Johnathan Lott/s July 30th column is either deliberately misleading or laughably misinformed, possibly both. He implies that if marginal tax rates go up, the government will take "56 percent of every dollar" that a wealthy person earns. Is UF/s economics department really so bad that an economics junior doesn/t understand marginal tax rates? Honestly?
A taxpayer in the highest income bracket would pay that bracket/s percentage only for income within the bracket. For example, in 2009, a married person filing separately paid 35 percent for each dollar earned more than $186,475. That is, a person making $200,000 was taxed at 35 percent for $13,525 of his or her income and at lower percentages for the rest. His or her effective tax rate is around 26 percent.
Lott states that "everybody should pay his or her fair share in taxes," and he/s absolutely correct.
What he conveniently forgets to mention is how much more the wealthy receive from the government. Look at defense. Like insurance, defense is worth more when you have more to defend. Look at Troubled Asset Relief Program. With the news of the continuing executive bonuses, those billions aren/t exactly helping everyday Americans. When Warren Buffett - who, by the way, said he pays a tax rate of 18 percent - argues that the super-rich should pay more in taxes, you should probably listen.
An overwhelming majority of American economists, something like 80 percent, favor progressive taxation. Adam Smith, in "The Wealth of Nations," wrote in support of it. Lott/s arguments against it are grossly misinformed and without merit.
