How the Very Rich Are Different

Chuck Marr compares how Republicans treat the very wealthy compared to average Americans (via Mark Thoma):

Congressional Republican leaders are trying to put a new twist on how the very rich are different.  By seeking to reduce long-term deficits entirely through huge budget cuts that fall disproportionately on low-income programs — rather than a balanced package of budget cuts and tax increases — they are effectively arguing that wealthy Americans shouldn’t have to sit with other Americans at the table where sacrifices will be made.
As the chart shows, the top 400 have enjoyed the best of both worlds over the past couple of decades:  dramatically higher incomes and much lower taxes.  Between 1992 and 2008 (the period the IRS data cover), the average share of their incomes that these households paid in federal taxes dropped from 26 percent to 18 percent, while their annual incomes shot up by over 700 percent, after inflation.  And still, Republican leaders insist that wealthy Americans shouldn’t pay a penny more in taxes.

He goes on to highlight planned Republican cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and Pell Grants, and how those will affect Americans who are definitely not very wealthy.  It amazes me that Republicans claim all Americans should share in the sacrifice, but don't ask the best-off Americans to give anything more up.  It is truly bizarre.  Never in the past 60 years have the wealthiest Americans paid less in tax, yet Republicans won't acknowledge that this fact is one of the main reasons we are in such dire financial straits.  And yet when the time comes for sacrifice, people who have benefitted so much as tax rates came down, aren't asked to pay rates closer to what they used to.  Unbelievable.