Jackie Robinson (and taxes)

The most important event today will not be thousands of angry white people freedom foaming, it will occur in Major League Baseball stadiums across the nation.

It's Jackie Robinson day, when each team, each player, each coach, wears number 42, in honor of the man who defied all the odds and risked his life tobecome the first black man to play Major League Baseball. Today, we all wear number 42.

But there is a bonus event today: lots of griping and complaining by a few unhappy folks. A new NY Times/USA Today poll says Americans, by a huge majority, think the taxes they pay are fair.

"Sixty-two percent of all respondents in the poll said theincome tax they have to pay is fair, while 30 percent called it unfair. Thatincludes 6 in 10 Republicans and independents, and just over two-thirds ofDemocrats – a display of cross-party agreement rarely seen on any topic. It alsoincludes most liberals, moderates and conservatives."

In America's newspaper, USA Today, some guy pretty much copies my post from a few days ago. In the process, he reveals another fun little nugget about tax burdens:

Tax rates, "are lower for every income bracket, except the richest fifth,than in 1982, when President Reagan's first historic massive tax cuts went intoeffect. For all the recent grief doled on Uncle Sam, federal tax rateshave remained remarkably flat, or often declined, over the past 30 years."

And a think-tank breaks down the tax burden, pointing out that:

"This year, a family of four in the middle of the income spectrum will pay less than a nickel out of every dollar it earns in federal income taxes."

Enjoy tax day. I will be thanking every public employee I see.