Comments on: U.S. Government Tax Collections 1968 – 2007

By: jerry

jerry — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:53:32 +0000

Are you sure that this graph shouldn’t be normalized by inflation or population or GDP or something?

By: loveon

loveon — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 04:18:58 +0000

I would be interested in seeing a chart showing just how much of our tax dollars are paid out in the ever increasing raises that our congressmen and women give themselves. We struggle to get by on below poverty level social security income and yet what do the leaders of our country as their part? They have secret service and huge salaries the rest of their lives. Why not cut their unnecessary benefits along with all the pork barrel and give taxpayers a bit of a break? Why are we (the taxpayers) paying for the perks etc. As long as there is so much greed in The Congress and the White House, our financial problems will never be solved.

By: PerotCharts

PerotCharts — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 01:32:01 +0000

PxxTitan:

Thank you for visiting PerotCharts.com and for your critique of this particular chart. We understand your suggestion. If we can locate all of the data we need to produce the chart you mention, perhaps we can construct it. In the meantime, you might be interested in this chart:
http://perotcharts.com/category/challenges/taxation/page/7/
I believe it will speak to the type of data you were looking for, but only for the latest year, 2007.

By: PhxTitan

PhxTitan — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 21:08:23 +0000

This chart is too simplistic. Doesn’t tell what needs to be told. It should be replaced with ‘layered’ chart showing a breakdown of the various taxes collected, i.e., FICA, income, corporate, capital gains, excise, inherited, etc, etc. The top layer would then have the exact same shape & meaning as the above chart, but be MUCH more tell tale. FICA taxes are dedicated to a couple of the 150 Trust Funds, for example, where income & corporate taxes are dedicated to Federal Funds (general funds). Problems can’t simply be lumped together so easily and be very meaningful. Thanks for taking the feedback.

By: dick

dick — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:20:54 +0000

Dear Mr. Perot,

Am very interested in the chart you are working on showing how much the Federal gov’t has “borrowed from the Social Security Trust Fund. How can we stop the fund from future raids?

Thanks for your efforts, this website, and the opportunity to respond.

Kindest regards,
Dick Wall

By: TinHat

TinHat — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:13:50 +0000

The stock market crash in 2000 really killed the revenue the government was receiving from capital gains taxes.

By: TMLutas

TMLutas — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 16:49:28 +0000

Adding trend lines would be very helpful. I look at the GHWB revenue trend line and the Clinton revenue trend lines and mapping those onto the current presidency I’m encouraged. On the tax side, the revenue fall at its worst brought us back to the revenue trend line of the GHWB presidency. That’s not horribly bad. And as the tax cut effects kicked in, we’ve had an explosion of revenue, likely bringing us back to the higher Clinton revenue trend lines at the close of the Bush administration while we have lower rates. All in all not bad and showing us that the problem is not necessarily on the revenue side.

By: Petewil

Petewil — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 23:43:55 +0000

OK. So what do our taxes pay for? And who benefits? And what about all the other taxes we pay like sales tax, property tax, excise and other taxes on services and energy? How would the complete tax burden look on a chart compared to the wealth of the taxpayer, not the income?

It seems to me the top 1% have a whole lot to lose and their wealth is protected vigilantly by the military, police and government agencies of all stripes. (While our schools, bridges, roads, etc. are falling apart). Maybe it’s not such a bad deal for them. I’m sure they want more for less but let’s look at the whole picture. The real answer is figuring out how to stop the excessive government spending and get a return on the trust funds instead of this Mickey Mouse government ‘accounting’ that goes on in Washington.

By: J. Noga

J. Noga — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:07:13 +0000

I highly recommend EVERYONE interested in American Government to rent Aaron Russo’s “From Freedom to Facism” – watch it, rewind it, absorb it; vote accordingly.

By: MB2012

MB2012 — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 11:29:07 +0000

Let us not forget the illegal, direct, non-apportioned income tax that makes it impossible for the working class to save for the future. In Aaron Russo’s film, “America: From Freedom to Fascism”, he spells out the fact that many Americans don’t know; that 100% of the income tax goes to pay the national debt instead of funding government.

It is time that the wealthy owners of the illegal and unconstitutional Federal Reserve Bank are made to make reparations to the people they have been robbing for 100 years. It is time to stand up to few who live in excess while many Americans live paycheck to paycheck, being robbed of over 40% of their income just to make a few wealthy individuals more wealthy.

Not to mention the fiscal irresponsibility of simply printing more money when they need it. This sort of fraud is what is devaluing the dollar and leading the nation into this debt crisis. The gas prices aren’t rising only due to increased demand and shorter supply, they are mainly rising due to the dollar’s decline in value.

Eliminate the Federal Reserve Bank and make the people in charge of their lives and fortunes once more. If the Federal Reserve was made to make reparations this would eliminate the debt and return the people of the United States to freedom, instead of mere wage slavery.