During the eight years of the Clinton Administration the Federal government collected a total of $5.66 trillion dollars in individual income taxes. During the eight years of the Bush Administration the Federal government collected approximately $7.45 trillion dollars in individual income taxes. The rich - that is, the top 1% of taxpayers - not only forked over a trillion dollars more to Uncle Sam under Bush than under Clinton, their share of the income tax burden increased from 33% to 38%.
Frezza adds that not only has the burden risen on the rich, but they are actually paying a higher blended tax rate under the Bush cuts:
During the eight years of the Clinton Administration the rich paid income taxes at a blended rate of 20.6%. During the eight years of the Bush Administration the rich paid income taxes at a blended tax rate of 21.3%. Yes, the actual tax rate that matters when you fill out the bottom line of your tax return went up for the rich under George Bush.
In other words, Frezza argues that the IRS' own data indicates these lower top-end rates have resulted in both higher revenues and higher real tax contributions from the wealthy.
Despite the counterintuitive nature of the argument, historical data seems to agree with Frezza. As the conservative Heritage Foundation notes about the Reagan tax cuts:
The share of income taxes paid by the top 10 percent of earners jumped significantly, climbing from 48.0 percent in 1981 to 57.2 percent in 1988. The top 1 percent saw their share of the income tax bill climb even more dramatically, from 17.6 percent in 1981 to 27.5 percent in 1988.
Even President Kennedy agreed with the concept of lower rates often meaning more revenue. He said:
"Our true choice is not between tax reduction, on the one hand, and the avoidance of large Federal deficits on the other. It is increasingly clear that no matter what party is in power, so long as our national security needs keep rising, an economy hampered by restrictive tax rates will never produce enough revenues to balance our budget just as it will never produce enough jobs or enough profits… In short, it is a paradoxical truth that tax rates are too high today and tax revenues are too low and the soundest way to raise the revenues in the long run is to cut the rates now."
Some states may be finding this out first hand. Remember that Maryland raised taxes on millionaires in 2008 and tax revenues fell in 2009.
Read more:
http://briansullivan.blogs.foxbusin...her-taxes-mean-less-tax-revenue#ixzz1BcI4ao1s
