A Talking Points Memo of Sorts: The U.S. Tax System: Who Really Pays? | Issues 2012

Chock full of data and explanation, such as:

In 1972, when the highest tax rate on the rich was 70 percent and the top capital-gains tax rate was 35 percent, the richest 1 percent of Americans assumed 18 percent of the income-tax burden. Today, with a top income-tax rate of 35 percent and a capital-gains rate of 15 percent, their share is 39 percent, more than twice as much. This is true because, faced with high tax rates, the rich of 40 years ago put more of their income into tax shelters or foreign countries. They invested less, and they worked less. And the rest of us suffered during the years of stagflation—as we will again, if rates are raised.

Read the rest of this article by Stephen Moore, Senior Economics Writer, Wall Street Journal Editorial Board.

If you think this year’s presidential election is about anything other than the economy, you’ve been listening to the Democrats too long.