White Lightning Axiom: Redux

Ok, I know that there are a good number of you out there who would rather see road-kill than Rush Limbaugh, but this particular bit is just a pretty picture cut from an excel spread-sheet.

The top 1% pay over a third, 34.27% of all income taxes. (Up from 2003: 33.71%) The top 5% pay 54.36% of all income taxes (Up from 2002: 53.80%). The top 10% pay 65.84% (Up from 2002: 65.73%). The top 25% pay 83.88% (Down from 2002: 83.90%). The top 50% pay 96.54% (Up from 2002: 96.50%). The bottom 50%? They pay a paltry 3.46% of all income taxes (Down from 2002: 3.50%). The top 1% is paying nearly ten times the federal income taxes than the bottom 50%! And who earns what? The top 1% earns 16.77% of all income (2002: 16.12%). The top 5% earns 31.18% of all the income (2002: 30.55%). The top 10% earns 42.36% of all the income (2002: 41.77%); the top 25% earns 64.86% of all the income (2002: 64.37%) , and the top 50% earns 86.01% (2002: 85.77%) of all the income.

I know, a whole bunch of icky-ick math ciphers and all. Here is the low-down. If you and your spouse are earning more than $130K, you are in the top 5% (about 6.5 million returns out of 129 million). You know what is the short-fall of this data? That $130K in NYC, DC or Philly won't get you very far but it will certainly do wonders if you live in more rural areas. This is EARNED income folks. The numbers don't say who is paying AMT or such, but if you live in a major metro area, you are probably paying a great deal of your retired/unemployed neighbors share. Now let's think about this ... major metro areas are usually where the wealth is. Most of these population centers are very, very 'blue-state'. Makes you wonder, don't it?

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