Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Monday, November 25, 2013
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Most of Those Outraged by Obamacare Enjoy Big Taxpayer Subsidies Themselves | Connecting the Dots, What Matters Today | BillMoyers.com
Most of Those Outraged by Obamacare Enjoy Big Taxpayer Subsidies Themselves | Connecting the Dots, What Matters Today | BillMoyers.com
Article The other side of the mythology – that the “takers” don’t pay taxes – is equally as divorced from reality. It’s based on the fact that around 40 percent of the population pays no federal income taxes in a given year, largely as a result of Republican policies like the child tax credit. But the claim is the height of cherry-picking data because the federal income tax represents only around a quarter of the taxes paid in this country. When one includes all taxes, those in the bottom fifth of American households forked over around 16 percent of their incomes in taxes, and the next fifth paid 21 percent of theirs, according to CBPP. And many of those tax dollars ultimately subsidize the lifestyles of those who fancy themselves to be self-made “makers.”
It’s also the case that, contrary to the belief that people who don’t pay federal income taxes are a discrete group of Americans, most families don’t pay them for a year or two when their incomes fall below the threshold, but do pay those taxes in other years. Almost one in five people who don’t pay federal income taxes are students who will, one hopes, earn enough to pay federal income taxes when they graduate. Another fifth are seniors who paid those taxes before retirement.
It’s perverse to condemn all of these people as shiftless moochers, but that’s the foundational myth that supports most mainstream conservative thinking about government programs these days.
So here’s something to keep in mind when you hear someone grousing about being forced to help pay for health insurance for what they see as “the undeserving poor”: in all likelihood, that person has enjoyed subsidized college tuition or health insurance or home ownership or retirement plans– or any of a dozen other hidden government benefits in our submerged welfare state — and the idea of one group of Americans subsidizing another didn’t seem to be a cause of outrage then.
Article The other side of the mythology – that the “takers” don’t pay taxes – is equally as divorced from reality. It’s based on the fact that around 40 percent of the population pays no federal income taxes in a given year, largely as a result of Republican policies like the child tax credit. But the claim is the height of cherry-picking data because the federal income tax represents only around a quarter of the taxes paid in this country. When one includes all taxes, those in the bottom fifth of American households forked over around 16 percent of their incomes in taxes, and the next fifth paid 21 percent of theirs, according to CBPP. And many of those tax dollars ultimately subsidize the lifestyles of those who fancy themselves to be self-made “makers.”
It’s also the case that, contrary to the belief that people who don’t pay federal income taxes are a discrete group of Americans, most families don’t pay them for a year or two when their incomes fall below the threshold, but do pay those taxes in other years. Almost one in five people who don’t pay federal income taxes are students who will, one hopes, earn enough to pay federal income taxes when they graduate. Another fifth are seniors who paid those taxes before retirement.
It’s perverse to condemn all of these people as shiftless moochers, but that’s the foundational myth that supports most mainstream conservative thinking about government programs these days.
So here’s something to keep in mind when you hear someone grousing about being forced to help pay for health insurance for what they see as “the undeserving poor”: in all likelihood, that person has enjoyed subsidized college tuition or health insurance or home ownership or retirement plans– or any of a dozen other hidden government benefits in our submerged welfare state — and the idea of one group of Americans subsidizing another didn’t seem to be a cause of outrage then.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)