Illegal Immigrants and Federal Income Taxes
…income taxes, most U.S. residents in all income groups bear the burden of federal social insurance taxes, federal excise taxes, and federal corporate income taxes. On a net basis, however,…
Read moreRaising Payroll Taxes to Save Social Security Will Cost the Average Worker $73,000
…U.S. Government Accountability Office states: “While employees and employers pay equal amounts in social insurance taxes, economists generally agree that employees bear the entire burden of social insurance taxes in…
Read moreFactCheck Abets False Obama Claim About Romney’s Taxes
…ad is accurate” if “you include a combination of income taxes and payroll taxes — which make up the bulk of federal taxes for most taxpayers.” That conclusion is fatally…
Read moreThe Tax Rates of Wall Streeters and Steelworkers
…subject to individual income taxes—not corporate income taxes. Federal law prohibits corporations with more than 100 owners from being structured in this manner, but nonetheless, the corporate income taxes they…
Read moreWidely Touted Study on State and Local Taxes is a Sham
…tax policies. In a new report on state and local taxes, ITEP declares that “virtually every state’s tax system is fundamentally unfair,” because they take “a much greater share of…
Read moreThe “Inflation Reduction Act” Will Do Almost Nothing That Joe Manchin Says It Will
…are not apparent because they generally don’t appear on purchase receipts, paychecks, or tax returns. Some examples include excise taxes, employer payroll taxes, and corporate income taxes. Although businesses write…
Read moreReporters Wrong: Romney Pays a Far Higher Federal Tax Rate Than Most Americans
…• Corporate payroll taxes: Romney is self-employed, and hence, his corporate payroll taxes are shown on his personal tax return under his self-employment taxes. • Corporate income taxes: CBO estimates…
Read moreHas Government Turned Us Into a Nation of Makers and Takers?
…pay “Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes, state and local sales taxes, excise taxes, or some other levy.” In the video, he adds that “pundits and politicians” have misused data…
Read moreSocial Security Has Been Boosted, Not Looted
…to Social Security from the general fund of the U.S. Treasury—which is funded by personal income taxes, corporate income taxes, excise taxes, estate and gift taxes, and other receipts. To…
Read moreSocial Security and Class Warfare
…in Social Security taxes, the earned income tax credit can effectively reduce their Social Security taxes to little or nothing. Hence, their actual returns from Social Security are multiplicatively higher…
Read moreFact-Based Poll Reveals Fictions Believed by Voters
…of all voters, 57% of Obama voters, and 94% of Romney voters. Question 2: What about taxes, do you think combined federal, state, and local taxes now consume a larger…
Read moreThe Payroll Tax Holiday Does Not Impact Social Security, but It Does Redistribute Wealth
…the general fund of the U.S. Treasury, which is not funded with Social Security payroll taxes but with income taxes, corporate income taxes, excise taxes, and other miscellaneous taxes, such…
Read moreWarren Buffett’s Fraudulent Tax Claims (Part 2)
…possibly result from increasing taxes on the wealthy. To drive the point home, Buffett said that when he managed funds for investors, “Never did anyone mention taxes as a reason…
Read morePre-Election Poll: Voters Broadly Misinformed About Key Issues
…be allowed to save and invest some of their Social Security taxes in personal accounts instead of paying these taxes to the Social Security program. In your view, do you…
Read moreHigh-Income Earners Pay a Much Higher Federal Tax Rate Than the Middle Class
…writes: In fact, if you add up all the taxes paid — not just on income and capital gains but also payroll taxes (which don’t apply to income above $110,100)…
Read morePoll Reveals Voters Misinformed About Key Issues
…Answer: Taxes are more than $25,000 per household per year. In 2012, federal, state and local governments collected a combined total of $3.997 trillion in taxes or an average of…
Read morePoll Reveals Voters are Uninformed About Major Issues
…invest some of their Social Security taxes in personal accounts instead of paying these taxes to the Social Security program. In your view, do you think such proposals generally improve…
Read moreSocial Security’s Trust Fund to Start Losing Value in 2013
…2010, for the first time in 25 years, Social Security’s expenses exceeded its income from payroll taxes and taxes on Social Security benefits. This state of affairs continued in 2011…
Read moreWarren Buffett’s Fraudulent Tax Claims
…tax rate than other income groups—when in reality—the polar opposite is true. Buffett distorts the truth about taxes via a two-step process. First, he entirely ignores corporate income taxes, which…
Read moreSolar Energy Costs and Impacts
…income taxes, governments also impose excise, sales and other taxes specifically targeted at fossil fuels in order to restrict their production and consumption. More significantly, the costs imposed on fossil…
Read moreFederal Government’s 2017 Fiscal Shortfall Is 74% Worse Than Reported Budget Deficit
…portion of the nation’s economy, federal taxes and spending rose steeply between 1930 and World War II. Since then, taxes have risen slightly, but spending has risen more. The vast…
Read moreTax Fairness Question at GOP Debate Rooted in Falsehood Spread by Media
…stood opposed to the two-thirds of Americans who want to raise taxes on the wealthy. First, Muir grilled Marco Rubio by stating, “A recent poll [found that] 68% of Americans…
Read moreEffects of Immigration From Impoverished Nations
…comprehensive, because it accounts for all forms of income from the private sector and government, including non-cash income like healthcare benefits, housing, and food. Furthermore, disposable income subtracts out taxes,…
Read moreSupport for “Soaking the Rich” Is Rooted in Media Misinformation
…taxes and all income. This includes hidden taxes, capital gains, loopholes, deductions, and benefits that are typically not taxed, like employee health insurance. The U.S. Treasury, the Congressional Budget Office,…
Read moreCan We Prevent a Debt-Driven Economic Collapse Without Reforming Entitlements?
…following will also occur: • federal taxes will perpetually consume a greater share of the U.S. economy, rising to 21% higher than the average of the past 40 years by…
Read moreGovernment-Mandated Benefits Suppress Workers’ Wages
…explicitly state that employment taxes levied on businesses drive down employee wages. For example, federal law requires employers to pay half of the Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes due…
Read moreFederal Fiscal Shortfall Surges Past $100 Trillion
…taxes to its income stream. Yet, the program is still facing insolvency, mainly because the ratio of workers paying taxes to people receiving benefits has fallen by three times since…
Read moreFederal Fiscal Shortfall Nears $1 Million Per Household
…those taxes to pay benefits to current recipients. Thus, they are called “pay-as-you-go” programs. In stark contrast, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis states that “federal law requires that private…
Read moreMaddow’s Tax and Deficit Doubletalk
…inevitably produce lower tax revenues. In her words: “One thing that happens when you cut taxes is that taxes get cut!” That claim may seem intuitive, but it is not…
Read moreWhat the $20 Trillion National Debt Means to You
…and increased tax receipts decrease the national debt. As a portion of GDP, federal taxes and spending rose steeply between 1930 and World War II. Since then, taxes have risen…
Read moreThe School Funding Inequity Farce
…out of local property taxes.” Clare Lombardo of National Public Radio (NPR) reported in 2019 that “high-poverty districts serving mostly students of color receive about $1,600 less per student than…
Read moreBeware of the “Fact Checkers”
…into Clinton’s claim and reported: “While there is no official figure, experts estimate that about half of all undocumented workers pay federal income taxes, if not more.” In reality, the…
Read moreCongressional Records Prove Biden’s Student Loan Cancellations Are Illegal
…for every household in the United States. Those costs will not be equally borne because some households pay far more taxes than others. However, even people who don’t pay taxes…
Read moreEverything You’ve Heard About the Debt Limit is Wrong
…rather than to the President.” Issuing debt is one of the ways government raises revenues, and the President can’t do that by himself, just as he can’t impose taxes by…
Read moreThe Costs and Savings of Changing Social Security to a Personal Ownership System
…who pay taxes that the program gives to current beneficiaries. Transition costs arise when current workers are allowed to save some of their Social Security taxes for retirement while the…
Read moreAre Incandescent Light Bulbs Being Banned?
…life (see calculations below). This price data must be balanced with the reality that energy-efficient bulbs often have hidden costs that we pay through our taxes, because they are subsidized…
Read morePaul Krugman’s Claims About the Dangers of Government Debt
…“ill-informed obsession” with it. Krugman concedes that government debt isn’t totally “harmless,” but the only harmful scenario he raises is that “taxes must be levied to pay the interest,” and…
Read moreThe National Debt Is Rising—Not Declining
…“current policy,” which don’t include the unrealistic assumptions inherent in the claims of Lauter, Hiltzik, Krugman, and Obama. When CBO accounts for the economic effects of taxes, government spending and…
Read moreAudit Reveals Federal Finances Are Far Worse Than Publicized Figures
…“current policy” projections of publicly held debt (a partial measure of the national debt). When CBO includes the economic effects of taxes, government spending, and debt, these projections show that…
Read moreDoes the Social Security Trust Fund Really Exist?
…on the Treasury that, when redeemed, will have to be financed by raising taxes, borrowing from the public, or reducing benefits or other expenditures. In keeping with this practical reality,…
Read moreTreasury Report: Federal Fiscal Shortfall is $603,000 per Household
…programs with taxes on workers who often don’t receive benefits until years later when they are senior citizens. These programs differ from pensions because taxpayers don’t have a contractual right…
Read moreMyths and Causes of Income Inequality
…decline in family cohesiveness. Additionally, the Gini index does not capture all income and taxes, and if it did, it would likely show lower levels of inequality over the past…
Read moreTreasury Data Reveals Federal Shortfall of $614,000 per U.S. Household
…Medicare, because the government primarily funds the current expenses of these programs with taxes from workers who don’t receive benefits until they become senior citizens. Hence, Social Security and Medicare…
Read moreDonald Trump and the Media Agree on Middle-Class Income, and They are Both Wrong
…These trends are even more vivid when subtracting out federal taxes in order to estimate take-home income: Unlike the source cited by Trump and the media, CBO accounts for nearly…
Read moreA Factual Look at Obama’s Presidency
…taxes declined from $69,800 to $69,200: Between 2009 and 2015, real household cash income (which excludes “certain money receipts such as capital gains” and “the value of noncash benefits” like…
Read moreNew Treasury Data Shows Federal Shortfall of $670,000 Per U.S. Household
…with Social Security and Medicare, because the government mainly funds the current expenses of these programs with taxes from younger workers who don’t receive benefits until they become senior citizens….
Read moreThe SAT Is Feeding Students Solar Industry Propaganda
…like solar. In conjunction with their efforts to advance solar, federal and state governments have taken steps to reduce the use of fossil fuels through taxes and regulations. They also…
Read moreBernie Sanders’ Education Plan is Rife With Deceit
…36.4% of all public school revenues come from local property taxes. Sanders’ statement was true more than half a century ago, but since then, state governments have paid a growing…
Read moreWidespread Poverty Stats Greatly Overstate the Number of Americans Who Are Destitute
…greatly reduced prices. In contrast, most U.S. households earn their healthcare, housing, food, childcare, phone service, and such for themselves, while also paying taxes that fund these items for others….
Read moreAOC’s Baseless Accusation That the U.S. Is a “Brutal, Barbarian Society”
…2018 ultimately came from American households. Although high-income households bear a greater share of these costs than others, middle-income workers lose about 15.3% of their paychecks to social insurance taxes….
Read moreTaking Social Security Off-Budget
…Likewise, a 2010 Congressional Budget Office report (page IX) explains that the money needed to pay back the Social Security Trust Fund “must be generated from taxes, income from other…
Read moreObama’s Plan for Tackling the Deficit
…some mandatory spending. Also, under current policy, federal taxes actually rise to 5% above Reagan-era levels. During Ronald Reagan’s presidency (1981-1989), federal receipts averaged 18.2% of our nation’s gross domestic…
Read moreThe Impact of Obamacare and Ryancare on Medicare
…Medicare is highly dependent upon general revenues not financed by Medicare taxes. In 2010, for example, 39% of Medicare funding came from general revenues. Conversely, PolitiFact and FactCheck.org are claiming…
Read moreBlame for the National Debt
…all income levels are paying a smaller portion of their income in federal taxes than they have on average for the past 31 years (graph below). More specifically, in 2009,…
Read moreSocial Security Trust Fund to Begin Declining in 2014, Not 2021
…that may bring financial harm to younger Americans. Additional reading: Raising payroll taxes to save Social Security will cost the average worker $73,000 Trust Fund Assets Consist of Federal Debt…
Read moreThe Term “Carbon Pollution” Is Unscientific and Misleading
…like “greenhouse gas”? Only those who simply echo what they hear or those wantonly pushing global warming-related taxes, regulations or similar polices would use such verbiage. In sum, those who…
Read moreQuantitative Easing: Who Wins and Who Loses?
…extended unemployment benefits, capping student loan payments, and raising taxes on the wealthy. Most of these policies were enacted during Obama’s first two years in office when he enjoyed the…
Read moreCurrent National Debt Situation is the Worst in U.S. History
…living standards, drive up taxes, drive down government benefits, or trigger combinations of such results. Worse still, CBO’s projections are based upon the questionable assumption that Obamacare’s Medicare cuts will…
Read moreHow Hard and Effectively do Americans Work?
…income, “thus making work less attractive.” allow “people to maintain the same standard of living while working less.” lead to increased taxes, which “ultimately induce some workers to supply less…
Read morePoll: Public Broadly Unaware that “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” was Disproved by Obama Administration
…December 15–20, 2015. This poll also contained 23 questions to measure voters’ knowledge of policy issues, such as education, healthcare, taxes, global warming, and hunger. Further details are available here….
Read moreAre Today’s Newborns the Luckiest Generation in U.S. History?
…making work less attractive.” allowing “some people to maintain the same standard of living while working less.” increasing taxes, which “will ultimately induce some workers to supply less labor.” Some…
Read morePolitiFact’s Deceptive Report on Illegal Voting by Non-Citizens
…rates on the wealthy, middle-class income growth, income taxes paid by illegal immigrants, Obamacare, and whether Obama or Bush was responsible for withdrawing all U.S. troops from Iraq and allowing…
Read more2017: The Year in Facts and Falsehoods
…from 1979 to 2013. After federal taxes, income increased by about $19,700 or 40% over the same period. Falsehood # 4: Police are more likely to use unnecessary lethal force…
Read moreGovernment Spending on Higher Education Reaches an All-Time High
…That is a basic ethical and moral flaw in this whole argument, that everything’s got to have financial payback so we can reduce taxes for the Koch brothers. … Public…
Read moreMedia Titans Subvert Reality About Biden/Ukraine Profiteering
…oligarch. The prosecutor then applauded these actions as a “success” because the oligarch paid $7.46 million in back taxes and penalties as part of the settlement. Far from being a…
Read moreSmoking Gun: Newly Discovered Emails Confirm Joe Biden Obstructed Justice For His Son’s Foreign Business Deal
…back taxes and penalties. Far from being a prosecutorial victory, the oligarch praised these outcomes and stated that they would allow his corporation to increase production and “attract international companies…
Read moreQuestion of the Day
Does the “Inflation Reduction Act” (IRA) raise taxes on people making less than $400,000 per year?…
Read moreQuestion of the Day
How much do hidden federal taxes reduce the average annual income of U.S. households?…
Read moreQuestion of the Day
Does the “Inflation Reduction Act” just signed by President Biden raise taxes on people making less than 400,000 per year?…
Read moreQuestion of the Day
What portion of U.S. households receive more in federal, state, and local government benefits than they pay in federal taxes?…
Read moreQuestion of the Day
What portion of the U.S. economy is consumed by federal, state and local taxes?…
Read more