America: Who Really Pays the Taxes? (Paperback)

~ (Author) "So you have a feeling that you're paying taxes at a higher rate than a lot of millionaires?..." (more)
Key Phrases: Social Security, United States, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For readers who have ever had the sneaking suspicion that they're being shafted, the latest book from this Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative team ( America: What Went Wrong? ) provides the facts, figures, names and anecdotes to prove it. Their goal is to show how all those abstract terms bandied about on the Sunday morning talk shows affect the average taxpayer, particularly anyone whose family income is between, say, $25,000 and $150,000. Wealthy individuals squirrel away money through tax-free bonds, charitable-donations deductions and racehorses, among other write-offs; and the wealthiest corporations benefit from foreign tax credits, deductions for estimated worth of brand names and even the writing-off of interest on loans taken out to pay their stockholders (Weren't stockholders supposed to share both profits and losses?). All of which, the authors note with jackhammer regularity, leaves Joe and Jane Shmoe holding the tab. The authors are bipartisan in their apportionment of blame, rounding up not only the usual Republican presidential suspects but also Democrats like LBJ (whose "unified budget" amounted to a grand-scale doctoring of the books), Dan Rostenkowski (superannuated Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee) and even independent Ross Perot (whose tax-free income in 1991 was somewhere between $18 and $87 million). Their "modest proposal" on reforming the tax system is indeed that: one based largely on eliminating deductions and making all income--no matter how earned--equally taxable. Barlett and Steele's greatest achievement, though, is to have painstakingly translated mountains of often deliberately obscure material, thereby making their book a dream for those who've never quite grasped what government, corporations and the wealthiest few are doing--and a nightmare for those who have and want to keep that knowledge to themselves.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

"Us middle-class schlemiels, that's who!" But that answer to the title's question is not all that informative, so Barlett and Steele, tax reporters for 25 years and authors of the 1992 bestseller, America: What Went Wrong?, tell us who doesn't pay and how they don't. Two systems of taxation have developed in the U.S. since the 1950s, they say, one for wealthy individuals and corporations, the other for everybody else. In the six subsequent chapters, they prove two-tiered taxation's a fact by discussing one rich stiff's tax dodge after another, from preferential capital gains rates to multinational corporate transfer-pricing to the tax court system, and they demonstrate that to those responsible for tax law (guys named Rostenkowski, Dole, Gephardt, etc.) money doesn't talk, it orders. After all the dismaying federal news, Barlett and Steele tell us about "The Unfairest Taxes of All": local and state government levies (on real estate, sales, income, etc.), which, driven by federal mandates upon states and municipalities, have risen faster and more inequitably than federal taxes. Barlett and Steele maintain fair taxation is a real possibility, and they make a serious "Modest Proposal" for reform that eventually, but hardly exclusively, does indeed depend upon real modesty, i.e., spending cuts. But popular political shoving will be necessary to achieve tax fairness. Superb investigative journalism. Ray Olson

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; Remaindered Marked edition (March 23, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671871579
• ISBN-13: 978-0671871574
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #594,655 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Researched and revealing, September 6, 2000

By	Douglas Doepke (Claremont, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is a compelling book that minces few words. The authors supply diverse statistics showing that the wealthy really do escape a fair share of taxes and Congress happily colludes in the scheme. The swindle's scope is seen as a back-handed tribute to the skill of those hired professionals - politicians and talking heads - who redirect taxpayer anger onto nickel and dime welfare cheats instead of the real recipients of government largesse. As the book shows, the tax-paying desires of the wealthy do get served.

The big picture lies in the sharp turnaround since 1950 in who pays the taxes. In that year the tax system was gearedf toward broadening membership in the middle-class, America's cushioning class. Since then, the shift towards taxing this sector out of existence has been little less than startling. Among the categories reflecting this turnaround: tax-exemption rates, Social Security levies, total tax-dollar comparisons, and state and local shifts in levies. A thumbnail sketch of taxation's history in the US helps the reader understand the class battle going on beneath the numbers.

The final chapter closes with recommendations for reforms. Most are quite sensible given the gross inequities that currently exist. For example: terminate capital gains preferences and tax this category as income, stop discriminating certain preferential categories of income from others, terminate tax-exempt securities, et. al. That corporate income tax should be increased is usually rebutted by claims that the increase will be passed along to the consumer. If so, then why - the authors point out - do corporations so stoutly resist this legislation, preferring instead an excise tax that would most surely be passed along. Good point.

The English statesman Disraeli once remarked, "Gentleman, there are three kinds of lies - lies, damned lies, and statistics." Perhaps so. Yet anyone challenging B&S's figures or our ruinous departure from progressive taxation will have to pass through this book first.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Left winged or right winged this book is well researched, January 22, 2002

By	Dan E. Ross "Dan Ross" (Frisco, Tx USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

America, Who Stole the Dream, was a WONDERFUL READ. I find myself leaning more to the right, from a political perspective, but the authors arguments are EXCELLENT at times and they definitely bring up some great points.

This book is the most well argued book I have read about the current demise of the middle class in the U.S. After reading it I would definitely have to say that I have more concern about political decisions being made in Washington as the authors illustrate that consistently the politicians don't do the right thing for the country.

The authors bring up several concerns

1. Middle class demise via outsourcing of manufacturing to lower cost areas
2. Growing disparity of wealth (the rich own more in % terms)
3. The outsourcing of the `HIGH TECH JOBS' that are to be the savior of the country.
4. Commentary about various social programs set up and how ineffective they are.

In conclusion I would say this book was extremely well researched and I therefore give KUDOS to the authors. While I don't agree with everything they wrote I believe they have put forth an excellent piece of work.

My main contention with the book is that it focuses on the demise of manufacturing and low-end jobs, along with some high tech. The U.S. is expensive from a labor perspective. As we have outsourced much of our manufacturing we have been able to purchase products at cheaper prices in the U.S.. Imagine what some products would cost if we were paying for labor that was, in some cases, 10x higher than current wages in developing countries? NOWHERE in the book do the authors mention the BENEFIT to our standard of living because we can buy more with our dollars than we would be able to do so otherwise. In general, this book is WAY to the left so reader beware.

My background is a B.S. in Acct., an MBA in finance and current interests in economic and social policy development so I found this to be quite an interesting read.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent technical compendium, November 9, 1998

By	[e-mail] (Greensboro, NC) - See all my reviews

This book is an excellent study of the history of taxation in America, and particularly the use of tax law to encourage or discourage social, "fairness", and other political agendas. Great insight into how a tax bill is actually formulated, the bill's administrative process and its limitations, and the role of the political leaders in establishing the direction of new legislation.