "rich" Americans who, according to the liberals, don't pay their way.
Is this true? Of course not, and the better informed among the liberal establishment know perfectly well it is not. However, this is one of those BIG LIES that repeated often enough becomes truth to the gullible.
Here are the actual numbers directly from the IRS income tax statistics (2008):
The top 1% of earners pay
38.02%
of the tax collected.
The next lower 4% pay another 20.7% of the total
The 5% below that pay 11.22% of the total
The 15% below that pay 16.4% of the total
The 25% below that pay 10.96% of the total
THIS TOP HALF PAYS 97.3% OF
THE INCOME TAXES IN AMERICA!
And what do the lower 50% of America's earners pay? A whopping TOTAL of 2.7% of the income tax collected. AND, this minuscule share DECLINED MORE THAN 32% (from 4.0% to 2.7%) between 1999 to 2008, a trend which continues!
And don't fall into the trap of thinking these top tiers are all multi-millionaires. To be in the top 10% of taxpayers you only have to have $114,000 in AGI, a level reached by, as has recently been pointed out, many, many government workers.
Note from the above that just the top 5% of earners pay almost 60% of the income tax collected. These are the "rich" Americans whose AGI (adjusted gross income) exceeds $159,700. So you can pardon me when I reply to those who whine ad nauseam that the so-called "upper class" in America doesn't pay their way...BULLSHIT.
And here's another (and cuter) version of this rant:
Bar Stool
Economics