We're getting a lot in the past few days on how our taxes aren't really all that high. Look at how those tax rates came down since Eisenhower!

First, while income tax rates have come down in some brackets, payroll taxes have gone up. In 1955, payroll taxes were 4 percent, counting the employer contribution. Today, they're at 15.3 percent. Tack that onto the tax bite on your average family. Most of the people selling the "low tax" meme don't.

Second, it's not about the rates, it's about the revenues. People touting the 90 percent rate don't talk about deductions and other things that affect the actual revenues or who pays them. While tax rates may have gone down for upper income levels, the percentage of revenues they pay has gone steadily up. I don't have numbers for 1955, but the highest quintile (above $113,000 a year) paid 56 percent of all Federal taxes in 1979 (including payroll) and 69 percent in 2007. If you're just talking income tax, it was 65 percent in 1979 and 86 percent in 2007.

In 1955, the Federal government took in $544 billion in revenues (all amounts in 2005 dollars). This is an average of $3,278 for every man, woman and child in America (obviously, some people paid more, some less, some none). In 2007, revenues were $2.41 trillion. $7,990 per person. This is what people talking about "rates" don't want you to figure out.

To pay the bill for 2011 without a deficit, this number, for every man, woman and child in America, would have to go up to $10,737.

Just as an aside, the Federal budget in 2011 is almost six times what it was in 1955, in constant dollars. Our population hasn't even doubled in that time.

Taxes will never, ever be high enough to balance all the spending the government wants to do. With tax rates all over the map, our history is still one of near-constant deficits.

You're going to see a lot of "statistics" on this in the next few weeks as the Democrats and the media start selling higher taxes. Most will be misleading. Bring them in, and I'll show you how.