Republicans caught between a rock and a hard place

[Wild Cobra]

"there are a lot of people"

the top 1% OWN 50% of all investment assets, so your " lot of people" own next to nothing in investment assets. and probably 50% actually own NO (non-residence) investments assets

http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

So, you want to penalize me too because I'm part of the 50% that's not in the 1%?

Jealous because you don't have any?

How would you feel if you has a healthy stock portfolio?

[ElNono]

Let's say you are someone with a $300k income between you and your wife, and you are putting two kids through college, paying not only a mortgage, but two car payments, insurances, and other expenses. You have been living like this for some time now, and some jackass wants to tax another 4.6% of your taxable income at the top marginal rate, and SS reverts back to 6.2%. You have been living OK after paying high tuition, fees etc for the kids, but have so little disposable income already. You taxes and SS liability now jump another 14,600 for the year. Over $1,200 a month.

The math doesn't add up here.

- College: A very top college cost/year (take Columbia University), runs you at about $60k per person, and it's easily the highest expense ($120k/year). You get no deductions here because you're making over $160k (jointly).
- Mortgage: let's take New York again, which is comparatively more expensive than most markets. The average mortgage payment here is $1650/mo. That's roughly $20K/year. You have tax deductions on the interest of this loan.
- Cars: we go high end here too... Two 2013 Mercedes Benz E350 Sedans at $50K each. 5K down payment, 60 months loan. Roughly $665/mo each in payments. That's $16K/year for both.

So the bulk expenses per year are: $120K+$20K+$16K = $156K/year.

We can toss another $50K/year in insurance, property taxes, food and other expenses... That leaves you with roughly $100K.

Now your tax bill after deductions, etc, is probably gonna come at around $60K, give or take, so your disposable income is roughly $40K/year.

$40K/year is little disposable income?

And obviously this brings up a few points:
- If you've been making $300K/year for a while, living large, and you didn't save anything to pay kid's college, you're probably a dumbass.
- You're sending your kids to a top college. It's temporary and it's more like an investment. A lot of people would like to be able to afford sending not one, but two kids to such colleges.
- That's a 250K dollar house you're paying with that mortgage.
- Do you really need two Benz?
- If $40K/year isn't enough disposable income, you probably need to stop blowing cocaine on strip clubs.

[Jacob1983]

[Wild Cobra]

Excuses excuses.

My major point was you have a family living a specific lifestyle, and you are now asking them to cut their lifestyle by $1200/month.

Your $60 is about right for federal taxes at the old rates, unless they have a lot of deductions. The new rates will increase their liability by around $10k. What about state taxes? You also didn't include SS tax. It changes from $9,248.40 to at least $13,652.

Seriously. Should a well off family have to pay more than $1k monthly more in taxes just because December changes to January? Anything like this should be done gradually.

I guess we could end up just having one more unemployed maid...

[ElNono]

I'm thoroughly unconcerned of the 'major' lifestyle changes a family will have to endure because their disposable income went from $40k/year to $30k/year, tbh. I mean, they're going to have to sell one of the Benz and cut down on the Vegas trips to make up the difference!

[Wild Cobra]

Do you really think they will have that much disposable income? Most people jack their lifestyle up to having little disposable income.

Consider this too.

Who the are you to say others have too much money? Are you proud to be an authoritarian?

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

He's seeing he's not about to feel sorry for them because their lifestyle would become slightly less lavish. I'm not either. If I make it big with my career and start raking in several hundred K a year, I wouldn't feel sorry for myself either for paying more taxes. I'd much rather be the guy who gets a little disposable income taken away in the top tax bracket than the guy who receives welfare from increased taxes.

[Wild Cobra]

Wow.

Piddly-assed small minded people here...

These people already pay out several tens of thousands in taxes, and you expect more?

all you lib s.

[Clipper Nation]

Anyone who agrees with Obama in my opinion is just jealous of those making a high income.

Yeah, Barry is sooooo jealous of the Fed banksters, defense contractors, lobbyists, and 1%ers he's beholden to

[Rick Santorum]

Wow.

Piddly-assed small minded people here...

These people already pay out several tens of thousands in taxes, and you expect more?

all you lib s.

meltdown

[Wild Cobra]

meltdown

Not a meltdown. Just tired of being surrounded by such selfish stupidity.

[Rick Santorum]

Seriously. Should a well off family have to pay more than $1k monthly more in taxes just because December changes to January? Anything like this should be done gradually.

You can thank George Bush as the main culprit behind why that family's taxes were lower than they ever should have been in the 1st place.

(Before pointing out how Obama renewed the tax cuts, yeah, he did it in the middle of a recession to avoid the tea party terrorists kicking and screaming like a bunch of 3 year olds)

[Wild Cobra]

Go ahead. Bring the tax rates back to what they were, but slowely. Over time. Not all at once. It will be a shock that does more harm than good if done suddenly.

An average 3% at the marginal rat and another 25 for SS...

5%...

[Rick Santorum]

"God dammit Barry! I have no problem with George Bush's mistakes, but the way you're trying to correct them is ing this country!"

[Wild Cobra]

So tell me.

How many of these people making $200k to $400k do you think will be letting their hired help go? How many more unemployed will there be?

[DarrinS]

I have no problem with taxing the rich, but there aren't enough of them.

Bigger problem is, spending 4 trillion/yr has become the new normal.

[boutons_deux]

cutting taxes on the rich doesn't create jobs, raising taxes on the rich doesn't kill jobs

[Rick Santorum]

Bigger problem is, spending 4 trillion/yr has become the new normal.

Yet you supported a candidate who wanted to increase military spending by 2 trillion and I'm guessing you have no problem with the ridiculous defense spending where it currently is.

"I'm a Republican and I want small government but lots of military spending!"

[Rick Santorum]

How many of these people making $200k to $400k do you think will be letting their hired help go? How many more unemployed will there be?

Unemployment was at about 3% when slick willy left office and had taxes at this supposed horrid level.

How much lower do taxes need to be for the trickle down effect to kick in?

[ChumpDumper]

Won't somebody think of the lifestyles of the wealthy?

[Rick Santorum]

Won't somebody think of the lifestyles of the wealthy?

Don't you have any sympathy for top tax bracket!

[LnGrrrR]

Let's say you are someone with a $300k income between you and your wife, and you are putting two kids through college, paying not only a mortgage, but two car payments, insurances, and other expenses. You have been living like this for some time now, and some jackass wants to tax another 4.6% of your taxable income at the top marginal rate, and SS reverts back to 6.2%. You have been living OK after paying high tuition, fees etc for the kids, but have so little disposable income already. You taxes and SS liability now jump another 14,600 for the year. Over $1,200 a month.

Just because people make more money doesn't mean they don't have expensive outlays.

So I should feel bad for the person with expensive outlays, and not for the person who needs welfare to get by? Hey, tell you what, maybe your kids should've earned scholarships, or gone to the military. Maybe you have to sell a car. Maybe you have to, I don't know, sacrifice by making the kids pay for their own cell phones.

If you've got 300K income in your household, you're in the top 2% in the NATION. You really have no right to .

[LnGrrrR]

Do you really think they will have that much disposable income? Most people jack their lifestyle up to having little disposable income.

Consider this too.

Who the are you to say others have too much money? Are you proud to be an authoritarian?

Then it's their fault for jacking up their lifestyle.

And who the are you to say that others have ENOUGH money? That's the problem with the right nowadays, like it's some ing virtue to scratch and claw for every penny. "How dare you ask me to pay 10K more in taxes! Even though the country has somehow magically seen wealth stagnate for the middle classes, drop for the lower classes, and SKYROCKET for the upper class, how dare you ask me to give any of that back!! RARR!!"

[LnGrrrR]

Wow.

Piddly-assed small minded people here...

These people already pay out several tens of thousands in taxes, and you expect more?

all you lib s.

Well , I guess we should just have everyone pay out 5 dollars. I'm sure that will keep the country running! And then it would be FAIR! I mean, sure we have tons of tax loopholes for the rich, and each dollar is less valuable to them than those making much less, but how dare we ask them to cut their spending!

Of course, WC is the first person to complain about people on welfare who say, drink a slushee, or have a cell phone, or them doing pretty much anything but eating bread or water. THEY are the ones who should sacrifice! Even though the middle class and lower are the ones who actually do the spending, and the rich are usually sitting on thousands/millions in the bank that aren't being spent.

[boutons_deux]

"These people already pay out several tens of thousands in taxes"

Ha! the old "absolute value" canard rather "fair share percentage".