The Republicans love to tell Americans that the U.S. government is taxing the rich people to death, and has the highest tax rates in the developed world, especially for corporations. That is laughable. Whatever the top tax rate is for corporations, none of them actually pay that rate -- thanks to the various subsidies, deductions, and loopholes provided for them by Congress (not to mention all of the money many of them hide in off-shore accounts to avoid taxes). And the rich people, who are making more than ever, often pay less a percentage than is paid by the middle class (remember Romney's 13% rate).The truth is that some corporations pay no taxes at all (even though they make billions in profits), and as a group, all Americans pay a smaller amount in taxes (as compared to national GDP) than all other developed nations except for two (Chile and Mexico). And the figure for corporations is even worse, with only one nation (Iceland) having corporations pay a smaller rate than U.S. corporations pay.
For the industrialized nations who are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the average taxes paid by those nations is 33.4%. And the highest taxes are paid in Denmark (47.6%), Sweden (45.5%, and Belgium (43.5%). Three other nations pay 42.9% (Italy, Norway, and France).
So, what do the United States taxpayers actually pay (as a percentage of GDP)? They pay much less than 31 other countries in the OECD pay -- only 24.8% (less than 32 other nations for corporations). That's much lower than the average also.
I'm not suggesting that working class and middle class Americans need to pay more in taxes. Those groups are still being hurt by the Bush recession. But there is obviously room for more taxes to be asked from the rich and the corporations -- both of whom are making more in profits and paying less in taxes than at any time since World War II. Taxes are not too high in this country. For the rich and the corporations, they are currently too low.
But the Republicans want to lower taxes on those two groups, and make up for it by cutting programs for the elderly, the sick, the poor and disadvantaged, the unemployed, and children. They want to reward those who are financially rich with even more money, and hurt the Americans more that are already hurting the most from the GOP's previous failed economic policies. Can there be any doubt at all that they are truly the party of the rich and the corporations?
