The Back Alley Archives

(love it when AA chimes in....LOVE IT!!!!!)

ANY gov't, municipality, and/or taxing agency can be technically insolvent while maintaining the scheme...what scheme then would you suggest to remedy the 8 to 20 year issues this current scheme does have?

but yet, the top income earners pay most of the taxes

The US used to have a very big gap between the haves and the have nots. The growth of the middle class after WWII really helped change the way the country looked. There wasn't really a middle class before then. We've been moving more towards how the US looked in the 1920's than how it looked in the 1950's.

i do not make anywhere near the top stratosphere of the income bracket.

Are you saying the rich finds loopholes to get out of paying the full amount of taxes that the government is trying to get from them? 

Are you saying the rich finds loopholes to get out of paying the full amount of taxes that the government is trying to get from them? 

http://www.forbes.com/2008/10/21/taxes-irs-wealth-biz-beltway-cz_jn_1021beltway.html

Are you saying the rich finds loopholes to get out of paying the full amount of taxes that the government is trying to get from them? 

http://www.forbes.com/2008/10/21/taxes-irs-wealth-biz-beltway-cz_jn_1021beltway.html

Okay, so I ask again...how is raising the tax rate going to help in this regard?  Won't the rich continue to find ways around any kind of major tax code? 

He will Broaden the corporate tax base and eliminate special preferences: Our tax code is riddled with special
interest loopholes that allow some corporations and wealthy individuals to avoid paying their fair share of
taxes. As President, Obama would move aggressively to close inefficient loopholes by taking steps that
include:

o Reforming international tax loopholes: including reforming deferral to end the incentive for
companies to ship jobs overseas and closing the offshore pension loophole;

o Closing domestic tax loopholes: including clarifying the economic substance doctrine and increasing
reporting of capital gains to close the tax gap;

o Eliminating special tax breaks for oil and gas companies: including repealing special expensing
rules, foreign tax credit benefits, and manufacturing deductions for oil and gas firms; and

o Closing other loopholes: including taxing carried interest as ordinary income, and closing the CEO
pay loophole.

o Cracking down on international tax havens: According to a recent Congressional investigation, offshore
Printed in House

tax abuse costs this country up to $100 billion each year.vi Barack Obama has been a leader in the Senate on
designing efforts to crack down on tax havens by requiring greater disclosure of financial transactions in tax
secrecy jurisdictions. As President, Obama would work with Congress to enact meaningful legislation to
ensure that the Treasury and IRS have the tools they need to close down the use of international tax havens
for improper tax avoidance or tax evasion. This will save the United States tens of billions of dollars each
year.

Barack Obama will repeal tax
breaks and loopholes that reward corporations that retain their earnings overseas, and will use those savings
to lower corporate tax rates for companies that expand or start operations in the United States.

flat tax won't help, and if we go to a consumption tax you can say bu-bye to all those goodies we love that companies provide from the goodness of their heart. things like 401(k), cafeteria plans, and other tax driven incentives businesses have to give their employees benefits. also, if you go to a pure consumption tax, you can forget about other incentives business get to go into certain areas, but i digress.

to get back to mom's question: the tax rate is irrelevant because the tax cod does one thing; it defines what income is. for example, queenie's clients make between a few hundred grand and upwards of a few hundred million. however, they do not pay taxes on all that money. they set up a lot of partnerships and entities run their money thru, you'll have to talk to her about everything they can do, but in short....much of their income is not considered taxable income, eventhough they make that income in the course of business. so while it's good marketing to say "36% taxes!" it's very misleading. yes, they do pay that much on some of their income, but a good portion of their income is not taxable.

people making up to $97,500 pay social security and medicare on every penny they make. for some reason, conservatives do not consider that to be income tax. hense "45% of people don't pay taxes!" is misleading.