October 17, 2004
Only The Little People
The Teresa Heinz returns are out... guess who pays under the median?
"Only the little people pay taxes" - Leona Helmsley
Teresa Kerry released her 1040 form naked (without supporting documents) to reveal she paid a whopping three-quarters of a million dollars on five million in income.
We think this surely sounds fair - after all, that's alot of money. But wait a minute. Isn't the top rate 35%? Let's break down the calculations here... Heinz paid only 16% in taxes...
And this reveals what we call The Big Lie.
The Big Lie is that high income tax rates make sure the rich pay their fair share.
Here's The Big Truth. The Big Truth is that income taxes don't tax the rich - they tax those trying to become rich. There is no wealth tax. As such, the progressive income tax actually helps preserve class separation - helps to keep distance between old money (wealth) and new money (income).
Over half of Teresa's reported taxable income - some $2.7 million - came from tax-free investments, income from which as you might surmise is not taxed. That's -0%- of income that goes untaxed, whereas someone who actually worked for $2.7 million would pay roughly $900,000 to the federal government.
This is what accounts for what could be called egalitarian Democrat plutocracy - which accounts for why many extremely wealthy individuals - Kerry, Kennedy, Corzine, Boxer - espouse very progressive tax rates and champion the redistribution of income via government taxation. Because quite simply, high income taxes don't affect them - their wealth is secured, and residual income is tax free.
If you want to see Ted Kennedy go apoplectic... suggest a wealth tax...
Posted by MEC2 at October 17, 2004 08:05 AM