What's Taxed? My Patience....

The last time I chatted with you we discussed those nasty birthers and whether or not they were all morons. As I stated then, probably not. They are cowards and bigots as well. But I forgot to mention liars. Silly me. Am I forgiven?

When you listen to the right whine and complain about taxes you would think we are all getting a major screw job from the Obama administration. Read the signs at these gatherings of village idiots (more on that later). They don’t want to be taxed. They think they are getting ripped off. Well, read on for more detail (and as promised, I need to thank Greg for the article that supplied this information).

Thanks to the loud volume of the lying, lunatic rants by the right, about a third of the American population think the Obama administration has raised taxes (all of this according to a CBS News/New York Times poll released this month). On the 15th (tax day) thousands of those pesky tea-baggers (who are also comprised mostly of morons but I suspect they house a fair share of bigots, cowards, and liars as well) descended on Washington to protest their heavy tax burden. Around 65% of those yahoos believe the administration has raised taxes.

Are you with me so far? Good. Here is some reality. The only Obama administration policy to impact 2009 tax returns was the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (AKA the stimulus package). This basically provided a tax CUT for 98% of the tax paying citizens of this country. Let’s say that again…. Slowly… so the idiots can follow… 98% of US taxpayers got a tax cut last year. According to William Gale, co-director of the Tax Policy Center and director of the Retirement Security Project at the Brookings Institution, taxes are at their lowest levels for a period extending back 60 years. That would be 1950 (again for you slow ones). Now, we’re obviously talking percentages here, not dollars. But that’s a pretty significant revelation. The lowest level in 60 years? What the fuck are these tea-baggers protesting?

Let’s keep this moving. One third of the Recovery Act was made up of tax credits. Here’s a list…
• An increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit
• An expansion of the Child Tax Credit
• For those who work, the Making Work Pay tax credit offered $400 per individual and $800 per couple
• For those who lost their job, there was a 65 percent tax credit to help cover the cost of health care. The first $2,400 in unemployment benefits went tax-free
• Up to $2,500 under the American Opportunity Credit for students and parents paying for college tuition
• $8,000 for first-time home buyers
• A deduction of state and local taxes paid on a new car
• Up to $1,500 for home improvements to increase energy efficiency

Here’s an impact quote from the article. “Even conservative advocacy group Americans for Tax Reform, which advocates for a single, national flat tax rate, found some praise for the Recovery Act -- specifically for provisions allowing small businesses to write off a wider range of business expenses.”

Whoa! Wait a minute. A conservative group had praise for this thing? WTF?

But wait…. Other conservative economists argue that many of these tax credits are going to people who pay little or no tax to begin with. Apparently nearly half of the people who file federal income taxes pay nothing. Now, the article isn’t clear on whether or not they pay nothing, or nothing in addition to their withholding. Liberals on the other hand say these people are the ones you want to give the biggest break to. They have no option but to spend the money they saved through the credits. When they spend it, guess what gets stimulated!

Now, I love reading stuff that validates what I’ve said in the past. Of course it's the liberal take that's validating me but think about it. Trickle down doesn’t work. Conservatives will argue that if you give the rich a break, they will employ more of the poor. Bullshit. If you give the rich a break, for the most part they just get richer. If you give the less privileged a break, they spend it. When they spend it, it TRICKLES UP. I’ve said it a ton of times. But this is what conservatives don’t like. When you provide relief to the poor and the middle classes, the rich wind up paying more and/ or making less. And here is where conservative like to tell me to go pork myself because I say fuck ‘em. They can AFFORD to pay more. If you tax a guy who makes 30 grand a year at 30 percent he’s left with 20 grand. If you tax a guy who makes 300 grand the same rate he’s left with 200 grand. Taking it a step further, if you tax the 30 grand guy 5 percent (I’m exaggerating for effect) he’s left with 28,500. If you tax the 300 grand guy 50 percent he’s left with 150,000. OK, show of hands… how many of you want to be the 30 grand guy because he’s paying a lower tax rate? Yeah, I thought so.

Now, to take it further. Obama has proposed to allow the tax cuts implemented by THE MORON to expire for individuals making more than 200 grand a year and married couples making more than 250 grand. He has proposed raising the two top tax brackets from 33% and 36% to 35% and 39.6%. He wants an increase on capital gains taxes from 15% to 20% for households making more than 250 grand per year. Finally, he wants to raise the tax on dividend income from 15% to 20%, again for households making more than 250 grand. Is this Socialism? I mean come on. If you are offered 250 grand a year will you turn it down because of the additional 5% in taxes? I guess the ONLY people truly effected in an adverse way are those that made just under the 200 - 250 grand the year before the changes. Boo hoo. They'll get used to it. To quote Mr. T, “I piddy da fools”.

In closing, let’s all take a look at the protest signs so proudly displayed by the tea-baggers. Here’s a link that should provide you with an enjoyable distraction from your busy day. Now, I'm not a perfect speller and my knowledge of the detail that makes for proper English is not what I'd like it to be. I'm sure some of you pick apart these posts! But I'm working on it. And I can assure you if I was to be carrying a sign in public, I would check, recheck, and check again to insure my spelling and grammar were correct. I think I'd also try for more than a thin magic marker and shitty penmanship. Anyway, it's brilliant stuff. They should all write for Hallmark.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/galleries/teabonics_the_flawed_language_of_protest/teabonics_the_flawed_language_of_protest.html

Peace,

Common Sense