When talking taxes what is a wealthy American “fair share”

Posted By on July 18, 2011

Far be it from me to defend the “corporate jet” crowd, but am I the only one who wonders what numbers President Obama is talking about when they advocate that wealthy in America “pay their fair share.” I’ve looked at most of the numbers and no matter how you slice the pie, those earning over $200,000 (a minority of Americans) are paying over 60% of U.S. taxes. Personally I think Democrats are just playing politics and using this debt ceiling debate as an excuse to continue growing the Federal government and raising taxes?

wealthypayingtheirfairshare

From President Obama’s Weekly address:

“[you] can’t solve it without asking the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share …”

Unfortunately I’m also concerned that those who are playing chicken in Washington DC are also putting all of us at risk because they only know how to spend money. What really needs to get done is to simplify the “special interest” oriented tax code – something both sides of the congress talks about … as does President Obama.

What is missing from this debate is the focus on job creation and the broadening of the tax base. If our central government was smaller and the red tape in order to operate a small or large business was less, it would be far easier to hire and expand. I can’t see a reason at the moment that an investor or business entrepreneur would risk capital to hire new employees while there is the threat of higher taxes and the unknown cost associated with the “Affordable Care Act” – aka: Obamacare.

It doesn’t surprise me that wealthy Americans pay the most taxes, but it does surprise me that the majority of American citizens (earning $100,000 and below) cover only 15% of the taxes collected – of course we’re also borrowing another 40% on top of what we collect to cover Washington DCs’ spenders.

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