Ted Rall for January 04, 2013
Transcript:
Both parties agree: Everyone who earns under $400,000 a year- even an unmarried couple earning $800,000 a year- qualifies for a "middle-class tax cut." Confused? Here's a bestiary of the Amercian class system. (Middlin' class: < $25,000) (Middle middle class: $25,000 to $250,00) (Middle classy: $250,000 to $400,000) (You'll never see 'em or meet 'em, 'cept maybe on TV: >$400,000)
Cinci Steve over 11 years ago
“This is my pledge to you: If you make less than 250k a year, you will not pay one penny more in any form of taxes”.Looks like Barry considers anybody not on welfare as rich.
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=Q8erePM8V5U&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DQ8erePM8V5U
aguirra3 over 11 years ago
But we need more than symbols. If it is symbolism that you want, lets flat tax everyone so that we all start to feel how crazy it is that medicare is crushing our budget and killing our ability to move out of this fiscal spiral of death.since no one can stomach reform of medicare & social security, than we should raise EVERYONEs rate to make sure it is fully funded…
Bilword over 11 years ago
It’s “F” up
Chillbilly over 11 years ago
What GreggW said. Except I don’t think either party cares as much about the deficit as they claim. It’s just leverage for their other schemes and little more.
Jason Allen over 11 years ago
“In Late December 2010, The Democrat Controlled House and Senate Voted ‘Yes’ to extend these same Tax Cuts, and Obama did not have the Courage to Veto this Bill passed by his own Party.”You keep bringing that up. Each time you do, someone has explained the circumstances leading to it. You just plain don’t care. You see one little factoid about a group you blindly hate and you like posting regardless of the facts surrounding it.
Mephistopheles over 11 years ago
I hate the fact that we are drawing lines to distinguish groups when it comes to taxes. Whether you do it by percentage or by flat fee you are still using the tax code to treat one group differently from others.
My wife and I are American citizens. We have invested heavily in our futures when we were young and have done very well for ourselves. Instead of being able to use the fruits of our labor to pay for our kids college tuition (which we can’t deduct), or to provide other opportunities for them, we are expected to pay more taxes … because we can and because a lot of people out there like all there guberment benefits but don’t want to pay for them.
How in the world is that fair?
I’ll accept a percentage but I would like very much to be treated like every other citizen when it comes to taxes.
Ted Rall creator over 11 years ago
Ted Rall creator over 11 years ago
Mephistopheles over 11 years ago
@Ted Rall – I beg to differ. I’ve been paying for my daughter’s tuition for 3 years and only one of those years was I able to deduct her tuition. Look closely at the tax code and you will see that it phases out as you get above $100K.
I agree that I receive the benefits of Roads, Schools, Hospitals, etc. (Government services) and I’m all for collectively paying for those. I’m not so much in favor of paying deadbeats to sit on their couch and complain that the job market just isn’t fair. I’m not in favor of housing subsidies for people who think that they need 3 game consoles and a big screen television in their project home.
I do understand how government and society work. What I am decrying is a system that looks at me as a cash cow because I have invested in my future, saved agressively, and lived within my means. All the while i have to listen to the whines of people who don’t pay for the government complain that I’m not paying my fair share. If you are paying payroll taxes (Medicare and Medicaid) you can call that an insurance policy because you will be taking that money back out later but you can’t really call it paying to support the government.
Cinci Steve over 11 years ago
Nice spin there King. Tell people who find out they are going to have $150 dollars LESS each month on their paycheck that this isn’t a tax increase. I don’t think your guy O minced any words with his “pledge”.
Ted Rall creator over 11 years ago
Ted Rall creator over 11 years ago
The truth is, everybody pays taxes, including people who don’t officially pay taxes. A lot of people who don’t file tax returns at the end of the year nevertheless get payroll withholding. That money all ends up in the treasury. That even includes illegal immigrants. Similarly, everybody who buys goods and services and paste sales or use tax pays taxes. People who receive unemployment pay taxes on their unemployment benefits. The truth is, the more benefits that you receive out of the society, the more you should pay in taxes. Since the rich receive the most benefits, they should pay the highest proportion of their income in taxes. You can see from US history and the history of other countries that societies that charge the rich high tax rates tend to be the most economically healthy and the most politically stable.
decimuscaelius over 11 years ago
“Class” is NOT synonymous with “income level.” Ask anybody in the world, except the average American, who is tatally confused, and for a very good reason.
The term “class” refers to a person’s relationship to the means of production.
The rulers – the capitalist class – makes sure that the WORKING CLASS folks here must NEVER figure out that we are working class, because that is the first step toward socialist revolution and the working class taking over the ownership and management of the means of production. We must always think “middle class” and nothing else.
edward thomas Premium Member over 11 years ago
Meanwhile a Swiss bank that was convicted of helping Americans ILLEGALLY avoid taxes , and paid a large fine for it, said today that it will stop working with Americans trying to shelter their money. And why doesn’t Romney want to show his pre-2010 taxes? Because there was a tax amnesty to bring money back in 2009! But he said there was no tax benefit to having ones money overseas!