Great graphic from The Wall Street Journal
comparing “share of total federal taxes paid” vs “share of pretax income.” The data, from the Congressional Budget Office, clearly show that while the rich are getting richer, their share of taxes is growing faster. The WSJ also reports that the percentage of U.S. households owing no federal income tax climbed to 51% for 2009.
The rich are not the only one’s benefiting from economic growth. Contrary to what President Obama claims, the poor are not getting poorer. Cornell economist Richard Burkhauser, Joint Committee on Taxation economist Jeff Larrimore, and Indiana University economist Kosali Simon released a report last week showing that after taking into account for government transfers and other sources of income like health care benefits, everyone — rich, poor, and middle class — has been getting richer.
