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Bartlett goes on to show that :

According to calculations by the Joint Committee on Taxation, a congressional committee, tax filers with adjusted gross incomes between $40,000 and $50,000 have an average federal income tax burden of just 1.7%. Those with adjusted gross incomes between $50,000 and $75,000 have an average burden of 4.2%.

Even though the Tea Partyers were specifically asked about federal income taxes, it’s possible that they were thinking about other federal taxes as well, such as payroll and excise taxes. According to the JCT, when all federal taxes are included, those earning between $40,000 and $50,000 have an average tax rate of 12.3%, and those earning between $50,000 and $75,000 pay a rate of 14.5%.

In short, no matter how one slices the data, the Tea Party crowd appears to believe that federal taxes are very considerably higher than they actually are, whether referring to total taxes as a share of GDP or in terms of the taxes paid by a typical family.

More Bartlett observations :

Federal taxes are very considerably lower by every measure since Obama became president. And given the economic circumstances, it’s hard to imagine that a tax increase would have been enacted last year. In fact, 40% of Obama’s stimulus package involved tax cuts. These include the Making Work Pay Credit, which reduces federal taxes for all taxpayers with incomes below $75,000 by between $400 and $800

“In short, no matter how one slices the data, the Tea Party crowd appears to believe that federal taxes are very considerably higher than they actually are, whether referring to total taxes as a share of GDP or in terms of the taxes paid by a typical family.”
and THIS is why the TEA Party people ( I am very proudly one of them ) are ssooooooooooo dangerous to Democrats.
First they can't disprove the belief because all of this has transferred to personal anger and dislike of Democrats and next in politics precept ion is reality. Deal with it donkey boys, deal with it!

Even though the Tea Partyers were specifically asked about federal income taxes, it's possible that they were thinking about other federal taxes as well, such as payroll and excise taxes. According to the JCT, when all federal taxes are included, those earning between $40,000 and $50,000 have an average tax rate of 12.3%, and those earning between $50,000 and $75,000 pay a rate of 14.5%.

I notice that in making his point about how financially illiterate most of us are, he deliberately omits indirect taxation by the Fed, i.e.; corporate taxes, fuel taxes, phone taxes and a myriad of other hidden taxes. The average individuals tax rate is roughly twice what Mr. Bartlett claims.

It’s nonsense for Frum to ask about Federal taxes only. Unfunded Federal mandates comprise very substantial fractions of the budgets of every state in the Union.

Taxpayers and tea partiers are not just concerned about Line 56 on their 2009 Form 1040. In fact, many are more concerned about Line 73a since they do not understand the intricacies of Federal income taxation. This sad situation is by design because the Federal government intentionally obfuscates its system of taxation.

However, the Tea Partiers know that their state and Federal governments are squandering vast amounts of the nation’s wealth and making commitments to squander even more in perpetuity.

Tea partiers know that they and their progeny are compelled to fund this leviathan. Whether taxes are exacted at the Federal, state, or local level and whether they are exacted in the form of income taxes, payroll taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, corporate income taxes, transaction taxes, capital gains taxes, etc., etc. is irrelevant. They are all “forced exactions” in the words of Justice Learned Hand, and they are ultimately paid by natural persons to government.

Bartlett is right about one thing: they’re mad as hell and they aren’t going to take it any more.

The Tea Partiers know what they see with their own eyes, and the sophistry of Bartlett and Frum will not persuade them otherwise.