News From the Republic

According the Denny Hastert, if you make $40,000 or less a year, you don't pay any taxes. See the link below for details. These guys are really out of touch. I'll bet he thinks a postage stamp still costs 8 cents. Besides the 7.5% to 15% tax for social security (depending on how you count) the working poor pay sales taxes on everything they buy. In Illinois, that's nearly 9%.

So, since social security taxes phase out they represent a very small percentage of a rich taxpayers total taxes. And a working poor family is spending every dime they earn so they're paying that 9% sales tax on 100% of their income. Just putting these two things together (and ignoring the fact that there's real estate taxes built into the cost of everything these folks buy or rent) you could argue that the working poor actually pay a higher percentage of their income than the rich. Rich have tax shelters, the poor live in them.

I'm embarrassed to be from Illinois today (although Hastert isn't welcome in my part of the state.)