Windfall Tax

Pelosi may be out of her mind, but this story isn't true.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/pelosi.asp

Ron
#3336

quote:

but this story isn't true.

Thank you, Ron!

As I have said so many times before...

The internet can be a source of great information, but also a great source for falsehoods.

A simple Google search with some well-choosen wording including 'snopes' will usually confirm or refute emails such as the one posted above.

We need information, not lies and falsehoods,
if we are going to manage to keep this country from sinking into a third rate has-been nation.

Can't happen, you say?

Remember your grade school history lessons? Remember what great nations discovered the New World?

And just how high in the scheme of things are Portugal and Spain nowadays?

Please folks, will you just spend an extra minute or two of your time before passing on stuff like this?

Larry

quote:

Originally posted by LF - TP 2511:

quote:

but this story isn't true.

Thank you, Ron!

As I have said so many times before...

The internet can be a source of great information, but also a great source for falsehoods.

A simple Google search with some well-choosen wording including 'snopes' will usually confirm or refute emails such as the one posted above.

We need information, not lies and falsehoods,
if we are going to manage to keep this country from sinking into a third rate has-been nation.

Can't happen, you say?

Remember your grade school history lessons? Remember what great nations discovered the New World?

And just how high in the scheme of things are Portugal and Spain nowadays?

Please folks, will you just spend an extra minute or two of your time before passing on stuff like this?

Larry

And leave you with nothing to do?

This country is being steered into ruin by selfish politicians most who make the country's decisions based on their best interests and for those who have paid for their votes. No matter what "information and truths" come out (and they do year after year), we continue to vote the same culprits in and the government continues on the same path. Until special interest groups are taken out of the equation, the county will follow the same path of destruction. Until we stop re electing these idiots who run this country, it will continue its downward slide.

If any of these people were running my business or finances, they would be terminated so fast it would leave them dizzy. Erroneous postings at least stir up anger and interest in politics, normal accurate news is basically just ignored by the majority of the population.

I've got to agree, LF - TP, that Pelosi did not advocate the Windfall Tax on 401k's and other retirement accounts. She has done alot of other things and her record on wealth redistribution cannot be disputed. Here is her voting record:


Voted NO on retaining reduced taxes on capital gains & dividends.

Voted NO on providing tax relief and simplification as prescribed by the Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004.

Voted NO on making permanent an increase in the child tax credit.

Voted NO on making the Bush tax relief permanent that are to expire in 2010.

Voted NO on $99 economic stimulus: capital gains & income tax cuts in 2002.

Voted NO on eliminating the Estate Tax (“death tax”).

Voted NO on $46 billion in tax cuts for small business – 2000.



Hard to dispute her voting record, it is on many legitimate websites for all to see. The other thing I am trying to figure out is, how can one get a tax refund, when they did not pay tax in the first place? I believe the figure is the top 50% of tax payers pay 96% of all taxes -- now you've got me on the exact figures; but it is very close to this. So when the "rich" are getting a tax break, well; it goes to reason that they should, because they are the ones paying the great majority of taxes in the first place. Otherwise you really need to call it for what it is, that is to pay someone a tax rebate when they did not pay any tax to start with (a.k.a. welfare, or redistribution of wealth; take your pick).

I do not think that anyone on these boards will advocate increasing taxes on any of our incomes will have the desired effect of stimulating the economy, especially in these times of almost $4.00 gas; at least here in the midwest. In CA, I am sure you are experiencing $4 + gas; very sad. Any ideas on getting gas prices to actually go down? I've got some -- and will gladly share them if anyone else has some ideas too.

Mark

What fries me is that the writing was on the wall in 1974. Remember the gas shortage and the politicos of the time stating "we will not be held hostage by OPEC" and "we must develope energy independence"? Well, we've had 34 years to do it and we are further from independence than ever. Polical types don't want solutions, they only want problems they can promise they can resolve so they can get elected and live off our taxes.
I'm voting "none of the above". I'm sick and tired of politics and I left pieces of my flesh on foreign soil to keep these jerks in power. Sorry, just had to vent a little.

edmguru,

I'm all over it. Yes, we need to drill for more oil in the USA. China is drilling oil in the Gulf of Mexico -- we should do more too. We need to start drilling in ANWAR as well as the Dakotas. The government can actually help by changing the way crude is traded on Wall Street. Speculation has artificially inflated a barrel of crude by as much as $35 per barrel. Let's change this trading policy to get back to a free market trading system, and get rid of the blood sucking parasites that take advantage of this system to line their own pockets. We need more supply of oil in the near future, plus we need to get the environmentalist wackos away from the permitting process to make more refineries. So that is what I am talking about -- having the ability of more supply in the fuel commodity system. More supply -- less dependence on foreign oil; more stable prices. Hydrogen cars are great, but it is a ways off right now.

AMEN to that

quote:

Erroneous postings at least stir up anger and interest in politics,

Hmmm, now there is an interesting concept.

Don't you get enough falsehoods, lies, deception and half truths from the politicians themselves?

Do you think they do that to make us think?! No, they do that to make us docile, sheep-like followers who will 'trust' them.

So you advocate we do the same thing and somehow will get different results?

Leave the crap throwing game to the politicians.

If the people join in with THAT game in some misguided sense that it will create more good than harm, then it really is all over but the shouting.

Larry

The distribution of the individual federal income tax burden is a political matter, and for some a moral issue. There’s room for plenty of healthy debate around how the burden should be distributed.

What does bother me is the perpetuation of this fallacy that rich people and corporations do not pay tax and the burden of tax falls primarily on the “little guy”. This simply is not true. Here are a couple of links for those that are interested in such. If you scroll down to the “Share or Total Individual Income Taxes”, 79% of the total federal individual income taxes are paid by the top 20% of wage earners. It’s 1999 data from the Congressional Budget Office. By contrast, the bottom two quintiles, or bottom 40% of wage earners pay -1% (yes negative 1%) of the total income tax. It only improves to a cumualtive total of 7% for the first 60%. The distribution of total taxes paid becomes even more skewed when corporate taxes are brought into the mix.

It’s been a while since I looked for this data, 5 years or more. I was shocked at how hard I had to dig to come up with it again. Sure there were all kinds of raw data, but nothing more current and not much that succinctly summarized how the total tax burden was distributed. I could not find this stat, but last I looked, the median income before any net federal tax was incurred was North of $45k/year. The other funny thing that happens when “the rich get richer”……they pay more tax, not less.

So debate away about what’s fair in regard to how the tax burden is distributed, but if you believe that majority of the tax burden is borne by the middle class and below, you are misinformed.

Kelly

http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=1545&type=0

http://www.allegromedia.com/sugi/taxes/

If I find a more recent CBO analysis, I'll post it.

The tax cuts help the rich, hurt those below them.

It is disappointing that the CBO can't seem to provide current data. If you find current CBO data on how the tax burden is shared, I'd like to see it. The last source of information that I would trust would be that produced by any political party. It’s ashamed that making an informed decision these days must become a research project. One surely can’t take for granted what the politicos have to say or what is reported in the media as supposed fact.

If you can find more recent and credible data, I suspect you will find is the marginal tax rate has improved somewhat for the highest earners but even so, they pay an even higher percentage of the total tax load because their incomes have increased more on average.

-Yes, the rich get richer. That’s easy to believe, right? The fairness issue in regard to how to apportion the tax is one for fair and open debate. I'd just like to see that debate emanate from a factual starting point.

What isn't debatable; the overwhelming majority of tax paid in this country is paid by an overwhelming minority of people, who happen to be in the upper socio economic strata, and then of course, corporations. -Facts can be stubborn things my friends.

I’m just tired of the misinformation maligning wealthy individuals and corporations for "not paying taxes". It's a load of dung. I’m thankful that we have "rich people" and corporations to pay for all that we DO have in this country because the vast majority of it sure isn’t being paid for by the rest.

And on it goes.....
Kelly

quote:

The last source of information that I would trust would be that produced by any political party.

Kelly is so right....Thats why DeVos(ran for governor here in Michigan, and his dad founded AMWAY) Moved his corperate listing to a country that removed his United States tax burden.
15 years ago a friend of mine who was a tax attorney told me that if I made $30,000 as a family I was in the top 30 percentile of the country. There are so many working poor in this country we really should feel blessed.
As far as Nancy Pelosi...Union backed, but she is a huge business person who does not have a union representing her workers. She wears Armarni suits, who do you think she is looking out for??
Lastly, did you guys hear good ole George's statements that there is no magic wand for the high price of crude oil, gas, and fuels??? Well when it comes to farmers he is more then happy to tell the press that the farmers make too much money and he is working to strip them of there subsidies. I guess his oil profits are more important then a family farmer making ends meet.
They are really hurting this year to. A good friend of mine told me the high costs of fertilizer are going to sap him. There prices are known to have tripled so far this year. Plus the quotas have been reduced almost 80% of what he used last year. What a vicious cycle.
Jeff