Question: What if the economy is down not only because of the housing market but

[LaylaMonroe]

I c wut u did thur

[blyempowered]

I c wut u did thur

Me too!!

[phbrown]

I want to respond, PHB... but honestly, all I can come up with is a *blank stare*


Can I get some graphs or a pie chart or something?

LOL!

[phbrown]

here is an apple pie




here is an orange pie

[under13]

Orange pie? eww.

[phbrown]

U13 I know you already know this but I'm bored (its the calm before the storm right now at my job) so here we go


The biggest problem with this debate is people are mixing math terms that shouldn't really be mixed.


Notice the rich talk about percents of the whole economy
Rich view point
We, the rich people (top 20% earners), pay over 50% of all the taxes.


Notice the poor talk about percents of their whole income
Poor view point
We, the poor people (bottom 20% earners), Pay over 50% of our INCOME in taxes.

They are both correct.

The truth of the matter is Fixed dollar amounts in taxes favor the rich. Percent of income taxes favors the poor.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44143776/ns/business-personal_finance/

Buffett, one of the world's richest men and chairman of conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc , said his federal tax bill last year was $6,938,744.

"That sounds like a lot of money. But what I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income - and that's actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our office. Their tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and averaged 36 percent," he said.

[phbrown]

U13 I know you already know this but I'm bored (its the calm before the storm right now at my job) so here we go


The biggest problem with this debate is people are mixing math terms that shouldn't really be mixed.


Notice the rich talk about percents of the whole economy
Rich view point
We, the rich people (top 20% earners), pay over 50% of all the taxes.


Notice the poor talk about percents of their whole income
Poor view point
We, the poor people (bottom 20% earners), Pay over 50% of our INCOME in taxes.

They are both correct.

The truth of the matter is Fixed dollar amounts in taxes favor the rich. Percent of income taxes favors the poor.

Fixed dollar example
For example lets say there is now a 1,000 dollar tax on income to pay for roads.
The rich person can afford this 1,000 dollar because it is such a small amount.
The poor person now needs to decide between if they can eat or not.

Percentage example
For example lets say there is now a 10% tax on income to pay for the roads
The rich person must now decide between if they can eat or not because 10% of 1 billion is a lot of money.
The poor person can afford this because it is such a small amount.

just realized i didn't talk about the difference between a progressive tax structure and a flat tax structure ...