According the Parade Magazine,

http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2008/edition_04-13-2008/Intelligence_Report

'A 2004 U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) study found that 61% of American corporations, including 39% of large companies, paid no corporate income taxes between 1996 and 2000. Last year, corporations shouldered just 14.4% of the total U.S. tax burden, compared with about 50% in 1940.'

'While companies are getting off easy, thanks to loopholes, ordinary wage earners are getting stuck with the tab.'

So what do you think about giving corporations welfare?

Think you have to take that information with a grain of salt. Though such presentations by the topic creator does send the sensationalists of this group into euphoric animosity.

The top 20% of wage earners in American pay 80% of the total income taxes.

That means the lower 80% pays 20% of the total income taxes.

Corporations pay for all those wage earners and provide all the jobs and most pay for health care as well. The more you tax them, the less they earn, the less they contribute, and the less jobs they can supply to allow for the collection of income taxes from the top 20 and lower 80 percent.

Starsailor,

I'd like to know from what source you get those statistics from.

The statistics I cited came from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

I thought so.

Conservatives cite statistics they can't back up with hard data.

What? You posted that at 10:15, I went out. Sheesh.

And, here are your facts:

"According to data from the Internal Revenue Service, 1 the top 1 percent of income earners pay nearly 35 percent of the income tax burden; the top 10 percent pay 65 percent; and the top 25 percent pay nearly 83 percent. The bottom 50 percent of income earners, on the other hand, pay barely 4 percent of income taxes. By definition, then, it is impossible to cut taxes without the so-called rich receiving a share of the benefits." - Heritage Foundation - http://www.heritage.org/Research/Taxes/BG1415.cfm#pgfId=1123854

I suggest reading the entire article for it is incredibly informative. The Myth and Realty of Taxes. They back up everything they say through the Internal Revenue Service and other legit sources.

And as to this statement I made:

"Corporations pay for all those wage earners and provide all the jobs and most pay for health care as well. The more you tax them, the less they earn, the less they contribute, and the less jobs they can supply to allow for the collection of income taxes from the top 20 and lower 80 percent."

This is simple Economics 101. I am not necessarily talking about HUGE corporations like Wal-Mart and places like that. But there are local grocery chains in PA that would fit in there. Like Giant, Boyers and such. Also included in this would be DEKA and others.

You raise taxes on the rich, recognized at $99,900 (which I don't see how that is considered rich) and up, the ONLY people hurt by it will be the middle income and low income workers. When you raise taxes on the rich they will have less capital to spend on workers and investments. This will cause either a decline of wages or benefits, or will cause layoffs or no further hirings (no company growth).

This will ONLY hurt all middle income and low income workers. Plus, it will prevent from the growth of technology and goods to flood the market for consumers. That will in turn cause these goods, because the burden is higher on business owners, to rise in price either because of lack of supply or the rise of the cost of input. And, the consumer HAS to often purchase these goods, they simply cannot, and thus they are paying a higher price and it is in turn hurting them yet again.

just one corporation (Exxon Mobil) pays as much in taxes ($27 billion) annually as the entire bottom 50% of individual taxpayers, which is 65,000,000 people! Further, the tax rate for the bottom 50% is only 3% of adjusted gross income ($27.4 billion / $922 billion), and the tax rate for Exxon was 41% in 2006 ($67.4 billion in taxable income, $27.9 billion in taxes).

Exxon Mobile earned 40 billion in 2007 AND THEY PAID A LOT OF TAX!!!

Exxon Mobile paid 30 billion in taxes in 2007!!

Starsailor has it right.

Here are the numbers to go with what crickstergo just said, though from 2004, it is pretty much the same every year:

"According to IRS data for 2004, the most recent year available:

Total number of tax returns: 130 million

Number of Tax Returns for the Bottom 50%: 65 million

Adjusted Gross Income for the Bottom 50%: $922 billion

Total Income Tax Paid by the Bottom 50%: $27.4 billion


Conclusion: In other words, just one corporation (Exxon Mobil) pays as much in taxes ($27 billion) annually as the entire bottom 50% of individual taxpayers, which is 65,000,000 people! Further, the tax rate for the bottom 50% is only 3% of adjusted gross income ($27.4 billion / $922 billion), and the tax rate for Exxon was 41% in 2006 ($67.4 billion in taxable income, $27.9 billion in taxes)." - http://seekingalpha.com/article/63131-exxon-s-2007-tax-bill-30-billion?source=side_bar_editors_picks

http://www.star-telegram.com/245/story/567718.html

Understanding big oil taxes.....

Your killing me. This is easy game to pick apart and tear your propaganda post apart sailor.
I have to go for now, but Ill be back later!
Peace!!

Everytime consumers buy gasoline at the pump, we are paying fuel taxes. A percentage of the price per gallon, goes to the state and fed, as taxes. So, we are in fact, helping those big oil companies pay their taxes... Go figure!

Propaganda? Calling myself pretty much a propaganda tool is propaganda. I have had enough economic classes, read enough books on economics to know the core principles of a good economic model, which I put forth in my lengthy post on the issue in my own words.

And, I backed up the tax figures by using economic reports by people with doctorates in Economics and who backed it up with hard data.

I also simply have an issue with punishing success in this country. The more successful you are, the more you are punished by the government? That just doesn't seem that fair to me.

Just read in USA Todayy this week that Exxon-Mobil is the largest taxpayer in the country. Last year the coporation paid $35 billion, more than the total payments of the bottom 50 million individual taxpayers in the country.

You're quoting the Heritage Foundation?

Hardly an unbiased source and definitely political.

If corporations want to 'help' middle and low income workers, why are a lot of them moving their operations overseas and laying off workers in this country?

Answer: To hire foreign workers who will work for less money without benefits.

Please quote the source of those statistics.

Prove the work by the highly educated professionals there wrong if you think it is untruthful. It is straight data evidence taken from the IRS reports and factored out. Prove it wrong rather than ruining a serious discussion with multiple smiley icons that make whatever you post look incredibly childish and make whatever points you put forth really weak.

Answer: For example, The unions are what killed the steel industry in the US. They pushed the wages, benefits, and retirement packages of unskilled workers so incredibly high that the steel industry could not sustain themselves here any longer.

The same thing has happened with most unskilled industry jobs and has seriously destroyed the Detroit auto industry.