Late on Monday, Mitt Romney released his 2010 tax returns, showing that he paid 13.9 percent of his income in federal taxes. (His rate is relatively low because most of his money comes from investment income, which is taxed at a lower rate than wages.) But how does Romney stack up to previous presidential candidates? Here’s a chart for comparison:
John Kerry married into the Heinz fortune and as you can see, low capital gains rates means it's good to be ridiculously rich, because you stay that way. Romney certainly benefited from his family's fortune too. On the other hand, Republicans scoff at President Obama "never having a real job" but he paid a pretty penny in federal taxes in 2006.
Not included on the chart: Newt Gingrich, who actually put down a hefty 32% effective tax rate back to Uncle Sam on his $3.2 million last year. The difference: Newt's certainly a one percenter, but he's not a .01 percenter like Romney and Kerry.
Still, is it any wonder why all the current Republicans are running on lowering or eliminating the capital gains tax?
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