'Are taxes being levied fairly when it comes to the rich and the poor?'

[Breeze54]

Taxing the Poor

On PBS - "NOW' - 8 PM EST

Are taxes being levied fairly when it comes to the rich and the poor?

http://www.pbs.org/now/

More From NOW: Taxing the Poor |
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/415/index.html

State-by-State: Income Inequality |
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/415/states-income-inequality.html

Quiz: Family, Taxes and Fairness |
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/415/family-taxes.html

A Voice from Poverty |
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/415/taxes-poverty.html

Fair Tax Options |
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/415/fair-tax-options.html

Feedback Forum

Related Reports:
Middle Class Insecurity
Income Inequality
Elizabeth Warren on Debt and the Middle

Class Quiz: Middle Class Squeeze
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/405/middle-class-quiz.html

Helping the Middle Class
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/405/middle-class-anxiety.html

Topic Search: Taxes, Income & Inequality


Video: Taxing the Poor


Millions of Americans are filing their taxes and hoping for the best, but are rich people actually
paying a smaller percentage of their total income than the poor? This week, NOW looks at how state
policies to generate revenue by raising sales taxes and lowering property taxes come at a bigger
price for low-income households than for wealthier ones.

Anti-poverty advocates say the shift assigns the heaviest tax burden to those who can least afford it.

Despite the charge, it's a model many states have long embraced.

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NOW travels to one of these states, Alabama, to document the personal impact of regressive tax policies
on three very different families. They include a working Mom who shows us how a ten percent sales tax on groceries
makes a significant difference in what her family eats; a couple living in a ramshackle house in the backwoods
who've always held jobs but still face hunger; and a well to-do suburban couple who benefit from tax breaks,
but feel they shouldn't "take from the poor to give to the rich."

Until two years ago, Alabama families of four earning as little as $4,600 a year paid state income taxes.
In 2006, with strong help from a lobbying group for the poor, the figure was raised to $12,600.

More From NOW: Taxing the Poor | State-by-State: Income Inequality |
Quiz: Family, Taxes and Fairness | A Voice from Poverty | Fair Tax Options |
Feedback Forum

Related Reports Middle Class Insecurity
Income Inequality
Elizabeth Warren on Debt and
the Middle Class Quiz: Middle Class Squeeze
Helping the Middle Class

Topic Search: Taxes, Income & Inequality

As residents, local politicians, and activists weigh in with their perspectives,

NOW asks: Are taxes being levied fairly when it comes to the rich and the poor?

Related Links

GoodJobsFirst: Find out more about corporate tax giveaways

The Tax Foundation: Candidate Tax Plan Comparison

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Income Inequality Grew in Most States Over Two Decades

Good Jobs First: The State of State Disclosure: An Evaluation of Online Public Information
About Economic Development Subsidies, Procurement Contracts and Lobbying Activities

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

----------------

Not a chance they are fair!

[Initech]

1. Short answer: NOOOOOO!!!

To quote George Carlin - "The upper class make all of the money, pay none of the taxes. The middle class pay all of the taxes and do all of the work. And the poor are there, just to scare the shit out of the middle class. Keep them showing up at those jobs!!!".

[Breeze54]

2. Good quote and it's mostly still true from when he said it but

now even the people earning below the poverty line are also paying federal and state taxes.

[kestrel91316]

3. Somebody actually has to ask this? It's not obvious to all???

[Breeze54]

9. Apparently not....

It was an interesting show. You can watch on line.

[Stuart G]

4. Here is an example.

Let's say I have $50,000 of income, a wife, two kids..regular job, working 8 hours a day..
..........usual deductions...I suspect the tax will come to 22-25 percent of income(maybe 20 percent..I am not sure)

..Let say I earn the same $50,000 dollars in the stock market..(all I did was invest $5,000 in some company, and ten years later the stock was worth say 55,000. So I take 5 minutes to sell and make my profit...

...........for my five minutes of work, pay 15 percent. neat eh?. It is called capital gains, special rate on that kind of income...
..that is why the poor pay more, and the rich pay less.

[Breeze54]

10. I don't think that's all of it. They pay more in income taxes...

.. percentage wise, as well.

[Bigmack]

5. I probably should post separately....

but this is very appropriate to your post.

I just read another of those LTTEs that says the rich are being persecuted by our tax system.

NEW STUDY FINDS "DRAMATIC" REDUCTION SINCE 1960
IN THE PROGRESSIVITY OF THE FEDERAL TAX SYSTEM:
Largest Reductions in Progressivity Occurred in 1980s and Since 2000
“The progressivity of the U.S. federal tax system at the top of the income distribution has declined dramatically since the 1960s.” As Figure 1 shows, since 1960, average federal tax rates for middle-income households have increased and then declined modestly. Over the same period, high-income households saw sharp drops in their federal tax rates.'



Whole thing is at:

http://www.cbpp.org/3-29-07tax.htm

[Orwellian_Ghost]

6. K&R n/t

[Breeze54]

11. Exactly and now the rich barely pay anything!

Thanks for the graph and the link.

[Breeze54]

7. "A Chance to Help Those Who Need It Most" by David Beckmann

Guest Blogger: "A Chance to Help Those Who Need It Most" by David Beckmann

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/blog/2008/04/guest_blogger_a_chance.html

(Photo by Robin Holland)

We'd like to thank Rev. Beckmann of Bread for the World for his additional thoughts on aiding America's hungry and his hopes for new farm bill legislation.

Please note that the views and opinions expressed by Rev. Beckmann are not necessarily the views and opinions held by Bill Moyers or BILL MOYERS JOURNAL.

---------------------

A Chance to Help Those Who Need It Most

Rev. David Beckmann
President, Bread for the World

I have been reflecting on the increasing challenges our nation’s low-income families face in their struggle to have enough to eat each day, especially in light of the negotiations going on in Congress for a new farm bill.

This week, with congressional conference committee members now named, we are presented with a renewed opportunity to get the farm bill back on a path to genuine reform. We have until April 18 to reach an agreement – or extend it further -- before the 2002 farm bill expires.

To deliver a farm bill that contains genuine reforms, congressional negotiators must be guided by two principles – principles that transcend politics-as-usual and are aimed at helping those who need it most.

The first is that the new farm bill must reform current commodity programs to establish a more equitable system of support. These will target U.S. farmers of modest means – who truly can use the help -- and will ensure a level playing field for poor farmers in developing countries, who comprise the majority of the world’s hungry people.

The second is that the new farm bill must redirect the billions of dollars in savings generated by genuine reform of commodity programs to strengthen our country’s nutrition programs, including the Food Stamp Program, our nation’s first line of defense against hunger. The savings must also go to support farms and rural families of modest means, through rural development programs and enhanced conservation.

My reflection was heightened by the sobering statistics about what’s on the dinner tables of the lowest-income Americans – and what is not – which translates, for me, into a rallying cry that Congress do what’s right and just.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that the monthly grocery costs for a typical low-income family shot up 7.2 percent in 2007 – a three-fold increase over the previous year. But, the average family’s allotment of food stamp benefits grew by less than five percent. We also know that most people can only stretch their food stamp benefit to the third week each month.

Last year, the number of households participating in the food stamp program increased 5.6 percent. This year, with our economy in deep trouble, it’s going to get worse. The latest report says that probably 28 million Americans will receive food stamps by the the end of 2008, a million and a half more than 2006.

That’s why we need to reform commodity payments in the farm bill. Without such a reform, the farm bill will continue to direct money to millionaire farmers instead of meeting the basic food needs of low-income Americans.

The congressional conference committee can, and must deliver a farm bill that, at the very least, keeps the nutrition programs at the House-approved level of $11.5 billion over 10 years. It is reprehensible to keep subsidizing prosperous farmers when food stamp recipients are getting squeezed by skyrocketing food prices and the ailing economy. This is our chance to help those who need most – our hungry and poor fellow Americans.

[Mojambo]

8. Goddamn. Alabama is one fucking regressive state. n/t

[Breeze54]

12. I couldn't believe it either!! Yikes!!

Those people need to register to vote and vote the asshats out of their state legislature!!