No, I didn't miss that at all. But as I indicated implicitly that stat is about as misleading as the so called cost of living put out by our blessed governnment. Perhaps you missed the costs entailed by all the federal, state, and local regulations imposed and paid directly or indirectly by individuals. Or the fact that working individuals indirectly (therefore it is not counted in the magical stats) pay for many of those programs - not even considering the cost of the increased govt debt that we all owe and devaluation of the dollar, and increased cost of services that those of us still working don't get. I don't seem to get Social Security, or government medical benifits, et al...though I do pay more for my medical now because of them. Just like the stat about fifteen percent pay sixty-five percent of the federal income tax - well that doesn't include state taxes, realestate taxes, sales taxes, user fee taxes, corporate taxes that are paid by the consumer in the cost of products, government deficit spending that is a bill we pay interest on today, that devalues the dollars that we make today, and that someone is going to have to pay tomorrow. So when I read a nice claim that the middle class benefits from some huge transfer of wealth from the wealthy - I don't take it at face value - I look into the facts and the facts of my life and of the other working middle-class stiffs that I know, when we look at our income and the so called benefits we recieve, don't match up with the magical stat. But then again when one considers social security a "gift" from the government I guess I can begin to see where at least some of that magical stat comes from - never mind that that individuals would have more money saving/investing only a part of the money they pay into social security than what they will ever get back or that many will never live to get social security as they seem invested in continuing to raise the retirement age for recieving it. Also that magical stat doesn't take into account one of the many indirect or hidden taxes that individuals pay nor even many of the direct taxes mentioned above.
Sorry, I thought my first post pointed out how bogus and empty that claim was, guess I needed to make it explicit rather than implicit in my answer.
So explicitly, the working middle class are not subsidized by the wealthy and they do not recieve more benefits from the government than they pay for. Specifically, I pay over thirty percent of my income in federal, state, and local (mostly realestate taxes). I also pay into social security, some of which I "may" get back - but not as much as if I could have kept that money in the first place - I and other working middle class tax payers do not get government medical benefits, if one is a vet then they have paid for their GI benefits by putting their life on the line. Us working middle-class mopes also pay sales taxes, corporate taxes which are included in the price of goods, and the increased cost of goods and services from government regulations and mandates - none of these are included in the calculations that go into that massive subsidized magical transfer of wealth stat.
Of course that doesn't begin to address the even higher cost associated with the loss of individual freedom that we suffer every year from ever more intrusive government regulations.
I don't know which is more disturbing that the vast majority of politicians (republican and democrat) think we are so stupid as to buy into their rhetoric given the evidence of our daily lives or that so many people are willing to overlook the reality of life because it is easier to remain in denial than to examine or change ones cherished beliefs.
It isn't the wealth of the wealthy being transferred to the middle class and it isn't the income of the middle class being transferred to the wealthy. The problem is the wealth of individual citizens being transferred to the government and the political elites that think they know what is best for any given individual through the ever expanding myriad of government laws and regulations and the continued expansion of government power. As far as I am aware neither Ron Paul nor the majority of his supporters are against individuals making and keeping as much of their own individual wealth and liberty as possible.