Federal taxes are at their lowest point in decades

After filing my taxes for 2010, I noticed that my effective tax rate was just under 10%. This is about as low as it has ever been. Why all of the Tea Party angst? Republicans continue to keep screaming about taxes while they have no concept of economic reality. The reality I'm talking about is the need to raise revenue to pay for their ridiculous war in Iraq and the failings of the Bush administration to keep the economy on course. It's funny how Republicans never mentioned the deficit when Bush was President but they blast Obama daily for inheriting his mess.

There is a great web site that I happened upon the other day called; "VisualizingEconomics.com". In one article, the top marginal tax rates from 1916 to 2010 are charted. Categories of taxation on the chart include income tax, corporate tax and capital gains for the period. Just look at the picture; a picture is worth a thousand words in this case. I'm still not sure that Republicans will get it as they are still tied to Reagan voodoo economics that has caused our massive Federal deficit.

I have a smaller problem with lowering the corporate tax rate from the current 35% to 25% as even Obama has suggested. The key here is to have 100% of U.S. corporations paying taxes, not the current 25%. Corporate lobbyists have done a great job making sure their interests avoid taxes. The middle class has no such luxury in this country.

So why all of the fuss about taxes? It's truly a ruse created by the Republican Party to win votes through radical propaganda. Barack only wants to turn the green line on the chart back to where it was during the Clinton administration. Remember, this is only being considered for those incomes that exceed $250,000 per year (35% to 39%). Please note that this rate was 91% during the Eisenhower administration and at 50% during the Reagan administration.

Republicans continue to say that America has spoken because of the 2010 election. I hate to clue them in but, Barack Obama won in 2008 by over 5 million votes and ran on this very concept. Barack stood in front of the American people and insisted that the top marginal tax rate needed to be where it was during the Clinton administration. Tea Party Republicans are simply wrong.

tomtoak