Bush haters don’t know much about who pays Federal income taxes

Bush haters don’t know much about who pays Federal income taxes.

“Then another man, eavesdropping, decided to join in. Within five seconds, he called the president "an idiot." I let it go. Moments later, however, he changed it to "moron."

“60-something woman sitting next to me, with whom, up until this point, I had exchanged pleasantries, suddenly blurted, "Well, I'm from Seattle, and we hate Bush up there — "

" — and the thing that we hate the most about Bush is that he claims people shouldn't pay taxes."

"Let me clarify. Bush says, 'Rich people should not pay taxes.'"

Larry Elder asks "Of the top 1 percent of taxpayers, what percentage do they pay of federal income tax revenues?"

"Maybe 1 percent, maybe 2 percent."

“For the record, since my table companion doesn't know or doesn't care, the top 1 percent — the taxpayers with an adjusted gross income (AGI) over $295,495 — paid, for 2003, 34.27 percent of federal income tax revenues. The top 10 percent (with an AGI over $94,891) paid 65.84 percent, the top half (AGI over $29,019) paid 96.54 percent. The bottom half? They paid 3.46 percent.”