Video: Sam Seaborn on the 1%’s tax rates

When writing my last post, I got thinking about a great scene from the West Wing, where Sam Seaborn schools a few of his fellow Democratic staffers on the rich and taxes:

Here’s the thing Sam doesn’t tell you, which is the point I was trying to make before: the average super-wealthy American (or Australian, for that matter) isn’t actually paying the fair share of himself and 26 others. There are so many loopholes and exceptions built-in by lawmakers over the years, that their effective rate is much lower. Mitt Romney should be paying 30%-odd, but instead pays 15%-odd. That’s just not right.

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