https://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2013/01/08/you-cannot-raise-taxes-on-the-rich/feed/HotAir is the leading conservative blog for breaking news and commentary covering the Biden administration, politics, media, culture, and current elections.en-usTue, 09 Jun 2026 07:21:43 -0400<![CDATA[It is transfers, not taxes, that really generate such progressivity as we have in the United States. As Lane Kenworthy shows, the overall U.S. tax system — federal, state, and local — is not all that progressive in its effects, despite a very progressive graduated federal income tax. What low-income workers don’t pay in federal taxes, they make up for in state and local taxes, particularly sales taxes, which are basically a flat income tax for the poor. Kenworthy finds that each quintile pays about 30 percent of its income in taxes. But the system becomes much more progressive when transfers are accounted for.]]>Tue, 08 Jan 2013 07:35:19 -0500<![CDATA[Allahpundit]]>https://hotair.com/headlines/2013/01/08/you-cannot-raise-taxes-on-the-rich-n99012