The Economic Policy Institute has released a chart showing the average overall tax rates in 1979, 1992 and 2007. The picture isn’t pretty.

While the tax rate for you, me and the other 99% of this country has remained pretty much the same over the years, the tax rate for the top 1% has seen a nice decrease in their tax burden and the top 400 households have seen a reduction that leaves them paying less a share than the rest of the country.

How is this fair?

To answer that question, we must throw out everything we know about math and enter the world of GOP economics. You constantly hear the GOP say that these poor rich people have to pay the most in taxes. Of course they do because they also earn the biggest chunk of the money in this country. But for things to be fair, we mustn’t look at total amounts, but rather shares. You and me haven’t thrived off the American dream, but we are paying a bigger share than those who have. The people who need the money the most and would be more out to spend any extra money, which would boost our economy, see a bigger percentage of their earnings go to taxes than the ultra-rich.

The GOP truly is the party of the minority. I’m not talking about blacks or Latinos, but rather the minority that is the top earners in the country. When we hear about “redistribution of wealth”, we must realize that we experience it everyday. The problem is that redistribution is going the wrong way. Instead American’s should all pay their fair share. The top earners have thrived off what this country offers and asking them to give back to the country that made it possible should not be a burden, but rather a “thanks”.

And if you don’t believe that this is how the GOP rolls, consider this. When we hear of a family living well below the Federal Poverty Level not having to pay taxes, the right looks at them as though they are criminals. Now take a corporation that makes billions in profits, like GE, that pays no taxes, well the GOP wants to find ways to give them even more money. Again – fair share to the GOP means you and me paying it, not the rich.

Let’s go back to that GOP math for a minute. If you have a $30 bill at dinner, you generally tip 15%. So if your bill is $100, does that mean you should only tip 10%?

Or how about sales tax. If I make a $100 purchase, I have to pay 6.5% sales tax. Should I only pay 4% if that purchase is $1,000?

The best way to sell this wrong is through wording. The right has owned this strategy for too long. They say that the “top earners pay the most in taxes”, but those on our side need to start countering with “99.9% of this country pays a higher tax rate than the top .1%”. Both statements are true, but the last one highlights the wrongs of our tax system.