Greedy Democrats wants rich to pay more than their fair share of taxes

Washington Post:

President Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress are setting the stage for a high-stakes battle over taxes in the final weeks before the November congressional elections, betting that their plan to eliminate tax breaks for the wealthy will resonate with voters who have lost houses and jobs to what many see as an era of Wall Street greed.

Raising taxes is usually a perilous move. But Democrats, facing the potential loss of their majorities Capitol Hill, believe that the strategy will both force Republicans to defend tax breaks for a tiny and wealthy minority and expose GOP hypocrisy on budget deficits

Even as Republicans have blamed Democrats' spending for the record $1.47 trillion deficit forecast this year, the GOP has called for extending tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bush, which are set to expire in January. That move would add at least $2 trillion over the next decade to the burgeoning national debt.

"This blows a hole in their argument that they're deficit hawks. They're not deficit hawks; they're deficit chickens," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), who heads the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which is tasked with defending the party's House majority.

Republicans say the tax cuts are critical to bolstering a feeble economic recovery. President Obama campaigned on a promise to end the Bush-era tax breaks for the wealthy, but with unemployment at 9.5 percent, even some Democrats are queasy about raising taxes on high earners -- a category that includes many small-business owners -- when policymakers are trying to encourage them to create jobs.

"We are eager to oblige our friends on the other side of the aisle who want to have this debate," said Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (Utah), a senior Republican on the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee. "They can talk about the wealthy all they want, but this is about stopping a job-killing tax hike on small businesses during tough economic times."

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The Democrats need to answer what percentage of income taxes collected the top one percent should have to pay. Is 40 percent too much? According to the Tax Foundation:

In 2007, the top 1 percent of tax returns paid 40.4 percent of all federal individual income taxes and earned 22.8 percent of adjusted gross income. Both of those figures—share of income and share of taxes paid—are significantly higher than they were in 2004 when the top 1 percent earned 19 percent of adjusted gross income (AGI) and paid 36.9 percent of federal individual income taxes.

That is the secret the Democrats do not want voters to know. The percentage of taxes paid by the rich went up during the Bush years not down as they claim. The top 25 percent paid over 86 percent of the income taxes in the same year. The top 10 percent paid 71.22 percent of the income taxes, and the top five percent paid 60.63 percent of all income taxes. The thresh hold income for the top five percent in 2007 was $160,041. For the top one percent it was $410,096. What Democrats are looking to do is make the percentage of taxes paid by the top two or three percent close to two-thirds of the total income taxes. I bet you that 99 percent of the voters do not know that and if they did 90 percent of them would not think it was fair.

If Republicans frame the issue as a percentage of taxes paid the Democrats will lose this argument in a spectacular fashion.

The NY Times has more on the tax increases pushed by some Democrats.  Rasmussen Reports that voters trust Republicans more on the issue of taxes.