About those “high” taxes

There’s a really great story in yesterday’s USA Today about tax rates in America.  The headline, “Tax bills in 2009 at lowest level since 1950″, says it all.  Federal, state, and local taxes – the article says “property and other”, so I believe this includes payroll taxes – take up, on average, 9.2% of Americans’ income in 2009.  9.2% is incredibly low, about 25% lower than the historic average.  Amazingly, 48% of us think that taxes are too high; more amazingly, this is the lowest level in 50 years!  So the lesson seems to be that politicians should not listen to “the American people” when it comes to raising taxes because we are always going to complain.  Graphic after the jump.