Income Redistribution: Taxes at ’60 Year Low,’ AP Says
Are your federal taxes too high? Well, stop whining, because, according to the Associated Press, taxes are at a 60-year low. Of course, the “60-year low” is true regarding only one particular statistic: Total federal tax dollars this year will be the lowest since 1950 when compared to the total size of the nation’s economy. (Not so true for the debt and deficit.) However, our individual tax rates are not based on the size of the economy, so this statistic is rather meaningless. Nevertheless, there is no doubt the Left will seize on this to say taxes are too low and must be raised, especially on the hated “rich” who benefited too much from President Bush’s tax cuts. Lost on the Left is the fact that the Bush cuts actually increased federal tax revenue — and the share of taxes paid by those in the top brackets. But since when has the Left let reality get in the way of increasing the size and power of government?
There are several reasons for this “60-year low.” The primary one is, as the AP so eloquently put it, “thanks to a weak economy,” which naturally leads to lower tax revenue as people become unemployed and corporate profits fall. Our ridiculously complicated tax code also leads to falling revenue. For example, thanks to the many new deductions and credits with which politicians bribe voters, a family with two children making $50,000 can avoid paying any federal income tax at all, some low-income families actually make a profit using the tax code, and, yes, the wealthy can significantly and legally cut their taxes using various loopholes.
Never fear, however. Many of us will soon pay more in taxes thanks to ObamaCare, assuming it survives. Some states have already raised taxes because, unlike Washington, they have to balance their budgets every year. There is no doubt that if the federal government doesn’t get its spending and monstrous tax code under control soon, America is headed for a fiscal train wreck unlike any seen before.
