Most Americans say the rich don't pay enough taxes

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the income gap between rich and poor widens, a majority of Americans say the growing divide is bad for the country and believe that wealthy people are paying too little in taxes, according to a new survey.

The poll released Monday by the Pew Research Center points to a particular challenge for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, whose party's policies are viewed by a wide majority as favoring the rich over the middle class and poor.

The poll found that many Americans believe rich people to be intelligent and hardworking but also greedy and less honest than the average American. Nearly six in 10, or 58 percent, say the rich don't pay enough in taxes, while 26 percent believe the rich pay their fair share and 8 percent say they pay too much.

Even among those who describe themselves as "upper class" or "upper middle class," more than half — or 52 percent — said upper-income Americans don't pay enough in taxes; only 10 percent said they paid too much. This upper tier was more likely to say they are more financially secure now than 10 years ago — 62 percent, compared to 44 percent for those who identified themselves as middle classand 29 percent for the lower class. They are less likely to report problems in paying rent or mortgage, losing a job, paying for medical care or other bills and cutting back on household expenses.

The findings come at the start of this week's Republican National Convention and as both Romney and President Barack Obama seek to appeal to a broad swath of financially struggling voters who identify as middle class. Romney supports an extension of Bush-era tax cuts for everyone including the wealthiest 2 percent, and says his policies will benefit the middle class by boosting the economy and creating jobs.

"The fact that Romney may be viewed as wealthy doesn't necessarily pose problems for his candidacy," said Kim Parker, associate director of Pew Social & Demographic Trends, noting that people see the wealthy as having both positive and negative attributes. "The challenge for Romney lies more in the fact that large majorities say if he is elected president, his policies would likely benefit the wealthy."

The results reinforce a tide of recent economic data showing a widening economic divide. America's middle class has been shrinking in the stagnant economy and poverty is now approaching 1960s highs, while wealth concentrates at the top. A separate Pew survey earlier this year found that tensions between the rich and poor were increasing and at their most intense level in nearly a quarter-century.

In fact, well-off people do shoulder a big share of the tax burden. Though households earning over $1 million annually comprise just 0.3 percent of all taxpayers, they pay 20 percent of all federal taxes the government is projected to collect this year, according to the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan group that studies tax policy. The figures included income, payroll and estate taxes. In contrast, households earning $50,000 to $75,000 a year accounted for 12 percent of taxpayers and contributed 9 percent of federal taxes, the center's data showed. Some 46 percent of households pay no federal income tax at all, although they do pay payroll, excise and other taxes.

The American income tax system has long been designed to be progressive, meaning higher earners are expected to pay a greater share of their income than those making less.

In this year's tax battle in Washington, Obama wants to let the current top rate of 35 percent for high earners rise to 39.6 percent next year. Congressional Republicans would reduce the top rate to 25 percent, while Romney would reduce it to 28 percent. Romney and GOP lawmakers have said they would eliminate some deductions to pay for the rate reductions, but have not specified which ones.

According to Pew's latest findings, about 63 percent of Americans say the GOP favors the rich over the middle class and poor, and 71 percent say Romney's election would be good for wealthy people. A smaller share, 20 percent, says the same about the Democratic Party. More Americans — 60 percent — say if Obama is re-elected his policies will benefit the poor, while half say they'll help the middle class and 37 percent say they'll boost the wealthy.

"The Great Recession was not an equal opportunity disemployer," said Sheldon Danziger, a public policy professor at the University of Michigan who describes the gap between rich and poor as the widest in decades. "College graduates, whites and middle-aged workers had fewer and shorter layoffs than high school graduates, blacks, Hispanics and younger workers. And, only a small percentage of the rich work in the hardest-hit industries, like construction and manufacturing."

About 65 percent of Americans say the gap between rich and poor has gotten wider in the past decade, while 20 percent believe it has stayed the same and 7 percent say the gap has gotten smaller. Separately, 57 percent say a widening income gap is a bad thing for society; just 3 percent say it is a good thing.

Asked to estimate how much a family of four would need to earn to be considered wealthy in their area, the median amount given by survey respondents was $150,000. For middle class, the median amount was $70,000.

Many Americans see rich people as more likely to be intelligent (43 percent) and hardworking (42 percent) than average Americans. But the rich are also seen as more likely to be greedy (55 percent). Thirty-four percent of those surveyed say the rich are less likely to be honest than the average person; just 12 percent say the rich are more likely to be honest.

The Pew survey involved telephone interviews with 2,508 adults conducted from July 16 to 26. It has a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points.

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AP Deputy Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta and reporter Alan Fram contributed to this report.

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• by Colleen Hodgetts
• August 28, 2012

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Photo courtesy of the First Nations Development Institute.

Unusual earthquake swarm shakes Southern California

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - An unusual swarm of hundreds of mostly small earthquakes has struckSouthern California over the last three days and shaken the nerves of quake-hardy residents, but scientists say the cluster is not a sign a larger temblor is imminent.

The earthquakes, the largest of which measured magnitude 5.5, began on Saturday evening and have been centered near the town of Brawley close to the state's inland Salton Sea, said Jeanne Hardebeck, research seismologist for the U.S. Geological Survey.

Scientists were monitoring the earthquake cluster, which continued on Tuesday, to see if it approaches the Imperial Fault, about three miles away. A destructive and deadly earthquake of magnitude 7.0 struck on that fault in 1940, she said.

"We don't have any reason to believe that the (earthquake) storm is going to trigger on the Imperial Fault, but there's a minute possibility that it could," Hardebeck said, adding that the swarm of quakes was not moving closer to that fault.

The Brawley quake cluster, which is caused by hot fluid moving around in the Earth's crust, is different than a typical earthquake, in which two blocks of earth slip past each other along a tectonic fault line.

After that kind of an earthquake of magnitude 5.5 or above, there is a 5 percent chance a larger quake will follow, Hardebeck said. But she added the same kinds of probability estimates were not possible with earthquake clusters caused by the movement of hot fluid.

"We understand them even less than we understand normal earthquakes," Hardebeck said, adding that scientists do not know why a cluster of earthquakes will occur at one time rather than another.

The swarm led to jangled nerves in Brawley, a town of about 25,000 residents 170 miles southeast of Los Angeles near the border with Mexico.

"It's pretty bad. We had to evacuate the hotel just for safety," Rowena Rapoza, office manager of a local Best Western Hotel, said on Sunday.

There were two earthquakes on Sunday afternoon, one with a 5.5 magnitude and one measuring 5.3, Hardebeck said. Those were the largest quakes in the cluster amid hundreds of others, she said.

In the past, earthquake clusters have gone on for as long as two weeks, Hardebeck said. Before this recent cluster in Brawley, the last swarm of this size to hit the area was in 1981, she said.

Earlier this month, a pair of moderate-sized earthquakes both registering a magnitude 4.5 struck the California town of Yorba Linda within 10 hours of each other, but no damage was reported. Yorba Linda, the birthplace of the late President Richard Nixon, is 145 miles northwest of Brawley.

Floods, Typhoons, Hurricanes Threaten Cities Around the World

Myanmar (Burma)

One of the worst monsoon seasons in years has displaced around 85,000 people the BBC reports. The worst flooding has occurred in the southern rice fields and hundreds of thousands of those fields are now completely submerged forcing around 70,000 people to seek shelter in over 200 emergency relief shelters.

The heavy rains have also affected some structures, such as bridges and rail lines, according to the Associated Press. Heavy monsoon rains commonly affect Myanmar, but this year’s rains have caused the most devastation since 2004, said a member of the country’s emergency response team.

There have been no reported casualties as a result of the seasonal rains but the threats to such a massive segment of the population has given officials a heavy task in the last week.

Niger’s Flooding Kills at Least 65

Niger, a country situated in the inland section of West Africa, was facing extreme drought conditions earlier this year before floods hit the country and devastated thousands of people, both in the capital of Niamey and in rural districts.

The BBC reports that at least 14,000 homes and around 7,000 fields of crucial cereal crops have been destroyed by rising flood levels. Those crops were already strained from the preceding drought. Up to around 65 people may have also perished due to the sudden onrush of flooding throughout the country.

Heavy seasonal rainfalls caused the Niger River to burst past its usual levels, sweeping away thousands of homes and structures over the last few weeks. Niger’s leaders have been hoping for increased global aid to help people on the ground in Niger.

The first humanitarian plane arrived on the scene Sunday, bringing with it mosquito nets, tents and food supplies for the population. The plane was chartered by Ireland and Niger’s Interior Minister Abdou Labo sent quick thanks to Dublin for its efforts.

Niger is far from the only West African country to have suffered from heavy rainfall. Sierra Leone had a vicious outbreak of cholera hit the capital, Freetown, throughout the summer months that only increased due to poor drainage.

Typhoon Headed for Okinawa

Japan has had its fair share of natural disasters in the last few years, especially the devastating tsunami and earthquake that started the Fukushima nuclear disaster last March. Now the small island of Okinawa is threatened by the Typhoon Bolaven.

Strong gusts of wind, huge waves and violent rainstorms hit the island and government officials encouraged residents to take shelter at home and stay indoors. One tourist told the BBC that many people were concerned about the water levels in a nearby canal that could overflow if the storm brings as much moisture as forecasters suggested.

Disruption for the RNC?

Even the Republican National Convention has been threatened by severe global weather. RNC organizers called off events in Florida for Monday because of Hurricane Isaac.

Unfortunately, Hurricane Isaac has been much more threatening to populations in the hard-hit Haiti where death toll estimates reached nine on Sunday. Many of those deaths were caused by massive floods that swept people away. More than 13,000 people were evacuated from their homes. The brunt of the storm has passed through Haiti since Saturday, officials have said, but repairing the strained country is a heavy and arduous task.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/floods-typhoons-hurricanes-threaten-cities-around-the-world.html#ixzz24x2RLRl3

Isaac Makes Second Landfall, Levee Overtopped in Plaquemines Parish

Levee overtopped, 'deep flooding' feared Hurricane Isaac pounds the Gulf Coast as it approaches New Orleans seven years after Katrina. Latest details

Hurricane Isaac pounded the Gulf Coast Wednesday, overtopping a levee southeast of New Orleans, knocking down trees and cutting power to more than 400,000 homes.