Only The Little People Pay Taxes

Proposal Cuts Taxes for 1%

A group of big business lobbyists is pushing a radical change to Wisconsin’s tax structure — one that would give huge tax cuts to the wealthy and powerful while shifting the responsibility of paying taxes to people with lower incomes. The change would also require significant cuts to the critical services that Wisconsin businesses, schools, and communities need to thrive. This one-two punch would make it more difficult for Wisconsin families to get by, while funneling additional resources into the pockets of the top 1%.

Weekend Reading

Wisconsin School District Rejects Universal Free Lunches So Kids Won’t Get ‘Spoiled’

Millions Lose Jobless Benefits Today. It Doesn't Mean They'll Be Rushing Back To Work

Census data shows split between growing downtown area and declining lower-income neighborhoods in Milwaukee

Richest 1% Of Americans Underpay Taxes By $163 Billion, Says Treasury

Kellyanne Conway didn't belong on the Air Force Academy board

The Billions Being Wasted in the Economic Development Subsidy Wars

Free Parking Is Killing Cities

Weekend Reading

'Here we go again': Rand Paul clashes with Fauci (for the 4th time)

You misrepresented someone's argument to make it easier to attack.

When the Top U.S. Tax Rate was 70 Percent—or Higher

Both Fox News and Russian state media are trying to get Biden to debate Putin

Republicans have perfected the troll two-step: The art of being a jerk and then playing the victim

Sheldon Whitehouse Is Following the Money Around Brett Kavanaugh

Biden’s Planned Tax Hike to Hit People Earning Over $400,000 Hardest

Wisconsin Republicans authorize Assembly investigation of elections administration

The Future of Conservatism?

America’s Richest 1% Dodge Taxes On More Than A Fifth Of Their Income, Study Finds

America Is Now in the Hands of the Vaccine-Hesitant

US sinks to new low in rankings of world's democracies

Weekend Reading

Yes, Wisconsin legislators haven’t passed a bill in 6 months

The 50 Richest Americans Are Worth as Much as the Poorest 165 Million

Face masks: what the data say

Every Black Woman Has Faced A Mike Pence

We Must Save Democracy From Conspiracies

Trump Is Killing the Economy Out of Spite

Donald Trump: Biden Better Take COVID-19 More Seriously or He Might Get It and Infect a Bunch of People

Why Wisconsin's largest business group endorses mask-wearing campaign while opposing Evers' mandate (because they're assholes)

‘Wisconsin is what happens when you politicize public health,’ Mayor Lori Lightfoot says

Economists are more like storytellers than scientists – don’t let the Nobel for ‘economic sciences’ fool you

Supercut Exposes Fox News’ Hypocrisy On Kamala Harris Debate Criticism

The “Bluelining” of Cities in Red States

Trump’s Covid Treatments Were Tested in Cells Derived From Fetal Tissue

Disdainful Mark Meadows Refuses Reporter Request To Put On His Face Mask

Do Trump’s Taxes Show He’s a Failure, a Cheat, or a Criminal?

Half of the 20 Metro Areas Worst-Hit by COVID Are All in One State

Mitch McConnell showed his true colors in a Kentucky Senate debate against Amy McGrath

Sheldon Whitehouse Made the Case That Amy Coney Barrett's Nomination Is a Bag Job

The U.S. was the world's best prepared nation to confront a pandemic. How did it spiral to 'almost inconceivable' failure?

Capitalists or Cronyists?

Capitalists or Cronyists?

Top 1.0% Of Earners See Wages Up 157.8% Since 1979

[source]

Myths About Raising Taxes On The Rich

Friday Reading

Is Foxconn Double Crossing Walker?
Unions Will Try To Thwart Supreme Court Janus Ruling - That's What They Did In Michigan
Meet The Economist Behind The One Percent's Stealth Takeover Of America
The Second Amendment's History
Is It Great To Be A Worker In The U.S.? Not Compared With The Rest Of The World
A 30-Year Alarm On The Reality Of Climate Change
Crude Oil Through Port Of Milwaukee Creates Risks For Lakefront, Water Supply
Business' Complaints Over Pressure For Donations Prompted Ouster of Ald. Tony Zielinski As Licenses Committee Head
No President Has Tied Themselves Closer To The Stock Market Than Trump - Now The Chickens Have Come Home To Roost
Scott Walker Is Donald Trumps Most Dangerous Enabler

Sunday Reading

Washington Post Mistakenly Tells Readers There Are Shortages Of Workers
Milwaukee ParkScore 2018 - The Trust For Public Land
Milwaukee County Board Approves Marijuana Legalization Referendum On November Election Ballot
Crony Capitalism Of Walker, Hammes, Foxconn
CEOs Paid 1,000 Times More Than Average Workers
We Can't Forget About Mass Transit When We Talk About The 'Future of Transportation'
Debate: Build Up Or Build Out?
Actually, The 1 Percent Are Still The Problem

Sunday Reading

To Get Into The 1%, You Need Adjusted Gross Income Of $480,930
Wisconsin Attorney General Open To Allowing Guns In Schools
Citing Costs, Some GOP Governors Refuse To Hold Special Elections
New Spending And Tax Cuts To Cost More Than $700 Million Under Actions By Wisconsin Lawmakers
WisGOP Pre-Election "Cut And Borrow" Spree Will Hurt Us After November
The NRA Was Waging War On Facts Long Before The 'Fake News' Boom
Supplements Are A $30 Billion Racket - Here's What Experts Recommend
The Governor Of Giveaways
Eminent Domain May Be Use To Acquire Land For Foxconn From Holdouts
On The Link Between US Pay And Productivity

Income Inequality

Weekend Reading

The Reagan Boom, Kind Of Like The Ford-Carter Boom
The Washington Post's NAFTA Fantasy: 10 Years Later
Yes, Robert Samuelson Says It's Time To Cut Social Security And Medicare
Red Versus Blue States In The Job Recovery
Never Mind The 1 Percent, Let's Talk About The 0.01 Percent
The U.S. Economy Is Creating Millionaires At An Astonishing Pace. But What's It Doing For Everyone Else?

Weekend Reading

10 Facts You May Not Know About The Federal Budget
Richest 1% Own Half Of Global Wealth
The Unfinished Suburbs Of America
The Folklore Of Finance
Scott Walker's Food Stamp Drug Testing Plan Is Illegal & Unconstitutional
Does It Pay For Firms To Invest In Their Workers' Wellbeing?
Two Weeks After Election, Walker Preparing For Presidential Run
How ALEC Turns State Election Wins Into Laws
Behind Private Equity's Curtain

Labor's Fair Share

On Labor Day, What About Labor’s Fair Share?

• According to the Economic Policy Institute, productivity went up about 25 percent from 2000 to 2012. How much did compensation increase? Only about 7 percent. 
• From 1979 to 2010 the top 1 percent of households saw their after-tax income grow by about 202 percent.

The Widest Income Gap Since The Roaring 20s

How About Giving Your Employees A Raise, You Deluded Nitwit?!

Inequality In America

The 0.01%

[source]

Weekend Reading

1 In 10 Watersheds Is Stressed
Government Jobs Are (Still) The Problem
Why U.S. Health Care Is Expensive, In 12 Charts
Scott Walker, WMC Offer Misleading Data On Wisconsin Economy
Polls Show Opposition To Mine 
Cheat Sheet On Inequality
Global Warming Takes Back Seat In Wisconsin
1% Took Home Largest Share Of Income Since 1928
Wisconsin, Land Of The Plutocrats
Republicans: We Were Too Nice To The Hungry, We've Fixed That
David Clarke The False Conservative

Phil Needs A Mulligan

Phil Mickelson, a man who makes millions playing golf, is upset that he may have to pay more in taxes.

"If you add up all the federal and you look at the disability and the unemployment and the Social Security and the state, my tax rate's 62, 63 percent," he said. "So I've got to make some decisions on what I'm going to do."

First of all, lets get what is obviously wrong out of the way - Mickelson doesn't pay 63 percent of his income back in taxes. I think all that sun on those beautiful golf courses must be burning Phil's brain.

Sadly, the article goes along with this 63% fantasy. This is a common mistake in tax reporting - differentiating tax incidence (the amount of total earnings paid in taxes) versus marginal tax rate (the portion of earned income and the tax rate which applies to that portion). If one is going to write an article about some millionaire bitching about the taxes he/she pays, at least do the leg-work and find the actual tax rate.

"There are going to be some drastic changes for me because I happen to be in that zone that has been targeted both federally and by the state and, you know, it doesn't work for me right now," he said. "So I'm going to have to make some changes."

Yes, this poor man. He'll have to wait on that 9th home and 6th BMW.

We're in the second worst depression in the history of the country and Mickelson has the nerve to complain about not being as big of a millionaire? People are out of work and losing their homes, but Mickelson can't get that 5,000 square foot addition on his 4th home and that's equivalent and just as important.

According to Wikipedia, "Although ranked second on the 'all-time money list' of tournament prize money won, Mickelson earns far more from endorsements than from prize money. According to one estimate of 2011 earnings (comprising salary, winnings, bonuses, endorsements and appearances) Mickelson was then the second-highest paid athlete in the United States, earning an income of over $62 million, $53 million of which came from endorsements."

As Len Burman (Professor of Public Affairs at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University) commented, "Please stop whining and give thanks for being able to earn a fabulous living playing a game and selling golf clubs (even after tax). 99.999% of people would never have that option, no matter how hard they worked on their swing." [Burman also estimates, "In net, Mickelson will owe about 52% of his marginal* earning in federal and state taxes."]

Update:
Phil's agent and public relations people must have told him what a douche his comments make him look like. He's begun the apology tour.

*Marginal tax rate: tax payers are divided into tax brackets or ranges, which determine which rate taxable income is taxed at. As income increases, earnings will be taxed at a higher rate than the first dollar earned.