dollar signs art

So if there's one refrain I've been hearing over and over again since taking the reins as

PennLive's Opinion Edito

r back in January, it's this: Americans (and especially Pennsylvanians) are overtaxed and just can't afford to give any more.

Transportation funding? Sorry, we're overtaxed. Spending on public education? Sorry, we're overtaxed. Welfare spending? Sorry, we're overtaxed.

So I set out for myself to see if we're overtaxed. And, thanks to the wonder that is Google, there's a substantial body of research out there pointing to one conclusion: You're not overtaxed. Not even a little bit.

Now there's a credible argument to be made that local property taxes are a regressive mess that provide an unsteady revenue source for public schools. And no one likes to see their local township commissioners or school board jack up their property taxes yet again.

And that may well be what people are talking about when they feel like they're being overtaxed. But when it comes to taxation rates versus other countries, Americans are most assuredly not overtaxed.

Heck, Pennsylvanians aren't even overtaxed when you compare them to residents of other states. We get off lucky with our flat rate of 3.07 percent on all income. Most states have sliding scales. The more you make, the more you pay --

And I can hear you already, "

Micek, you godless Socialist, open your eyes and put down your latte, turn off your Pixies records and live in the real world

."

Not bad, eh? I've been reading and listening to you for nine months now.

But I don't drink lattes, the Pixies are just OK and I'm not even vaguely Socialist. And the source for this assertion comes not from

The Nation

or

The New Republic

, but the long-haired radicals at

Forbes

and some fly-by-night outfit called the

Congressional Budget Office

.

,

Kenneth Rapoza

ran the numbers. And here's his conclusion:

"The London based management consulting firm ECA International produced a 44-page report titled National Salary Comparison that showcases more evidence of that fact. In the report, detailed further in the link here to the left, ECA notes that the U.S. lower tax burden and overall cheaper cost of living makes it the No. 1 country in the Western world to earn a living as a middle manager.

And, mind you, middle managers make more than the average American salary of around $49,000 a year. They make over twice that, which means they are taxed more. Despite being taxed more, they are still taxed less than than their counterparts in nearly every country on earth. In fact, when cost of living comes into play, no big country comes close to the U.S.

After taxes, the U.S. ranks behind Saudi Arabia and Chile as the third best place to live on a mid-level executive pay."

And, in fact,

, nearly half of American households were expected to not be held liable for federal income tax in 2011. And according to an estimate by the

Joint Committee on Taxation

"

51 percent of households paid no federal income tax in 2009."

According to the

Brookings

analysis, the "

51 percent and 46 percent figures are anomalies that reflect the unique circumstances of the past few years, when the economic downturn greatly swelled the number of Americans with low incomes

."

But if one looks at data for 2007, before the economy went into a downturn, 40 percent of households did not owe federal income tax.

"This figure more closely reflects the percentage that do not owe income tax in normal economic times," Brookings analysts concluded.

Finally, here's that CBO data: Between 1979 and 2009 (the year after the Great Recession started), the average American went from paying 22.4 percent of their income in federal taxes to 17.4 percent.

Here's the CBO data behind that conclusion:

Source: Congressional Budget Office

I know you're going to have plenty to say about this ... Have at it in the comments.