Using the 2008 IRS tax summaries found here
http://www.irs.gov/...
I broke down the income and tax numbers into 3 groups
<= 50K
50K to 200 K
200K +
roughly blue-collar, white collar, gold collar. Here's what the data show
blue: 91 million returns
1925 billion in adjusted income (21K per return)
701 billion in taxable income
78 billion in taxes paid ($860 per return)
White: 45 million returns
4039 billion in adjusted income (90K per return)
2733 billion in taxable income
417 billion in taxes paid ($9309 per return)
Gold: 4 million returns
2462 billion in adjusted income (563K per return)
2054 billion in taxable income
537 billion in taxes paid ($122,600 per return)
total taxes collected 1,031 billion
If we want to put a serious dent in the deficit, we'd have to double that to about 2,000 billion, still leaving us a 500 Billion deficit.
To do that by only taxing the rich would require a 75% tax rate on their taxable income, or 60% rate on their total income. Those kind of rates would lead to some serious exodus of assets and rich folk.
To get an extra 1000 billion by taxing the whites & golds would be something like a 50% rate on gold taxable income and a 33% rate on white taxable income. That would mean taxes going from $122 K to $236 K for the average gold and from 9K to 20K for the typical white collar worker.
I just don't see either of those options as workable. And remember these are 2008 figures when unemployment was a bit lower than today.
We cannot close the deficit from the tax side alone. So how much of the solution should be more taxes and how much should be less spending?