Posted on 08/22/2011 8:50:31 PM PDT by Graneros
I’ve been blissfully off the grid for the past few days, cycling in Western New York. (Allegany State Park is absolutely gorgeous. Made me be glad to be paying taxes in New York State.) I could forget about the debt ceiling fiasco, 9 percent unemployment, the tea party, runaway health spending, global warming, the NBA lockout…
But back in the real world, I learn from newly minted GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry what’s wrong with America—that middle income Americans don’t pay enough taxes. Really.
We’re dismayed at the injustice that nearly half of all Americans don’t even pay any income tax. (Quoted in this terrific Ruth Marcus column.)
We’re apparently not dismayed that more than half of all Americans have been in a 30-year recession with little or no income growth. We’re apparently willing to write off Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes, which are the big federal taxes for low- and middle-income Americans. A family of four earning $30,000 may pay no federal income tax, but it pays $4,590 in payroll taxes (including the employer’s share, which economists believe is ultimately paid by the employee in the form of lower wages). Payroll taxes are much bigger than income taxes for most families.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
>> “then an amendment was passed to allow income tax to be used.” <<
.
It has been adequately proven that the 16th ammendment was never ratified. All but a handful of the states that took a vote on it included modifications to it in their bills, thus actually vetoing it.
If Lincolin wasn’t the end of constitutional government, the income tax surely was.
Because more and more voters demand more and more. It's not gubmnt, it's not just Democrats, last year the GOP ran on protecting medicare benefits and this year they found that touching entitlements (the biggest problem) causes even Republican voters to turn on them, big surprise.
Given the ‘gimmi-gimmi’ climate of voters, it looks like setting it up so so few have to pay all the bills while the others are entitled to free $$$ has NOT turned them (the freeloaders) against handouts, more like the opposite. It's free so why not more ? they think.
If the FICA tax cuts were tied to SS spending cuts then it would make some sense, but handing out SS $$ while telling workers they dont have to fund SS to get it is just the same old GWB ‘I got you a free present’ strategy. It shows nothing has changed.
Len, boobie, you must be careful with those long bike rides. Those bike seats are quite hard and they tend to limit circulation to your brain, which, for basic progressives such as yourself, is IN YOUR AZZ!
Shorter trips might save your 3 remaining brain cells.
>> “In the 2008 Republican Primary, there was a candidate who in my opinion had impeccable Conservative qualifications. I’m talking about Duncan Hunter.” <<
.
Hunter happily took contributions, but never made the slightest effort to campaign. He was there only to boost his campaign bank account.
There is a small portion of Americans that pay no taxes, whatsoever. If they are receiving foodstamps, welfare, housing, and do not have a car, do not smoke or drink, etc., they are truly paying no taxes. If these people then file income taxes, they can receive EITC offsets and refunds.
End of story.
Your best bet is to campaign for a new amendment that rescinds it.
Remember, what you pay a merchant for food also pays for the transportation, refrigeration, protection from the elements in a building, etc. All those things are subject to taxation.
YOU CANNOT ESCAPE TAXES except by dropping dead!
There is a claim made by Democrats that one Congressional vote was representative of that but even there THE DEMOCRAT DID NOT GET A MAJORITY OF THE VOTE ~ and you'll never see the Democrats claiming that showed a repudiation of the Obama scheme to destroy America.
The United States is relatively unique among modern nations ~ the federal government has title to 1/3 of the land, 100% of the offshore resources and land, gazillions in untapped (but known) natural resources, minerals, oil, gas, etc.
We put our currency out there backed by nothing but our promise to pay ~ we have yet to pledge resources.
What resources does the German Federal Government have to back up its promises?
You are trying to be a disruptor ~ at the same time you have this mystical belief in the idea that somebody somewhere is NOT paying taxes.
That's just BS. Taxes get to everyone.
Borrowing now and letting our children and grandchildren pay forever is evil. When I bought my house, I planned on paying for it in full someday (and did, in about 5 years). The US is borrowing because the politicians figure they will be out of office or dead when the bills come due. That is evil.
I think the federal budget should be cut by 50%. However, if we all had to pay taxes to cover the current bill, I think you would find a LOT more people would join me in believing that spending should be cut.
And if there was no withholding, but people had to set money aside on their own to pay their taxes in April, there would be a huge change in opinion.
Right now, the government hands out more in benefits than people pay in, so there is every incentive (other than honesty) to keep the spending high.
In a sense you are right, they were always against any cuts and still are. That is why Republicans ran a campaign on this last year to OPPOSE CUTS:
Republicans have lately intensified their health-care message toward the elderly. The Republican National Committee's “bill of rights” includes calls to “protect Medicare,” “prohibit efforts to ration health care based on age” and “ensure seniors can keep their current coverage. ”
GOP Pushes Health ‘Bill of Rights’(FR post of Washington Post ^ | 8/25/09 | Ben Pershing )
Someone has to pay for this except in imaginary 'free lunch' world.
The government actually hands out LESS in benefits than is paid for those benefits. The source of the deficit turns out to be SPENDING FOR STUFF
“The government actually hands out LESS in benefits than is paid for those benefits. The source of the deficit turns out to be SPENDING FOR STUFF”
BS!
What percentage of the current budget is from benefits? Federal subsidies of unemployment, Medicaid spending by the feds, etc - money the feds give to people.
“There is, for example, spending on what is called “income security” — that is, for unemployment compensation, food stamps and related programs. In 2007, the government spent $365 billion on income security. In 2011, it’s estimated to spend $622 billion. That’s an increase of $257 billion.
Then there is Medicaid, the health care program for lower-income Americans. A lot of people had lower incomes due to the economic downturn, and federal expenditures on Medicaid — its costs are shared with the states — went from $190 billion in 2007 to an estimated $276 billion in 2011, an increase of $86 billion. Put that together with the $257 billion increase in income security spending, and you have $343 billion.
Add to that the $338 billion in decreased revenues, and you get $681 billion — which means nearly half of the current deficit can be clearly attributed to the downturn.”
http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/article/york-spending-not-entitlements-created-deficits
Bottom line - the government collects 60 cents and hands out a dollar. People like it because it is a bargain...until the borrowing comes due. But that will be for our kids to worry about - we can spend their money! Yipppeeeee!!!!!
Evil, but true.
“Taxes get to everyone.”
The bottom 20% spend twice as much as they make. How do you explain that?
Yes, they pay a trivial amount of embedded taxes, but their benefits greatly exceed what they pay. That is why so many of them vote demoncrat - they vote to take money away from others and spend it on themselves.
Those folks were voting Democrat anyway. Raising their taxes won't make them love you more.
Well I agree about FICA, that was a stupid move. I don’t really consider them taxes, more like premiums. Politically, I think Social Security can be changed easier than medicare.
Republicans are terrible at framing the issues. They should start every discussion about these issues with we must find ways to preserve these benefits, but continuing the status quo will eventually mean that the benefit is simply not available for anyone.
Tell the Dems they must come up with a plan, and don’t be offering one. Kinda like the Dems did to Bohner.
Myself, I would be ok with paying something for Medicare part A, instead of the free of charge. I wish it had never been passed, but there is basically no private insurance option available now for old people.
The best time for changes would have been the Clinton years, but it didn’t happen. If the politicians ever quit playing political games and accomplish something meaningful, things could improve. If not things will get worse, and you can’t get blood out of a turnip.
I am ok either way, because if things continue, it will all come crashing down, and people will be forced to be more self-sufficient, and work till they drop or starve. I just prepare for the worst and hope for the best, doing whatever I can to make things better in my neighborhood, community, and state.
I am still in good health, but approaching the age where I will be stuck with Medicare, and by the time I need it, they’ll probably just give me the pill or gas me to death anyway, so I won’t be one of those gimme people. And I bought a lot of extra Life Insurance, so my kids could maybe have a retirement nest egg, since government is going to be taxing them out the wazoo.
Try this one. I participated in cutting off benefits to half the welfare recipients in America. We did it quietly and without fanfare, and virtually none of them complained about it. That's because they were fraudulently getting it.
I am one of America's really nasty, tough, bad-assed people and I got more welfare cheater's scalps hanging from my "God's Special People" awards wall than anyone.
I'm sensitive to what's really going on. Currently Social Security payments in exceed Social Security payments out. The shortfall in the budget is simply from spending too much money on stuff other than "entitlements".
That is for sure. Take the tax cut extension. They keep repeating the same lines used for decades, A better argument would be to keep pointing out how obama had two full years to raise any taxes he wanted and only needed 50+Biden in the Senate, but didnt and now he wants a Republican House to do what Democrats/Pelosi+Reid together wouldnt do.
Where was Buffet calling for higher taxes under a Democrat congress 2009-2010? He wasnt.
>> “The income tax amendment was certified as having been adopted.” <<
.
No, it was Deemed to have been passed by the newspapers.
This is something that could be adjudicated if we had a functioning court system.
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