To understand Mullaney and Garrett’s arguments, you really only need to understand how the progressive tax bracket works. The way the U.S. system is structured, you pay tax on income in increasing increments — which currently go from 0% to 37%. When you earn income from a salary, you’re taxed at different rates as you move through the income brackets: After the standard or itemized deductions, the first $11,925 is taxed at 10$11,926 to $48,475 is taxed at 12%, and so on. The average of those ...