Source
r/politics•
ManIs5

Why doesn't the president clarify that income tax is on income, not on people? He also needs to explain what a marginal tax rate is.

I'm constantly hearing from pundits, the president, congress people, etc. that taxes are going up for people making over $250,000. Why doesn't anyone explain that taxes are going up on INCOME over $250,000. No one seems to talk about the fact that your first tier of income has one rate, the next tier has a slightly higher rate, and so on until all the money over $250k is taxed at the highest rate.

I don't have the tax tables in front of me, but it seems entirely possible that if the lower bracket rates go down, and you make a little over $250K (lucky bastard), that your TOTAL tax bill might go down a bit because of the lower rates you're paying on your first $249,999 of income.

This has been so ignored, I'm starting to wonder if I still understand marginal tax rates properly. Am I wrong?

Posted Mar 4, 2010, 3:45 PM UTC

08
lazyliberal•

as soon as you say tax, teabaggers and their brethren stop listening.

I think you are correct

3
ManIs5OP•

It's the teabagger tax freakout that made me start thinking about this. When even the president says "We need to raise taxes on people making over $250k," I think a lot of people get the impression that ALL of that income will be taxed at the higher rate. And, while that doesn't apply to most people, it could seem unfair if you have that "don't punish people for success" mindset.

I think it would be much more honest, and palatable -- even to some tea baggers -- to say "we need to raise taxes on INCOME over $250K, and the rate on your first $249K will go down."

1
lazyliberal•

If you could get a republican to say that, it could work.

They don't trust the government (i.e. Democrats).

1
ManIs5OP•

I don't think they really trust the Republicans either. But Obama did get a decent bump in the polls after he clearly debunked some of the Republican lies in his televised meeting with the Rs, followed by his healthcare summit.

There are definitely people who won't listen. But I think there are plenty of people who just don't know what to believe.

2
chicofaraby•

Do you really think people stupid enough to believe Iraq was a danger to the USA will understand marginal tax rates if the President explains them?

1
ManIs5OP•

Maybe not, but they'd have a better chance if somebody tries to explain it to them. I think one of Obama's problems is that he thinks everybody is as knowledgeable as he is. Which is of course grossly overestimating the civic engagement of most of the population.

1
thedude37•

Semantics. That's like saying a burglar isn't robbingyou, they're robbing your house.

-2
ManIs5OP•

Not really. Semantics would be if the difference between taxing people and taxing income was zero. With the marginal tax rate on income, there's quite a bit of difference.

1