Out of Touch Watch — Many Americans Not Paying Taxes At All
Perhaps in his social circle, but come on now:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsazrg1gbO0[/youtube]
Tags: 2008 Presidential, John McCain
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The man is out of touch ! I just think he is past his political prime !
Politicial prime? He is two steps away from being in a home.
A home for Blackberries.
Not to back McCain…I personally think he’s not worth a shit…but actually somewhere in the neighborhood of the bottom 40% of wage earners in this country do not pay income tax. They actually pay a negative 3.8% of the total income tax paid. Does Obama’s plan mean that these taxpayers will get a larger refund? Makes a good sound bite though.
He is two steps away from being in a home.
God, ANOTHER home for McCain?
Actually McCain knows how tough it is on American workers. He thinks he may have lost a home or two in the mortgage crisis. His people are looking into it.
It seems McCain has more than 7 houses he didnt correct the true number. McCain has no idea how tough it is on the middle class and poor, nor does he care. McCain loosing a home is a joke, do you actually think those millionaires have mortgages? They don’t count the number of homes they have overseas in the Islands etc. What hypocrits.
McCain: “Many americans aren’t huh paying taxes, at all. Oh right Johnny…the poorest of the poor working two or three jobs and still can’t live are not paying the taxes. But the 2% of the filthy rich billionaires are’nt paying their fair share either!
So blame it on the poor John its all their fault. This is one reason why we must register voters two to one to go against that 2% and their greedy supporters.
DavidV is right. The poor and lower middle class do not pay taxes. Any tax they do pay out of their paycheck is refunded back to them at the end of year. On top of that, depending on their income and the number of children they have they even get more back (thousands in some instances) than they had withheld through the Earned Income Credit.
In all fairness the middle 20% of wage earners, the true middle class, pay about 4.4% of the total collected income tax.
Depends on what your definition of Middle Class is? Doesn’t it?
David, do you have figures for this middle 20%?
Top 1% – 39% of income tax
Top 5% – 61% of income tax
Top 10% – 73% of income tax
Top 20% – 86.3 % of income tax
Next 20% – 13.1% of income tax
Middle 20% – 4.4 % of income tax
Next 20% – -.09% of income tax
Bottom 20% – -2.9% of income tax
So the top 20% of wage earners pay 86.3% of all collected income tax. The actual middle class pay about 4.4%.
Got these numbers from Americans for Tax Reform: http://www.atr.org/content/pdf/2008/August/081408ot-federalincometaxandwhattheypay.pdf
Oh not this crap again.
The actual middle class pay about 4.4%.
LOL! We pay 7-point something just in wage tax. The top brackets pay wage tax at what, a 0.00001% rate?
So the top 20% of wage earners pay 86.3% of all collected income tax.
At what % rate? Come on… How much tax, divided by how much income? Don’t be shy…
And “income tax” is not the only tax, and is not even the most important tax to those in the top brackets.
I am NOT going to download your PDF, but I bet your numbers leave out wage tax paid by workers.
I bet they also don’t take into account the “rich man’s tax rate” of 15% that the top brackets pay on their capital gains and dividends.
Those numbers are from Grover Norquist’s group and should be considered suspect until independently verified, I think.
Look I’m not defending anyones tax plan. But even considering all federal taxes the top 1% still pays 28% of all taxes while only earning 18% of the total pre-tax income.
Also, I don’t see how providing a tax break for investments is bad policy. I certainly am not near the top tax brackets, but I take full advantage of this “rich mans tax rate”. It is the lack of savings and investment that has driven our economy off the cliff in the first place. How can you have a negative savings rate and not expect to be bankrupt over time. We should do whatever we can to encourage citizens to save and invest, even providing tax incentives.
the top 1% still pays 28% of all taxes while only earning 18% of the total pre-tax income.
Break out the violins….
I don’t see how providing a tax break for investments is bad policy.
It is a good policy – that is why we HAVE a tax break for investments. Currently the break is 15% (capital gains, dividends) vs. 36% (top marginal income rate).
But is that the right differential? Back when those rates were 25/39, the budget was balanced and business was booming.
last time i checked my phone bill, caable bill, hotel bill, heating bill, trash bill, i paid a tax
As T.Boone would say…the debate misses the point. The problem is not the amount of money paid into the system, the problem is the amount of money spent. Instead of talking about who’s taxes are going to get raised, we need to be talking about which agencies and programs are going to get cut.
Could be worse, I guess – he could believe, like Senator Harry Reid does, that taxation is “voluntary”… Out of touch indeed.
Good thing Harry isn’t running for President.
Once again, payroll tax is thrown down the memory hole. Just because we call it SSI doesn’t mean it’s not a tax. Lower income people also pay a large share of consumption tax.
Speaking of “out of touch”…….. who’s that guy who thinks American’s should pay more taxes because it’s “Patriotic?”
Oh that’s right, it’s Joe Biden.
I think actually paying your taxes as opposed to routing them through some Cayman Islands bank account is certainly more patriotic than questioning someone who isn’t wearing a fucking American flag lapel pin.
Agreed, Mike M.
Mike W. wake up! We are in debt. It is not only patriotic and responsible to pay off our debt, it is dangerous not to. Our country has become like those over-extended home owners you like to sneer at.
Yes Mikey Joe is right when you stop and think what your taxes support . our Troops, Police and Fire services. None of these services would be available to us unless we supported them Thur taxes. And you know it would be UN-Anmerican to be a Tax Dodger
MikeW is a a real patriotic American and wants to pay for those services the old fashioned way – borrow it.
That way nobody has to pay taxes. It’s the Republican way.
If paying taxes is so “Patriotic” then Congress can voluntarily raise their own.
Irresponsible idiot.
No, I’m dead serious. If it’s so damn patriotic then Congress (biden especially) should lead by example. How about they voluntarily raise their own taxes to 80%? (they’re supposed to be “public servants” anyway)
Hell, If you guys love Biden’s statement so much then walk the walk. There’s nothing illegal about paying extra taxess. Since paying more taxes is so patriotic I expect all of you who just defended Biden’s statements will happily give Uncle Sam more than you’re required to pay. Right?
In Mike The Racist’s mind not paying taxes is patriotic.
Go away.
I guess certain folks are so blindly partisan they’ll defend anything a Democrat says no matter how moronic.
In my mind the Feds should have to cut themselves down in size before they even think about uttering crap about paying more taxes being “patriotic.”
If you live beyond your means you don’t immediately go out and claim that other rich folks should pony up and pay for your irresponsible lifestyle. No, you cut out all of your unnecessary spending 1st.
Kevin knocks it out of the ballpark again… (http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2008/09/dissent-scoundrels-taxes-and-patriotism.html)
I wholeheartedly agree… Biden, along with those who support his recent statement on the supposed “patriotism” of overpaying your taxes, should lead by example. Once they have started setting the example (after all, they were the first to call for it), I might just consider following suit. But probably not.
Crack me up! Live beyond your means? Isn’t that exactly what the United States has been doing?
News Flash, Einstein – No one likes paying taxes. Just like no one likes paying bills. We have a massive deficit – thank you, Pres. Bush and Co – and it’s our responsibility to pay it. ALL of OUR responsibility.
But I love your reasoning. People who want to pay our nation’s bills should do so and leave everyone else’s paycheck alone. Okay… so by that stellar reasoning, people who supported the war in Iraq should go and those who opposed it can sit it out, guilt free.
Taxing people more is not the answer! You tax it means more jobs are lost and thats just a fact (this comes from experience). As far as taxes I know people who don’t pay taxes and get back over 6k a year. I’m so tired of the argument on who owns what in the USA we all want the American dream and when someone actually makes it we beat them down?. We all have equal opportunity and should all be proud Americans. Grow up and work hard and quit being so immature. We do need government but not like whats coming. you think this 700 billion plan is bad just wait. Big government is not the answer. We need to scale government back and make it work efficiently not add to it. I see so much corruption we need to get rid of whats not working and those who do not look into the people running in their state and just vote a straight ticket are not doing themselves or America any good!! I’m not rich by any means (unless 50k a year is rich) but I do not fault the ones that have more for it. If we allow ourselves to believe everything we hear from the politicians we will be even worse off then now in 4 years! Wake up!!
McCain / Palin 08
Thanks Josie. We had developed an immunity to our own talking points generators around here.
Out of curiosity, when you lost your job due to a tax increase, was the reason that you lost YOUR job because you didn’t “Grow up and work hard and quit being so immature”?
If we allow ourselves to believe everything we hear from the politicians we will be even worse off then now in 4 years!
Aren’t McCain and Palin politicians? I thought so, because I don’t believe a word they say…
I’m baffled…
Are we not suposed to believe a word that politicians say? That settles it. Obama is full of it also. Ok. That makes it fair and square and we are all idiots by giving our votes to all these politicians. I think is best is the Queen of England takes over again and we don’t have to think.
Everyone will find evidence to prove their beliefs. You can go to a Americans for Tax reform or any other independent tax web site and you will find evidence to prove that Obama’s plan (most Democrats economic plans) will not work, but who cares about evidence when one has an opinion.
There is enough evidence to show that a Democrat congress voted as a block against McCain (and Bush later on)proposal to regulate the Lending industry. But the mass of mindless people are convinced against all evidence pointing to the contrary, that the Republicans are at fault.
My only regret is that we don’thave a strong Libertarian party. Everyone has moved way far to the left and the Socialist frame of mind, even the Republicans are falling for it.
People see and hear only what they want to see and hear. Buyer beware.
All of you guys are way over my head. I am just a 51 year old married guy that brings home about 45k a year between the two of us. We didn’t ask to be poor, we didn’t strive to be poor, we just had to take what we could get and this is all we’ve gotten. I don’t know what it would be like to make 207,000 a year but from where I’m setting right now to get 75% of that would be pretty awesome. I guess that’s the difference in knowing what it is like to have and never having. Democrats hate Republicans and Republicans hate Democrats. Poor people just hate they aren’t rich.
Let me make a guess about half of the posters here. Musicians and jewelry designers? Mad at the world because they don’t have the brains to make a pile of money…or maybe the record label just didn’t discover them yet? I feel for people who work hard but a lot of the high-end earners work hard too! my experience tells me that a lot of people are just unwilling to put in the time in learning enough to get ahead! I run into drop-outs all the time who decided they wanted to go to work earlier to buy a car, etc. instead of going to school. And every drop-out runs up debt without having the means to pay it off.
Bottom line: Stay in school…learn a trade or get a skill but just stop whining!
“Let me make a guess about half of the posters here. Musicians and jewelry designers? ”
Wrong. It ranges from elite Socialists, Obama groupies, Bush hating sheep, to unemployed miscreants. Musicians? Most of them even have poor taste in music.
I can’t even hum on key. And I would wager a guess that most of the posters here make significantly more than the national average.
But hey, why let facts get in the way of your hate?
Your assumption is incorrect, Chuck. Most people here do pretty well for themselves.
When we see the Marginal Tax Rate for the highest earners drop from 80%+ in 1960 to where it is today (36-38%) and have those in that bracket still complain, work loopholes (such as getting paid through stock, taxed at lower rate), and flat-out cheat….all the while using more tax-based recourses, be it through traveling, policing, and taking advantage of the safety and security provided by our military, than most average Americans….Yes, it pisses us off. I would be concerned for you if it didn’t, unless you are a direct beneficiary of these changes over the last 40-50 years.
I guess in your world, everyone who is able to succeed in college gets a chance to go, costs be damned! And everything is a through a prism of Meritocracy. But if that’s so, how did a straight-C student become president or a delinquent brat at the bottom of his class gain entry into the prestigious fighter pilot program and War College?
Yeah, all’s fair, Chuck!