A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only 26% of Adults believe it’s still possible for just about anyone in America to work hard and get rich.
Fifty-eight percent (58%) do not think a good work ethic will pay off, while 16% more are not sure.
However, a plurality of all Americans (46%) still feel it’s possible for anyone in the United States to work their way out of poverty, but thirty-seven percent (37%) disagree and say it’s not possible to work your way out of poverty. Another 17% are undecided.
But only 41% say it’s possible for anyone who really wants work to even find a job. Forty-five percent (45%) do not think finding work is that easy. Thirteen percent (13%) are undecided. Confidence that jobs are available has been falling since the beginning of last year.
Americans continue to show little short-term confidence in the country’s economic recovery but remain more confident in the long-term..
Only 23% of all adults say today’s children will be better off than their parents. Fifty-six percent (56%) do not believe today’s youth will be better off than their elders. Twenty-one percent (21%) are not sure.
In regard to becoming rich, the IRS has just released an analysis of the richest 400 American tax filers (.pdf) that supports the American belief that it isn't hard work that makes someone rich.
The top-line finding drawing the most attention is that these 400 earned about $138 billion, collectively in 2007. In contrast, the bottom 90 percent of Americans, over 24 million filers, earned $247 billion.
There are two important things to note from this chart. The first, and most visually apparent, is that the tax rates of the rich are far more closely linked to the capital gains taxes than income taxes. Salaries and wages, the source of income taxed at the blue line, represented only 6.5 percent of these filers’ income.
Nearly two-thirds of their income comes from capital gains, and this is why you see a much tighter coupling between the orange and red lines.
The second thing to note is that the overall tax rates are really not that high. Contrary to concerns about socialism or a government takeover, the richest Americans, those earning an average of $345 million in 2007, paid about 16.5 percent in federal income taxes.
Contrary to what many American believe, Americans pay a marginal income tax rate. This figure is generally not well understood and is certainly not the one we debate in the public sphere. Instead, we generally end up talking about marginal tax rates.
The word “marginal” in this context means you don’t actually pay the full rate of the bracket you fall in.
For example, a single person earning $50,000 in 2009 would technically be in the 25 percent bracket. But they would actually pay 10 percent on their first $8,350 in earnings (the lowest bracket), 15 percent on every dollar between $8,351 and $33,950 (the second bracket), and 25 percent on every dollar between $33,951 and $50,000 (their salary). This works out so that the hypothetical person would actually only pay 17.4 percent of their income in taxes.
Many wealthy people know that working a 9 to 5 job will never make one rich. You become rick by acquiring assets such as really estate, stocks, bonds and precious metals. In most cases, the affluent will pay the lower capital gains taxes from any earnings form these assets.
The capital gains tax was 15 per cent under GW Bush.
source: http://www.livecitizen.com/americans-dont-hard-work-rich/ and http://www.quickanded.com/2010/02/effective-tax-rates-of-the-richest-400-americans.html
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Fifty-eight percent (58%) do not think a good work ethic will pay off, while 16% more are not sure.
However, a plurality of all Americans (46%) still feel it’s possible for anyone in the United States to work their way out of poverty, but thirty-seven percent (37%) disagree and say it’s not possible to work your way out of poverty. Another 17% are undecided.
But only 41% say it’s possible for anyone who really wants work to even find a job. Forty-five percent (45%) do not think finding work is that easy. Thirteen percent (13%) are undecided. Confidence that jobs are available has been falling since the beginning of last year.
Americans continue to show little short-term confidence in the country’s economic recovery but remain more confident in the long-term..
Only 23% of all adults say today’s children will be better off than their parents. Fifty-six percent (56%) do not believe today’s youth will be better off than their elders. Twenty-one percent (21%) are not sure.
In regard to becoming rich, the IRS has just released an analysis of the richest 400 American tax filers (.pdf) that supports the American belief that it isn't hard work that makes someone rich.
The top-line finding drawing the most attention is that these 400 earned about $138 billion, collectively in 2007. In contrast, the bottom 90 percent of Americans, over 24 million filers, earned $247 billion.
Nearly two-thirds of their income comes from capital gains, and this is why you see a much tighter coupling between the orange and red lines.
The second thing to note is that the overall tax rates are really not that high. Contrary to concerns about socialism or a government takeover, the richest Americans, those earning an average of $345 million in 2007, paid about 16.5 percent in federal income taxes.
Contrary to what many American believe, Americans pay a marginal income tax rate. This figure is generally not well understood and is certainly not the one we debate in the public sphere. Instead, we generally end up talking about marginal tax rates.
The word “marginal” in this context means you don’t actually pay the full rate of the bracket you fall in.
For example, a single person earning $50,000 in 2009 would technically be in the 25 percent bracket. But they would actually pay 10 percent on their first $8,350 in earnings (the lowest bracket), 15 percent on every dollar between $8,351 and $33,950 (the second bracket), and 25 percent on every dollar between $33,951 and $50,000 (their salary). This works out so that the hypothetical person would actually only pay 17.4 percent of their income in taxes.
Many wealthy people know that working a 9 to 5 job will never make one rich. You become rick by acquiring assets such as really estate, stocks, bonds and precious metals. In most cases, the affluent will pay the lower capital gains taxes from any earnings form these assets.
The capital gains tax was 15 per cent under GW Bush.
source: http://www.livecitizen.com/americans-dont-hard-work-rich/ and http://www.quickanded.com/2010/02/effective-tax-rates-of-the-richest-400-americans.html
Subscribe to the Rightardia feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/UFPYA
Netcraft rank: 7373 http://toolbar.netcraft.com/site_report?url=http://rightardia.blogspot.com
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