Residents in AOC's district say how much they think the rich pay in taxes
By: Teny Sahakian (MSN)
And we wonder how she got elected?
These are some mental giants.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
New Yorkers from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's district who spoke with Fox News overwhelmingly said the wealthiest people in America pay among the lowest tax rates in the country, which is not supported by data.
"We're paying too much taxes," a woman named Lavasquez told Fox News. "The lower and middle classes, we're working our butts off and we're paying so much taxes, and then you've got the upper class and they're not paying anything."
"Its totally unfair," said Richard, who works in data analytics. "The bottom percentile of individuals are probably paying the bulk of the taxes whereas you have millionaires and billionaires being able to avoid their share."
The wealthiest people are "definitely paying the bare minimum if any," he continued. "I would assume it's about 5%, if that."
Last week, House Democrats unveiled a proposal to raise taxes on the top sliver of U.S. households. The proposal is part of a sweeping plan to overhaul the nation's tax code in order to fund President Biden's $3.5 trillion spending bill that includes family and climate change initiatives.
Under the plan released by the House Ways and Means Committee, the top individual income rate would climb to 39.6% for the wealthiest individuals and families. The proposal rolls back a key part of Republicans' 2017 tax overhaul, which lowered the top individual income rate to 37%.
"I don't think rich people pay enough taxes," an audio-visual engineer from New York's 14th Congressional District said. "They make way too much to get away with making so little."
A man named Calvin told Fox News: "It basically depends on who you know. There's a reason why shell companies exist, that's how you evade taxes."
One man, Manny, said he thought taxes across the board were "too high" already. He told Fox News he was was sure the wealthy "pay their fair share."
Most people said they wanted a "fair" solution when Fox News asked how much the wealthy should pay.
"They should be paying the same amount of taxes as the middle and lower class are," Lavasquez said. "That way it gives us equal share and no one is feeling singled out."
Richard told Fox News: "If I'm paying a third of my income to taxes, why not the same be applied to millionaires and billionaires? If that's not fair, then what is?"
Another man said: "It's not fair to ask them to pay much more than everyone else. I wouldn't ask for something crazy like half of your money … keep it under 20% and it would be good."
According to a Congressional Budget Office report, the top 1% of earners paid an average federal tax rate of 32% in 2017. Tax rates that year declined with income, with the poorest 20% paying an average tax rate of 1%. The Tax Policy Center found similar results.
In 2018, the top 1% of income earners — those who earned more than $540,000 — earned 21% of all U.S. income while paying 40% of all federal income taxes, according to a Tax Foundation analysis. The group paid more in income taxes, about $615 billion, than the bottom 90% of taxpayers combined, or $440 billion.
The top 10% earned 48% of the income and paid 71% of federal income taxes, the data showed.
The share of taxes shouldered by the nation's richest individuals has climbed over time.
In 2001, for example, the top 1% accounted for 33.2% of the nation's individual income taxes, according to the Tax Foundation. From 2001 to 2018, the share paid by the bottom 50% of taxpayers fell to 3% from 4.9%.
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She roped them in LOL with mis/disinformation
he share of taxes shouldered by the nation's richest individuals has climbed over time.
Thanks to Bush and Trump for making the tax code more progressive.
Gotta love the brainiac's in the population.
Is he talking a flat tax where everybody pays the same percentage of their income (and the bottom 50% of taxpayers who pay 3% of their income in taxes jumps to what..) or is he talking about how everybody should pay the same dollar amount?
It's pretty easy to fool a dimbulb. Meanwhile she is dining on $35,000 dinners and wearing very expensive dresses from designers who don't pay their taxes.
The New Yorker's in her district are the dimmest bulbs of all ......
Lets just say that a lot of those with sympathy for the wealthy dont understand this. They think that if the top 1% of earners make 21% of all US income then the fair percentage of aggregate tax they should pay is 21%.
This is of course not the purpose of a progressive income tax system.
Should someone who makes 60,000 a year pay the same tax rate as someone who makes 600,000?
The way people answer that question tells us what they think about having an equitable economic system in America.
Which is a completely moot point, since they pay 40% as clearly noted. The progressive nature of our current tax law CAN NOT be denied. It is fact. One can debate whether it is too progressive or not progressive enough but one can not debate that it is or isn't progressive because it clearly is.
On the other hand folks in the bottom half think they are completely justified in paying no net federal income tax, FIT.
They have no dog in the hunt of biggest revenue source, FIT, that funds the Government that supports them and are just fine with it. That is many factors worse than the mentality you speak of. Many many factors.
Whether or not people with low incomes pay any income taxes depends entirely on how much money they make and if they have dependents.
Many low income earners qualify for food stamps and medicaid because they have dependents. It is ridiculous to expect people who need food stamps and free health insurance to pay income tax. Having poor people pay income tax amounts to literally making poor people poorer .
Yeah John, the number people sucking off the government teat just keeps going up and the number of people paying into programs like Social Security keeps going down.
Just keep raising the taxes of fewer and fewer people to pay for more and more of them eh?
Sooner of later you run out of others people money. The legacy you want to leave your kids and grandkids.
Nice!
Explain to me how making people who receive government benefits pay income taxes makes any sense.
I'll give you 20 dollars in food stamps, but take 10 of them back in income taxes.
This would literally be making poor people poorer. If you want to do that then go ahead and try.
It doesn't for some of them.
So your stance is that the entire bottom 50% is on some sort of government assistance like food stamps?
If unemployed can pay income tax on their benefits so can any others receiving cash payments for no work and those working with enough deductions to not pay any should still have a small minimum so that they are contributing something. Social security retirement and disability would be exempted since they are simply dividends paid back on pre paid premiums.
Unemployment insurance goes to people who are temporarily unemployed. There is no necessary connection between unemployment insurance and a persons income.
Someone who was unemployed for a year (and collecting unemployment insurance ) would owe no income taxes provided they have dependents which increase their deductions.
As far as the poor "paying something" , it makes no sense. People who are poor enough to get government benefits are by definition too poor to pay income tax.
AOC is an idiot. She is clueless on matters of taxes and economic growth. Clearly we have a progressive tax system and clearly the rich already pay their fair share.
I had hopes that despite electing AOC, some smart people still resided in her district.
I guess I was wrong.