Praise God for the Tea Partiers and Baptists.

<p>I did a really quick Google search, and <a href="http://www.ntu.org/tax-basics/who-pays-income-taxes.html" target="_blank">I found this</a> from a self-proclaimed non-partisan group.  2008 is the most recent year that it has data for.</p>
<p> </p>
<h2 style="text-align:center;"><strong><span style="color:#336699;">Tax Year 2008</span></strong></h2>
<h2 style="text-align:center;"> </h2>
<p> </p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="width:148px;" valign="top">
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Percentiles Ranked by AGI</strong></p>
</td>
<td style="width:148px;" valign="top">
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>AGI Threshold on Percentiles</strong></p>
</td>
<td style="width:148px;" valign="top">
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Percentage of Federal Personal Income Tax Paid</strong></p>
</td>
</tr><tr><td style="width:148px;" valign="top">
<p style="text-align:center;">Top 1%</p>
</td>
<td style="width:148px;" valign="top">
<p style="text-align:center;">$380,354</p>
</td>
<td style="width:148px;" valign="top">
<p style="text-align:center;">38.02</p>
</td>
</tr><tr><td style="width:148px;" valign="top">
<p style="text-align:center;">Top 5%</p>
</td>
<td style="width:148px;" valign="top">
<p style="text-align:center;">$159,619</p>
</td>
<td style="width:148px;" valign="top">
<p style="text-align:center;">58.72</p>
</td>
</tr><tr><td style="width:148px;" valign="top">
<p style="text-align:center;">Top 10%</p>
</td>
<td style="width:148px;" valign="top">
<p style="text-align:center;">$113,799</p>
</td>
<td style="width:148px;" valign="top">
<p style="text-align:center;">69.94</p>
</td>
</tr><tr><td style="width:148px;" valign="top">
<p style="text-align:center;">Top 25%</p>
</td>
<td style="width:148px;" valign="top">
<p style="text-align:center;">$67,280</p>
</td>
<td style="width:148px;" valign="top">
<p style="text-align:center;">86.34</p>
</td>
</tr><tr><td style="width:148px;" valign="top">
<p style="text-align:center;">Top 50%</p>
</td>
<td style="width:148px;" valign="top">
<p style="text-align:center;">$33,048</p>
</td>
<td style="width:148px;" valign="top">
<p style="text-align:center;">97.30</p>
</td>
</tr><tr><td style="width:148px;" valign="top">
<p style="text-align:center;">Bottom 50%</p>
</td>
<td style="width:148px;" valign="top">
<p style="text-align:center;"><$33,048</p>
</td>
<td style="width:148px;" valign="top">
<p style="text-align:center;">2.7</p>
</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="3" style="width:443px;" valign="top">
<p style="text-align:left;">Note: AGI is Adjusted Gross Income<br>
Source: Internal Revenue Service</p>
</td>
</tr></tbody></table><p> </p>
<p> </p>

<p>Sure, the wealthy can afford to pay more, so they <strong>should</strong> pay more.  My chart shows that they clearly <strong>do</strong> pay more.  The top 1% pays 38%.  Is that enough?  I don't know.  If you click my link, you'll see that their percentage has changed from year to year.  Over the 10 years they chart, the most that the top 1% paid was 40.42% in 2007, and the least was 33.71% in 1999.  Is 33.7% enough?  Is 40.4% too much?  I have no idea.  Different people have different opinions, and there's no definitive formula that provides an answer.  If there was, the tax code would be written to utilize that formula. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>So if you think "the rich" should "pay more", how much should they pay?  45%?  50%?  80%??  How little should "the poor" pay?  Right now, the bottom 50% only pays 2.7%, so they can't go down much, can they? </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I honestly don't know the answers, so I'm not trying to lead the witness, so to speak.  I guess my question to you guys (both GaReb and Satfix, since you guys have different opinions on this), is how do you think this chart should be rearranged?  In other words, what percentage should the top 1% pay, and what percentage should the bottom 50% pay, etc?  What's your ideal breakdown? </p>

<p>There's a wrinkle that applies to state taxes that doesn't apply so much to federal taxes.  If a certain state decides to raise the taxes on "the rich" too much, those rich people will pick up and move to states that are more tax-friendly.  That has happened quite a bit up here.  I live in New Jersey, very close to New York City.  Of course, this is one of the most expensive parts of the country to live in, and state and local taxes are big part of the reason why.  I don't have these statistics in front of me, but I've heard it said that the state of New Jersey has lost something like $6 Billion in personal wealth becuase taxes on the rich kept rising and rising, and those rich people fled to states like Texas and Florida (which have no state income tax) or even states like Pennsylvania and Delaware.  Those aren't exactly cheap places to live, but they are compared to New Jersey. </p>
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<p>Heck, the only reason I've stayed here is because I married a Jersey girl who doesn't want to move away from her family and friends...</p>
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<p>So again, the federal government really doesn't have this problem, becuase very few American citizens will give up their citizenship to go to another country.  But there is some sort of "competition" among states.  They all want to have wealthy residents who will spend money in their state.  So there comes a limit at which raising taxes too much will cost the state money because the wealthy people will move away...</p>
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<p>It was only about 50 years ago that John Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you.  Ask what you can do for your country".  I think that far too many people now aren't paying attention to that now.  It's all about "gimme gimme gimme" and "make someone else pay for it"...</p>