dagblog - Comments for "Tax The Poor!"

So much of the outcome will

Oxy Mora — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 17:37:59 +0000

So much of the outcome will depend on the economy, in particular this quarter. We don't know if the recent mini-contraction is longer term or an anomaly. Buffet said all the 70 companies in his portfolio were doing better quarter by quarter, except for one's tied to housing. Capital expenditures by companies could take a huge leap by year end. As for the current market, I think we are seeing the kind of gambling by hedge funds which took place before 2009 more so than market fundamentals.

Well I keep watching and

synchronicity — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 16:52:50 +0000

In reply to I think what makes me most

Well I keep watching and wishing I would see something to change my mind about President Obama's chances for reelection but my perception of his chances is only getting worse. I feel like I am watching the ship every one is betting on as it sinks. I am sorry to say that the way I see it the president has become a victim of the republicans and their machine and he acts like it.

Yes, and then we could roast

Flavius — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 16:47:24 +0000

In reply to Destor, for the record,

Yes, and then we could roast their babies

I think what makes me most

Oxy Mora — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 15:46:22 +0000

In reply to I just watched Jon Stewart

I think what makes me most disheartend about Obama and Democratic messaging is that this clap trap about the lower 50% paying no taxes had been driven by Fox for at least two weeks with no response.We have to leave it to the comedy channel to present the essential counter argument--which is a double whammy because it also reveals the difference in asssets between the bottom 50% and the top 2%.

I just watched Jon Stewart

synchronicity — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 15:16:36 +0000

In reply to Tax The Poor!

I just watched Jon Stewart expound on the sick 'class warfare' message going on in our culture right now. We really need our leaders to push back against this but the republican message machine is pounding it hard. Senator Coburn's remarks yesterday were awful. He doesn't see or doesn't care that continuing to support the growing income disparity creates more dependency. The general population is being tenderized for a full scale shift to a third world country with low wage workers and reduced living standards. Nothing funny about it and in the end I really don't think these idiots are going to like the America they create.

Destor, for the record,

Oxy Mora — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 13:25:42 +0000

In reply to Tax The Poor!

Destor, for the record, Stewart did a gig on the subject last night. The bottom 50% of the population have 2.5% of the assets. If you took half of all their assets of the bottom 50% it would equal $750B, roughly equivalent to restoring an extra several percent revenue stream from the upper 2%. Since $750B is not nearly enough money to reduce the debt, Stewart recommends taking all the assets of the bottom 50%--which would be $1.4 Trillion.

Well Jolly, at least Oren

Richard Day — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 05:38:36 +0000

In reply to Hatch lost any

Well Jolly, at least Oren (and can you just imagine growing up with a name like 'Oren' and being a Morman and ending up in some elite school being hazed by Christian billionaires...?) pretended to be human at times.

I mean he liked to dance the minuet with Teddy and stuff like that and he would come across as reasonable on one or two pieces of legislation at times.

But the fact is and was: Oren is a prick. hahahahahaah

Since those who make as much

Elusive Trope — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 05:33:54 +0000

In reply to An interesting subtext of the

Since those who make as much as $40,000 and who have children can claim EITC. Since over 60% of the population makes this amount or less, it would seem about right that 48% are audited. Moreover, working with free tax preparation for the past three years, and seeing how so many of those using these services are unprepared to deal with tax filing, that their filing are generating more red flags than those who can afford real accountants to do their taxes further makes it seem that 48% is about right.

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that they aren't out to get you. Then again, you might just be paranoid.

An interesting subtext of the

jollyroger — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 00:59:55 +0000

In reply to There may be some of that

An interesting subtext of the EITC story is how it became (and maybe still is, for all I know) an audit magnet, arising out of the fear that responding to the graduated payment/higher earnings feature, people would falsely claim higher taxable income (there's a counterintuitive problem for you) to goose their credit.

This, of course, had the happy effect of *diverting audit resources from tracking down the undeclared cash income of the petit bourgeouisie.

Win/win for the Repugnants who hate the working poor more than they hate the IRS.

*2004: Of the total number of returns audited, 487,461 (48.3%) claimed an earned income tax credit (EITC).

Wow, that's way worse than I thought. That means that fully one half the audit resources were directed at low earners, by definition. Is this a great country, or what?

Hatch lost any

jollyroger — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 00:55:42 +0000

In reply to I thought I already did

Hatch lost any credibility

How can you lose what you do not have?