inconvenient facts

[violentkitten]

poor taxpayers are much more likely to be audited by the irs than rich ones

partnerships are much less likely to be audited as well

the top 5th of taxpayers pay the same tax rate as the bottom 5th when all federal taxes are counted

much more social security taxes are collected than are paid out. the excess is "lent" to the federal government and goes to pay for government operating expenses just like income taxes

social security and medicare are funded by regressive taxes

bushs tax rates disproportionately benefitted higher income taxpayers. yes, those higher incomes pay more in income tax to begin with. but something to remember is that bush never pushed to do away with the amt, so all of you bushlickers are going to get hit by the amt over the next 5 years despite der leaders great tax cuts. funny thing though, the amt wont really hurt those making over a cool mil a year

the stated federal corporate tax rate is 35% yet the average effective tax on profits works out to about 20%

over the last 20 years the top 1 percent of taxpayers have seen a phenomenal rise in their incomes yet incredibly the tax burden has increased among the lower 99 percent

money buys access. access gets you what you want. the poor dont have the access. the middle class dont have the access. the upper middle class dont have it either. all of the little people worry about queer marriage, prayer in schools and the terrorist mohammed boogeyman while they are screwed by the rich and powerful

[whottt]

You forgot to mention that the number of schizophrenics in the USA is rapidly rising, and that nearly 1 in 5 Americans has bi-polar disorder.

[Nbadan]

much more social security taxes are collected than are paid out. the excess is "lent" to the federal government and goes to pay for government operating expenses just like income taxes

Bingo. And if the current administration were true conservatives they would cut spending across the board and miraculously save Social Security at the same time, but that's too simple and wouldn't make anyone any money now would it?

[travis2]

poor taxpayers are much more likely to be audited by the irs than rich ones

partnerships are much less likely to be audited as well

the top 5th of taxpayers pay the same tax rate as the bottom 5th when all federal taxes are counted

much more social security taxes are collected than are paid out. the excess is "lent" to the federal government and goes to pay for government operating expenses just like income taxes

social security and medicare are funded by regressive taxes

bushs tax rates disproportionately benefitted higher income taxpayers. yes, those higher incomes pay more in income tax to begin with. but something to remember is that bush never pushed to do away with the amt, so all of you bushlickers are going to get hit by the amt over the next 5 years despite der leaders great tax cuts. funny thing though, the amt wont really hurt those making over a cool mil a year

the stated federal corporate tax rate is 35% yet the average effective tax on profits works out to about 20%

over the last 20 years the top 1 percent of taxpayers have seen a phenomenal rise in their incomes yet incredibly the tax burden has increased among the lower 99 percent

money buys access. access gets you what you want. the poor dont have the access. the middle class dont have the access. the upper middle class dont have it either. all of the little people worry about queer marriage, prayer in schools and the terrorist mohammed boogeyman while they are screwed by the rich and powerful


Source, please?

[violentkitten]

source (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1591840198/qid=1107182186/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/102-6988773-1125744?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

[violentkitten]

id recommend the book to read. its about as interesting as a book about the irs could be. bush has been doing his part to make life easy for the wealthy just as clinton did before him and so on.

[travis2]

source (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1591840198/qid=1107182186/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/102-6988773-1125744?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)


Interesting reviews. I'm not going to automatically accept the word of a reporter over a professional accountant, particularly when I don't know what the reporter's sources are, but I agree it should probably make for some interesting reading.

Although, anyone who thinks the NYT is a "fair and balanced" source is smoking something...

[violentkitten]

as an economic conservative i had no problem with the book. most of it jives with what i have heard before. as long as the amt is around then a lot of upper middle class and middle class folks arent going to get the full benefits from those tax cuts they expect. also the wealthy can afford the best advice that money can buy which is why teresa heinz ketchup paid an effective federal rate of 12%. if you can control the source of your income then of course you have much more control over how you are taxed than if you simply work for someone else.

the irs devotes considerable resources to matching up your wage income reported by your employer(s) with what you put on your tax return. it aggressively audits the working poor who claim the earned income tax credit, yet it does pretty much nothing to audit the 2.5 million partnerships which file annually. and yes the audit rates among those in the top 1% have been declining and are about a 3rd less than among the bottom quartile of taxpayers.

im not for confiscatory taxation but im also not for having more and more of the federal burden foisted on the little people by those at the top

[Nbadan]

Here is a interesting article about this topic in the Washington Post


Cutting Out the Poor

By William Raspberry
Monday, January 31, 2005; Page A21

<snip>

Before you dismiss it as partisan hyperbole, hear Edelman's specifics: The basic structure of Social Security is under attack (on the grounds that the program is in crisis, though most respected economists say it isn't). Pell Grants for college tuition are on the cutting block. So are Section 8 housing vouchers (which started under Richard Nixon) and food stamps. Programs that have offered some protection for people in the lower third of the economy are under threat of evisceration.

And the rationale for the attack is a budgetary crisis created by the gift of $1.8 trillion in tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans.

Edelman thinks the needle has jumped off the dial altogether, that the people in philosophical power are determined to abrogate the contract many of us still take for granted. Nor does he believe that it is a matter of fiscal necessity. An unnecessary tax break (abetted by an optional war) created the crisis, and now the crisis justifies a radical reordering of the American system. As Edelman and Deepak Bhargava, executive director of the Center for Community Change (CCC), put it in a recent joint statement:

"The federal budget is not just an accounting tool. It is a statement about our priorities and our values as a nation. But because of decisions this president made to benefit an elite few -- at the expense of the rest of us -- we're now facing a set of budget choices that are unsupportable, immoral and dangerous."

Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50122-2005Jan30.html)