Over one-third of US taxpayers don’t pay taxes
According to the Tax Foundation, 36% of U.S. taxpayers either don’t pay taxes or receive a refund without having paid taxes (negative tax liability). That’s a 59 percent increase from just ten years ago.
While I support cutting taxes, I do not support income redistribution through the tax code, which is exactly what is going on here. The Tax Foundation reports that today, families with an income threshold of over $50,000 can have either a zero – or a negative – tax liability.
Think about it: the fewer people that pay taxes, the more likely the American public will be to support more government redistribution of income. Rather than work for their money, they can entrust government to take it from “the rich.”
In: Economics · Tagged with: income redistribution, taxes
Where does your money go?
USA Today has a nifty website that shows you what Uncle Sam has done with your tax dollars since 1940. Having checked out the difference between what I have to pay versus what the “evil” rich have to pay, I bet Karl Marx would be proud of our government’s progressive tax scale (see #2 on Marx’ Ten Planks of Communism).
In: Economics · Tagged with: taxes
Taxing your way out of poverty
“I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.”
- Winston Churchill
In: Quotes · Tagged with: taxes, Winston Churchill
We Salute You, Mr. Tax Law Writing Tax Evader
Freaking hilarious!
In: Politics · Tagged with: Charlie Rangel, culture of corruption, Democrats, taxes
Gas Tax Makes Lebanese ‘Slaves’ – What does that make us?
Get this – in Lebanon, the Labor Union has made a statement saying that a tax on gasoline makes the people slaves to the government!
“Indirectly, imposing this tax makes all [Lebanese] citizens slaves of the Prime Minister,” the statement read. “The government is exerting a tax on a commodity that affects all classes, and at the least we consider this theft by the government.”
The Lebanese have this figured out, but what are we saying here in America?
“Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.”
- Steven Chu, the Secretary for Energy
I’m thinking the “somehow” Chu refers to means fuel taxes.
In: Geopolitics · Tagged with: taxes
Obama Campaign’s Definition of Patriotism? Higher Taxes!
Democrats are continually crying that their patriotism is in question. Well, I would argue that if your patriotism is called into question, chances are, your actions fall short of patriotic.
But now thanks to Democrat VP nominee Joe Biden, we have learned what the Obama campaign views as patriotism.
Biden was interviewed by reporter Kate Snow on ABC’s Good Morning America. After asking Biden why the Obama campaign wasn’t any further ahead in the polls than they were, Kate brought up that Americans making more the $250,000 a year would pay more in taxes under the Obama plan. Biden responded: “It’s time to be patriotic, Kate. Time to jump in. Time to be part of the deal. Time to help get America out of the rut.” (more…)
In: Economics, Politics · Tagged with: 2008 election, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, taxes
Who Really Benefits when Government Cuts CEO Pay?
Do you remember when you had the pile of uneaten Brussels sprouts in front of you, and in an attempt to shame you into eating the loathsome vegetables, your mother would use the cheap line of “finish your vegetables, there are starving children in China?” If you choked down all of your Brussels sprouts, would those starving children somehow feel better that some kid in the U.S. cleaned his plate?
Sorry moms, but we cannot solve world hunger by little Jimmy finishing his vegetables. But politicians in Washington are using this same trick to get you to think that cutting CEO pay will somehow help you out.
First a little background. According to the Economic Policy Institute, in 2005, the average CEO earned $10,982,000. Compare that to the average worker salary of $41,861. The CEO earns 262 times that of the average worker, which means they make more in one day than their workers earn in a year. On top of that, CEO’s can cash in on severance packages that can run in the hundreds of millions, regardless of their performance. Add in the bonuses, the retirement packages, and perhaps the personal use of a corporate jet. Are you jealous? Well, that envy is what these politicians are preying on.
But before you hop on the “stick-it-to-the-man” bandwagon, consider this: In 1981, General Electric hired Jack Welch as CEO. Welch inherited a corporation worth $14 billion. He built up the company and today GE is worth around $500 billion. In 2001, Jim Kilts took over as CEO of Gillette. The corporation had been in a nosedive, losing nearly half of its value in the two previous years. Kilts turned the company around, increasing its market value around $17 billion by its acquisition in 2005 by Procter & Gamble.
CEO’s make the decisions that can either make or break a company. While the salary and benefit package a company pays may sound unfair, consider that a squared-away boss like Welch or Kilts may mean the difference between bankruptcy and multi-billion dollar growth. That means a lot to shareholders. The Welches and Kiltses that are out there are very valuable to shareholders, so to bring them (and the profits they create) to their companies, they must pay big. Otherwise, they go to the competition.
So while Washington has you watching one hand, what is the other hand doing? It may seem as if they are watching out for the little guy. If they truly wanted you to keep more of your money, they would cut your taxes. But since a politician’s two priorities are 1) to get reelected and 2) to spend your money, that is next to impossible. Therefore, we can rule that out.
The truth is they want more money. The solution for everything today seems to be “tax the rich – they don’t need the money.” The top 5% of Americans pay over 54% of our taxes, and the top 1% pay over 34%. Sounds like a lot, but that is not enough to satisfy the left’s hunger for more money. They also seek more control. Politicians are trying to take money from Americans who worked hard and rose to the top, and give it to those who did not in the form of entitlements. This enlarges the already massive throng of Americans that are becoming increasingly dependent on the government, and means more votes for the Democrat party.
It is very easy to get caught up in class envy. But when politicians like Hillary Clinton are calling for control over CEO pay and seeking shared prosperity, we better not get caught up in the hype.
In: Economics, Politics · Tagged with: capitalism, Hillary Clinton, income redistribution, taxes
