Ari Fleischer has some strange ideas about income taxes

Justin,

Sorry to do this, but back to question time.

What has historically been the most effective way to create jobs?

As this conversation over recovery has adjusted from saving Wall St. to recap of banks to tax breaks versus government created infrastructure jobs....it seems to me that very few experts are consistent on what it takes to create a job.

i want to ask ari:

it is a justifiable system if 400 families own half the country's wealth?

the 400 families are trying to own the other half as well and keep the rest of the population on bondage for generations to come, when they are pushing to steal potentially trillions of public money by blackmailing the population. and i'm afriad they will find a way.

we the people will be closing all out bank account, shred our credit cards, stop paying mortgages, walk away from down mortgages, stop buying corporate products, stop fighting on behalf of the rich, and stop paying taxes. that's exactly what we'll do.

we can live without 400 families, but they can't without us.

Justin Fox should remember that 1913 was the year before World War I started in Europe. We entered that war a few years later. It was expensive. The world was beginning to lap at America's borders. Our foreign policy was becoming more expensive. The nation was being increasingly settled, with the increasing need to organize people. Imagine having to fund the federal government with just sales taxes and tariffs. Especially, imagine having to maintain the size of the military we have today, with its sophisticated weaponry. There are still plenty of totalitarian nations in the world today, and some weak democratic ones.

In light of these points, I don't think that Ari Fleischer is so off base. People should be taxed fairly. What "fair" is, is what we decide when we vote.

more importantly - 45%!!!! I called all my friends, they are all paying taxes. Mathematically, I should know at least one working person not paying taxes? How do I not pay taxes (and not go to jail)?

The 45% is thrown around a lot lately. Is that just wimin and children? (sorry Barbara!)

I guess I'd be interested in how many median+ income families pay no taxes, a more interesting number from a policy perspective.

This may help.

http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/tables/08s0687.pdf

45% of 300mill would be somewhere around 135 million not paying any income taxes.

Now what other factors have I failed to consider:

1) How many are students and have no jobs?
2) How many workers are in training and have no income?
3) How many live below the poverty level and spend all of their income just to live?
4) How many are seniors who have spent a lifetime paying taxes?
5) How many corporations pay little to no income tax by comparison?

Ari also uses the standard duplicitous dodge of ignoring payroll taxes. Sheesh.

What is objectionable is that the 45% that don't pay income taxes are continually told that "the rich don't pay their fare share of taxes" by the media and their liberal politicians even though the vast bulk of income taxes are - in deed - paid by the wealthy.

rrsafety,

In terms of taxes across the board, what are the relative comparisons of all taxes paid as a percentage of income by the "rich" in comparison to median family households?

Hint: Warren Buffet has already talked about it.

ogobeone,

"Even in 1918" - the year we ended WWI by kicking the Kaiser's butt - "only 5% of the population paid income taxes and yet the income tax funded one third of the cost of the war."⇒

So Ari's assertion that "You can't have a country that's strong when you have 45% of the population not paying any income tax" is clearly false.

The mistake people are making is in assuming that taxing that other 45% of the population would somehow make a difference in the Federal Government's revenues. It wouldn't.

And if we decide what fair taxation is by voting, then people are taxed fairly, because we have voted.

Not Economist speaking, but I heard that quote last night and thought it was odd, just because...where does Ari Fleischer get the credentials to say that? He was a mouthpiece in the Bush admin, not an economic advisor. So I took his 45% thing with a grain of salt because I had a sneaking suspicion that he didn't know what he was talking about.

That figure is nice, but I wonder what percentage of Americans think that taxing is bad in general. Especially with the election and taxing becoming a major talking point, it seems as though most automatically associate taxing as a negative thing. Any hint at new taxing or an increased tax is met with shudders.

[...] Obama. But in keeping with the nonpartisan, nonjudgmental nature of this blog (except perhaps where Ari Fleischer is concerned), I wish to emphasize that I think it's totally fine to have voted for [...]

[...] screeds on taxes, I perked up at least a little. Ari Fleischer's tax ideas always get my adrenaline flowing. His point this time, as always, is that: A very small number of taxpayers -- the 10% of the [...]

[...] screeds on taxes, I perked up at least a little. Ari Fleischer’s tax ideas always get my adrenaline flowing. His point this time, as always, is that: A very small number of taxpayers — the 10% of the [...]