"Titanic" offers Jon Stewart's recent "tax day" response to this bit of demagogic, right-wing nonsense that is a staple of the FOXoids (a false assertion that's doubly shocking dressed up in the cloak of "Christianity," which is rooted in the belief that privileges of the wealthy are, if anything, an impediment to their salvation and that "the least among you" are favored in the eyes of God):Yesterday famed "Christian" pastor Rick Warren, wealthy author and megachurch leader (considered one of the most influential evangelicals in the US), tweeted the following:
Jesus breaking up a Rick Warren book signing
HALF of America pays NO taxes. Zero. So they're happy for tax rates to be raised on the other half that DOES pay any taxes.After a firestorm ignited decrying this egregious mix of selfishness and ignorance, Mr. Warren deleted his tweet. But the screenshot is preserved for Internet eternity.
For those sticklers who privilege data over comedy, here's a chart breaking down total share of federal, state and local taxes paid relative to share of income, courtesy of Ezra Klein and Citizens for Tax Justice. Clearly, the upper end isn't burdened disproportionately and the lower income groups pay a significant share of taxes, relative to their modest means (or in "Jesus parlance," their "widow's mite"):
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