ANIMATION: The 400 Wealthiest Americans Could Pay Off Everyone’s Student Loans

By Jeff Spross/Think Progress

As the government moves into the final days of negotiations over the debt ceiling — negotiations most likely to be concluded by a budget deal that will do significant harm to the poor, the working class and middle class Americans throughout the country — it seemed worthwhile to revisit the bizarreness of the Republicans’ refusal to consider tax hikes on the wealthy of any sort, while the accumulation of wealth at the very top of America’s economic ladder continues to reach staggering levels.

Forbes Magazine’s annual listing of the 400 richest Americans, as well as the news that student loans in this country are likely to total $1 trillion this year, gave ThinkProgress a practical example on which to base an animated infographic. Watch it:

REPORT: In 12 Years, Income For Richest 400 Americans Quadruples, Tax Rate Nearly Halved

By Judd Legum

New data released by the IRS reveals that, over a period of 12 years, tax rates for the richest 400 Americans were effectively cut in half. In 1995, the richest 400 Americans paid, on average, 29.93% of their income in federal taxes. In 2007, the last year for which the IRS has released data, the richest 400 Americans paid just 16.63%.

In 1995, just 12 of the 400 richest Americans paid an effective tax rat of between zero and 15%. By 2007, that number skyrocketed to over 150. The massive reduction is due to both Bush-era tax reductions for the wealthy and the aggressive exploitation of tax dodges and shelters. (For details, check out this report from BusinessWeek.)

As their tax rates plummeted, the total income of the richest 400 Americans skyrocketed. In 1995, the combined income of the richest 400 was just over $6 billion. By 2007, the combined income of the richest 400 was almost $23 billion.

If the richest 400 Americans simply paid the same effective rate in 2007 as they did in 1995, the government would have collected over $3 billion in additional revenue. Some millionaires agree that the reduction has been unfair and have formed a group,Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength, to demand higher taxes.