Let Congress Hear Your Voice: Bernie Sanders for President 2016

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Bernie Sanders for President 2016

Voting Information

Voter registration and state primary info:
voteforbernie.org

Primary election schedule HERE.

Register to vote in Utah, verify registration, or change address:
vote.utah.gov

Volunteer Information

Volunteer Organizing Toolkit directly from Bernie Sanders' website HERE.

Guide to hosting a grassroots meeting HERE.

Fliers and handouts HERE and HERE.

General information for Bernie Sanders supporters HERE.

Education on Bernie Sanders' Platform

Bernie Sanders on the issues
https://berniesanders.com/issues/

Bernie Sanders 12 Point Plan to Strengthen American Economy
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/agenda/

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Tax Education

One popular misconception about income taxes is that those in the highest tax bracket pay a higher rate of taxes on their entire income. On the contrary, after deductions, the poor and wealthy alike are charged with the exact same tax duty. If you know how tax brackets work, you will know that this means that, for the 2011 tax year, all Americans (including the rich) pay a 10% tax on taxable earnings between $0-$17,000. Earnings between $17,000-$69,000 receive a 15% tax, and so forth. The highest bracket is for earnings over $379,000, which receive a 35% tax.

With this in mind, it is much more conceivable that, in 1948, taxable earnings over $200,000 received a 91% marginal tax (which translates to a 91% tax on earnings over $1,862,072 when adjusted for inflation). In other words, this doesn't mean they retained only 9% of their income. While correlation doesn't indicate causation, it is interesting to also note that the unemployment rate in 1948 was 3.75%.

When considering the tax rate, one must also keep in mind the definition of “taxable” income. No one pays taxes on his/her first $5,700 of earnings; this is the lowest standard deduction, which is the deduction single individuals automatically claim. The standard deduction for married couples filing jointly is $11,400. In addition, $3,650 is automatically subtracted from your taxable income for every qualifying exemption (eg. self, plus dependents).

You can decrease your taxable income if you have enough qualifying deductions and you choose to itemize your deductions. The following chart was constructed with the data from http://www.cch.com/wbot2010/030AvgItemizedDeductions.asp, and details the average itemized deductions claimed per income bracket in 2007:

Income vs. Average Deductions Claimed (ie. Point After Which They Began Paying Taxes)*

15,000-30,000: $20,841

30,000-50,000: $21,052

50,000-100,000: $25,681

100,000-200,000: $37,848

200,000-250,000: $63,586

250,000-billion+: $104,578

*Keep in mind that these figures apply only to people who itemized their deductions.