mafoo, like i said, if you read it, which i doubt due to your answer; Lowering taxes for the rich is not always the best solution, there comes a time when it just simply doesn't balance out well.

I agree, but I don't think we have gotten there. I think the republicans lowered it to about the lowest they felt safe lowering it too. Around 35%.

The lowest taxes have been in history when we had a democratic supermajority, was 70% with Carter. We had 91% in 1965.

That's way too high. I think in 4 years if Obama is in office, it will be above 70% again.

I think where taxes are now is a good level. Doubling it (and anyone who believes in History will tell you it will be  doubled) is a very bad idea.

No way, Obama would never raise it above 40%.  And many of the taxes he would be raising are not even income taxes, such as the estate tax and some of the capital gains and dividend taxes.  He would just repeal most of the Bush tax cuts.

Why do you think that? It would be the first Democratic controlled Washington in History not to.

What's that saying about crazy? "Doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result" or something? :p

It was 39.6% under Clinton.  That's under 40%.  Really closing the tax loopholes is as big of an issue as raising taxes.

http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/151.html

Wage income:

I wanted to add, because even the lower brackets over the last two decades are living at much better standards of living, they have been paying more taxes (in dollars, not %)  Notice when republicans are in office, in the last two decades, the lowest bracket pays 0...

I feel like I am no Mythbusters.  This is how Republicans buy votes of the super poor (which are a really small percentage of the population btw)

Notice, the middle (40k) actually paid a lower % from 87-97.

This table is actual payments, after deductions.

Clinton never controlled both the house and the senate. Look at the tax rates when those things happened.

The 103rd (93-95) US Congress had a Democratic majority in both chambers of congress.

Ops. I stand corrected. I was thinking a supermajority. The times Democrats had a supermajority (so no filibustering) was in 1933, and 1965.

in 1933 the tax was raised from 25% to 63%. In 1965 the tax percentage stayed in the 70's. but Washington introduced "The Great Society" Read this and see if it sound familiar...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Society

I like those numbers... why don't we always have those numbers... no one should have such a majority to override another group.