Middle Class Taxes In America

There is no doubt that wealth inequality in America has been escalating quickly; the portion of total income earned by the top one percent has doubled since the beginning of the 1970’s. The wealthy are the main beneficiaries

Nowadays, the middle class is shrinking, while majority of people are either moving into the lower or upper classes. This is due to the major economic and policy changes that have occurred throughout the past thirty years. Based on the Basic Economy Security Tables, one in four full-time working-age adults are not earning enough income to meet economic needs for themselves or their families. This is a serious problem in America today, the fact that the median income today is six hundred dollars less than it was in 1989 is proof of this epidemic. It is much harder now, than ever, to work your way into the middle class, much less stay there. The percentage income growth since 1967 for the top 5 percent of earners is 88%, top 20 percent of earners grew 70%, and middle-income households only grew 20%. (Camp) In simpler terms, the upper classes income has increased tremendously, while middle-income households have seen very little growth in their income. Since the middle class is not receiving any income growth, it is declining and moving towards the lower class. It is not nearly as easy as it was thirty years ago to get a decent job and make

The American government has struggled with the issue of taxes and the budget for over a hundred years. Class conflict, adversarial political parties, and convoluted economic philosophies have resulted in a never-ending debate over taxation. The New York Times newspaper article, “Senate Panel Vote Backs Budget Plan”, from June 1993, discusses the current feelings of the time in regards to the budget and taxation. Moreover, the article mentions factors such as democrat-republican debate, trickle down economics, and high verse low taxes for the middle class. The issues discussed in this 1993 article differ only slightly from the taxation conversation of today. However, now in 2011, we face a budget crisis that threatens the American economy

The article “Hidden from Reality,” written by Bob Herbert, talks about how the “American Dream” is gone, but society is still going on believing in it. As a response to Herbert’s article, Cal Thomas writes an article called “Is the American Dream Over?” Thomas agrees and disagrees with the views of Herbert. One interpretation Thomas agreed with, from Herbert’s article, was that the American society is becoming a “hapless, can’t-do society.” Herbert’s idea to resurrect the American dream is for the government to spend more money on public schools and bettering jobs for the working citizens of America. Thomas believes that, to bring back the American Dream, the government should cut taxes, spending, and government regulations; allowing the people to freely live the American dream.

Today in America, there is a specific class of people who are slowly dwindling away into nonexistence. These people had a dream, the American Dream, they dreamed of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. For some people, this dream was broken down into having a white picket fence with 2.5 kids, a house, and a car. However, today these people are not dreaming they are hoping; hoping to get through another day by making ends meet. These people—which are the core pillar holding up the American Dream—are a part of the middle class Americans. The middle class in America has been on a quick decline in recent years; in order to restore the middle class America will have to reshape our economic structure by lowering the deficit on the middle

This week the reading by Frank in the Inequality Reader caught my attention. It talked about how the current tax system in the US is not conducive to helping society. It also mentions how an increase in taxes for the top earners would help not only the poor but also the rich. He also includes how the wealthy “have been made worse off, on balance, by recent tax cuts” (Frank 732). This reading made me think of the current GOP tax plan being signed and debated in congress.

The United States is the richest country on Earth. Free-market advocates promise this prosperity to span over all socio-economic classes, but it simply has not. The American middle class prosperity is a fantasy. Like my family, many middle-class Americans are facing massive inequality, jobs losses, and a continuous increase in the amount of debt accrued. While the United States is home to the most billionaires and millionaires in the world, the wealth of our middle class is ranked 27th globally. For decades their have been a series of economic and societal transformations leading up to the development of the middle class and the turmoil it has left families in, such as my own.

The dream has soured and devolved into a nightmare for most Americans. The United States’ debt is currently in the trillions of dollars. Average American households are also in serious and debilitating debt. The cost of living in American has sky rocketed in recent years, but the minimum wage did not follow suit. The American people were forced to take out loans and credit cards to charge basic living expenses like food and gas. It costs around $250,000 to raise a child from birth until their eighteenth birthday. It does not include the ever-growing college tuition. Unfortunately, a college education does not mean that a person will be successful in a career, let alone find a career within their degree. Graduates are forced to move back in with their parents because they cannot find a job that can support a life on their own. After hard working Americans turn 65, they are not guaranteed a reasonable retirement. Many are forced to stay within the working force to continue being able to afford basic necessities. The opportunity to succeed in life has been squandered for the average American. It is only achievable by the wealthiest of Americans who demand the government, and ultimately the country, into bowing down to their substantial and growing bank account. In conclusion, the majority of Americans are now surrendering to

Wealth is a privilege that too many people have. The top 20% of Americans owned 85% of the country's wealth and the bottom more of the population owned around 15 percent. The Recession also caused a drop in median household wealth , making the crack bigger between the upper and the lower class. The “debt-dependent economy,” has negative effects on the nation as a whole. But single families are suffering too.

Mostly from the spending money of middle-class consumers. And where does the spending money of middle-class consumers come from? From middle-class incomes”(Ettlinger). Tax cuts would raise income levels, if these tax cuts were focused on the middle class, they would have more money available to spend. If the middle class had more money available to spend, it would add money into the economy and create jobs thus expanding the tax base which would bring in more revenue for the government and help citizens. Another simple fix to the federal tax plan would be to slightly raise the corporate tax rate. The corporate tax rate should be kept at a low level, as it gives businesses more money with which to raise their employees’ incomes and to create new jobs. However, raising it slightly would allow the government to bring in more revenue, “And with each percentage point reduction in the corporate rate representing $100 billion in revenue over a decade, a move to a 22.5% rate would generate another $250 billion in revenue while still substantially leveling the global playing field for U.S.

Raising taxes is always a debate among Republicans and Democrats. Patricia Cohen’s article, “Raising Taxes on the Wealthiest Would Pay for Bold Plans,” explains why Republicans want to lower the taxes and Democrats want to make them higher. However of course this debacle is biased

Few Americans believe that their taxes are too low, especially when the amounts they pay in addition to federal and state income taxes are included. For example, individuals as well as their employers remit payroll taxes. There are federal taxes on gasoline, cell phone bills, hotel rooms, airline tickets and a bevy of other goods and services. Sales taxes and property taxes place an additional burden on consumers. Furthermore, there are numerous fees that are little more than thinly disguised taxes, such as disposal fees, tolls and building permits. Although the issue of taxation can be unpopular with voters, Hillary Clinton has repeatedly vowed to increase taxes and will likely keep her promise. However, the question remains as to for whom she plans to raise taxes.

Taxing the upper class and large corporations offer many benefits such as bringing back loss revenue and employing that money to create more government programs for the population. It is also fair because the rich have found ways to avoid paying taxes by hiding their earnings in another location. With Sanders’ proposal, loopholes in the tax code will be closed and the opulent will have to pay taxes. Nonetheless, this proposal will raise taxes for the population, which will also affect the middle class. Although this tax raise mostly targets the affluent, the middle class will see a decrease of 10.56 percent in their after tax income and an average decrease of 12.84 percent of after tax income for all classes, excluding the lowest class (Edwards).

The American people are in the presence of the highest tax burden in American history; taxes represent a larger share of the U.S. economy than ever before (Armey 2). After World War II, the average family sent only about three percent of its income to Washington. The same family today gives 24 percent of its income to the federal tax collector (Mitchell 1, 9). Once state and local taxes are added to the federal take, taxes make up the biggest slice of the average family's budget. As Daniel Mitchell of the Heritage Foundation shows in Figure 1, the typical American family now pays more of its budget in taxes than it spends on food, clothing, transportation and shelter combined (Mitchell 1, 10).

Taxes are a main contributor to the United States’ economy. One thing that I never understood with taxes is why the rich get a large tax break, where the middle class get a small refund. The rich can wind up making up the payment in taxes by working in a short amount of time. The amount of money you make should contribute to the amount of taxes you pay. Tax rates fell during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton, however this also wound up benefiting the rich as well.