When Will The Rich "Share The Pain" ?

(Political Cartoon pictured above is by Matt Wuerker at Politico.com.)

Republicans have told us that this country is in dire financial straits, and that to get the budget and the national debt under control everyone must "share the pain". They have used that as an excuse to cut programs needed by hurting Americans -- food stamps, education, unemployment payments, welfare, Head Start, Meals on Wheels, and a myriad array of other programs. Now they want to extend that to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

But there is one group in this country who seems to be immune from "sharing the pain" -- the richest Americans. The Republicans have not asked them to give up any of their subsidies or tax loopholes, or asked them to pay a single penny more in taxes. In fact, the Republicans insist on protecting the rich and would like to cut taxes even further for them. They want this in spite of the fact that the rich are paying a very small tax rate (compared to the top tax rate for most years since WWII).

The top tax rate is about 39.6% in the United States. But we need to remember that the rich aren't required to pay that rate for all of their income -- only for that part of their income that exceeds $400,000 (for a single person). The money they make below that amount is taxed at a smaller rate.

And the truth is that most of the rich do not have to pay that top tax rate. Remember, Mitt Romney earned over $22 million and only paid a tax rate of about 13%. He was able to do that thanks to loopholes, subsidies, a smaller rate charged on capital gains income, and the ability to hide much of his money in other countries.

The crazy part is that we wouldn't even have to raise the top tax rate for the rich. Instead, we could do things like taxing capital gains at the same rate as earned income (which is the rate paid by working middle-class Americans), eliminate some loopholes, and stop allowing them to hide money overseas (to avoid taxes). Just doing those things would make our tax system much fairer -- and it would allow the rich to "share the pain" with other Americans.

And while we're at it, it's time for the corporations (who are making record-breaking profits) to share the pain also. While many of them are making millions or even billions in profits, they are paying little or no taxes. Republicans will try to tell you that the corporate tax rate in America is the highest in the developed world, at about 35%. But the truth is that no corporations pay that rate (thanks to loopholes, subsidies, and hiding money overseas), and even if they did it would only be on the profits over$10,000,000.

The Republicans have asked children, the poor, the unemployed, the underpaid, and seniors to "share the pain". It is only fair for the rich (and the corporations) to do the same.