COMMENTARY | Solving our national debt problem might be more of an income dilemma and less about a debt problem. A recent chart compiled from IRS and Tax Foundation data suggests the rich have been paying fewer taxes as compared to the middle class for over 20 years.
Stephen Von Worley's chart adjusts for 2011 inflation and includes income tax statistics from the 1920s through the present day. Darker shaded areas of the chart bespeak a time when the relative tax burden reached historic levels--blue is a low level, red is a high level.
No one class of citizen has an overly high burden of paying income taxes in 2011. But overall, Americans making $1 million or more are shouldering less of a tax burden than before. When the government has been deficit spending at record levels, it's time to increase taxes.
When World War II was going on, millions of citizens were convinced paying taxes was patriotic in order to defeat Hitler and Japan. Now, paying down the debt is anything but patriotic. Groups such as the Tea Party "patriots" are saying keeping even more of our money is in line with American ideals.
Another chart compiled by the University of California at Santa Cruz is equally as disturbing for the middle and lower classes. The top one percent of households in the United States owned nearly 35 percent of the wealth in the United States. The next 19 percent (managerial and professional types) own only 50 percent of the wealth in America. The bottom 80 percent (i.e. hourly wage earners and impoverished) have access to just 15 percent of available money in 2007.
Combining the two sets of date reveals a stark contrast. The rich are still getting richer while the poor keep getting poorer. Republicans don't seem to understand or don't seem to care what the statistics are saying.
The George W. Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy didn't make sense at all. The new chart shows those making between $10,000 and $200,000 have more of the tax burden even though they don't own a vast majority of wealth.
Republicans demanded to keep the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans despite President Obama's objections. The GOP was wrong, plain and simple. Paying income taxes if you're wealthy isn't punishing anyone for being rich. Paying taxes if you're rich isn't socialism. It is simply a way of life in America.
Republicans only seem to care about the wealthiest Americans who only reward themselves for hard work. Democrats want to help the poor get off their feet with a combination of more money for education, health care and welfare programs.
When Ben Franklin wrote to a friend in France, he explained "there are only two certainties in America--death and taxes." In today's world the exception is for the rich as far as paying income taxes.
William Browning is a research librarian specializing in U.S. politics. Born in St. Louis, Browning is active in local politics and served as a campaign volunteer for President Barack Obama and Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill.
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