“That’s so baloney. Rich people don’t create jobs. Companies create jobs. [...] You probably pay a higher rate than I do… and yet my income is probably many times what yours is.” Henry Bloch, founder of tax preparation company H&R Bloch
Yep, the reality that Republicans don't want you to know about. Rich people pay a lower effective rate than you. Even though they complain about the (staggeringly low) 35 percent tax bracket, no one in that bracket actually pays that rate. Warren Buffett, as I recall, pays around 17 percent. And if there are, in fact, rich people paying 35 percent, they need to fire their accountants.
I'm really thinking that the far-right wants to reverse the progressive tax. Poor people in higher tax brackets than rich people. Bloch and Buffett have both confirmed that rich people pay a lower effective tax rate than less wealthy people. And I'm sure by now you've seen the Jon Stewart segment in which he aired clips from Fox News Channel people crying about poor people not paying taxes (due to unemployment, etc). The only time Republicans appear to support higher taxes is when they're talking about working and middle class people.