14.1%
So Mitt Romney released his 2011 Tax Returns.
CNN reports that he made $13.7 Million last year and only paid $1.94 Million in taxes, an effective rate of 14%.
Running some rough numbers, at a 20% effective rate, he would have paid $2.74 Million.
At the 25% (or the rate most middle class american households pay) he would have paid $3.2 Million.
So lets see…
If I gross $50,000 a year, and I paid a federal income tax rate of 14%, I’d be left with about $43,000 to spend.
If I gross $50,000 a year, and I paid a federal income tax rate of 25%, I’d be left with $37,500.
$5500 is a pretty big chunk of money to somebody making $50,000 a year. That’s almost a year of mortgage payments, or car payments, or an untold number of diapers and school supplies.
So how does that math work out for Romney?
At 14%, paying $1.94 Million in taxes, he’s left with…$11.2 Million.
At 25%, paying $3.2 Million in taxes, he’s left with $9.82 Million
Even at 25%, he would probably still be eligible for the $10 Million / year income club.
Lets go to the “Socialist” extreme and tax incomes over $250,000 a year at 35%.
How much would Romney have left? $8.5 Million.
So he would have to save some pennies and raid his couch cushions in order to afford that luxury yacht, or a 4th house in Aspen or on Maui. But that ~$5 Million in federal taxes would be used to provide security to his employees who make him that money. It would educate their kids who will become the next generation of working stiffs. It would provide them with good roads to drive to work on. It could provide them with healthcare.
That we want to further reward the rich, who are already being substantially rewarded, with tax breaks, in the name of “not penalizing success”, is simply laughable.
Is there anybody out there who really thinks Mitt Romney would have just said “fuck it, lets go get a beer” instead of doing whatever it was he did in 2011 that made him $13,000,000, if his tax rate was 20%, 25%, or even 35%?
Seriously, what looks better: $43,000 / year, or $8,500,000 / year?
