Posted on 03/10/2011 10:04:08 AM PST by Sub-Driver
Stephen King Bashes Reagan and Republicans For Making His Taxes Too Low By Noel Sheppard Created 03/10/2011 - 11:21am
By Noel Sheppard | March 10, 2011 | 11:21 Noel Sheppard's picture
Horror writer Stephen King on Tuesday bashed Ronald Reagan and a number of Republicans at a Wake the State rally in Sarasota, Florida.
His main beef with conservatives is they allow him to pay too little in taxes (video follows with partial transcript and commentary):
STEPHEN KING: I'm from Maine, but I pay taxes in Florida, too. Let me tell you something: in Maine last November, three candidates ran, the Tea Party guy won by one percent. He's a minority governor. And you know what? The guy's a stone brain. And I thought to myself, "Well, that's alright. I'm a snow bird. I'm gonna go to Florida. Things will be better in Florida."
And on the way down here I drove and I heard about this guy in Wisconsin, his name was [Republican Governor Scott] Walker and apparently he wanted to stop collective bargaining. That’s supposed to balance the budget. That’s the magic bullet. So you’ve got [Republican Governor Paul] LePage in Maine, Walker in Wisconsin, you got [Republican Governor Rick] Scott in Florida. It’s Larry, Curly and Moe. That’s what we got right here.
Now you might say, "What are you doing up there? Aren’t you rich?" The answer is: thank God, yes. Because I grew up poor. I lived in a family where my mother asked donated commodities from a Republican administration and got turned down. That’s where I came from. And you know what? As a rich person I pay 28 percent tax. What I want to ask you is why am I not paying 50? Why isn’t anybody in my bracket not paying 50?
Stop the tape. King in 2010 either didn't make a lot of money or he doesn't know what today's federal income tax brackets are. According to the Internal Revenue Service, the 28 percent bracket for married couples began at $137,300 in income and ended at $209,250.
Can you imagine the kind of recession we'd have if couples making over $137,300 were taxed at 50 percent?
But the ignorance or dishonesty on display didn't end there, for the highest federal bracket is 35 percent for couples making over $373,650, which doesn't include additional "Alternative Minimum Taxes" if they apply.
As such, if King and his wife are only in the 28 percent bracket, it's either because he didn't sell a lot of books last year, or his accountant did a great job reducing their income with write-offs and expenses. If the latter, King could certainly instruct his tax advisor to not take any deductions at all thereby paying the maximum amount of tax provided in the law.
Of course, therein lies the income tax hypocrisy of most liberals: they advocate higher taxes as they do everything within their power to pay as little as possible.
Let's continue:
KING: Well you know what? You know what? The Republicans would tell you, from John Boehner to Mitch McConnell to Rick Scott that we can't do that because if we tax guys like me, there won't be any jobs. It's bull. It's total bull.
Well, it's not just Republicans that made this claim.
King must have been asleep or out of the country when Barack Obama and Bill Clinton stood in front of television cameras in December telling the American people that it would be devastating to the economy to not extend the Bush tax cuts. Ditto when Obama's tax plan passed the Senate 81-19 with only 13 Democrats voting "No," and when it passed the House 277-148 with 139 Democrats voting "Aye."
But idiots like King think it's only Republicans that believe higher taxes are bad for the economy.
Not surprisingly, that wasn't the last absurd comment the horror author made Tuesday:
KING: These people come from the Party of Ronald Reagan, the Great Communicator, who one year put down on his taxes that he gave $10,000 to charity. Well, my wife and I - my wife is here, right there in the Crayola shirt - we try to make up the difference, the shortfall, that 22 percent that we don’t pay, by giving it away. But you know what, I haven’t seen a lot of that going around.
Big Hollywood's John Nolte marvelously responded to this nonsense Wednesday:
Yes, his elitist, holier-than-thou and arrogantly mistaken belief that a whole lot of people in the most charitable country in the world aren’t as charitable as he is, is off-putting in the extreme. But that he’s able to give that 22% of his income not swallowed up by the blackhole of the government directly to the causes he believes in is a beautiful thing. This is exactly why raising taxes is a terrible idea. Regardless of what people do with their money, whatever they do with it is better for this economy than what the government does with it. [...]
Also, King ripping on Reagan giving “only” $10,000 to charity one year is hilarious. Even if it’s true, I’m happy to play that game. Could someone remind Mr. King that in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004, Barack Obama gave a TOTAL of just over $10,000 to charity. But please don’t remind King that Vice President Joe Biden’s charitable giving was beyond laughable, I’d hate to see a best-selling author cry.
Then there’s this. Newsflash, Stephen King: You wouldn’t be so gosh-darned alone in your awesome philanthropy if someone like Ronald Reagan was president.
Second newsflash: Conservatives give more to charity than liberals. So it looks as thought [sic] that loneliness you feel is in your own ideological backyard.
That King doesn't know any of this is not at all surprising as he has over the years made numerous public statements devoid of facts or logic.
This continually leads us at NewsBusters to recommend he stick to writing fiction - his grasp on reality is tenuous at best.
decent book, movie sukkked big time!!!!
Being hit by a car?
I think that affected him big time for the worse. He was not crazy prior to the accident. He has been insane since the crash. Not excusing him but something clearly went wrong after the crash.
Bummer. I liked some of his books, now I’ll never give him another dime.
Ditto
I would love to see what his accountants come up with on his taxes. I bet he is bitching up a storm but also taking every &*^%$#@ deduction he is allowed and stuffing as much in tax free accounts as he can.
Care to let us see your will and how you are setting up your trusts for your children Stephen? Or will you claim ignorance and shrug it off as not knowing what your accountants and lawyers have done in your name like all the other liberals caught pulling this crap.
A lot of Conservatives read your books moron, let your rant go viral and see how far your sales graph dips you jackass.
One thing I don’t see here is whether holier-than-thou Stephen King claims to be a Florida resident and pays no state income tax or a Maine resident paying state income taxes up there.
He did a very artful job of avoiding that by saying “I pay Florida taxes too.” Really? Which ones?
This guy is a has been who just writes the same story over and over and changes the names to make people think it is something new. What a looser!
How do you make a contribution to reduce the debt?
There are two ways for you to make a contribution to reduce the debt:
You can make a contribution online either by credit card, checking or savings account at Pay.gov
You can write a check payable to the Bureau of the Public Debt, and in the memo section, notate that it's a Gift to reduce the Debt Held by the Public. Mail your check to:
Attn Dept G
Bureau of the Public Debt
P. O. Box 2188
Parkersburg, WV 26106-2188
Source: http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/gift/gift.htm
The IRS and corrupt politicians everywhere will greatly appreciate your absolute stupidity.
After that lame-ass ending to Under the Dome I’ve given up on his writing also (this outburst just cements it). He can weave a tale, but can’t finish it.
In MA income tax was cut back from 5.85 per cent to 5.3 per cent. As part of this, a box was put on the MA state tax form allowing people to pay at the higher rate if they so choose.
A very very small fraction of one per cent choose to do this. I would think liberals —and pols like John Kerry— do not
choose to help the government by checking the box that would allow them to pay at the higher rate! Gee.
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2010/04/howie-carr-why.html
Howie Carr (2010):
>>We have a two-tier income tax in this state, you know. You have the option of paying either at the standard rate of 5.3 percent, or at the old, higher 5.85 percent rate.
As of Wednesday, here are this years numbers, according to the state DOR:
>>Of 1,840,000 state tax filers, exactly 931 have opted to pay taxes at the higher rate. That works out to one-twentieth of one percent. Think of it this way: In 2000, only 60 percent of the Massachusetts electorate voted to cut the income tax, but a decade later 99.95% of the population has decided to take advantage of the tax cut a lot of them claimed they didn’t want or need.
The moonbat motto is: Do as I say, not as I do. Consider the charitable deductions (or lack thereof) of the most sanctimonious liberal politicians: Obama, Biden, Kerry. They throw around quarters - their own, anyway - like they were manhole covers. But they would gladly give you the shirt off somebody else’s back.
I thought he was dead. Now I see he’s only brain-dead.
Mr. King, please send your check to:
Gifts to the United States
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Credit Accounting Branch
3700 East-West Highway, Room 622D
Hyattsville, MD 20782
There is no state income tax in Florida. The only taxes he is paying is sales tax when he fills up his SUV with gas, or buys a sheet of plastic to wrap up the next body.
King *does* do a lot of good with his money in Maine, however. The list of his charitable acts would be a long one.
Wish that he'd shut his mouth and stick to writing, tho. No one is stopping him from paying more taxes.
Nothing is stopping him from giving all his money to the gubmit.
Exactly. He needs to stop whining and write the check to Uncle Sam. I am sure Obama will be able to spend his millions easily. These rich cry babies are just trying to lay blame. Be responsible, King, write the d@mn check and shut up!
So Stephen send your money in and then please shut up.
Pain drugs?
the fact of the matter is... if you STOLE ALL THE MONEY from ALL the billionaires in America... you’d only get about $2 trillion. not even enough to cover the debt generated in 0failures first year.
of course, then you’d have the extra bonus... since you STOLE EVERY PENNY from the rich guys... their associated companies would shutdown and unemployment would skyrocket.
increasing taxes does nothing to resolve the debt. that’s just moving the coins around in your own pocket. no amount of rubbing them together will make them multiply.
the solution is to get more money from OUTSIDE the country. once it’s brought it, the normal ponzi scheme of the fedgov will suck it into their system and help increase tax revenues... which would pay back debt... if they weren’t increasing spending at every turn
“... something clearly went wrong after the crash”.
Many of the biography sights on King state that he had issues with alcohol and cocaine prior to the crash. Personal demons, I guess. In fact, many of his bestsellers were written when he was high/drunk.
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