Friday, May 14, 2010

Exactly How Poor Are You?

by Dick Mac

We're not doing so badly in America, and our federal tax rate is the lowest it's been in sixty years.

We remain, as individuals, some of the richest people in the world.

I am a middle-class earner in a major metropolitan area and my wife is a stay-at-home mom. According to the Global Rich List I am the 22,142,234 richest person in the world! Not bad in a list of 6,697,254,041 humans. It puts me in the top 0.36% richest people in the world! That's one-third of one-percent, not thirty-six percent.

I pay taxes, but not that much. Most Americans don't pay that much in taxes, and I challenge anyone I know to show me that they pay too much in taxes.

Those of us earning $49,000 or more are in the top 1% of the world's richest people. I think that includes pretty much all the teabaggers and most of the liberals.

We're doing OK and we don't pay that much in taxes.

Americans have spent three decades suffering a deregulated marketplace that we were promised would bring those at the bottom untold opportunity, and great wealth to all working Americans.

That hasn't come true of course, and because we're not supposed to blame industry and capitalism for anything (including their crimes), people have to blame the government. Well, I love my government, even when it's controlled by idiots, and I love my country, and I am sick and tired of teabaggers denigrating my nation and its leaders.

Our government, from Roosevelt to Obama, in spite of the best efforts of industry to the contrary, has done a remarkable job making Americans incredibly wealthy.

Those teabaggers who want the government to cut stuff, should be standing up and saying: "cut my benefits, cut the things that I get." Then when we're finished cutting your stuff, we'll talk about cutting stuff for the less fortunate!

So, have a cup of tea and enjoy the benefits of being in a free society. We are the richest people in the world, so quit you're whining.

How Rich Are You?







4 comments:

J. Sebastian said...

Well said.

J. Sebastian said...

Well said.

Brian Middleton said...

Thank you, Dick, for saying it so well.

Al Falafal said...

I took a pay cut last year and now I'm only the 51,263,593rd richest person in the world. It's nice to know where I stand I guess. But this means I'm only among the top 0.85% richest people. But I have a plan... in five years I'll be up around the 0.40% or better group! Taxes? I don't really think about taxes that much. I certainly don't feel like I am overtaxed except when I see how much of my tax money goes to the military. That's just insane!