It is of course the right-wing that keeps the debate focused on the less-regressive income tax. Buffett paid a lower federal tax percentage than his secretary when Social Security, etc. was included but right-wingers quickly conflated “federal income and payroll taxes” to mean “federal income tax.”
Some months ago, a sentient Doper posted a link to babble by a right-winger-with-a-PhD. (Hi, Dr. Love)
, and it took several reply/rejoinders before he grasped the distinction. His blogger pretended to make the same mistake but … here’s the real annoyance … after spending half the blog refuting the claim Buffett didn’t make, he revealed that he knew the distinction between income and total taxes all along. :smack: