Rich already carry too much of the load

Mitt Romney is often accused of being out of touch. When it comes to “tax fairness,” President Obama proves over and over again that he is out of touch. Not a day goes by without the president exhorting that the “rich” need to pay their “fair share.” Let’s look at the facts.

A 2009 Tax Foundation analysis of 2007 income taxes showed that the top 1 percent of income tax returns accounted for 22.8 percent of adjusted gross income, but 40.4 percent of all federal individual income taxes. Also, the Journal of Economic Perspectives (Winter 2007) states that “the upper 1 percent of the income distribution paid 41 percent of the individual income tax. No other major country is so dependent on so few taxpayers.”

Further, a 2008 study of 24 leading economies by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development concludes that “Taxation is most progressively distributed in the United States.” This study found that the ratio of taxes paid to income received by the top 10 percent was by far the highest in the U.S., at 1.35, compared to 1.1 for France, 1.07 for Germany, 1.01 for Japan and 1.0 for Sweden.

As you can see, upper income Americans already pay a disproportionate share of the taxes in our country. How much more should they be expected to “share?” I know that facts are stubborn things but in this case they cannot be dismissed.

Stephen W. DeFilippis

Wayne