Tax Myths and Lucky Ducky Redux

Paul Krugman Conscience of a Liberal April 12, 2010

So the right is now apparently outraged at the fact that many Americans pay no income taxes — a true observation that is elided into the utterly untrue assertion that many Americans pay no taxes. (Almost everyone pays payroll taxes, everyone pays state and local sales taxes, etc.)

This isn’t new; remember the famous WSJ editorial about the lucky duckies who have the great good fortune to not pay income taxes because they’re, um, too poor to be above the minimum. I guess luck is in the eye of the beholder.

The thing to bear in mind is that overall, the US tax system isn’t actually that progressive: the payroll tax is regressive, as are most state and local taxes, which largely offsets the progressivity of the income tax.

So the right likes to pretend that the income tax is the only tax; it isn’t.

Paul Krugman is an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times.

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Honoring a great man.

April 08

Lucky Ducky Redux

Too poor to pay income taxes? Lucky you!

April 08 //

Fiscal Fantasies

The basic picture of the federal government you should have in mind is that it's essentially a huge insurance company with an army.

April 08 //

Show Me The Money

Will China's exchange rate move be more than cosmetic?

April 07 //

Cash For Carbon

Big green me, in the NYT Magazine.

From the Opinion Blogs Opinionator Night Moves, 2:19 A.M.

An artist's flow charts of the dark hours of an insomniac night.

Room for Debate The Nation's Big Water Repair Bill

Broken pipes, contaminated supplies: how to fix a system in distress.

Too poor to pay income taxes? Lucky you!

April 08

Fiscal Fantasies

The basic picture of the federal government you should have in mind is that it's essentially a huge insurance company with an army.

April 08 //

Show Me The Money

Will China's exchange rate move be more than cosmetic?

April 07 //

Cash For Carbon

Big green me, in the NYT Magazine.

From the Opinion Blogs Opinionator Night Moves, 2:19 A.M.

An artist's flow charts of the dark hours of an insomniac night.

Room for Debate The Nation's Big Water Repair Bill

Broken pipes, contaminated supplies: how to fix a system in distress.

The basic picture of the federal government you should have in mind is that it's essentially a huge insurance company with an army.

April 08

Show Me The Money

Will China's exchange rate move be more than cosmetic?

April 07 //

Cash For Carbon

Big green me, in the NYT Magazine.

From the Opinion Blogs Opinionator Night Moves, 2:19 A.M.

An artist's flow charts of the dark hours of an insomniac night.

Room for Debate The Nation's Big Water Repair Bill

Broken pipes, contaminated supplies: how to fix a system in distress.

Will China's exchange rate move be more than cosmetic?

April 07

Cash For Carbon

Big green me, in the NYT Magazine.

From the Opinion Blogs Opinionator Night Moves, 2:19 A.M.

An artist's flow charts of the dark hours of an insomniac night.

Room for Debate The Nation's Big Water Repair Bill

Broken pipes, contaminated supplies: how to fix a system in distress.

Big green me, in the NYT Magazine.

An artist's flow charts of the dark hours of an insomniac night.

Broken pipes, contaminated supplies: how to fix a system in distress.

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Tax Myths and Lucky Ducky Redux

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