Dennis Gartman reminded me this week of Governor Huey Long's famous line, "I'll not tax thee, I'll not tax me; We'll tax that fellow behind the tree."

Let's look at the following distribution of taxes paid by various wage earners in the US, as reported by the IRS, for the tax year 2000 (the latest year for which the figures are available):

The top 1% paid 37.4% of all federal income taxes;

The top 5% paid 56.7%.....

The top 10% paid 67.3%.....

The top 25% paid 84.0%.....

The top 50% paid 96.1%.....

That means that 50% of the country paid less than 4% of all incomes taxes. The proportion of taxes paid by the top half increases with each year, and will continue to do so. As Gartman points out, we will soon be in the situation where 50% of the voters pay no income tax, yet can vote for higher taxes to be paid by the top half.

Copyright 2002 John Mauldin. All Rights Reserved (John@2000wave.com)

Keep those numbers in mind when you suggest raising taxes on "the rich." Isn't democracy wonderful? And you wonder why I oppose legislation that can raise taxes with "only" a 51% majority vote ?!

Per John Mauldin's newsletter,

"Today, the median household income is $42,000. 
Above that is the top 50%."

• A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. --George Bernard Shaw
• A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. --G. Gordon Liddy
• Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. --James Bovard (1994)
• Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries. --Douglas Casey (1992)
• Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. --P.J. O'Rourke
• Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. --Frederic Bastiat
• Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. -- Ronald Reagan (1986)
• I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts. --Will Rogers
• If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free. --P.J. O'Rourke
• If you want government to intervene domestically, you're a liberal. If you want government to intervene overseas, you're a conservative. If you want government to intervene everywhere, you're a moderate. If you don't want government to intervene anywhere, you're an extremist. --Joseph Sobran (1995)
• In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other. --Voltaire (1764)
• Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you. --Pericles (430 B.C.)
• No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session. --Mark Twain (1866)
• Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself. --Mark Twain
• Talk is cheap-except when Congress does it. The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other. --Ronald Reagan
• The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery. --Winston Churchill
• The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin. --Mark Twain
• The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. --Herbert Spencer (1891)
• There is no distinctly native American criminal class save Congress. --Mark Twain
• There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences. --P.J. O'Rourke (1993)
• We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. --Winston Churchill
• What this country needs are more unemployed politicians. --Edward Langley
• When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators. --P.J. O'Rourke

The theory is that you run deficits during bad economic times; then you run surpluses during the good economic times; and it should all equal out over the long-run. The problem is, politicians can't resist increasing the size of government, thereby spending the surpluses. The debt just goes up and up and up.

The Parable of Taxes

Tax his land, Tax his bed, Tax the table at which he's fed.

Tax his tractor, Tax his mule, Teach him taxes are the rule.

Tax his cow, Tax his goat, Tax his pants, Tax his coat.

Tax his ties, Tax his shirt, Tax his work, Tax his dirt.

Tax his tobacco, Tax his drink, Tax him if he tries to think.

Tax his cigars, Tax his beers, If he cries, then Tax his tears.
Tax his car, Tax his gas, Find other ways To tax his ass

Tax all he has then let him know that you won't be done till he has no dough.

When he screams and hollers, Then tax him some more, Tax him till he's good and sore.

Then tax his coffin, Tax his grave, Tax the sod in Which he's laid.

Put these words upon his tomb, "Taxes drove me to my doom..."

When he's gone, Do not relax, Its time to apply The inheritance tax.

Accounts Receivable Tax, Building Permit Tax, Driver's License Tax, Cigarette Tax

Corporate Income Tax, Dog License Tax, Federal Income Tax, Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)

Fishing License Tax, Food License Tax, Fuel permit tax, Gasoline Tax (42 cents per gallon)

Hunting License Tax, Inheritance Tax, Interest expense, Inventory tax, Revenue Canada/IRS Interest Charges, Revenue Canada/IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)

Liquor Tax, Luxury Taxes, Marriage License Tax, Medicare Tax

Property Tax, Real Estate Tax, Service charge taxes, Social Security Tax

Road usage taxes, Sales Tax (Provincial and State)

Recreational Vehicle Tax, School Tax, State Income Tax, State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)

Telephone federal excise tax, Telephone federal universal service fee tax, Telephone federal, state and local surcharge taxes, Telephone minimum usage surcharge tax

Telephone recurring and non-recurring charges tax, Telephone state and local tax, Telephone usage charge tax, Utility Taxes, Vehicle License

Registration Tax, Vehicle Sales Tax, Watercraft registration Tax, Water Well Permit Tax, Workers Compensation Tax

COMMENTS: Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago and our nations were the most prosperous in the world, had absolutely no national debt, and had the largest middle class in the world.

What happened? YOU and I HAVE ALLOWED THIS. WE VOTE in the IDIOTS WHOM WE PAY WAGES TO.. to allow this.. THINK!

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