Federal Tax Chutzpah

This from Dr. Krugman - please follow link to original
-------------------------------------

Federal Tax Chutzpah

Chutzpah, according to the traditional definition, is when you murder your mother and father, then plead for mercy from the court on the grounds that you’re an orphan.

Something like that is now happening in the tax debate.

As the CBO has documented, what we’ve seen over the past 30 years is a dramatic shift of income toward the top, with the richest Americans sharply increasing their share of pre-tax income. It’s highly likely that government policies, from financial deregulation to union-busting, have played an important role in that growing income concentration.

At the same time, tax rates on top income have fallen, and by more than tax rates on lower incomes. But the rise in the top share has been so great that high-income Americans pay a larger share of total taxes than they used to despite tax policy that favors their interests.

And the new cry from the hired hands of the rich is that it’s unfair that the wealthy should pay such a large share of taxes.

Awesome.