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Warren Buffett defends Romney, but...
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett defended Mitt Romney's tax rate on Monday.
Buffett, who has been a vocal proponent of the Obama administrations proposed millionaires tax, said it's natural for Romney to leverage the tax code to his advantage if Congress provides the opportunity.
It is the wrong policy, nothing wrong about him doing that. He will not pay more than the law requires, Buffett told Bloomberg Television. I do not fault him for that in the least, but I do fault the law that allows him and me, earning enormous sums, to pay over all federal taxes at a rate that is about half what the average person in my office pays."
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Yep, the policy's wrong and-----and Romney and the Republicanettes want to make it worse.
America's Taxes are "lowest level of taxation for any developed nation"
With all the talk among the presidential candidates about cutting taxes and giving the middle class a break, you'd think American taxpayers were the most overburdened in the world.
Far from it. In fact, the tax burden on American workers is one of the lowest on Earth.
Still, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney wants to cut tax rates by 20 percent for workers in every income bracket, and kill or reduce a bunch of other taxes. President Obama wants to raise taxes on the wealthy to help pay down the $16 trillion national debt, while keeping middle-class taxes where they are and lowering the corporate tax rate. While their proposals differ, both candidates emphasize the need to give more help to the middle class, rather than calling on ordinary families to help reduce Uncle Sam's mountain of debt.
But the bulk of American taxpayers are already getting a break compared to other advanced nations.
Overall, Washington's tax revenues are just 24.8 percent of GDP, according to data gathered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. That's the lowest level of taxation for any developed nation, and the third lowest among 34 nations tracked by the OECD, with only Mexico and Chile having lower levels. In most of Europe, taxes are at least 35 percent of GDP. In Canada, they're 31 percent; in Australia, 26 percent.
Here's how the tax burden breaks down by different categories, as a percentage of GDP:
Income tax payments: U.S.: 9.8 percent; OECD average: 11.4 percent
Taxes on goods and services: U.S.: 4.5 percent; OECD average: 10.7 percent (The higher OECD number is due to a value-added tax, or national sales tax, in many countries.)
Social Security taxes: U.S.: 6.6 percent; OECD average: 9.2 percent
Taxes on property: U.S.: 3.3 percent; OECD average: 1.8 percent
So in only one categorypropertyare Americans taxed higher than citizens elsewhere. And since those are mostly levied at the local level, Washington has little to do with them.
In most of the other OECD nations, higher taxes help pay for one important thing many Americans must pay for separately: health care. On the other hand, taxes in America finance the world's most expensive military, which in turn helps protect many other nations.
The real reason the burden on U.S. taxpayers is so low is that Washington has had the unique ability to borrow money, to help pay for as much as half of the government's annual spending. That's why the effective federal income tax rate has fallen from an average of about 22 percent in 1979 to 17.4 percent today, according to the Congressional Budget Office. It also helps explain why nearly half of all taxpayers end up with no income-tax payments at all, as Romney notoriously pointed out to a group of donors earlier this year.
✄snip>
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett defended Mitt Romney's tax rate on Monday.
Buffett, who has been a vocal proponent of the Obama administrations proposed millionaires tax, said it's natural for Romney to leverage the tax code to his advantage if Congress provides the opportunity.
It is the wrong policy, nothing wrong about him doing that. He will not pay more than the law requires, Buffett told Bloomberg Television. I do not fault him for that in the least, but I do fault the law that allows him and me, earning enormous sums, to pay over all federal taxes at a rate that is about half what the average person in my office pays."
✄snip>
Yep, the policy's wrong and-----and Romney and the Republicanettes want to make it worse.
America's Taxes are "lowest level of taxation for any developed nation"
With all the talk among the presidential candidates about cutting taxes and giving the middle class a break, you'd think American taxpayers were the most overburdened in the world.
Far from it. In fact, the tax burden on American workers is one of the lowest on Earth.
Still, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney wants to cut tax rates by 20 percent for workers in every income bracket, and kill or reduce a bunch of other taxes. President Obama wants to raise taxes on the wealthy to help pay down the $16 trillion national debt, while keeping middle-class taxes where they are and lowering the corporate tax rate. While their proposals differ, both candidates emphasize the need to give more help to the middle class, rather than calling on ordinary families to help reduce Uncle Sam's mountain of debt.
But the bulk of American taxpayers are already getting a break compared to other advanced nations.
Overall, Washington's tax revenues are just 24.8 percent of GDP, according to data gathered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. That's the lowest level of taxation for any developed nation, and the third lowest among 34 nations tracked by the OECD, with only Mexico and Chile having lower levels. In most of Europe, taxes are at least 35 percent of GDP. In Canada, they're 31 percent; in Australia, 26 percent.
Here's how the tax burden breaks down by different categories, as a percentage of GDP:
Income tax payments: U.S.: 9.8 percent; OECD average: 11.4 percent
Taxes on goods and services: U.S.: 4.5 percent; OECD average: 10.7 percent (The higher OECD number is due to a value-added tax, or national sales tax, in many countries.)
Social Security taxes: U.S.: 6.6 percent; OECD average: 9.2 percent
Taxes on property: U.S.: 3.3 percent; OECD average: 1.8 percent
So in only one categorypropertyare Americans taxed higher than citizens elsewhere. And since those are mostly levied at the local level, Washington has little to do with them.
In most of the other OECD nations, higher taxes help pay for one important thing many Americans must pay for separately: health care. On the other hand, taxes in America finance the world's most expensive military, which in turn helps protect many other nations.
The real reason the burden on U.S. taxpayers is so low is that Washington has had the unique ability to borrow money, to help pay for as much as half of the government's annual spending. That's why the effective federal income tax rate has fallen from an average of about 22 percent in 1979 to 17.4 percent today, according to the Congressional Budget Office. It also helps explain why nearly half of all taxpayers end up with no income-tax payments at all, as Romney notoriously pointed out to a group of donors earlier this year.
✄snip>
