AMERICAblog: 48% think they're paying the right amount in taxes
GoBlue
· 7 months ago
For America to have the social safety net that Sweden has, I'd gladly let Uncle Sam tax me at the same rate I'd be taxed over there. That's assuming, of course, that Sweden has a progressive tax rate, making the wealthy pay a higher percentage and not letting CEOs hide income as stock options or whatever.
hrh
· 7 months ago
Saw a segment on tv a while back where a reporter was interviewing firemen in a Swedish town. Seems they all owned their own homes free & clear, and some even had weekend places. This in addition to their medical care, education, etc, etc.
See, Socialism is bad, bad, bad!
Tillyosu
· 7 months ago
Ya that's awesome. The problem with socialism, of course, is that "eventually you run out of other people's money."
An_American_Karol
· 7 months ago
Are you suggesting firemen don't earn their own keep or pay their own taxes?
Tillyosu
· 7 months ago
No, I am suggesting that firemen who have first and second houses free and clear, and free medical care and education are earning MORE than their own keep.
Let me ask you, what is a man who works for the benefit of another man without compensation? Is he not a slave?
liberal-cheesehead
· 7 months ago
Please explain just exactly what is wrong with socialism. You act as if it is a bad thing doing something that is for the common good of everyone instead of being incredibly shelfish and unchristian and caring only about yourself. Why should all the profits of your labor and creativity be given away to a small elite so they can live in splendor while everyone else is forced to live off the crumbs? What you call socialism in Europe is still capitalism and practiced in a democratic system. If you think this is bad, then you must only care about the 1 or 2% at the top, which by the way always has a way of looking out for itself.
Tillyosu
· 7 months ago
First, I don't think it is a bad thing doing something for the "common good" (have you ever noticed that the "common good" to each individual means everyone but himself?) IF you are so inclined. What I DO think is a bad thing FORCING people to work for the "common good" if they are not so inclined.
Second, I don't think that the profits of my labor should be given away to a small elite OR to anyone else for that matter. I would prefer that EVERYONE be able to keep the profits of their labor.
I don't understand how you guys don't realize that when men act in THEIR OWN SELF INTEREST the "common good" is enriched, while when men are made slaves to the masses, the "common good" is destroyed. That is PRECISELY the reason that capitalism thrives while communism failed.
ndtovent
· 7 months ago
most "socialist" countries (which really have regulated capitalism) per capita, are much happier than americans, have much lower crime rates, have higher average life spans, and lower infant mortality rates. Democratic socialism is NOT communism. Most european countries are doing just fine, thank you.
Judas Peckerwood
· 7 months ago
Exactly. It's not that I feel like I'm being taxed too much, just for the wrong things –– illegal/immoral wars, a gigantically bloated "defense" budget, corporate welfare, etc.
been there
· 7 months ago
In 1955, the effective(income and SS) tax rate at the median income was 13%. Nowadays, it's about 16%, mostly due to far higher SS/Medicare rate.
Effective tax rate peaked in the mid 80's at 20%.
Corporate tax rates are far lower than in 1955, capital gains about the same.
Top marginal rate on income tax was 91% in the mid 50's and early 60's.
Most of us are paying too much in taxes because corporations and wealthy individuals use offshore tax havens to hide income and avoid paying taxes. Hope BHO is successful with his plan to make foreign banks accountable.
And how about corporations, such as Halliburton, that have moved their "home office" offshore to avoid taxes?
Close these loopholes, force the banks to act responsibly, and our taxes will plummet. Hmmmm, I wonder what the teabaggers think about that? Presuming they're capable of such an elitist activity as (Shudder!) thinking.
kevinbgoode
· 7 months ago
It appears to be a core Republican philosophy that it is disgraceful to spend American tax dollars on Americans in America. . .when there are so many countries the GOP wants to invade in which we can waste this money rebuilding several times the things we destroy.
It really doesn't matter what level of government we are talking about - the GOP's delusions include the idea that God should build the highways using slave prison labor (excluding, of course, any bank executives who are sentenced for stealing), that bridges shouldn't be replaced by government until they've fallen into the rivers, and that potholes should be treated as tourist attractions for foreign visitors to the Heartland.
CDS2
· 7 months ago
Kind of understandable since 40% of the folks don't pay any Income Tax at all.
The Taxpaying Minority By ARI FLEISCHER April 16, 2007; Page A15 (Wall St. Journal)
"If the tax forms you're filing this year show Uncle Sam entitled to any income tax, you increasingly stand alone. The income tax system is so bad, and increasingly reliant on a shrinking number of Americans to pay the nation's bills, that 40% of the country's households -- more than 44 million adults -- pay no income taxes at all. Not a penny".......................
Forty2
· 7 months ago
Ari Fleischer as a source of hard data? Are you fucking kidding?
And even if that number is correct, what exactly is so wrong with someone making say under $18,000 a year not having to pay income tax? I'm fine with it. 10% of that is a far higher burden than the whopping extra few percent imposed on *marginal* income over $250,000. But few of the tea-tards even know what marginal tax rates mean.
CDS2
· 7 months ago
Ari is quoting the Bipartisan CBO...(Congressional Budget Office).
An_American_Karol
· 7 months ago
And putting his own spin on it. That is so "Foxnews" of you to post it.
CDS2
· 7 months ago
There's no spin...It's just a simple statement of facts. Go to the CBO, it's all right there.
Tillyosu
· 7 months ago
Seriously though. If 48% of Americans think their income taxes are "about right" and 40% of Americans don't pay any income taxes at all...doesn't that mean that just 8% of Americans WHO ACTUALLY PAY INCOME TAXES think that it's "about right?"
So let's review: 8% of TAXPAYERS think their taxes are "about right" while 46% of TAXPAYERS think their taxes are too high. And you are touting this poll because???
CDS2
· 7 months ago
Oh Oh, that's a tough one !
Tillyosu
· 7 months ago
You don't think there is anything wrong with about half the country having a vote, but no financial stake, in how we spend our money?
Obama keeps talking about "fairness" in the tax code. I believe that if you make 25% of the income, you should have to pay 25% of the taxes. How is that not fair?
dula
· 7 months ago
stange, if almost half of all Americans pay no tax, then why all the constant whining about paying taxes?
95% (of only 60% of Americans who actually pay taxes, according to your figures) of taxpayers are getting a tax CUT with Obama. Taxes on the top 5% are lower now than when Reagan was in office. It doesn't make sense all this whining about paying taxes. If you want military, water, electricity, roads, bridges, parks, etc, then pay your taxes. It costs money to run this country. Perhaps instead of focusing on tea bagging, you could insist that corporations pay their taxes instead of maintaining their off-shore tax havens.
CDS2
· 7 months ago
Taxes on everyone, at every level are lower today than they were in 1999. That does not mean that everyone is paying their fair share, or that the Government is spending our taxes like drunken sailors. I don't have any problem paying my fair share, and I do, my problem is 'who is determining my fair share' and how are they spending it.
dula
· 7 months ago
You didn't seem to mind G.W. using your tax $ to perpetrate a war of choice in Iraq, which we are still paying billions$ a month for...not to mention the 3 or 4 $trillion that have gone missing in the Pentagon. But when the spending is to create jobs and provide health care you all of a sudden have a problem. BTW, only the top 5% got a noticeable tax cut in 2000 Bush Admin. During Reagan your savior's time, the top tax rate was 50%. What is it now? Yeah right.
CDS2
· 7 months ago
That is simply not true. Everyone, Everyone that paid any taxes at all, got a tax cut. That's everyone ! Google Federal Income tax....go to 1999 and compare the rates with 2007. You will find that EVERYONE got a reduction in their taxes !
dula
· 7 months ago
What of the bit about you letting G.W. raid the Treasury for a war of choice or the fact that the top income bracket is radically lower than Reagan's 50% rate? Instead you are obsessed with some skimpy tax cut that the Working Class barely noticed.
san diego pete
· 7 months ago
here, here. that's a much better use of time. let's look at where fox is incorporated and it's tax structure along with haliburton and other scoundrels who have moved off-shore to enhance their profits then protest against those organizations
this whole tea bag thing is just another example of how the wealthy corporate hegemony exploits the uneducated lower classes of our society
Lolis
· 7 months ago
Ari Fleischer is a liar.
CDS, you probably think of yourself as a Christian. What do you think Jesus would think of your complaints that a person who is living at the poverty level pays no income taxes?
These people all pay sales tax, which is usually quite high since local and state governments don't like to raise income taxes.
CDS2
· 7 months ago
Ari Fleisher may be a liar, but not this time. He's using CBO data. If you don't believe him, go there yourself.
cereal
· 7 months ago
Note the difference between "income tax" and PAYROLL TAXES. Fleischer, like a good Republican, is being all weaselly (you could say Clintonian) here to avoid a more general truth.
Way more Americans pay PAYROLL TAXES - about 15% of income - than pay "income" tax. There are no credit or dedictions on payroll taxes and they are not progressive, i.e. they are the same no matter what level of income you have.
Actually the individual pays 7 1/2, and the copmany they work for pays the other 7 1/2. The rich do get a break on this tax in that there is a ceiling at which the tax stops.
Andy
· 7 months ago
Well, considering these taxes are for providing income and health care after they retire, I should think that it would make sense that they contribute into that system. I don't mind paying taxes, but not so that my fellow citizens can sit around and bitch about government.
Tillyosu
· 7 months ago
Actually, why don't we take a look at the question that Gallup asked?
"Do you consider the amount of FEDERAL INCOME TAX you have to pay as too high, about right, or too low?"
D'oh! Those "weaselly" facts...
san diego pete
· 7 months ago
this is the 2nd year that we have NOT had a deduction for mortgage interest so we had to write a nice check to the govt. generally I feel that we (my wife and I) pay about the right amount in taxes. what do we get in return? a quasi-democratic government (quasi b/c big moneyed interests hold too much influence over the legislative process) that allows free speech and a society where anyone who applies him or herself can make a better life for his or her family.
my only regret is that I can't check off exactly where I'd like my tax money to be spent. for example I want to pay for more training for snipers who can hit nighttime head shots on a moving boat (that's the type of military we need to combat terrorists) or paying for head start programs in underserved communities so that younger kids can get a positive start on their education or for mass transit projects so that we can eliminate carbon-producing suvs but I get really hacked thinking I'm paying for a ted stevens or robert byrd bridge or road to nowhere or paying for some stupid study about some stupid insect
btw, we made over $150k so we didn't qualify for any of the tax relief but we don't mind b/c while we don't always agree w/elected officials we do feel that we get good return on our dollars.
Indigo
· 7 months ago
Your situation is a good argument in favor of carrying a mortgage that generates enough interest debt to be a significant deductable.
grandma
· 7 months ago
Gays stage their own tax day tea party protest
While conservatives are planning nationwide “Tea Parties” protesting taxes — and even same-sex marriage — same-sex couples are planning some tea parties of their own: to protest the government overcharging them. Because same-sex couples are not recognized by the federal government, they face higher taxes.
“It doesn’t matter how long a same-sex couple has been together, come Tax Day they are considered single by the federal government,” states a press release from Join the Impact. “As single people, they must pretend their finances and their futures are not intertwined and forgo access to the many economic safety nets their tax dollars help fund, such as Social Security survivor benefits, estate tax deferral when inheriting property, and the ability to file taxes jointly. Every year, LGBT people are forced to pay taxes on their partner’s health care benefits as if it were additional income.”
Since many more GLT people are involved in relationships w plants & pets than actual people the importance of the above posting is lost on them. Equal Taxes, Equal Rights
BenWhittaker
· 7 months ago
I watched the tea parties covered on both MSNBC and CNN and in both cases the camera crews were trying as hard as they could to keep a small frame of view. A few times they slipped up and you could see huge open areas because there were only a few protesters. Geeez ... this is just like that staged 'protest' around the Sadaam statue in Iraq.
Older_Wiser
· 7 months ago
If a large number of working people aren't paying "income tax" on their earnings, then those earnings are pathetic. Let those who are complaining about people "not paying" taxes try to live on what some people are forced to work for; in some cases, even with higher education, people are simply not earning what they should. A single person making $20K a year or less simply can no longer afford an apt, transportation, food, utilities, etc. alone, unless they forego an awful lot, like health care, decent clothing, etc.
And lots of those people who "pay no income taxes" are trying to raise families on crappy wages, as well. It says a lot about a society that forces both parents to work in order just to keep food on the table, because no matter how many "budgeting courses" you take, if you can't meet all your expenses on your salary(ies) then the cost of living is just too expensive, esp. when everyone else around you is in the same boat.
The myth that poor people don't pay taxes is such a phony one when you consider that most pay state income tax, telephone tax, utilities tax, sales tax, property tax (both real and personal), etc. because not all taxes are based on income, and as a percentage of their earnings, poor people probably pay more overall than those better off. And some taxes are hidden, like those built into prices which are not simply based on material and/or labor.
Govts have many ways of collecting taxes. I never minded paying; after all, I wanted all those services of modern life that we take for granted. And can you imagine what the cost would be if private enterprise took over the functions of govt? We've had a glimpse of that, and the overpayments, fraud, waste and abuse are simply not worth it. There are many functions of a modern society that are better done collectively. The problem we're always going to face is that the quality of candidates in too many instances is just not high enough.
Lolis
· 7 months ago
Yep, I paid no taxes in 2008 and got the earned income tax credit because my total income was less than 9K. I had four jobs on and off for that year, too.
I just got a full-time job with benefits and I will be paying taxes for the first time in a long time. I won't be complaining next year. Paying taxes means that your quality of life is higher.
Older_Wiser
· 7 months ago
Good for you, getting that job! Many of us, even with kids, have done without, hired into crappy jobs, and sacrificed much more than we should have had to when you get down to the nitty gritty. That's life in a society that doesn't value some as much as others. I don't begrudge anyone a decent living as long as they're not selfish or hypocritical about it (i.e, I deserve it no matter how I get it, but others don't).
Andy
· 7 months ago
I'm confused - are you complaining that you don't have the ability to get a better paying job, or that society doesn't value your contributions of...what, exactly?
If anyone off the street can do your job then, no, it's not going to pay as much as, say, a doctor.
Indigo
· 7 months ago
I'm fine with paying my fair share, I get roads and public services and a mostly stable government in exchange. That's all to the good. I am not fine with people making a farce out of the taxes or trying to pretend that they're witholding payment on a selective basis or just protesting taxation in general and refusing to pay. In that case, I ask that they be so righteous as to stay off the roads and sidewalks my taxes help pay for. No trespassing, please.
Mum48
· 7 months ago
Well said.
smallhandff
· 7 months ago
Why is it that the first 7% of my medical expences are NOT deductable on my 1040? Health Care reform needs to start w the full deductability of all health care expences for self & dependents.
liberal-cheesehead
· 7 months ago
I think I pay more than my fair share, but I don't neccesarily think that my taxes are too high. Those that gain the most from our economic system should pay the most. I am single and have no kids. Yet if you have kids and/or are married you are being subsidized by us singles (and the gays that are denied the right to marry). That really is unfair. Our tax system is patently unfair that large corporations receive so many tax breaks and subsidies at the expense of everyone else. We need some equality and tax fairness really bad.
PeteWa
· 7 months ago
My taxes aren't too high (and I pay way more taxes than most people I know) BUT I do think too much of my taxes go to things they shouldn't.
I'm very big on my taxes going to infrastructure and social programs, while I am completely against them going to corporate welfare and the insane appetite of the Industrial Military complex... going to the military / troops I don't have an issue with, but that's not where it goes.
barfy
· 7 months ago
I don't mind paying taxes. I am bummed that my taxes go to things like weapons, rather than schools.
This whole teabag business is sad. People are angry, but have no real understanding of what they are angry about. So, a couple billionaires tell them to be angry at Obama.
When I look at the end results of my taxes and what I am expected to pay, it comes out to about $8.30/ day just in federal taxes. While I don't enjoy the prospect of paying $8/day to Uncle Sam, in the end I don't mind. It was when I really looked at the numbers and divided by 365 that I got kind of zen about the whole thing.
Andy
· 7 months ago
I pay $274.50/day in federal income taxes. I don't mind, as long as the government doesn't piss it away. I pay that much so that if we need disaster response, the government is there; if the economy is on the verge of collapse, the government is there to support it until "capitalism" is able to take over again; if we need national defense, the government is there to supply it; and so on.
What bothers me is when they spend on things not because their the best approach, but because the lobbyists have paid the big $$ to make it happen (see Medicare Part D).
Tillyosu
· 7 months ago
What you guys fail to understand, is that these tea parties are not JUST about paying too much in taxes.
They are against mortgaging our childrens' future. They are against giving taxpayer money to failed institutions. They are against the growth in the size of government. They are against unprecedented government control over the private sector.
I've heard some of those same sentiments be expressed in these very comments.
Mum48
· 7 months ago
Actually, what I've seen from many of the reports on the tea parties is that many of these people (perhaps even most of them) have some sort of grievance against President Obama. The so-called "failed institutions" didn't immediately start failing on January 20th. And how is government control over the private sector "unprecedented"? Where are the specifics? The deregulation of the past 25+ years, along with the erosion of middle class earning power and the nearly complete destruction of the labor movement, all of which have been amply documented, have done more to mortgage the future of our children and grandchildren than anything that Obama has done in the past 85 days. Judging from what I am seeing of these so-called protests, many of these people are simply acting out their various prejudices, tin-foil-hat delusions, and right-wing fantasies.
CDS2
· 7 months ago
You should tune into FOX if you want the truth about this. Listen to Glen Beck put most of the blame on George Bush and the Republican Congress. But, also hear him blame Obama and the Democrat Congress for continuing and growing the problem.
Tillyosu
· 7 months ago
I repeat, if the top 10% of the population earns 30% of total income, then they should pay precisely 30% of total taxes.
Likewise, if the bottom 50% earns 10% of the total income, they should pay precisely 10% of total taxes.
How could anyone label this system "unfair?"
Nosybear
· 7 months ago
Now I know what's bothering me about this story: The question is ambiguous, a typical survey error. What in this case is meant by "right"? Did I fill out my form correctly so I'm paying the "right" amount of tax or am I paying an appropriate amount given my income? If you ask me did I fill in my form correctly, I did. If you ask me if I'm paying too much, I am. Hence the high percentage - there were two interpretations.
Mum48
· 7 months ago
I actually read the Gallup report on this, but there is something I guess I don't understand. WHY do people feel that their taxes are either too high, just right, or too low? When I buy something I am always looking at what I get for my money. Sometimes it's easy to determine that I'm getting what I pay for: I comparison shop; there's a great sale; the object or service paid for is one that is valuable and I benefit from it immediately and/or in the long term, etc. I guess if I was asked this question, and expected to respond immediately, I would have to choose one of the responses based on how I happened to feel at the moment. And the answer would also depend on my political philosophy. My guess is that, not having time to learn about and think about what taxes provide, both specifically and generally, if I were a liberal/progressive, which I am, I would think that my taxes were probably "about right." If I were a liberal/progressive with a strong socialist bent, I might think that my taxes were "too low." And if were a libertarian or a conservative, I would likely think that my taxes are "too high." Why would I think that my taxes are too high? Is there something that my taxes pay for that I can do without, and that I want other people to do without? If I think my taxes are about right, does that mean that I'm comfortable with the status quo, with the lack of universal health care or the status of inner-city schools (just to name two deficits)?
The Gallup report (available at http://www.gallup.com/poll/117433/Views-Income-...) really makes me doubt even more than I already did the motives of the "teabagger revolt." But I think it is long past time that we have a serious national discussion about civics and any and all related issues, including taxation.
CDS2
· 7 months ago
It could be that you feel that there is too much waste in our Gvt....like hammers that cost $100 apiece, or too much criminal behavoir, like NOT paying ones taxes...
All Comments
See, Socialism is bad, bad, bad!
Let me ask you, what is a man who works for the benefit of another man without compensation? Is he not a slave?
Second, I don't think that the profits of my labor should be given away to a small elite OR to anyone else for that matter. I would prefer that EVERYONE be able to keep the profits of their labor.
I don't understand how you guys don't realize that when men act in THEIR OWN SELF INTEREST the "common good" is enriched, while when men are made slaves to the masses, the "common good" is destroyed. That is PRECISELY the reason that capitalism thrives while communism failed.
Effective tax rate peaked in the mid 80's at 20%.
Corporate tax rates are far lower than in 1955, capital gains about the same.
Top marginal rate on income tax was 91% in the mid 50's and early 60's.
http://freeby50.blogspot.com/2009/04/history-of...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar...
And how about corporations, such as Halliburton, that have moved their "home office" offshore to avoid taxes?
Close these loopholes, force the banks to act responsibly, and our taxes will plummet. Hmmmm, I wonder what the teabaggers think about that? Presuming they're capable of such an elitist activity as (Shudder!) thinking.
It really doesn't matter what level of government we are talking about - the GOP's delusions include the idea that God should build the highways using slave prison labor (excluding, of course, any bank executives who are sentenced for stealing), that bridges shouldn't be replaced by government until they've fallen into the rivers, and that potholes should be treated as tourist attractions for foreign visitors to the Heartland.
The Taxpaying Minority
By ARI FLEISCHER
April 16, 2007; Page A15 (Wall St. Journal)
"If the tax forms you're filing this year show Uncle Sam entitled to any income tax, you increasingly stand alone. The income tax system is so bad, and increasingly reliant on a shrinking number of Americans to pay the nation's bills, that 40% of the country's households -- more than 44 million adults -- pay no income taxes at all. Not a penny".......................
And even if that number is correct, what exactly is so wrong with someone making say under $18,000 a year not having to pay income tax? I'm fine with it. 10% of that is a far higher burden than the whopping extra few percent imposed on *marginal* income over $250,000. But few of the tea-tards even know what marginal tax rates mean.
So let's review: 8% of TAXPAYERS think their taxes are "about right" while 46% of TAXPAYERS think their taxes are too high. And you are touting this poll because???
Obama keeps talking about "fairness" in the tax code. I believe that if you make 25% of the income, you should have to pay 25% of the taxes. How is that not fair?
http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/250.html
But when the spending is to create jobs and provide health care you all of a sudden have a problem.
BTW, only the top 5% got a noticeable tax cut in 2000 Bush Admin. During Reagan your savior's time, the top tax rate was 50%. What is it now? Yeah right.
this whole tea bag thing is just another example of how the wealthy corporate hegemony exploits the uneducated lower classes of our society
CDS, you probably think of yourself as a Christian. What do you think Jesus would think of your complaints that a person who is living at the poverty level pays no income taxes?
These people all pay sales tax, which is usually quite high since local and state governments don't like to raise income taxes.
Way more Americans pay PAYROLL TAXES - about 15% of income - than pay "income" tax. There are no credit or dedictions on payroll taxes and they are not progressive, i.e. they are the same no matter what level of income you have.
http://www.urban.org/publications/1001065.html
"Do you consider the amount of FEDERAL INCOME TAX you have to pay as too high, about right, or too low?"
D'oh! Those "weaselly" facts...
my only regret is that I can't check off exactly where I'd like my tax money to be spent. for example I want to pay for more training for snipers who can hit nighttime head shots on a moving boat (that's the type of military we need to combat terrorists) or paying for head start programs in underserved communities so that younger kids can get a positive start on their education or for mass transit projects so that we can eliminate carbon-producing suvs but I get really hacked thinking I'm paying for a ted stevens or robert byrd bridge or road to nowhere or paying for some stupid study about some stupid insect
btw, we made over $150k so we didn't qualify for any of the tax relief but we don't mind b/c while we don't always agree w/elected officials we do feel that we get good return on our dollars.
While conservatives are planning nationwide “Tea Parties” protesting taxes — and even same-sex marriage — same-sex couples are planning some tea parties of their own: to protest the government overcharging them. Because same-sex couples are not recognized by the federal government, they face higher taxes.
“It doesn’t matter how long a same-sex couple has been together, come Tax Day they are considered single by the federal government,” states a press release from Join the Impact. “As single people, they must pretend their finances and their futures are not intertwined and forgo access to the many economic safety nets their tax dollars help fund, such as Social Security survivor benefits, estate tax deferral when inheriting property, and the ability to file taxes jointly. Every year, LGBT people are forced to pay taxes on their partner’s health care benefits as if it were additional income.”
http://minnesotaindependent.com/32232/gays-stag...
Equal Taxes, Equal Rights
And lots of those people who "pay no income taxes" are trying to raise families on crappy wages, as well. It says a lot about a society that forces both parents to work in order just to keep food on the table, because no matter how many "budgeting courses" you take, if you can't meet all your expenses on your salary(ies) then the cost of living is just too expensive, esp. when everyone else around you is in the same boat.
The myth that poor people don't pay taxes is such a phony one when you consider that most pay state income tax, telephone tax, utilities tax, sales tax, property tax (both real and personal), etc. because not all taxes are based on income, and as a percentage of their earnings, poor people probably pay more overall than those better off. And some taxes are hidden, like those built into prices which are not simply based on material and/or labor.
Govts have many ways of collecting taxes. I never minded paying; after all, I wanted all those services of modern life that we take for granted. And can you imagine what the cost would be if private enterprise took over the functions of govt? We've had a glimpse of that, and the overpayments, fraud, waste and abuse are simply not worth it. There are many functions of a modern society that are better done collectively. The problem we're always going to face is that the quality of candidates in too many instances is just not high enough.
I just got a full-time job with benefits and I will be paying taxes for the first time in a long time. I won't be complaining next year. Paying taxes means that your quality of life is higher.
If anyone off the street can do your job then, no, it's not going to pay as much as, say, a doctor.
I'm very big on my taxes going to infrastructure and social programs, while I am completely against them going to corporate welfare and the insane appetite of the Industrial Military complex... going to the military / troops I don't have an issue with, but that's not where it goes.
This whole teabag business is sad. People are angry, but have no real understanding of what they are angry about. So, a couple billionaires tell them to be angry at Obama.
Useful idiots.
There's more cool stuff on the teabaggery at
http://hellodollyllama.blogspot.com/
Come visit!
What bothers me is when they spend on things not because their the best approach, but because the lobbyists have paid the big $$ to make it happen (see Medicare Part D).
They are against mortgaging our childrens' future. They are against giving taxpayer money to failed institutions. They are against the growth in the size of government. They are against unprecedented government control over the private sector.
I've heard some of those same sentiments be expressed in these very comments.
Likewise, if the bottom 50% earns 10% of the total income, they should pay precisely 10% of total taxes.
How could anyone label this system "unfair?"
The Gallup report (available at http://www.gallup.com/poll/117433/Views-Income-...) really makes me doubt even more than I already did the motives of the "teabagger revolt." But I think it is long past time that we have a serious national discussion about civics and any and all related issues, including taxation.