tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069354713843321730.post240016753236063238..comments2023-10-01T09:22:37.695-07:00Comments on Economists for Obama: More Socialists: McCain, Ford, Reagan, Bush I and II, Milton FriedmanDon Pedrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438565798505041042noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069354713843321730.post-4303696903758756112008-10-22T12:46:00.000-07:002008-10-22T12:46:00.000-07:00McCain has embraced the very things he derides.You...McCain has embraced the very things he derides.<BR/><BR/>You guys can probably make a nice little blog about this one.<BR/><BR/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNke6ad0t6gAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069354713843321730.post-8875834112398571602008-10-22T09:48:00.000-07:002008-10-22T09:48:00.000-07:00You may want to add that the total cost to the U.S...You may want to add that the total cost to the U.S. government of both the EITC and the Child Tax Credit is about $45 billion, or less than 1.5% of the $2.9 trillion federal budget. Not exactly a jaw dropping amount of money and certainly not worth the attention its getting on the campaign trail.One Man Paradehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00494865753162560899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069354713843321730.post-45062867992660735422008-10-22T09:46:00.000-07:002008-10-22T09:46:00.000-07:00Here's the relevant TPC table:http://www.taxpo...Here's the relevant TPC table:<BR/>http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/numbers/displayatab.cfm?DocID=2012&topic2ID=40&topic3ID=41&DocTypeID=1<BR/><BR/>27.9% of tax units (including filers and non-filers) have no net tax liability.<BR/><BR/>This doesn't really answer the relevant question, though, because this includes many people who aren't working. The same table shows that 19.8% pay no payroll taxes, which means they have no wage income.<BR/><BR/>Unfortunately, you can't just subtract the second number from the first number. because the second group is not merely a subset of the first.<BR/><BR/>At low income levels, the EITC is equal to 34% of wages for a filer with 1 child and 40% for a filer with more than 1 child, so it's substantially more than the payroll tax.Don Pedrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15438565798505041042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069354713843321730.post-77889822081830392972008-10-22T08:28:00.000-07:002008-10-22T08:28:00.000-07:00Being too lazy to dig it up myself, I'll ask you: ...Being too lazy to dig it up myself, I'll ask you: if you count payroll taxes, what percent of filers have no net liability?<BR/><BR/>Seems like this number might provide a more pithy reply.<BR/><BR/>How has that number changed over time?Steve Rothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11895481216028771016noreply@blogger.com