AP: Half of U.S. pays no federal income tax

[boedicca]

First of all to get that number they ignore the SS trust fund funding. And second they get that number by calculating the liability over a 75 year period. So in reality it is a 1.4 trillion per year unfunded liability ignoring the SS trust fund.

Just curious: what do you think is in the Trust Fund and how will it be used?

 

[Samson]

First of all to get that number they ignore the SS trust fund funding. And second they get that number by calculating the liability over a 75 year period. So in reality it is a 1.4 trillion per year unfunded liability ignoring the SS trust fund.

Just curious: what do you think is in the Trust Fund and how will it be used?

The Trust Fund Fund is connected to the Neck Bone Fund Fund.

JEEZE.

 

[AllieBaba]

My tax return will be approximately $2000 less than last year, I just found out.

 

[chanel]

But but but Allie Obama said that be unpossible!!!!

Our small biz profits were down over 50 percent from last year and 80 percent from the year before. Yay! People will like us better now that we have less to "sharel!

In fact, if my kids now qualify for financial aid, I may become a Democrat. (Just kidding folks) I'd rather take a third job,

 

[AllieBaba]

We won't be vacationing on Vis, Croatia this year, I guess!

 

[NYcarbineer]

The lefties are so desperate to smear Reagan's economic record. The fact is that his policies encouraged a climate of vibrant economic growth and job creation, improving the lives of countless people.

The same positive assessment will not be made of Obama's.

No they didn't. His policies marked the first time in American history that a peacetime economic recovery was accompanied by massive deficits. Reagan is the Father of the Massive Deficit, all that has followed, and yes, including the Obama administration's willingness to shirk fiscal responsibility,

was made possible by Ronald Reagan. He singlehandedly made the massive deficit politically acceptable.

 

[edthecynic]

First of all to get that number they ignore the SS trust fund funding. And second they get that number by calculating the liability over a 75 year period. So in reality it is a 1.4 trillion per year unfunded liability ignoring the SS trust fund.

Just curious: what do you think is in the Trust Fund and how will it be used?

The evidence of the Reagan/BushI/BushII/Obama generational theft. It will be used to blame FDR.

 

[Murf76]

Yeah sure, we will have 106 trillion in unfunded liabilities this year.

First of all to get that number they ignore the SS trust fund funding. And second they get that number by calculating the liability over a 75 year period. So in reality it is a 1.4 trillion per year unfunded liability ignoring the SS trust fund.

You do realize, don't you, that we're currently paying out more than Social Security takes in... and that the "trust fund" is a file cabinet full of IOU's requiring taxpayers to pay interest to ourselves. Medicare and Medicaid are already busting our asses... and Obamacare is waiting in the wings like a cash-sucking vampire. Entitlements do NOT go away, not in one year, not in 75 years. They take on a life of their own, running politicians instead of the other way around.

Our best hope for the future prosperity of our children and grandchildren is to destroy Obamacare before it gets off the ground, and then to completely overhaul these other entitlements, as I do not believe we'll ever field a Congress with the stones to parcel them out to the States as would be proper.

 

[logical4u]

You side with the terrorists who call Americans thieves and tyrants. You side with the hateists who want to divide the people of America to destroy it from within.

Health care is no more redistribution of wealth than military spending is redistribution of wealth. Nowhere does the Constitution prohibit national health care and if the national legislature decides it is good for the general welfare of the country, which it did, then it is quite Constitutional as determined by Marshall long long ago.

If you don't like it you are quite FREE to move to a less progressive country, no one is forcing you to stay.

Hey, I'm not the one who has stated in this very thread that we should cut the military spending we rely upon to FIGHT terrorists. That was you. And when I say that your ilk are thieves and tyrants who would rob your neighbors and subordinate their liberties, that's a choice that YOU make, not I.

The word "health" is not mentioned even once in our U.S. Constitution. Not once. And when your neighbors are required to pay YOUR bills... hell yes, that is a redistribution of wealth... the money of one citizen, confiscated for the private use of another.

The General Welfare Clause has been abused by "progressives" since the time of FDR. But you've pushed it too far this time, here as we face the insolvency and unsustainable spending of Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid. Even during the lifetime of the founders this argument was stale and disingenuous. Thomas Jefferson said:

"They are not to do anything they please to provide for the general welfare, but only to lay taxes for that purpose. To consider the latter phrase not as describing the purpose of the first, but as giving a distinct and independent power to do any act they please which might be for the good of the Union, would render all the preceding and subsequent enumerations of power completely useless. It would reduce the whole instrument to a single phrase, that of instituting a Congress with power to do whatever would be for the good of the United States; and, as they would be the sole judges of the good or evil, it would be also a power to do whatever evil they please… Certainly no such universal power was meant to be given them. It was intended to lace them up straitly within the enumerated powers and those without which, as means, these powers could not be carried into effect."

So, the depredations upon the Constitution thus far are exactly that... depredations. But rather than correct these disingenuous malignancies, people like you would continue to build on them in order to get what you want. To argue that "General Welfare" gives carte blanche to Congress for whatever pops into their tiny air-filled brains is a perversion of the spirit of Constitutional governance. You might as well argue that "Common Defense" allows a perpetual state of marshal law.



Now there are lots of other countries out there that apparently prize "progressivism". I suggest YOU find one. Because THIS country has supreme laws that will not be put asunder for your comfort. Save for that ancient contract with citizens, the federal government has no authority over us. When you throw it over the side like so much ballast, you've thrown away your power with it.

You may thank Barack Obama, for ripping the mask off of "Progressivism" and exposing the fascist beneath. We're onto the game now... and we're AWAKE.

If you don't think the health of the nation is a vital national interest, you are daft.

You cannot stop death, you MIGHT be able to prolong it, but you can't be stopped. A nation can only prepare to sustain or grow the population (a lot less abortions or immigration). A nation is healthy when its borders are strong and the defense is stronger. Sick people are a part of life, and no matter how much care you have, sickness will still happen. What's wrong with you people, are you afraid of the afterlife?

 

[logical4u]

I don't have any problem with exemptions as long as they are applied uniformly and without prejudice across the board. I have a lot of problems with exemptions that benefit one group or class but others are not allowed to access.

But the issue is not who will support what. The issue is the net effect of the policiy that becomes the law of the land.

A policy that exempts half the population from any consequences of the tax code is a very dangerous policy.

Oh you crack up me Fox, how naive can you be or purposefully ignorant?

With a flat tax AND exemptions, the rich will pay no taxes and the majority of taxes will come from the poor and middle class. Think that through for a minute.

Also, have you ever thought for a minute that the reason that half the population doesn't pay any taxes is because they're so poor or have no job to make any money? Man, that has to go up there with the "best of best ideas."

C'mon, be sensible.

Are you saying ....the stimulus didn't work???? All those people are unemployed without income, so they can't pay taxes????

 

[logical4u]

Sorry. I'm not buying it. Even though most of the world's poor would feel very wealthy if they had it as good as most of America's poor have it, I believe the tax policy and other programs to 'help' the poor have created most of the poor in this country. And yes, many of America's 'poor' do own their own homes. West Virginia, for instance, has a very low per capita income but the nation's highest percentage of home ownership. At least that is the way it was a few years ago when I last looked up those statistics. A flat tax would not seriously impact that and it would allow reduction or elimination of so many other taxes that it could easily be a wash.

Tell me. Do you see all benefit and no down side to half the population paying no income tax at all?

Sorry, I'm not buying your bullshit. We do not gauge our poor based on the poor in other countries. We base our homeless numbers, etc off the previous generation. My generation or even the generation before me may be the first generation that has it worse than their parents. That's how we judge things.

Also, it is due to many of these programs that some of the poor can stay afloat. Yes, there are a small few who are not willing to work and just stay on welfare. However, they do not represent the majority. There are those that cannot work due to disability may it be physical or mental. There are those that cannot simply get a job due to a lack of education (can't afford college) or lack of jobs.

You look at this very ignorantly if you gauge it as "all benefit" or "no downside", the world is not black and white. The fact you're looking at this from that point of view is both sad and ignorant, and i mean no offense when I say that.

There are some downsides to supposedly half the population not paying any taxes. However, the main question we have to ask ourselves is why they are not paying any taxes. If you simply do not make enough money to be taxed, what is your solution? Lower the tax bracket so those who are living literally paycheck to paycheck are now going to lose what little they have left?

You don't raise people who are downtrotten by pushing them down further and telling them they are no good. You give them a hand in some way to help them up.

Do you wonder how many of the 'downtrodden' have found a way to beat the system? Illegal incomes, unreported tips, cash businesses are all hard to track by the IRS (and many can 'legally' claim food stamps and other assistance based on their IRS forms).

I have little patience for the 'downtrodden' when I see them in a supermarket buying steak and name brand products with 'assistance', while I am feeding my family hamburger and chicken to keep my costs down so I can pay thousands and thousands of dollars to uncle SAM.

I do not mind helping people are down on their luck or need a hand up (different from hand out). If the person supplying the 'assistance' is in an office and has no idea where the money is going or how it is being used, or what the person that received the money is doing to improve their situation, then how can 'assistance' be done with an integrity and without corruption. I believe IMHO, the local charities were in a better position to help those that truely need help, and to turn away the freeloading parasites that now plague our nation. Because someone tells you they do not have an income might be because they are speaking of a 'reported' income, look at them, do they look like they are starving, wearing rags, or have no jewelry? We did live in a wealthy nation, once the gov healthcare takes hold, I think you will see the truely, 'downtrodden'.

 

[PatekPhilippe]

LOL...the left wing dupes are still trying to convince everyone raising taxes on "rich" people is a good thing?

Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Liberal mantra: Gimme Gimme Gimme Gimme Gimme Gimme I I I I I I I I I I I I I I me me me me me me me me me me me me me.....blame Bush!!!!!

 

[AllieBaba]

I've given up trying to figure out how they can pronounce alternate realities on a regular basis. I honestly think they are all mental.

 

[PatekPhilippe]

I've given up trying to figure out how they can pronounce alternate realities on a regular basis. I honestly think they are all mental.

It's a medical fact that liberals/progressives have active imaginations and live in a fantasy world based on their convoluted beliefs.

 

[chanel]

Wouldn't democracy be better served if EVERYONE had a stake in the game? Even if it were a small contribution; they would understand/care how the system works. It's easy to be complacent when someone else is looking out for you. But maybe apathetic and complacent people are easier to control - like sheep.

 

[Foxfyre]

Wouldn't democracy be better served if EVERYONE had a stake in the game? Even if it were a small contribution; they would understand/care how the system works. It's easy to be complacent when someone else is looking out for you. But maybe apathetic and complacent people are easier to control - like sheep.

Thats it. Those who benefit from a corrupt system are much less likely to rock the boat against their own self interests than those who feel the sting of the corruption. Whether one fears losing what they have or just enjoying freeloading, politicians have an interest in keeping them dependent. It only makes sense to give everybody a stake in the process. That takes the politics out of it.

That's one of the dangers when this healthcare system is put fully into effect. Once the government has the power to determine whether or how much healthcare you will receive, who would dare challenge the system and risk having healthcare taken away from themselves or their loved ones?

 

[AllieBaba]

What's super maddening is they're trying to move heaven and earth to exempt congress from all the restrictions and mandates Obamacare puts into place.

The scum.

 

[KMAN]

This is really disgusting. I guess Obama knows that he will get 47% of the vote next time if he just promises to give them more free stuff... Only in America.

 

[NYcarbineer]

The eye-opener in this thread is how strong the consensus is among conservatives

to RAISE TAXES on middle and lower income Americans.

 

[edthecynic]

What's super maddening is they're trying to move heaven and earth to exempt congress from all the restrictions and mandates Obamacare puts into place.

The scum.

Misinformed as usual.

April 13,2010
RUSH: His health insurance control bill kicked Congress out of their cushy plans (laughing) and it's all in the New York Times!* Of all places, the New York Times gonna get a Pulitzer here for digging up the dirt that Obama health care kicks Congress out of their cushy plan!*