Restless Rhetoric Syndrome Sufferers: Avoid contact with the following information

Warning: The following contains graphic illustrations of Washington’s business-friendly climate. Those leery of shifting paradigms or who suffer from Restless Rhetoric Syndrome should avoid contact with the following information and discontinue reading further.

USA Today reports to the US, today, that Americans are paying the smallest share of their income for taxes since 1958, a reflection of tax cuts and a weak economy:

The total tax burden — for all federal, state and local taxes — dropped to 23.6% of income in the first quarter, according to Bureau of Economic Analysis data.

By contrast, individuals spent roughly 27% of income on taxes in the 1970s, 1980s and the 1990s — a rate that would mean $500 billion of extra taxes annually today, one-third of the estimated $1.5 trillion federal deficit this year.

Seeing as how we've reported here before about the state's tax burden shrinking to 1980s levels, let's connect some dots... From the Seattle PI:

Washington state is pretty good at growing millionaires, if you believe a study from the Deloitte Center for Financial Services.

There were 226,000 millionaires in the state in 2010, putting Washington at 14th in the country if we’re counting them all up.

From The Puget Sound Business Journal:

In 2010, there were 226,000 millionaires in Washington state, a larger amount than other states in the Pacific Northwest region. That number will almost double by 2020, according to results of a Deloitte Center for Financial Services study, released today.

We can only hope similar news is in store for the rest of us Washingtonians still suffering the effects of the economic downturn.

More on Washington's business climate here and here and here and here and here, oh and here.
And here.

To read this blog post in Spanish, go here.