Below, I posted the entire chart on taxes collected versus position in
   taxpayers.
   From: jim bell <jdb10987@yahoo.com>
   From: juan <juan.g71@gmail.com>
   On Mon, 21 Nov 2016 18:11:11 +0000 (UTC)
   jim bell <[1]jdb10987@yahoo.com> wrote:
   >> > Steve Kinney <[2]admin@pilobilus.net>
   >> > In the United States, 500
   >> > billionaires presently own about 1/2 of the capital assets;
   >> Did they obtain them legally or illegally?
   >    Do you have to ask?
   Yes, I DO have to ask.  Chalk it up to my not being PC.  Sorry if that
   microagression offends the snowflakes.
   >Basic political economy
   What is "political economy"?  Are you simply talking about economics?
   Remember, I'm a LIBERTARIAN.  I believe "taxation is theft".  This
   means that I don't automatically accept the idea that government is
   somehow entitled to rob people of their assets and income.
   > and natural rights theory should inform you...But the answer is, for
   the record,
       ILLEGALLY.
   What is "natural rights theory".  At least, how do "natural rights"
   somehow allow a system (American, for example) of taxation that didn't
   exist for 99% of world history?  Doesn't sound too 'natural' to me.
   > If illegally, enforce the
   > law.  If legally, change the laws if necessary.
       I'm not really following. Why should libertarian anarchists
       bother with state legislation?
   Despite being a libertarian anarchist, I can engage in discussions
   which do not assume that libertarian anarchy exists or is proper.  For
   example, I can consider the existing political system, and discuss
   various improvements to it, ones short of actually implementing
   libertarian anarchy.    Properly used, brains can do things like that.
   >    That doesn't mean that 'restitution' by means of taxes makes
    >   much sense either. Obviously the state, whose purpose is to TAX
    >  THE POOR and give the money to the RICH is not going to do the
    >   opposite.
   If the job of the government is to "tax the poor", it isn't doing an
   especially effective job.  As I previously cited,
   "
   "The Top 50 Percent of All Taxpayers Paid 97 Percent of All Income
   Taxes; the Top 5 Percent Paid 57 Percent of All Income Taxes; and the
   Top 1 Percent Paid 35 Percent of All Income Taxes in 2011"
   Assuming you agree that "the poor" inhabit the region "the bottom 50
   percent of all taxpayers", then those "poor" are only paying 3%
   (100%-97% = 3%) of the total Federal taxes collected.  That's not very
   effective "tax the poor" results, is it?
   If "the poor" are those in the bottom 10% of taxpayers, then the
   statistic (which I don't have) would probably be even more extreme.
   Looks to me if they are trying to CONCEAL their taxing the poor, they
   are doing an excellent job.
   But then again, if you are content with simply inventing reality, such
   statistics aren't much of an impediment.
                Jim Bell
    BTW, I decided to post the entire chart, here:
   [3]http://taxfoundation.org/article/summary-latest-federal-income-tax-d
   ata
   It isn't clear whether the "bottom 50% of taxpayers" include, or do not
   include, people who don't file Federal income tax returns.  But one
   thing is quite obvious:  "The poor" are hardly taxed AT ALL, at least
   on the Federal level.
   [4]×
   (BUTTON) (BUTTON)
   Table 1. Summary of Federal Income Tax Data, 2011

   Number of Returns*
   AGI ($ millions)
   Income Taxes Paid ($ millions)
   Group's Share of Total AGI (IRS)
   Group's Share of Income Taxes
   Income Split Point
   Average Tax Rate
   All Taxpayers
   136,585,712
   8,317,188
   1,042,571
   100%
   100.0%


   Top 1%
   1,365,857
   1,555,701
   365,518
   18.7%
   35.1%
   > $388,905
   23.5%
   1-5%
   5,463,429
   1,263,178
   223,449
   15.2%
   21.4%

   17.7%
   Top 5%
   6,829,286
   2,818,879
   588,967
   33.9%
   56.5%
   > $167,728
   20.9%
   5-10%
   6,829,285
   956,099
   122,696
   11.5%
   11.8%

   12.8%
   Top 10%
   13,658,571
   3,774,978
   711,663
   45.4%
   68.3%
   > $120,136
   18.9%
   10-25%
   20,487,857
   1,865,607
   180,953
   22.4%
   17.4%

   9.7%
   Top 25%
   34,146,428
   5,640,585
   892,616
   67.8%
   85.6%
   > $70,492
   15.8%
   25-50%
   34,146,428
   1,716,042
   119,844
   20.6%
   11.5%

   7.0%
   Top 50%
   68,292,856
   7,356,627
   1,012,460
   88.5%
   97.1%
    > $34,823
   13.8%
   Bottom 50%
   68,292,856
   960,561
   30,109
   11.55%
   2.89%
    < $34,823
   3.13%
   *Does not include dependent filers.

References

   1. mailto:jdb10987@yahoo.com
   2. mailto:admin@pilobilus.net
   3. http://taxfoundation.org/article/summary-latest-federal-income-tax-data
   4. file:///var/lib/mailman/archives/private/cypherpunks/attachments/20161121/b2e4b4c9/attachment-tmp.html