That's the top rate, which tells you almost nothing about the effective tax rates on various income groups. I actually did the math using this page, including the 33% bubble for '88.

that's what i was looking at, but I did not calculate the net. And please forgive me I'm rusty on my GOP talking points, I went to a liberal Art School full of hippies and took an urban planning class to learn my politics.

Some good dialogue and info in this thread. I am in agreement with Savington about the phrasing of the criticism from the National Review author.

Hey Sav - I looked through your link but could not find the listing for effective tax rates. I think it is important to consider both the marginal and the effective, rather than one or the other.

Likewise, I think it is important to consider both Federal income and payroll taxation.

Friedrich Hayek made this argument decades ago - as long as those who are worst off have enough to live decently, society is better off with an income distribution that is wide, because those at the upper end defray the cost of experiments in living which eventually can be made more cheaply as a result, and become affordable to the whole population.

nah, the shuttle built in 1984 is good enough dawg.

lol @ arguing to increase taxes on unchecked representative government.

"representative government"? In name only. Have you ever tried to talk to a state office holder? Damn near impossible. Hell, it's hard enough to get a hold of a local gov't official (other than a county clerk or similar) to get a straight answer.

The federal gov't is so out of touch with the way most people live (budgets, anyone?) that I consider them the #1 threat to my freedom and happiness in the world.

Careful, we're just moments away from Joe posting pictures of kittens or something.

One of the best investments in real estate to be had is renting to the poor. 90% of the rent guaranteed by the US government and the ability to overinflate rental costs. All the while your tenants are pumping out kids, chomping on cheetos while playing xbox, and making cash under the table to cover the measly 10% they don't even need to pay you. What a beautiful life.

Most people don't contribute $23,675,562 to the Democrat Party in an 8 year span...the UAW union does/did.

they are still at work, making cars no one wants, getting paid.

This is why de-centralization of power aka the principle of subsidiarity should be one of the most important principles to keep in mind.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsidiarity
This maximizes the people have on their government.
It is astounding to me how so many people cling on to "let's change the Federal Gov't", instead of "let's exert our State's 10th Amendment Rights". Especially the liberals. They somehow believe that more centralized power is better to go with their belief in the big-benevolent-government unicorn.

Check out
http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/

dont forget it poops gold nuggets.

Can one of the "increase taxes" types here explain why the gov't can't be rolled back to year 2000 levels of spending? What has the gov't done for you now that it couldn't back in 2000? (Yes I would start by pulling troops out of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya, as well as the other 100-odd countries we're in).

I'd like to see that chart with the deficit added.

I'm "bumping" this further down the thread so it doesn't get totally lost in the tangents along the way. :)

looks like someone divided by zero...

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1311708147

Look at the dent Newt Gingrich made in 2000 :jerkit:


is it worth it? are we better off?

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1311708147

“To make matters worse, the recession meant that there was less money coming in, and it required us to spend even more.”

“Now, every family knows that a little credit card debt is manageable. But if we stay on the current path, our growing debt could cost us jobs and do serious damage to the economy.”

“For the last decade, we have spent more money than we take in.”

“Let’s cut defense spending at the Pentagon by hundreds of billions of dollars.”

“Finally, let’s ask the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations to give up some of their tax breaks and special deductions.”

“The only reason this balanced approach isn’t on its way to becoming law right now is because a significant number of Republicans in Congress are insisting on a cuts-only approach – an approach that doesn’t ask the wealthiest Americans or biggest corporations to contribute anything at all.”

“Understand – raising the debt ceiling does not allow Congress to spend more money.”