snip
Indeed, echoing Rousseau's observation [paraphrased] that
the poor cannot pay taxes as they have no money, the rich
will not pay taxes, therefore the entire burden of the state
must fall on the middle class.
George, you know better than that. The tax rates at the bottom and up
into the middle class have fallen fairly steadily for 70 years:
http://tinyurl.com/otdvj6u
That's why I qualified the statement by noting
In many cases the increase in the amount of money extracted
is hidden as increased governmental fees, decreased
governmental services, and inflation which erodes the value
of their wages and savings.
Many of these fees bypass the constitutional requirement
that all federal revenue must pass through the treasury and
be approved by Congress. Check your phone bill for an
example of a tax described as a fee, with the money
nominally going to improve school internet connection.
While this may be a "good thing," it evades controls,
accountability, and express intent of the Constitution.
follow up to my follow up...more info about falling real
wages
http://www.epi.org/files/2013/BP365.pdf
snip
According to every major data source, the vast
majority of U.S. workers—including white-collar
and blue-collar workers and those with and without
a college degree—have endured more than a decade
of wage stagnation. Wage growth has significantly
underperformed productivity growth regardless
of occupation, gender, race/ethnicity, or education
level.
During the Great Recession and its aftermath (i.e.,
between 2007 and 2012), wages fell for the entire
bottom 70 percent of the wage distribution, despite
productivity growth of 7.7 percent.
snip
During the Great Recession and its aftermath (i.e.,
between 2007 and 2012), wages fell for the entire bottom
70 percent of the wage distribution, despite productivity
growth of 7.7 percent. The losses tended to
be larger further down the wage distribution; wages at
the 80th percentile were essentially flat (increasing by
0.2 percent), the median (50th percentile) worker saw
a decline of 2.6 percent, and the 20th percentile worker
saw a decline of 5.5 percent over this period.
snip