FYI

I've updated this chart to include data recently made available for 2009. The big-picture takeaway hasn't changed: the rich pay a hugely disproportionate share of federal income taxes.

The top 1% of income earners paid almost 40% of all federal income taxes; the top 5% paid almost 60%; and the top 10% paid about 70%.

The bottom 50% of income earners paid only 2.3% of all federal income taxes, and some 59 million tax filers either paid no income tax or received money on net from the IRS.

This puts us perilously close to a "tyranny of the majority" in which there are more people receiving net benefits from the government than there are paying into the system.(Source: Calafia Beach Pundit).

More details in my The Peter Dag Portfolio and my free educational videos on http://www.peterdag.com/.

George Dagnino, PhD
Editor, The Peter Dag Portfolio. Since 1977
2009 Market Timer of the Year by Timer Digest

To find out more about my in depth views of the markets and my strategy just visit our website https://www.peterdag.com/ where you can subscribe to The Peter Dag Portfolio. You can also call me at 1-800-833-2782 to discuss your specific investment portfolio.

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