There’s just too much we don’t know to say anything yet. But it may be worth noting that government employees don’t like the Republican party much at the moment. This could have all been done at a very low level using the logic that if they find something great and if they don’t nobody will ever know. It’s too stupid an idea to have come from very high up. One thing every politician knows by now is that all secrets eventually come out. On the other hand, politicians can be incredible stupid.
Is name calling all you’re capable of? Because your comment doesn’t bear any semblance of a rational argument except to call others names. I could say by your wanting to have the rich pay the whole bill, you have no ability to have an objective analysis of the situation. On principle, why should one person pay more than another person? Because they can? By that logic, that means because I have a lawn mower and my neighbor does not, I am responsible for mowing his lawn. Or because I can afford an automobile, and my neighbor cannot, I’m responsible for driving them to the grocery store. See how that doesn’t make any sense? So why should we have that logic with the tax code? The word “fair,” is highly subjective, and open to an infinite number of meanings because everyone has their own perception of fair. What makes your “fair” more right than my “fair?” Because you say it is so? While flat taxes are somewhat regressive, they are also more equitable to all, and proportionate to your income. It impedes a socialistic approach to tax policy, where money is taken from those with more and given to those with less. And we also haven’t gotten to brass tacks of this. If you have a flat tax of 15% across the board, someone making 25k a year will only have a tax burden of $3750 a year, which breaks down to 312 a month. And if you are a single person making 25k a year, you’re already getting a metric crapton of federal gimme’s as a result of your low income level. But that $3750 isn’t refundable, nor do you get a refund at the end of the year.But, let’s look at the other side. If you’re someone who’s got and income of 600k a year, 15% is going to be $90,000, with no way to exempt anything away. No tax shelters, nothing. It’s based on unadjusted gross income, not net. This way, everyone pays and everyone has skin in the game. And no one group of people can be demonized by another group (Rich demonized for being immoral, or the poor demonized for being leeches). But by your logic, that’s bad for the poor, because they somehow deserve a bunch of free crap and a chunk of my hard-earned money. Explain how they’re deserving of my money, because I do pay more in taxes than I get back at the end of the year.
My focus is on income tax, not sales tax. I’m a fan of sales taxation because it gives the power of taxation back into the hands of the people. But, I digress.The reason I have an issue with exempting someone from tax at any level is because then people can vote themselves better benefits. That’s what you’re seeing going on today. How many people do you think voted in 2012 voted for the person who was going to continue giving them free stuff? That’s the inherent weakness to the “progressive” tax system, because it gives politicians a tool to leverage taxes to get re-elected. For example, how many poor like the PPACA? I’m willing to bet most of them do. And of those with good-paying jobs that provide health insurance, how many like the PPACA? I am willing to bet almost no-one likes the PPACA in that group. So ask the question why that is.It’s simply because the people who have the health plans through work (who also pay for those plans, by the way) know that they are going to be the ones paying for the poor to go to the doctor through the PPACA. And the poor know they’re going to get free care because they pay nothing into the system. The poor have nothing to lose and everything to gain when you start exempting them from taxation. They will never feel it in their wallet, except when that wallet gets filled. But when someone like me, who is firmly in the middle-middle or upper-middle class (Depending on your definition) is being forced to pay taxes, and I see people voting selfishly for more stuff from the government, I start getting angry. And when I start getting demonized because my viewpoint is that I should be able to keep what I earn instead of giving it to someone who isn’t working by choice (because there are a bunch of people out there like this), I start seeing red. Why? Because like my question above: What gives anyone the right to take money that I’ve earned? How is it theirs? I didn’t achieve my success because of the government or its programs. I achieved it because I busted my rump to make it work. I’ve been working since I was 16 years old, worked through college, and have continued to work — sometimes 3 jobs at a time. But somehow I’m the bad guy for wanting to keep the money I earned? How exactly does that work?
Captain Colorado almost 11 years ago
“It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to.”
Wraithkin almost 11 years ago
Definitely not a good endorsement of the TEA Party Ima. You may wish to retract this statement; you’re making fiscal conservatives look like gun nuts.But it is true the IRS did have a mandate from someone higher up to over-scrutinize anyone with Tea Party, 9/12, smaller government, enhancing constitution understanding, etc when they were applying for 501©(4)‘s. This, in effect, may have suppressed their GotV actions during the 2012 election cycle, as more than one TEA party group has indicated.Something like 300 groups were subjected to closer scrutiny, and about 1/3 of them were TEA party-affiliates. What about the other 200? What’s their story?
pdchapin almost 11 years ago
There’s just too much we don’t know to say anything yet. But it may be worth noting that government employees don’t like the Republican party much at the moment. This could have all been done at a very low level using the logic that if they find something great and if they don’t nobody will ever know. It’s too stupid an idea to have come from very high up. One thing every politician knows by now is that all secrets eventually come out. On the other hand, politicians can be incredible stupid.
ossiningaling almost 11 years ago
Hilarious. Of course, these folks would only be a target of the recent kerfuffle if they applied for tax exemption status as a 501c3 organization.
Wraithkin almost 11 years ago
Is name calling all you’re capable of? Because your comment doesn’t bear any semblance of a rational argument except to call others names. I could say by your wanting to have the rich pay the whole bill, you have no ability to have an objective analysis of the situation. On principle, why should one person pay more than another person? Because they can? By that logic, that means because I have a lawn mower and my neighbor does not, I am responsible for mowing his lawn. Or because I can afford an automobile, and my neighbor cannot, I’m responsible for driving them to the grocery store. See how that doesn’t make any sense? So why should we have that logic with the tax code? The word “fair,” is highly subjective, and open to an infinite number of meanings because everyone has their own perception of fair. What makes your “fair” more right than my “fair?” Because you say it is so? While flat taxes are somewhat regressive, they are also more equitable to all, and proportionate to your income. It impedes a socialistic approach to tax policy, where money is taken from those with more and given to those with less. And we also haven’t gotten to brass tacks of this. If you have a flat tax of 15% across the board, someone making 25k a year will only have a tax burden of $3750 a year, which breaks down to 312 a month. And if you are a single person making 25k a year, you’re already getting a metric crapton of federal gimme’s as a result of your low income level. But that $3750 isn’t refundable, nor do you get a refund at the end of the year.But, let’s look at the other side. If you’re someone who’s got and income of 600k a year, 15% is going to be $90,000, with no way to exempt anything away. No tax shelters, nothing. It’s based on unadjusted gross income, not net. This way, everyone pays and everyone has skin in the game. And no one group of people can be demonized by another group (Rich demonized for being immoral, or the poor demonized for being leeches). But by your logic, that’s bad for the poor, because they somehow deserve a bunch of free crap and a chunk of my hard-earned money. Explain how they’re deserving of my money, because I do pay more in taxes than I get back at the end of the year.
SAStiner almost 11 years ago
“unless of course you are far richer than you admit to and would therefore be a major beneficiary of it.”
The people who complain about the rich are the people who blow their income on lottery tickets trying to become those people they despise.
Wraithkin almost 11 years ago
My focus is on income tax, not sales tax. I’m a fan of sales taxation because it gives the power of taxation back into the hands of the people. But, I digress.The reason I have an issue with exempting someone from tax at any level is because then people can vote themselves better benefits. That’s what you’re seeing going on today. How many people do you think voted in 2012 voted for the person who was going to continue giving them free stuff? That’s the inherent weakness to the “progressive” tax system, because it gives politicians a tool to leverage taxes to get re-elected. For example, how many poor like the PPACA? I’m willing to bet most of them do. And of those with good-paying jobs that provide health insurance, how many like the PPACA? I am willing to bet almost no-one likes the PPACA in that group. So ask the question why that is.It’s simply because the people who have the health plans through work (who also pay for those plans, by the way) know that they are going to be the ones paying for the poor to go to the doctor through the PPACA. And the poor know they’re going to get free care because they pay nothing into the system. The poor have nothing to lose and everything to gain when you start exempting them from taxation. They will never feel it in their wallet, except when that wallet gets filled. But when someone like me, who is firmly in the middle-middle or upper-middle class (Depending on your definition) is being forced to pay taxes, and I see people voting selfishly for more stuff from the government, I start getting angry. And when I start getting demonized because my viewpoint is that I should be able to keep what I earn instead of giving it to someone who isn’t working by choice (because there are a bunch of people out there like this), I start seeing red. Why? Because like my question above: What gives anyone the right to take money that I’ve earned? How is it theirs? I didn’t achieve my success because of the government or its programs. I achieved it because I busted my rump to make it work. I’ve been working since I was 16 years old, worked through college, and have continued to work — sometimes 3 jobs at a time. But somehow I’m the bad guy for wanting to keep the money I earned? How exactly does that work?