Lower-income households will pay less. For example, households making between $40,000 and $50,000 will pay an average of 12.5 percent of their income in federal taxes. Households making between $20,000 and $30,000 will pay 5.7 percent.

The latest IRS figures are a few years older — and limited to federal income taxes — but show much the same thing. In 2009, taxpayers who made $1 million or more paid on average 24.4 percent of their income in federal income taxes, according to the IRS.

Those making $100,000 to $125,000 paid on average 9.9 percent in federal income taxes. Those making $50,000 to $60,000 paid an average of 6.3 percent.

Wake up you moron

I can't help but believe Ralph Nader wants once again to derail the Democrats, to be divisive of the already disunited Party constitutents and it makes me wonder what his real motive is to challenge Obama. I can't help but beiieve Ralph Nader continues to be bitter for not being beloved enough to have been voted in to be POTUS.

The real culprit worms are the malevolent Republicans who want to dismantle the democratic process by disenfranchising millions of voters. I have no doubt they will also try to re-instrument the voting machines in the various states for coming elections especially the election for President of the United States. They have to be stopped.

Every year this crazy old man crawls out from whatever rock he lives under and tries to get a Republican elected. He personally was responsible for Gore's loss in 2000. I am so upset with you for giving this nut a platform,Lawrence. I've always enjoyed your show,rarely miss it, but this guy is going to do it again and i can't believe you are willing to help him.Pleaseeeeee don't keep giving him a platform for his egomaniacal rants.

Ralph Nader is a narcissist who appears out of nowhere every four years to make electing a Democratic president all the more difficult. He helped deliver the Bush years to the lasting detriment of our republic. I am dismayed that Mr. O'Donnell is giving a megaphone to this man. I hope you will reconsider having him back on your program. He brings nothing relevant to the table, only his own insatiable ego.

Gotta love Ralph Nader, the Brett Favre of left field! Thanks for defending twitter. Question? Where is the sneaky Christian joke? Oscar Wilde's story the SELFISH GIANT is included in Christian storybooks for kids today....just where it belongs.

About the Emmys: PLATOON was the best movie ticket I bought as a young person and Charlie Sheen is a great entertainer of his generation. Making millions of hetro people laugh about hetro sex was probably not even half as easy on him as he made it look. I am glad that he was there. More scripts for him please!

Rock on Nader! It's awful so many people dislike this guy cause he's preaching the right message. We do either need a third party or a more progressive push for common people and their rights and liberties from the democratic party. His message always comes at the most unfortunate of times but it's the truth, plain and simple. Especially his comments on Obama simply defending himself from the crazed Republican rhetoric and the corporate agenda. It's framed a debate that caters to the other side instead of offering a firm opposition to it and truly does leave many voters viewpoints out of the loop. In a world where more Americans actually care about their politics and the effects of it on their daily lives Nader is president, people are more free thinking and I have a job :-)

People like to throw rocks at Nader, but have they actually LISTENED to him? Everything he said tonight--every word--was spot-on. I found myself wondering, "My God, why didn't we elect this man when we had the chance?"

Its weird to complain that Nader supposedly helped elect the "wrong" candidates--you know, "the candidate who doesn't stand for the issues WE believe in...which are the issues Nader (and Nader alone) ran on...and that we failed to vote for..." Yeah, that's HIS fault. Sure.

It's Ralph Nader.

It must be election season.

Well Ron Paul will be the republican Ralph Nader and Paul has more ability to do damage to the republicans than Nader does to the democrats.

Unsafe at Any Speed...In 2000 Nader said he did not want to affect the election. How many votes did he get in Florida ? "Leading candidate for unsafest..." Nader the political advisor. Nader's handling and stability as far as politics is at best suspect. Nader is the CORVAIR of politics.

I'm with Ralphie baby, the most eloquent voice of common-sense progressivism of the baby-boomers' lifespan. He's Thoreau's "one honest man" and genuine hero and statesman in an age where they're scarce.

Lawrence, Ralph Nader's grasp of basic issues is awesome. This no-nonsense guy knows what is at stake. Ralph Nader exposes the charade of big money politics that goes on both sides, the Repbulicans as well as the Democrats. Why do people squeal when Ralph exposes the hypocrisy now so deeply embedded in the "two party dictatorship." Is it not true the real issues will be set aside.

How can Obama claim he can create jobs when he knows his so-called "jobs bill" will never go through the Republcan House?

What happened to the millions of "home owners" who lost their homes? Whose equity got eroded becuase of second mortgages? After rescuing the big bankers who caused the fraud, the real home owners are forgotten. How can you revive the economy without consumers?

Lawrence thanks for bringing Ralph. I hope you will keep up the courage to invite him again despite the squeals of these cry babies who think he just a "spoiler!"

Yes, by all means , discuss those topics! Vote in Reps and Senators and local representation that values addressing those topics. Do town halls, do tv appearances, write op-eds. Go to colleges and small towns and make radio appearances and so on and so on. I'm talking about a mass movement of Ralph Naderites who have the knowledge and passion to discuss these things. Get them out into our collective thinking. Stop expecting 1 person to do it all.

Don't attack the President NOW and hand the election over to the flipping gop.

And just how much money is Nader taking from Republicans THIS time?????

He took about $20 million in 2000, and it THREW the election, and made the deciding difference in Florida....  Gore could have won in Florida and carried the electoral college but for Nader's deliberately spoiler campaign....

The man is a traitor to the left, and he deserves to be shunned by progressives, and to fade into history a disgrace to the progressive movement....

Lawrence,

I watched the interview last night with Ralph Nader and was disgusted with the way you allowed him to go on and on about how much he hates the two-party system. You and others in this thread failed to challenge him on how he is making a mockery of the whole election system by having a mock primary for the sole purpose of bringing Obama back to the left.

If someone is running in a primary against an incumbent, then the goal should be to defeat the incumbent and go on to the general election. It's ridiculous to waste time and resources trying to challenge Obama to return to the left and "make him a better candidate" going into the general election, as Nader said in the interview.

If Nader, Cornel West, and others who signed onto the letter are serious about the primary challenge, then they should be serious about actually winning by getting elected. People like Nader do not have the integrity to admit what they are doing is foolish and a wasted effort.

Besides, another question I have to ask is if Ralph Nader is coming out with a new book and hoping to build some publicity for book sales?

Wait... I know this maybe unpopular but I have thought long and hard about it---and he maybe right. We need Democrats out there reminding people about the real issues, but we need most of all Democrats out there reminding the people what the obstructionist Republicans are not doing. I see his point entirely. Democrats need to speak out more, but turning on our own isn't going to make us very popular. We put people out there to run against Pres. Obama and we are going to divide the vote. I do thing though that Democrats need to be talking like FDR and rather loudly.

I completely agree with Ralph Nader. I have been hoping for some time that someone would challenge Obama, not necessarily to defeat him, but at least to force him to address progressive issues such as the environment, the labeling of GMOs (which seems unlikely as long as we have Vilsack in charge of Agriculture), the dangers of fracking (which Obama seems to be embracing), the access to dietary supplements (which the FDA is trying to limit to a great extent). All we hear in the news these days is the points of view of the GOP candidates. We need the progressive issues debated, and a democratic primary is an ideal arena for this. Besides, with a democratic primary, we get to hear not only the republican ideas in the news but the progressive ideas as well. And Obama would have to address them. If the candidates challenging Obama were not really trying to defeat him, then they would not have to be nasty, and the campaign could be a really civil discussion between adults, showing America what Democrats are all about, to contrast with the Republicans.

I completely agree with Nader: if no one challenges Obama in the primary, all that will happen is Obama will get pulled further and further to the right.

to all you progressive get the hell out of america and go to a country that will support your idealogy not here to ruin America. You people will never understand that because you have failed and your spending will bring america down . You want us to be a global society and you and your phony Ideals keep using China as a growing nation out pacing America. Do you know why the solar industry here in america failed. Because china does not pay Union wages and can afford to sell to other countries cheaper then what America can make them for. Look it up Solyndra, and others in Massachusetts. Why did they pack up . Because we can't compete so Solar will be nothing but a failure using our tax dollars to subsidize because we will never be able to compete. Do not disagree with me because try and get China to bring in the unions and pay them out rages pension plans and health benefits. They will never let that happen so have your President stop touting china for there industrial future. If that does not make you believe look at California I saw a report that the replacement golden gate bridge was made in China and shipped to America for $500,000,000 less then what we can make it for if that doesn't make you see we need to bring unions in line then nothing will so get the hell out, Progressives will lose this round America has seen who you really are and we will never let you win. Be a part that supports Businesses and success not failure and entitlement's look around the world it fails everywhere. Oh and on another issue. Maybe we should devert the remaining billions for solar to real job creation like infrustructer instead of failed Gov, Idea's that are proving wasted time and effort. That would be more like in these times. People need help everywhere not just union paybacks??

1/20/13- The End of an Error