And It Will Raise An Infinitesimal Amount of Money...
Greg Sargent on the
proposed millionaire surtax:
I’ve got some new numbers for you that illustrate this in fresh detail:
They reveal that the surtaxes would be paid by an infinitessimally small
percentage of American taxpayers, and that the surtaxes themselves
would constitute an infinitessimally tiny percentage of the income of
the wealthy.
Tiny times tiny, doesn't add up to much, right? Let's remember what this tax is supposed to fund:
The plan would create a national infrastructure bank and would invest
$50 billion in upgrading highways, rail, and bridges, with the goal of
putting construction workers across the country back on the job and
revitalizing our infrastructure and economy. It would be paid for by a
0.7 percent surtax on income in excess of $1 million.
Okay, here's Sargent's numbers:
* If the new infrastructure proposal were enacted, the surtax on
millionaires would impact a grand total of 345,532 taxpayers nationwide —
or 0.2 percent of American taxpayers.
* If the new infrastructure proposal were enacted, the 0.7
percent surtax would amount to all of $13,457 on average for the
millionaires that would pay it. Given that their average income is
$2,923,000, this means they would be paying on average an additional
1/217 of their overall income, or just over an additional 0.4 percent.
That’s less than one half of one percent.
Okay, so 345,532 taxpayers, paying an additional $13, 457 totals how much kiddies? Answer: About $4.6 billion. To cover $50 billion in new spending.
