ummm, NO. People who receive the EITC still pay federal and state taxes- you are still wrong. And "something, anything" is a long ways from federal taxes- wrong again. It's also not the bottom 50%- you are wrong about that too. But hey, thanks for ignoring the part about the real welfare queens sucking up your tax dollars- I guess it's easier to be irrationally angry at poor people than to actually think about who the real culprits are.
Actually, David W, what you said was "Why not get something, anything from the bottom 50%". When called out on your nonsense, you attempted to move the goalposts and claim you said "I was talking about State and Federal taxes which half the country are NOT paying". Not only was this NOT what you said, it's also untrue. Just about everyone pays Federal and state taxes, even those who qualify for the EITC- you are wrong. Anyone who works pays payroll taxes and a host of other taxes at both the state and federal level. In fact, income tax is about the only one that not everyone pays. Interesting how you tax whiners focus on that specific one though, always dishonestly conflating income tax with all taxation (because it fits your talking points slightly better).
And it's not as if half the country isn't paying income tax, either. That lie started as a Mitt Romney talking point, referring to a momentary surge in the unemployed at the height of the recession- the infamous 47%. What none of your tax whiners will admit though is that was a temporary spike due to the economic chaos, it wasn't nearly that high before the recession, nor is it nearly that high now. You all cling to that outdated information because it's convenient to bash the working poor. Most of those people do work, once you filter out the retired people who still have to file a tax return (should we tax the old folks- or are they not moochers to you?), as well as the disabled who have to file (should we tax someone's disability payments to meet your silly notion of fair?) as well as a few other specialty categories that make up the supposed 47%.
Of the rest of that relatively small percent of people you scoff at- most of them do work, full time or as close as they can get. Do you want them to pay income tax? Fine, pay them enough to owe taxes. I love that idea- beats having me as a taxpayer subsidizing Walmart's or Mickey D's payroll so that someone working 40 hours a week can keep a roof over their head and feed their kids. I'm tired of supporting the deadbeat Walton family while they put mom and pop stores out of business with the current unfair playing field. Most large corporations could easily pay a living wage and still make record profits- the mom and pop stores do, that's why they can't compete. And if prices do go up, oh well- at least I as a consumer have a choice not to do business with them. With the status quo- my tax dollars go to Wally World whether or not I ever set foot in the place. If you want to whine about the real welfare queens- whine about corporate America- they're collecting billions while making record profits and forcing me to choose between paying part of their payroll or watching people not be able to eat because 40 hours doesn't cover their bills.
Sigh, yes Rat, historically low rates. And no, not astronomically higher spending. Did you sleep through the austerity policies of the last few years? Did you sleep through the sequester? I deal in real facts, Rat, not conservafacts. Our current Commie, Socialist in chief has slashed the deficit by 2/3 while in office. The last time that happened was (surprise) the last "big spending" Dem, Bill Clinton. In contrast, Saint Ronnie tripled the debt and your hero W doubled it, because neither of them understood that the flip side to spending in the budget equation is revenue- in fact the quote "deficits don't matter" comes to mind.
And just like all the one percent apologists, you put on your magic wingnut blinders and pretend that federal income tax is the only tax that anyone pays. In fact, payroll taxes are now roughly on par with the federal income tax as sources of revenue in the US. And unlike the income tax, payroll taxes are quite regressive, hitting middle class tax payers far more than the rich. You also ignore the corporate income tax, which in the 1950's used to account for 33% of the nation's revenue, but has been slashed to about 10%. Who do you think makes up that difference, Rat? Here's a hint, since the top marginal rate for individual income tax is far below the rates in the 50's, 60's and 70's, it's (surprise) the middle class. You also ignore the explosion in other revenue sources, such as excise taxes and usage fees, that are also predominately regressive. And lastly, you ignore the skyrocketing state, county and municipal taxes and fees, all of which are wildly regressive- needed to make up for the lack of funds from the feds that were instead given away to corporations and your BFF's in the one percent who run them (and own the lion's share of stocks in them).
Trickle down, supply side economics has been a demonstrable failure. We have the results from the last thirty years, it's too bad that you guys are as stubborn as you are stupid. Now we're watching yet more doomed to fail experiments in this voodoo economics at the state level in places like Kansas, Wisconsin and now, here in AZ. Why you guys persist in trying the same thing and expecting different results is beyond me- I guess it has to do with the conservative belief that ideology trumps reality. Unfortunately, the sad truth is that it doesn't, and real people get hurt by your stubborn obsessions. All those tax cuts at the top haven't generated jobs as promised- take a look at job creation numbers by president. Neither Reagan nor Bush can touch Clinton or Obama- today's job report cited a 5.4% unemployment number, far lower than when he took office or the peak shortly after, yet before his policies were implemented. Or, you can look at the GOP alternative from the Boehner led House, whose idea of tax reform is to eliminate the estate tax- something that benefits the top .02% only, or their ridiculous budget, which has a 2 trillion dollar hole in it, unless you embrace their idiotic GOP magic fairy dust math.
But I guess you slept through your history class and didn't notice the superior economic numbers, superior employment numbers and higher revenues under Dem presidents (and please spare me the wingnut mantra that no Dem ever gets credit for anything good on his watch and gets blame for everything bad, while a GOP president ALWAYS gets complete credit for anything good and none of the blame for the bad- that disingenuous crock is too tiresome to even refute- just pick a standard and stick with it). I guess you also slept through your civics class, which is why you started babbling about the Bible, conveniently forgetting the the United States is a secular constitutional democratic republic, not a theocracy. I assume you also slept through the part of your history class the day they covered what is was like to be poor before the advent of the social safety net. We tried it your way- for decades. Private charity failed miserably at handling the needs of the poor. Churches were overwhelmed and unable to deal with the poor, either. While there is certainly nothing wrong with either of those, it wasn't until the safety net that we finally got rid of the pernicious problems like poor houses and debtor's prisons and seniors unable to survive and people starving in the street. Newsflash Rat, we ARE the government. Using the power of the federal government to fix problems is how it's supposed to work- it's more effective, more efficient and ultimately more humane than the GOP alternative. It just requires not irrationally hating the federal government to the point of sabotaging it at every turn, then yelling "see? it's broken!"
Won't someone think of the poor, beleaguered one percent, amirite, Rat? It's not like thirty plus years of paying historically low rates while hoovering up the lion's share of profits has been fair to those "successful" people.
"Why not let them figure your tax rate?"
They already do- after decades of the failed supply side joke known as trickle down economics, the ultra rich have made so much money that they now can afford to buy their very own pet politicians and favored legislation, which is why capital gains are taxed at a fraction of what working stiffs pay on the fruits of their labor and why abominations like the carried interest exemption and second home mortgage deduction and all the other sweetheart tax advantages exist, while the majority of the burden of funding this country has been shifted to the backs of the the middle class.
But by all means, keep lighting those candles for the poor, put upon billionaires...
And right on cue, along comes trainmanswife as further evidence of the cult of fear, hatred, xenophobia and ignorance that is sweeping this country. Like clockwork, out come the ugly lies in an effort to dehumanize these poor kids- it makes it easier to hate them if you can reduce them to some sort of non-human other.
Everything in that post is a lie. These kids are thoroughly screened on the spot for infectious diseases and are given a TB test and all necessary vaccinations immediately, despite the fact that all these countries routinely give all their children the BCG vaccination (unlike the U.S.). In fact the overall vaccination rate for these countries is every bit as good as the rate for U.S. children, all of them over 90%. Mexico's rate of 98% of children vaccinated far eclipses ours at 93-94% (thanks anti vaxxer nitwits). But calling them disease ridden vermin helps people like trainmanswife rationalize their irrational hatred and sleep better at night. Two kids get sent to a hospital for a fever- out of roughly 50,000. EVERYBODY PANIC!
These children are also thoroughly screened for gang activity and/or criminal records and NO child that fails these screenings is released. The idea that ruthless Central American gang bangers are wandering the streets of America is just another vicious lie told to justify the irrational fear and hate. But the best part is, somehow the deteriorating political situation and the drug violence in Central America is all Obama's doing. He has purposely caused all this to happen (why? who knows? but if you irrationally hate the president, everything bad that happens anywhere on the planet is his doing as part of some secret plan to do something or another).
The best part is the tinfoil hat reasoning for all this. Turns out the president went down to Central America to personally convince thousands of families to send their children on a long perilous voyage across multiple countries in the blazing heat with nothing to their names other than the clothes on their back- all as a favor to help some political party half a world away win some election that has nothing to do with them. It makes perfect sense- those Honduran families aren't worrying about the coup d'état in their own country, or the gangs, or the drugs or the death squads or the rampant violence or hunger-no, their number one priority is to risk their kids' lives to vote in some foreign country ten years in the future when they're actually old enough to vote.
This is the sort of moonbat, completely crazy conspiracy theory that passes for rational thinking on the right these days. Yes, the plight of those poor refugees is nothing but a Democratic plot to flood the country with eight year old landscapers, nine year old dishwashers and hotel maids and an army of ten year old voters marching on our polling places this year to influence the mid-term elections. But hey, whatever helps you wingnuts justify your irrational hate and xenophobia, right? If you clowns had an ounce of sense you'd be ashamed of yourselves.
Yup, facts have a liberal bias. These xenophobic clowns are all about the rule of law- except when they're not. To them, the rule of law only counts when it conveniently gives them a chance to wallow in their hatred. Keep screaming at school children, wingnuts. Show the whole world what horrible people you really are...
That's Alejandro, age eight- quite the hardened criminal, amirite? See how he is "invading" the country, as he meekly presents his birth certificate to a Border Patrol agent? He sure looks dangerous. He's fleeing the chaos caused by a coup d'état by the Honduran military and all the human rights abuses from the interim government, as well as the death squads.
These are the children that you call criminals who are invading the U.S. You smear them, dehumanize them, call them disease ridden- anything to rationalize your hatred and xenophobia. Yes Laura, you ARE inhumane and full of irrational fear and hate, too. These children are not invading, they've been apprehended and are now being housed in accordance with the law you claim to so cherish while they are given due process before they are processed and then sent home to face more of the insane violence that they fled.
That you don't even realize that the U.S. is in fact following the law and is in the process of likely deporting Alejandro and his fellow children shows just how misinformed you are as well. That dangerous combination of irrational hatred, xenophobia and ignorance makes you the perfect mark for an unethical con man like Babeau. He milks your anger to further his political career- you're the perfect rube. Congratulations, this article is about you...
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And it's not as if half the country isn't paying income tax, either. That lie started as a Mitt Romney talking point, referring to a momentary surge in the unemployed at the height of the recession- the infamous 47%. What none of your tax whiners will admit though is that was a temporary spike due to the economic chaos, it wasn't nearly that high before the recession, nor is it nearly that high now. You all cling to that outdated information because it's convenient to bash the working poor. Most of those people do work, once you filter out the retired people who still have to file a tax return (should we tax the old folks- or are they not moochers to you?), as well as the disabled who have to file (should we tax someone's disability payments to meet your silly notion of fair?) as well as a few other specialty categories that make up the supposed 47%.
Of the rest of that relatively small percent of people you scoff at- most of them do work, full time or as close as they can get. Do you want them to pay income tax? Fine, pay them enough to owe taxes. I love that idea- beats having me as a taxpayer subsidizing Walmart's or Mickey D's payroll so that someone working 40 hours a week can keep a roof over their head and feed their kids. I'm tired of supporting the deadbeat Walton family while they put mom and pop stores out of business with the current unfair playing field. Most large corporations could easily pay a living wage and still make record profits- the mom and pop stores do, that's why they can't compete. And if prices do go up, oh well- at least I as a consumer have a choice not to do business with them. With the status quo- my tax dollars go to Wally World whether or not I ever set foot in the place. If you want to whine about the real welfare queens- whine about corporate America- they're collecting billions while making record profits and forcing me to choose between paying part of their payroll or watching people not be able to eat because 40 hours doesn't cover their bills.
And just like all the one percent apologists, you put on your magic wingnut blinders and pretend that federal income tax is the only tax that anyone pays. In fact, payroll taxes are now roughly on par with the federal income tax as sources of revenue in the US. And unlike the income tax, payroll taxes are quite regressive, hitting middle class tax payers far more than the rich. You also ignore the corporate income tax, which in the 1950's used to account for 33% of the nation's revenue, but has been slashed to about 10%. Who do you think makes up that difference, Rat? Here's a hint, since the top marginal rate for individual income tax is far below the rates in the 50's, 60's and 70's, it's (surprise) the middle class. You also ignore the explosion in other revenue sources, such as excise taxes and usage fees, that are also predominately regressive. And lastly, you ignore the skyrocketing state, county and municipal taxes and fees, all of which are wildly regressive- needed to make up for the lack of funds from the feds that were instead given away to corporations and your BFF's in the one percent who run them (and own the lion's share of stocks in them).
Trickle down, supply side economics has been a demonstrable failure. We have the results from the last thirty years, it's too bad that you guys are as stubborn as you are stupid. Now we're watching yet more doomed to fail experiments in this voodoo economics at the state level in places like Kansas, Wisconsin and now, here in AZ. Why you guys persist in trying the same thing and expecting different results is beyond me- I guess it has to do with the conservative belief that ideology trumps reality. Unfortunately, the sad truth is that it doesn't, and real people get hurt by your stubborn obsessions. All those tax cuts at the top haven't generated jobs as promised- take a look at job creation numbers by president. Neither Reagan nor Bush can touch Clinton or Obama- today's job report cited a 5.4% unemployment number, far lower than when he took office or the peak shortly after, yet before his policies were implemented. Or, you can look at the GOP alternative from the Boehner led House, whose idea of tax reform is to eliminate the estate tax- something that benefits the top .02% only, or their ridiculous budget, which has a 2 trillion dollar hole in it, unless you embrace their idiotic GOP magic fairy dust math.
But I guess you slept through your history class and didn't notice the superior economic numbers, superior employment numbers and higher revenues under Dem presidents (and please spare me the wingnut mantra that no Dem ever gets credit for anything good on his watch and gets blame for everything bad, while a GOP president ALWAYS gets complete credit for anything good and none of the blame for the bad- that disingenuous crock is too tiresome to even refute- just pick a standard and stick with it). I guess you also slept through your civics class, which is why you started babbling about the Bible, conveniently forgetting the the United States is a secular constitutional democratic republic, not a theocracy. I assume you also slept through the part of your history class the day they covered what is was like to be poor before the advent of the social safety net. We tried it your way- for decades. Private charity failed miserably at handling the needs of the poor. Churches were overwhelmed and unable to deal with the poor, either. While there is certainly nothing wrong with either of those, it wasn't until the safety net that we finally got rid of the pernicious problems like poor houses and debtor's prisons and seniors unable to survive and people starving in the street. Newsflash Rat, we ARE the government. Using the power of the federal government to fix problems is how it's supposed to work- it's more effective, more efficient and ultimately more humane than the GOP alternative. It just requires not irrationally hating the federal government to the point of sabotaging it at every turn, then yelling "see? it's broken!"
"Why not let them figure your tax rate?"
They already do- after decades of the failed supply side joke known as trickle down economics, the ultra rich have made so much money that they now can afford to buy their very own pet politicians and favored legislation, which is why capital gains are taxed at a fraction of what working stiffs pay on the fruits of their labor and why abominations like the carried interest exemption and second home mortgage deduction and all the other sweetheart tax advantages exist, while the majority of the burden of funding this country has been shifted to the backs of the the middle class.
But by all means, keep lighting those candles for the poor, put upon billionaires...
Everything in that post is a lie. These kids are thoroughly screened on the spot for infectious diseases and are given a TB test and all necessary vaccinations immediately, despite the fact that all these countries routinely give all their children the BCG vaccination (unlike the U.S.). In fact the overall vaccination rate for these countries is every bit as good as the rate for U.S. children, all of them over 90%. Mexico's rate of 98% of children vaccinated far eclipses ours at 93-94% (thanks anti vaxxer nitwits). But calling them disease ridden vermin helps people like trainmanswife rationalize their irrational hatred and sleep better at night. Two kids get sent to a hospital for a fever- out of roughly 50,000. EVERYBODY PANIC!
These children are also thoroughly screened for gang activity and/or criminal records and NO child that fails these screenings is released. The idea that ruthless Central American gang bangers are wandering the streets of America is just another vicious lie told to justify the irrational fear and hate. But the best part is, somehow the deteriorating political situation and the drug violence in Central America is all Obama's doing. He has purposely caused all this to happen (why? who knows? but if you irrationally hate the president, everything bad that happens anywhere on the planet is his doing as part of some secret plan to do something or another).
The best part is the tinfoil hat reasoning for all this. Turns out the president went down to Central America to personally convince thousands of families to send their children on a long perilous voyage across multiple countries in the blazing heat with nothing to their names other than the clothes on their back- all as a favor to help some political party half a world away win some election that has nothing to do with them. It makes perfect sense- those Honduran families aren't worrying about the coup d'état in their own country, or the gangs, or the drugs or the death squads or the rampant violence or hunger-no, their number one priority is to risk their kids' lives to vote in some foreign country ten years in the future when they're actually old enough to vote.
This is the sort of moonbat, completely crazy conspiracy theory that passes for rational thinking on the right these days. Yes, the plight of those poor refugees is nothing but a Democratic plot to flood the country with eight year old landscapers, nine year old dishwashers and hotel maids and an army of ten year old voters marching on our polling places this year to influence the mid-term elections. But hey, whatever helps you wingnuts justify your irrational hate and xenophobia, right? If you clowns had an ounce of sense you'd be ashamed of yourselves.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/26/us/snake…
That's Alejandro, age eight- quite the hardened criminal, amirite? See how he is "invading" the country, as he meekly presents his birth certificate to a Border Patrol agent? He sure looks dangerous. He's fleeing the chaos caused by a coup d'état by the Honduran military and all the human rights abuses from the interim government, as well as the death squads.
These are the children that you call criminals who are invading the U.S. You smear them, dehumanize them, call them disease ridden- anything to rationalize your hatred and xenophobia. Yes Laura, you ARE inhumane and full of irrational fear and hate, too. These children are not invading, they've been apprehended and are now being housed in accordance with the law you claim to so cherish while they are given due process before they are processed and then sent home to face more of the insane violence that they fled.
That you don't even realize that the U.S. is in fact following the law and is in the process of likely deporting Alejandro and his fellow children shows just how misinformed you are as well. That dangerous combination of irrational hatred, xenophobia and ignorance makes you the perfect mark for an unethical con man like Babeau. He milks your anger to further his political career- you're the perfect rube. Congratulations, this article is about you...