Who Pays Almost All Federal Income Tax?

[War-Horse]

Brittneyballdung is looking stupider by the minute........Bushs balls are set so deep in his throat we'll have to shoot the poor kid to retain any dignity he has left...

[w8tlftr]

Did I say that? nuh-uh... I think you brought it up. ...sides, I thought you already did work from home?
Oh yeah, ...I forgot, they transferred you, so now you are stuck doing that gawdawful commute.
Must be frustrating having someone else making decisions for you without you having any say so 

Look on the bright side, ...at least they don't tell you when to start working, ...when to stop working,
...when you can eat lunch, ...when to come back from lunch, ...when you can go pee, ...when you can't,
...when to take a coffee break, ...when to come back from your beak, ...or how long the break can be.

Turning green?! Kewl! Is the turego green too? 

It's not like that at all, Judi. I work for a small company so a lot of the company profits make it back to the guys that make the company money through bonuses, benefits, 401k matching, etc. As far as my schedule goes I'm pretty much my own boss and my customer trusts me enough to let me do my job and leave me alone.

Turego?  If you mean my Touareg it's black and makes man-made global warming knobs cry.

[w8tlftr]

He'd probably say the only way to provide any kind of reparation is to ensure ALL kids have a good education, and the promise of a future.

Yay socialism/nanny state! 

[24KT]

It's not like that at all, Judi. I work for a small company so a lot of the company profits make it back to the guys that make the company money through bonuses, benefits, 401k matching, etc. As far as my schedule goes I'm pretty much my own boss and my customer trusts me enough to let me do my job and leave me alone.

You must've changed employers since last we spoke, ...cause I remember something a little diff about who you worked for

Turego?  If you mean my Touareg it's black

That's what I said... where on earth did you get Turego from? 
Wanna know how to make it green?  I can help you make it green ya know.
First, ...we can start with a can of spray paint...

and makes man-made global warming knobs cry.

[w8tlftr]

You must've changed employers since last we spoke, ...cause I remember something a little diff about who you worked for

That's what I said... where on earth did you get Turego from? 
Wanna know how to make it green?  I can help you make it green ya know.
First, ...we can start with a can of spray paint...

I used to work for AT&T. I was pretty much my own boss there too since my managers left me alone to do my job. The company I work for now is great. Great group of guys who have all come from big companies and got tired of the typical corporate BS. The only part that sucks for me is the commute but that's how the game is played in the Baltimore-Washington metro area.

Where did I get "Turego"? From you, goober. You said Turego.

My Touareg is a V-8 and gets between 15-20 miles a gallon. I have little silhouettes of the squirrels and bunnies I ran over on the driver side door.  I like to think that I'd helped them move on to a better place. 

[w8tlftr]

Obama’s Big-Government Vision

Dan Henninger, writing in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal, notes that Obama’s is a profoundly pessimistic message. “Strip away the new coat of paint from the Obama message and what you find is not only familiar,” writes Henninger. “It’s a downer.”

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MGYxYWM4NjkxMjUwMzBhZDAwNTg2NjZmYmU5MWU2ZmQ=

[24KT]

I used to work for AT&T. I was pretty much my own boss there too since my managers left me alone to do my job. The company I work for now is great. Great group of guys who have all come from big companies and got tired of the typical corporate BS. The only part that sucks for me is the commute but that's how the game is played in the Baltimore-Washington metro area.

I seem to recall you stating a different occupation, ...but that's ok, ...we can leave it at that for now.

Where did I get "Turego"? From you, goober. You said Turego.

nuh-uh... I said Touareg. Check my original post... see. 

My Touareg is a V-8 and gets between 15-20 miles a gallon. I have little silhouettes of the squirrels and bunnies I ran over on the driver side door.  I like to think that I'd helped them move on to a better place. 

You run over innocent little bunny rabbits and brag about it?     I hope a squirrel goes after your nuts. 

[w8tlftr]

I seem to recall you stating a different occupation, ...but that's ok, ...we can leave it at that for now.

nuh-uh... I said Touareg. Check my original post... see. 

You run over innocent little bunny rabbits and brag about it?     I hope a squirrel goes after your nuts. 

Cheater. You edited it! 

They are not innocent little bunnies. They'll eat your face off. Didn't you see Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/24/Rabbitattack.jpg

[shootfighter1]

Its very unlikely Obama would be in favor of reparations, he's not that extreme.

Opportunities in the school are essential as are the teachings and values set at home...its a combined and interconnected effort.

[24KT]

Cheater. You edited it! 

Would I do something like that?

They are not innocent little bunnies. They'll eat your face off. Didn't you see Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/24/Rabbitattack.jpg

Sadly no. i never quite got the humour in Monty Python. I found it very wierd.
As I got older, I started to appreciate John Cleese's humour a bit more, but haven't gotten around to watching it.

[24KT]

Its very unlikely Obama would be in favor of reparations, he's not that extreme.

I think a cow would come out of Queen Elizabeth's rear end before something like that would happen.

Opportunities in the school are essential as are the teachings and values set at home...its a combined and interconnected effort.

Ya, but if Mom & Dad are barely literate themselves, how are they going to know little Johnny's not learning,
...especially when little Johnny comes home with a report card of all A's? When little Johnny has to attend a school where the text books are all falling apart, pages missing, and in an environment resembling more of a war zone than a classroom, ...with teachings whose first concern is getting through the day alive, rather than quenching a thirst for knowledge? There's a George Carlin comedy routine that sums it up pretty accurately imo.

[shootfighter1]

Some schools are like that unfortunately, and your right in those cases, but not most.  One of my good friends was the principal at a pretty rough inner city school in Youngstown, OH (about an hour from Cleveland...where I am).  His philosophy was to get the most violent and most disruptive students out so the rest could have an acceptible environment to learn.  He said there are some kids, at that point, that are far gone and ruin it for the other students.  He said their books, computers and tools were all up to date.  Teachers didn't get paid enough for funding was adequate.  He said there were a lot of misguided kids which led them to be adverse to schooling and there was real support from a much smaller % of parents and families than needed.  He felt the lack of parent interest and lack of teaching reasonable social and other skills at home was the biggest obsticle to teaching at school.  This is a guy that was a principal for many years, he's a lot older and wiser than I.  Its gotta start in the home.

[24KT]

Some schools are like that unfortunately, and your right in those cases, but not most.  One of my good friends was the principal at a pretty rough inner city school in Youngstown, OH (about an hour from Cleveland...where I am).  His philosophy was to get the most violent and most disruptive students out so the rest could have an acceptible environment to learn.  He said there are some kids, at that point, that are far gone and ruin it for the other students.  He said their books, computers and tools were all up to date.  Teachers didn't get paid enough for funding was adequate.  He said there were a lot of misguided kids which led them to be adverse to schooling and there was real support from a much smaller % of parents and families than needed.  He felt the lack of parent interest and lack of teaching reasonable social and other skills at home was the biggest obsticle to teaching at school.  This is a guy that was a principal for many years, he's a lot older and wiser than I.  Its gotta start in the home.

I won't disagree with you there, ...but the destruction of the family is also a huge challenge.

[JBGRAY]

I won't disagree with you there, ...but the destruction of the family is also a huge challenge.

And your government subsidizes this behavior in the form of various social handouts that are quickly becoming ever more expensive to the taxpayer.  There are a few reasons why the education system is abysmal here in the US, some direct, others indirect.

- Disproportionate incarceration rates, particularly within the black community.  Human warehousing is big business, and one can go to jail for even the most minor of violations.  In return, those with even minor criminal records find themselves largely out of the employment market.  Too many politicians are playing the "Tough on Crime" card in order to placate the voting bloc who live behind barricaded, secure walls with guards(we call them gated communities).

- Government handouts, bailouts, and welfare given to those who make the wrong choices....in essence, putting a band-aid on top of a quickly hemorrhaging wound while those who make the right choices are sent the bill.  The welfare system has damaged families much more than it has helped.  Native Americans, for example, are given a check of around $1700 a month(the tribes here in So. Fla. anyways) and live within an optimal community in terms of material wealth.  However, these groups suffer the highest rates of alcoholism and suicide than any other group.  Remember, the Europeans did not conquer with armament, but with goods.

- No dumb child left behind.  Other nations have nowhere near the amenities that US public schools provide for it's children, but yet, routinely outperform US students in nearly all subjects.  In the Age of Sensitivity, institutions seem to be afraid to face reality....that students are not all equal in ability and skill.....that some will not perform as well as others regardless of the setting and instruction.  In most other countries, if a student is unable to keep up with the consistent curriculum, they are to repeat the grade.  Now, school funding is directly tied in with the passing rate, so the curriculum must be constantly downgraded so even the most unmotivated student can pass.  And yet the idiots and morons still talk about throwing even more money at a broken and unworkable system...a broken and unworkable system that was put in place at behest of the common culture of total acceptance and ultra-tolerance.

- No Tort reform.  Legions of lawyers with hungry eyes and gnashing teeth are ever on the lookout for even a wrong word uttered so they can collect millions from even the most minor of infractions.  This costs  institutions and other agencies millions in insurance and to hire their own lawyers in return.  I'm sure you've heard about all those "evil" CEO's out there thieving from the working man.  Fleecing us.  But yet, not a peep about lawyers.  Did you know that the average CEO and lawyer annual salary in the US is nearly equivalent?  CEOs direct and head up companies that actually produce materials and services....lawyers and bureaucrats produce only red tape.  It's time to put limits on lawyers and bureaucrats and put them in the position and pay of what they are designed to be.......referees.  The producing companies that built America should be the much higher paid stars on the field.

[w8tlftr]

And your government subsidizes this behavior in the form of various social handouts that are quickly becoming ever more expensive to the taxpayer.  There are a few reasons why the education system is abysmal here in the US, some direct, others indirect.

- Disproportionate incarceration rates, particularly within the black community.  Human warehousing is big business, and one can go to jail for even the most minor of violations.  In return, those with even minor criminal records find themselves largely out of the employment market.  Too many politicians are playing the "Tough on Crime" card in order to placate the voting bloc who live behind barricaded, secure walls with guards(we call them gated communities).

- Government handouts, bailouts, and welfare given to those who make the wrong choices....in essence, putting a band-aid on top of a quickly hemorrhaging wound while those who make the right choices are sent the bill.  The welfare system has damaged families much more than it has helped.  Native Americans, for example, are given a check of around $1700 a month(the tribes here in So. Fla. anyways) and live within an optimal community in terms of material wealth.  However, these groups suffer the highest rates of alcoholism and suicide than any other group.  Remember, the Europeans did not conquer with armament, but with goods.

- No dumb child left behind.  Other nations have nowhere near the amenities that US public schools provide for it's children, but yet, routinely outperform US students in nearly all subjects.  In the Age of Sensitivity, institutions seem to be afraid to face reality....that students are not all equal in ability and skill.....that some will not perform as well as others regardless of the setting and instruction.  In most other countries, if a student is unable to keep up with the consistent curriculum, they are to repeat the grade.  Now, school funding is directly tied in with the passing rate, so the curriculum must be constantly downgraded so even the most unmotivated student can pass.  And yet the idiots and morons still talk about throwing even more money at a broken and unworkable system...a broken and unworkable system that was put in place at behest of the common culture of total acceptance and ultra-tolerance.

- No Tort reform.  Legions of lawyers with hungry eyes and gnashing teeth are ever on the lookout for even a wrong word uttered so they can collect millions from even the most minor of infractions.  This costs  institutions and other agencies millions in insurance and to hire their own lawyers in return.  I'm sure you've heard about all those "evil" CEO's out there thieving from the working man.  Fleecing us.  But yet, not a peep about lawyers.  Did you know that the average CEO and lawyer annual salary in the US is nearly equivalent?  CEOs direct and head up companies that actually produce materials and services....lawyers and bureaucrats produce only red tape.  It's time to put limits on lawyers and bureaucrats and put them in the position and pay of what they are designed to be.......referees.  The producing companies that built America should be the much higher paid stars on the field.

Yep. That pretty much sums it up.

I wonder how bad things will have to be before Americans open their damn eyes and fight back.

[Brixtonbulldog]

Brittneyballdung is looking stupider by the minute........Bushs balls are set so deep in his throat we'll have to shoot the poor kid to retain any dignity he has left...

lol.. alright "whore-horse" ... I'm so in your head when you are about to spout some mindless liberal dribble I appear on your shoulder as an angel and politely remind you that throwing in your 2 cents every five minutes doesn't count if you're using money earned by "slicking the willy" for your friends.

..but then neuro appears on your other shoulder as the devil wearing a pink leotard and holding his penis and I have to leave when I see you start to drooling asking if he'll "share his pitchfork" and giggling like a school girl when he makes crude references to his "third horn"

[Decker]

Stephen Moore is a supply-side economics radical.  Time and again his scholarship has been shown to be worthless. 

The deceptive advocacy of Stephen Moore
http://www.spinsanity.org/columns/20030922.html

We have a progressive income tax.  The more money earned, the higher the income tax bracket.  The very wealthy have seen their incomes skyrocket in the last few decades while everybody else did not experience such growth.  More is paid b/c more is being earned…a lot more.  For the true wealthy, they don’t make the bulk of their income from earned income.  They make it through passive investments—capital gains—which is taxed in this manner:

For 2007, the maximum capital gains rates are 5%, 15%, 25% or 28%.
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=106799,00.html

For the bulk of the elite’s income, those tax rates are very low.  Total federal tax rates paid on wages and other earnings averaged out to around 23.4%

Federal taxes on capital gains averaged around 9.6%

The Bush tax cut did disproportionately favor the rich.

•   According to a Treasury Department study, the top one percent of the population pays 20 percent of all federal taxes under current law. Thus, under the Bush plan, the share of the tax cut that would go to the top one percent is about double the share of the federal taxes they pay.

•   … When all federal taxes are included, as they should be, the figures show the top one percent would receive a share of the tax cut (36 percent to 43 percent) that is about twice as large as the share of federal taxes it pays (20 percent).

•   This high-income group also would receive a larger percentage reduction in total federal taxes (as distinguished from just income taxes) than any other income group, while low-income families would receive one of the smallest percentage tax reductions. High-income families would receive the largest percentage increase in income, as well.   http://www.cbpp.org/2-7-01inclvlshort.htm


Tax cuts have always been a net loss to the government.  Never in the country’s history has attendant economic growth from tax cuts covered the cost of the tax cut.  Bush’s own Treasury Department released a report stating as much:

“Contrary to the claim that the tax cuts will have huge impacts on the economy, the Treasury study finds that even under favorable assumptions, making the tax cuts permanent would have a barely perceptible impact on the economy.  Under more realistic assumptions, the Treasury study finds that the tax cuts could even hurt the economy.” http://www.cbpp.org/7-27-06tax.htm

And one final word about the glorious Reagan tax cuts,  they created huge deficits and debt even in spite of the fact that Reagan raised taxes 7 times out of his 8 years in office including the largest tax increase in history to this date.

I guess what it all boils down to is:  Do tax cuts provide a free lunch? 

Nope, they never have.

[Decker]

Tort reform in the popular sense is nonsense.  It's a way to artificially cap recoveries to benefit of the wealthy.

Remember Robert Bork, a huge proponent of tort reform, and this:

Robert Bork Files Slip-and-Fall Lawsuit Against Yale Club

Robert Bork , the one-time U.S. Supreme Court nominee, has sued the Yale Club for negligence. He is seeking $1 million in damages for injuries he sustained from a fall at the club last year. Here’s a copy of the complaint

Bork was at the Yale Club last June to speak at an event sponsored by The New Criterion, a monthly review of the arts and intellectual life. According to the suit filed in federal court in Manhattan, the club failed to provide steps and a handrail to climb onto the dais. Bork fell backward as he was attempting to climb the dais, striking his leg on the stage and his head on a heat register, the suit says.

The 80-year-old Bork suffered a large hematoma, or swelling of blood, in his lower left leg as a result of the fall and the hematoma eventually burst, according to the lawsuit. The injury required surgery and months of physical therapy, according to the complaint. He claims to have suffered “excruciating pain” as a result of the injury and continues to walk with a limp, according to the complaint.

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2007/06/07/robert-bork-files-slip-and-fall-lawsuit-against-yale-club/

[War-Horse]

lol.. alright "whore-horse" ... I'm so in your head when you are about to spout some mindless liberal dribble I appear on your shoulder as an angel and politely remind you that throwing in your 2 cents every five minutes doesn't count if you're using money earned by "slicking the willy" for your friends.

..but then neuro appears on your other shoulder as the devil wearing a pink leotard and holding his penis and I have to leave when I see you start to drooling asking if he'll "share his pitchfork" and giggling like a school girl when he makes crude references to his "third horn"

  You even suck at the Y-Board shit.  Do yourself a favor and slit your wrists.

[Brixtonbulldog]

  You even suck at the Y-Board shit.  Do yourself a favor and slit your wrists.

=

"I'm not that creative... stop embarrassing me.  Neuro is here.. he's upset too. "

[shootfighter1]

You are way off with this one, not true in the majority of cases..."Tort reform in the popular sense is nonsense.  It's a way to artificially cap recoveries to benefit of the wealthy".

All the legal work to protect from lawsuits raises the cost of business in every field.  In the medical field, it does nothing of the sort.  Frivilous lawsuits and extreme payouts for damages cost everyone money from the hospital to the physician, to the practice, the staff, the insurance companies and finally the patients.  This is not debateable.  Medicine is practiced differently because of malpractice lawyers and the costs to practice medicine are much higher.  A neurologist I worked with had his malpractice double in one year.  He was in private practice.  He had to cut 2 of his employees and reduced his salary that year.  For family practice doctors, malpractice can be $20,000 per year, for specialists, its 5-6 times that.  Its out of hand.
Lawyers serve an important function but some of the unscrupulous behavior has gotten out of control and has affected nearly all of us in one field or another.

[gcb]

LOL at all you people out there saying I "earned" my money so why can't I keep it.

Most of the quality of living you enjoy (including what your money buys) is because of the infrastructure that exists and because of all those little cogs in the machine doing their jobs everyday. So don't tell me I earn 300k and deserve to keep it - if you where in the middle of the congo jungle with no infrastructure and little cogs to support your standard of living you could work your arse off for the rest of your life without seeing anything anywhere near what a middle class income affords you in your country.

[24KT]

LOL at all you people out there saying I "earned" my money so why can't I keep it.

Most of the quality of living you enjoy (including what your money buys) is because of the infrastructure that exists and because of all those little cogs in the machine doing their jobs everyday. So don't tell me I earn 300k and deserve to keep it - if you where in the middle of the congo jungle with no infrastructure and little cogs to support your standard of living you could work your arse off for the rest of your life without seeing anything anywhere near what a middle class income affords you in your country.

I have to most certainly agree with that. As someone who has spent countless hours running around collecting telegrams of cash from people in 3rd world, I'm painfully aware of how unstable their infrastructure is. Many don't have or use credit cards in their countries, and those few that are available only work on a national basis and will not work outside of their countries so they then are required to wire cash for me to place whatever order they make on my credit card. Half the time they can't wire the funds because the elecrticity has gone out so everyone is without power. I'm constantly amazed at the differences & lack of stability of the infrastructure in many of these places, ...but the residents take it in stride.

[w8tlftr]

LOL at all you people out there saying I "earned" my money so why can't I keep it.

Most of the quality of living you enjoy (including what your money buys) is because of the infrastructure that exists and because of all those little cogs in the machine doing their jobs everyday. So don't tell me I earn 300k and deserve to keep it - if you where in the middle of the congo jungle with no infrastructure and little cogs to support your standard of living you could work your arse off for the rest of your life without seeing anything anywhere near what a middle class income affords you in your country.

I WAS one of those "cogs" and I worked my way up to where I am today. Fvck the rest if they're are not willing to put in the hard work and sacrifices to succeed.

No one in this life owes anyone a fvcking thing. If your life is ard or if you think things are *sniff* unfair then do something about it or get used to hearing, "it sucks to be you."

So, yeah, I'm telling you I earn 300k and deserve to keep it. I worked for it - YOU didn't.

[w8tlftr]

I have to most certainly agree with that. As someone who has spent countless hours running around collecting telegrams of cash from people in 3rd world, I'm painfully aware of how unstable their infrastructure is. Many don't have or use credit cards in their countries, and those few that are available only work on a national basis and will not work outside of their countries so they then are required to wire cash for me to place whatever order they make on my credit card. Half the time they can't wire the funds because the elecrticity has gone out so everyone is without power. I'm constantly amazed at the differences & lack of stability of the infrastructure in many of these places, ...but the residents take it in stride.

Judi, WTF does the plight of a 3rd world country have to do with the unfair progressive tax system in the United States? Do you think by raising my taxes it's going to make their lives any better? Hasn't the United States given enough money to 3rd world dictators just so we can borrow another billion dollars from China?

The taxes collected by your government are for providing for the security and infrastructure of YOUR country.