New & Improved Reformer

Ron Paul seems to have caught the interest of "the people." So I surfed around on his website, on his ratings with various groups, etc. and took a closer look. While I somewhat agree with a few of his stances on the issues I still think he's a hardnose survival of the fittest. I've written of him before with little praise – he's played the system too long to be anything but a good ol' boy.

On tax reform Paul is rated 89 percent by NTU, the National Taxpayers Union. That sounds good for taxpayer Joe Blow. But if you look at NTU's chart of who pays income taxes it appears the working and middle class, incomes of $26-99,000, pay the bulk of federal income tax. Here's a chart for 2003.

At first glance, it appears the top 1% pay the bulk of income taxes. But if you look long enough it really says that 66 percent of income taxes are paid by folks making $130,000 and below. If you break it down further the top 5 percent income bracket pays 20% of all federal income taxes, the top 10% pay 11.4%, the top 25% pay 18.%, and the top 50% pay 12.6% of federal income taxes paid.

Being a member of the top 10% to 50% club means you have a yearly adjusted gross income percentile of $94,891 to $29,019. In other words, the bulk of federal income taxes are paid by the working and middle classes. And quite likely you do not receive the perks the average $14.78 million annual salary CEO does.

Heaven help those in the 3.46 range taxpayers, below $29,019.

The NTU was founded in 1969 and states : "… our Number One job has been helping to protect every single American's right to keep what they've earned. Our guiding principle … has been: "This is your money and the government should return it to you."

Well, I dunno about you but my income taxes have steadily risen since 1969 and Uncle Scam returns none of it, but NTU rates Paul high so I guess the rest of America gets to keep what they earn. And "your money .. the government should return it to you" – isn't that a line from Dubya's teleprompter?

Ron Paul's stance and votes on tax issues:
# Voted YES on retaining reduced taxes on capital gains & dividends.
# Voted YES on making the Bush tax cuts permanent.
# Voted YES on $99B economic stimulus: capital gains & income tax cuts.
# Voted YES on Tax cut package of $958 B over 10 years.
# Voted YES on eliminating the Estate Tax ("death tax").
# Voted YES on $46B in tax cuts for small business.
# Overhaul income tax; end capital gains & inheritance tax.
# Phaseout the death tax.

Capital gains stands out. Hmmmm. If you made over $200,000 you like it. According to this from Center for Budget Policy : 70.7 percent of all filers in the nation had annual income below $50,000 in 2003; but this group received only 3.2 percent of the benefits from the capital gains tax cut that year. In contrast, those with incomes above $200,000 represented 2.0 percent of all filers, but received 80.5 percent of the capital gains tax-cut benefits.

Going through Paul's other votes and ratings from the On The Issues website he received an anti-senior rating under Social Security. A zero rating by NARAL, he's pro-life. ACLU 67 percent indicating a mixed record on civil rights. Rated 60% by CURE, indicating mixed votes on rehabilitation/crime. Supports a Constitutional Amendment for school prayer. Big Oil profits ok; Big Oil subsidies are not. Rated 5% by the LCV, indicating anti-environment votes. Rated 76% by the Christian Coalition: a pro-family voting record. Rated 67% by SANE, indicating a mixed record on military issues. Rated 47% by the AFL-CIO, indicating a mixed record on union issues.

I would say Paul is indeed for "the people" but it's the 2.0 percent people. He may think marijuana okay, he may be against the Iraq war (though voted to attack Afghanistan), he may be against the death penalty – but if he has the world his way, make sure while smoking your blunt that you praise Jesus, are completely and totally independent of any government handouts and have a really, really good job to save for your old age.