This is just plain disgusting.
“We’re approaching nearly half of the United States population that doesn’t pay any income taxes,” Mr. Perry said in Iowa, when asked about combating an “entitlement culture” in the U.S. “And I think one of the ways is to let everybody, as many people as possible…be able to be helping pay for the government that we have in this country.” In Nashua, N.H., Mr. Romney hit a similar theme: “We want to make sure people do pay their fair share.”
Broadening the tax base, simplifying the tax code and lowering tax rates have long been prescriptions for a more efficient tax system, notably from the right. The idea is likely to be a major issue as a congressional supercommittee seeks at least $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction by Thanksgiving.
Of the poorest 20% of American households, those earning less than $16,812 a year, 93.4% pay no income tax. But even 30% of the middle class earning between $33,542 and $59,386 are exempt. Some Republican economists say the tax policies that cause this phenomenon have gone too far, contending that people who don’t pay income taxes have an incentive to support politicians who promise more federal programs, since they aren’t paying for them. …
…About half of the households that pay no income tax do so simply because the standard deductions for tax filers and dependents are large enough to negate taxable earnings. In addition, nearly half of the remainder who were knocked off the tax rolls because of other tax measures are seniors, according to the Tax Policy Center.
The elderly who do not itemize their taxes get a larger standard deduction and most can exclude some or all of their Social Security from being counted as income. Repealing those benefits would subject 16.3 million more households to income taxation.
In other words, it’s wrong to raise taxes on the wealthy when we can squeeze money out of Grandpa.
Republicans are not against raising ALL taxes.
Just the ones on the rich and the corporations.
I think the idea of taxing the poor, the middle class, and seniors, sends them into some sort of a sexual frenzy.
They make Snidely Whiplash, the cartoon villain, and the old silent bad guys, look like a gang of Albert Schweitzers and Mother Teresa’s.
“You MUST pay the rent!”
“But I can’t pay the rent!”
OK, throw the bitch outda house, and tie her to the RR tracks. The 11:15 from
Ronkonkoma’s due soon!”
I’m telling you again, that flouride didn’t just harden our teeth – it hardened a lot of people minds and hearts, too.
“In other words, it’s wrong to raise taxes on the wealthy when we can squeeze money out of Grandpa”
Well why not, they are the ones that use the sevices! Why tax the “productive class”, that’s the new BS talking point, on and on it goes.
I am just closing my eyes and thinking about Perry or Michelle in a sexual frenzy. It will require massive amounts of drugs and therapy to recover.
I’m glad I read that Texas Monthly article about Perry, before seeing him in action. He’s doing an amazing job at throwing out red meat, rallying all mean-spirited a$$holes to his cause. In two or three days, I’ve read statements by him 1) denying man made global warming, and 2) proclaiming that evolution is just a theory. And now this, 3) tax the poor. It just shows how petty and mean these people are, and how skillful he is at playing the victim card – that someone else might be getting a free ride, and so we must tax them to death.
It also shows how skillfully he is working very hard to build a base in the electorate, to move to the front of the wingnut pack, so he can blow past the competition in the upcoming primaries, much along the lines of what you wrote a few threads ago. These are not random statements, they’re calculated to start seriously shifting the numbers into his column.
Is this something he’s going to keep saying? God, I hope so. I’ve noticed that when Obama talks about raising taxes on the wealthy, he tends to note that he’s wealthy himself. He says things like, “People like me can afford to pay a little more.” So if the campaign is going to be Obama’s “I should pay more taxes” against Perry’s “You should pay more taxes”–I mean, could we possibly be that lucky?
We are taxing grandpa and all those other people who don’t any federal income tax, since federal income tax is only one of many taxes, and for the non-rich, and salaried people especially, it is by far the smallest tax paid — it would be even without the deductions. The non-rich pay a larger percentage of their earnings in taxes, once you get honest and look at all taxes.
Jon Stewart did a FABULOUS piece on this last night..http://www.thedailyshow.com/#tool_tip_2
These guys use only their primordial lizard brains; they are utterly unburdened by decency or any kind of moral compunction.
The fact that 50% of Americans are too poor to pay income taxes should be something we are all ashamed of. It is an income distribution problem, not a ‘free ride’ problem. Jon Stewart did such a great job on this topic. But it can be summarized- 50% of Americans are too poor to pay taxes- SHAME on us!
These items aren’t paycheck to paycheck buys, they last for years. So it’s quite probable that these things were purchased when they were employed.
It’s also reasonable to assume they picked up some of this stuff second hand and that it’s held together with duct tape.
Pingback: The Mahablog » Today in News