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This was all debunked a year and a half ago.



I knew someone would point this out Tom, that's why I left it out of that post. Excellent article btw. Note where it says a lot of people say payroll taxes should be left out of the discussion about the 47% because that pays for benefits and they're not an income tax because everybody pays the same rate. That's true and I agree. Fwiw I'm an Enrolled Agent, a tax pro. I'm licensed by the IRS to represent you as a taxpayer before the IRS if you have a tax problem.

Two points here, first there's a lot of talk about having a means test to help solve the Social Security and Medicare problem. That means if you make above a certain level you would not receive the benefits. Fine but if you've paid into the system your whole life and it's for a guaranteed benefit, not simply an income tax and then when you retire you happen to be lucky enough to have retirement income above that level you get nothing? I'm not one of those people but that's certainly not fair at all. If they're going to do that then the person should at least get their SS and Medicare tax money back don't you think? Otherwise it's just another political lie, the SS and Medicare money is in fact just more income tax.

Second is the Warren Buffet argument about the rich should at least pay the same tax rate as his secretary. That's totally and completely bogus. The rich get a lot if not most of their income from investments. Investments are bought with after tax money. This is why a good argument can be made that investment income should not be taxed at all. Warren Buffet or anybody else still has some earned income and that income is taxed at the highest rate, much higher than his secretary unless she's making over 300K or so. His after tax investment income is taxed at the much lower cap gains or qualified dividend rates because he's already paid taxes on that money so investment income is really double taxed and that's what most people don't understand.

In my opinion the real problem is government overspending and waste, fraud and abuse.

Bob

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