Arkansas Blog

W.H.I.N.E.

Welcome Home International Elites.

They can all safely come back to USA and forget about leading dull lives in tax exempt nations.

"...Mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again..."

oh yeah, we've already got one.

And what do we do? Tax breaks for the rich.. and constant bail out of their gambling losses.. It will be a miracle if the super rich get a meager 100 billion of our tax dollars for their Freddie and Fannie shenanigans... could be trillions if hey have their way.

Not quite pollen. In Hoover's day it was clearly the free market that done us in. Now it's the free market and Neo-con artists incompetence and an elective China financed war. What the hell, our very first war was fought on borrowed money so suppose our last "war" will reflect that tradition but never the noble purpose.

" In Hoover's day it was clearly the free market that done us in."

Yep, and then when pressure was applied on Hoover to provide government aid he was all for helping needy banks but not to needy individuals. Thus the birth of the modern GOP philosophy of the corporate state.

Nice populist, class warfare message. I noticed you didn't make a peep when the study by the Tax Foundation release the numbers on who pays taxes and who doesnt which noted, "The top 1 percent of income earners, by household, paid 39 percent of all federal income taxes in 2005, whereas the bottom 50 percent paid a little over 3 percent. Further, 32 percent of all tax returns filed in 2005 were from people who paid no federal income tax at all."

So as "the top 1 percent of Americans in income are pulling down the biggest share of the GDP in decades" they are also paying the most taxes, employing the most people and keeping the country going.

Stop whinning.

At the link.

The top 5 percent should be paying 90 percent of the taxes. If they did, they would still be insanely rich.

Stop whining.

All those taxes they pay and we have record deficits. Entitlements, subsidies, bailouts, handouts,etc., has nothing to do with it. Right.......

Question for Cit Home:

How much of the nations' wealth do the top 1% control?

.

"So as "the top 1 percent of Americans in income are pulling down the biggest share of the GDP in decades" they are also paying the most taxes, employing the most people and keeping the country going."
by: The Citizens Journal

I love It...they got all the money and pay the most taxes and get no credit. POOR BABY!

You guys don't get it, this is an equal opportunity country not an equal outcome country.

Some need to also realize that the more the "rich" pay in taxes at some point that gets passed down to us. These evil rich people own the businesses that employ the people. They are only going to pay so much in taxes, then those costs get indirectly passed to us either in what we pay for their services/products or in the fact that they hire fewer people, decrease in the growth of their respective industry.
I make a meager $30,000 working my butt off for a non-profit, and I am grateful for the fact that I essentially pay no income taxes. However, I make purchases and if you don't think we pay more for an evil hamburger when taxes cut into Mr. McDonald's profits, well you are just wrong. We all pay plenty of f-ing money in taxes. it is up to government to not waste it.

Aw get off it guys. Taxes for the wealthy are like foreign aid. 68% of what the USA "gives" in foreign aid comes back to us. Taxes on the super rich work the same way. So reduce their 33% or 35% tax rate by at least 60%.
.

I agree with you that people like Al Gore need to pay a lot more in taxes. We need a major tax overhaul, but it's not going to happen with congress wanting to reward their friends. We need major tax simplication - regardless of whether it puts H&R Block out of business. You libs give a poor person an unearned income credit, and what do they do with it, but blow it on paying to have their taxes done and a tax refund anticipation loan. The illegal aliens seriously underreport their incomes.

Mike Huckabee was partly correct about the need for a flat tax. We do need to switch to a hybrid tax system in which we only tax consumption for anyone under some arbitrary income level (e.g. just below Max Brantley's household income), so that a majority of taxpayers never have to file. Then you have an income tax surcharge hitting people above some arbitrary high income. A majority of the population would be able to fill out their taxes on a postcard. Those in the top 10% (or whatever percentile) would have to continue to file.

Hey, guys and gals, let's quit kidding ourselves: Everybody on this blog is wealthy. Yes, everybody.

CJ - You Darwinian troglodyte. Hope you don't have an infirmity [other than lacking an ethical framework] because by your reasoning any one of us without an infirmity can eliminate you. And what a better place the world would be for it.
You want to play survival of the fittest - come to my neighborhood and get that equal opportunity to perish. Folks like you would be b-b-qued for supper.
Equal opportunity you say? ---- more than your ethics are infirm.

Janus, aren't you supposed to be open to other views ? I mean you are an all understanding, open minded, liberal aren't you ? Allow me to fein injury at your name calling.

You stay classy Liberals.

Hey, guys and gals, let's quit kidding ourselves: Everybody on this blog is wealthy. Yes, everybody.

Posted by: durangokid

Ha!

ES, is your air conditioner running this hot afternoon? Eating three squares a day? Got a TV? Satellite dish? Telephone? Got a vehicle to get about in? Got the medicine you need? Got a bottle of wine or a cold one stuck back for later tonight? Got some good music in the house? Indoor plumbing? Some thought-provoking literature to read, maybe? You're wealthy, dude. Count the ways.

everyone on this blog is wealthy? what do you mean

http://www.personaluniversitychecks.com/

Janus, aren't you supposed to be open to other views ? I mean you are an all understanding, open minded, liberal aren't you ? Allow me to fein injury at your name calling.
You stay classy Liberals. CJ

No fella, you are the class war expert - you stay classy with your outmoded concepts of social / economic structure. Your Darwinian "view" was trashed in the ashes of Nazi Germany. Do you read much? Do you understand anything? Yours is a "view" long since discredited by anyone with a scintilla of sense. You hold on to such discredited "views" for your own self-justification and maintenance of your world view which allows you to be crude and callous to other human beings. [Or don't you think the rest of us are human beings unless we are in the top 1% of earners?] Were your parents Germans in the 30's perhaps and you just can't shake the DNA?
Of course you would have to "fein injury" - because nothing in your putrified life has meaning.

"No fella, you are the class war expert - you stay classy with your outmoded concepts of social / economic structure. Your Darwinian "view" was trashed in the ashes of Nazi Germany. Do you read much? Do you understand anything? Yours is a "view" long since discredited by anyone with a scintilla of sense. You hold on to such discredited "views" for your own self-justification and maintenance of your world view which allows you to be crude and callous to other human beings. [Or don't you think the rest of us are human beings unless we are in the top 1% of earners?] Were your parents Germans in the 30's perhaps and you just can't shake the DNA?
Of course you would have to "fein injury" - because nothing in your putrified life has meaning"

You are literally insane, and the fact that you have to viciously and personally attack someone shows your lack of intelligence or understanding. If you had an intelligent argument to make, you could articulate it without the sophomoric name calling.

Durango said: "Hey, guys and gals, let's quit kidding ourselves: Everybody on this blog is wealthy. Yes, everybody."

Let me help clarify. When St. Barry says that he will be raising taxes on the wealthy, he is talking about you. He's not talking about just the top 1%.

Voodoo Economics

[LINK] blue bejeeus

Keep you delusions, Durango.. wouldn't want you to actually think about 50 plus million americans without healthcare... probably another 150 million who will lose their homes when the times comes to seek out healthcare because the pain is just to unbearable anymore..

Many of the people in my county would answer no to at least half your "measurements" of wealth... certainly no to 3 squares, AC, transportation, medicines, a cold one.. and quite a few without plumbing.... lord knows how bad some of the ground water is getting for those who do have plumbing.... and a trip to wal-mart quickly shows the people are in what should be a state of needed dental care emergency around here.

durango,
by comparison to other nations/cultures many of us are wealthy. At least we're not living 8 people in a two bedroom apt like many of our Hispanic residents in Rogers-Spdle-Fayetteville do.
So, we thank the rich folks for that?

>>We do need to switch to a hybrid tax system in which we only tax consumption for anyone under some arbitrary income level <<

That's the way it is now Service. We have several different kinds of taxes at work in America. Excise taxes, gasoline (user) taxes, luxury taxes, gift taxes, inheritance taxes, income taxes. The first three of those are in effect sales taxes. States and cities have additional taxes: sales, income, user taxes, property taxes and many permits and fees are the equivalent of taxes.

We have an abundance of ways to tax ourselves. The problem is FAIR APPLICATION of ALL taxes.

I recall the 2004 prez debates. Bush, worth approx $10-12 million dollars was paying 15% fed income tax;
John and Teresa Kerry, worth about $500 million, were paying 12% income tax rate.

There's many ways BHO could increase federal tax revenues without ever increasing a tax rate-
Plug the loop holes, there's several thousand lines of code connected to them;
end the Bush giveaway to certain income classes esp the one that allows a taxpayer to reduce the effective cost of an expensive vehicle by over half it's cost via tax refunds and reductions.
Ending offshore havens would be a big revenue generator.

BTW, cities and states raise about 4x as much tax revenue as the Federal gubbermint.

What is going on? A couple of days ago, the only person blogging on here was strangelove (or so it seemed...he was posting back to back to back).

Today, we get a good thread going and he is nowhere to be heard.

I tend to think he was a plant from the dark side just to get the good guys stirred up.

Wow janus. You managed to not only throw off the Liberal shackles of understanding and tolerance when confronted by another view point you also managed an accusation of what I can only assume is a negative stereotype in your pathetic view of the world, calling me a Jew.

More liberal hate on display.

Class envy and populism will get you nowhere.

janus, i really do appreciate you giving The CJ whatfor and all, but please stop referencing "darwinism." you're doing the man a great disservice. what you probably mean is the bastardized "social darwinism" concept, which he denounced.

carry on.

You are literally insane, and the fact that you have to viciously and personally attack someone shows your lack of intelligence or understanding. If you had an intelligent argument to make, you could articulate it without the sophomoric name calling. DHO

Thank you for the diagnosis Dr. DHO. What are your credentials -- the fact that you disagree with me? [without any counter argument I might note]
I guess it is OK for you and CJ to demonstrate no concern for middle and low income citizens - that's not vicious and personal. In your book it's just condescending and impersonal --- values we certainly all should emulate.
As to intelligence and understanding - what about Social Darwinism do you not understand? What about the Nazi's taking that concept to its most inhumane extreme do you not understand? [Am I getting pesonal yet?] How about Manifest Destiny as practiced by the United States? It seems that you are the one without intelligence [or at least knowledge]. Sorry you missed the story line - perhaps that's a comment on your intelligence not mine.
I am glad you don't like the pointed, sarcastic commentary. Another attribute of you folks, besides no concern for people you find inferior because they didn't take advantage of so called "equal opporunity", is a total lack of a sense of humor.

".............nothing in your putrified life has meaning."

Oh I'm sorry that was supposed to be funny ? I guess I missed it.

To your other points, I am simply trying to point out that taxing employers into the ground because of class envy will do nothing to improve the bottom 50 percent's situation. It forces costs onto those who already are having a hard time providing, it may even result in less jobs because those employers will just go where there are less taxes to operate.

Now in your world view how does punishing the top earners equate with not being concerned over the less fortunate ? If you want good paying jobs, and jobs with the ability to move up and grow you will keep taxes low. Its a rule as old as the earth itself, if you tax something you will get less of it. Period.

"Keep you delusions, Durango.. wouldn't want you to actually think about 50 plus million americans without healthcare..."

Don't try to pull that crap on me, ES. Go back and read my original post. I said everybody on this BLOG is wealthy. I was talking about YOU. And me. I was not speaking "about 50 plus million americans without healthcare. . ." Not speaking about the "50 plus million" while posting about the wealth of people on this BLOG doesn't mean I don't think about the "50 million plus" or care about them.

"durango, by comparison to other nations/cultures many of us are wealthy. At least we're not living 8 people in a two bedroom apt like many of our Hispanic residents in Rogers-Spdle-Fayetteville do."

Precisely, eLwood. That's my entire point. Obviously, Eureka Springs missed it.

Who said anything about taxing employers? ANd no employer would be rich without the sweat of those working for them. Nobody deserves two or three planes or vacation homes... while others cannot get a doctor or pay for prescriptions.. or basic eye or dental care.

Haven't the rich had their chance over the last thirty years to demonstrate their greed and lack of regard for the working poor and middle in our country? I think thirty years is lng enough to (one again) declare the rich a miserable failure in terms of participation in society at large.

The minimum wage today is considerably less than a third of the purchasing power of the minimum wage in the early 1970's... yet the rich have never been better off.

But the working poor, retired, disabled or unemployed Americans should just thank all that is holy they have indoor plumbing and a television, if that.

I am not rich... at all.

CJ- I guess you've got us with your link to the very upstanding and unbiased Heritage Foundation. I mean, who among us can dispute either them or FUXX News for being 'fair and balanced'?

So if the top 10% of Americans paid about 70% of all federal income taxes in 2005, that means the tax system is fair? How much of American total income went into the pockets of those same 10% of the richest rich in 2005? And federal income tax is only one measurement of who is paying what percentage of taxes. For example, we know that capital gains, almost exclusively going to the very rich, is taxed at 15% maximum. The rest of that unearned income is excluded from taxes, while zero dollars of the average person's wages are similarly excluded.

Why do you suppose that is? Care to hazard a guess? Can you say lobbyists? Can you say campaign payoffs? Can you say PACs? Can you say corruption? Can you say screw the little guys who can't afford to play by the rules in the halls of Congress or the halls of 50 state capitols?

Frankly, having such a large percentage of America's wealth going into so few hands is a prescription for disaster of our great experiment called democracy.

Not that many years ago a family could live off the income of one full time worker. Not lavishly, but a roof over their heads, food on the table, you know, the basics. Not any more. Ever hear of the 'working poor'? The rich have now squeezed them until they've got a boot on their throats even while they play by the rules- work hard and stay out of trouble, but fall deeper and deeper into a hole that the rich just keep on digging for them.

Here's my definition of a Republican- there's a dinner party for 8. When it gets around to dessert, the host/hostess cuts the pie into 8 pieces. The Republican says: "I want 2 pieces". The Host/Hostess responds: "But that will mean somebody else won't get a piece." Republican replies: "That's not my problem. I want 2 pieces."

"...I love It...they got all the money and pay the most taxes and get no credit. POOR BABY!"--bejeeus

Yeah, my heart breaks every time I hear Republicans whine about the wealthiest having to pay the most to keep our country running and our people healthy/fed/safe. Good grief...isn't it obvious that's simply the way it should be?!? I'd be thrilled to hand the government ten million so I could keep ten million...if it's providing me and my fellow humans with an infrastructure, protection and help for the least able of us. (And, I'd even share more of my pretend millions.) The greed is sickening; and hiding it behind the mythical carrot dangled by a non-existing free market where we're all one tax break away from being millionaires is just a big old con game.

Of course there is great opportunity for the average American...especially compared to many other countries. But mostly (and unless government enforces some regulations...sometimes), unregulated, uncontrolled wealth stays with the same handful of families because they ensure it's so; (i.e., when the Duponts/Morgans used their wealth in an attempted military coup against Roosevelt).

Let's see. Are these the same rich 1% who pay 70% of the taxes?

"Let's see. Are these the same rich 1% who pay 70% of the taxes?"--strange

If so...so what?

Saying that the top 1% are making money without mentioning their tax burden is a bit one-sided.

Burden, Strange? Burden?
Somehow I don't feel sorry for that one percent -- not when we have paid our bills all our lives, saved what we could and hit retirement age (or near in my case) and find that we have to pay more than 40 percent of our monthly income for medical care, including a skimpy but expensive medical insurance policy for me. You see, I had a choice. I could work and have insurance or I could take care of my husband.
If you looked at the monthly numbers, you'd probably say, well, you're making it ok. But that doesn't include a hearing aid repair, new glassses, dental bills, a broken window, new tires, a radiator leak, getting someone to cut down a dead tree before it falls on something, and on and on and on . . . It damn sure doesn't include $4 gas so Bush and Cheney and their buds can retire to a private island somewhere if it gets too hot for 'em here. (I wish.). It doesn't include the big bills -- insurance and taxes. It doesn't include Christmas, for crap sake.
The savings? That's spiraling down so fast it's enough to make me faint -- and then we can see if my medical insurance provider will manage to weasel out of paying the bills. My bet? They'll try. No doubt about it.
And we're among the lucky ones. We have a decent roof over our head and plenty of food to put on the table, even if I have to grow some of it myself. My husband can get the medications he needs, even if I have to juggle and finagle a little to do it. We can pay the electric bill. We can buy a tank of gas every now and then.
Don't you talk to me about burden, Strange.
Strange? More like fool.

I'm not rich and I face the same problems that everyone other regular person faces. However, what are you advocating---take money away from the rich and redistribute it to the poor? Even if you did it would only eventually end up back where it came from.

I am saying the rich have taken far to much from the workers and from the government teet.. I am an advocate of progressive taxation..and higher minimum wage, unions, etc.. We need to quit measuring our nations wealth by the decadence of the rich or the amount of silicon injected in face and bodies..

We ned to measure the lower income and working middle, lifestyle, education level, health and welfare level when judging our country. Not just how many billionaires we have... I grew up thinking that's what nations under kings and dictators do... little did I know it was not limited to just that type of nation.

Amen, doigotta, we're all just one major illness away from bankruptcy/destitution...unless you're that tax-burdened 1 percent. That's ONE OF the things that made the Republican bankruptcy rewrite such a horrid piece of sell-out legislation. The credit-card companies/banks (pretty much one/the same) wrote the damn thing.