| Thursday, May 01, 2008 |
| Taxes and a "Political Brownout" |
I got an email from my brother this morning with a link to this article about how Warren Buffet doesn’t feel like he’s paying his fair share of taxes. It’s a valid point considering his secretary pays a greater percentage of her income to the IRS than Mr. Buffet does. I found the article interesting, but it also bugged me a little. Something I’ve been thinking about a lot since doing my taxes this year and (although expecting a chunky return after getting married last year) found out I owed the IRS more money than I’d already shelled out.
Being taxed at 16% (like Warren Buffet) means that you will work around 40 full days out of the year just to pay income taxes. Compare that to the average person’s "Tax Freedom Day" of 4 months, and 40 days actually starts to sound about right.
I’m not a bitter person who expects rich people to pay more taxes. Instead of asking for others to pay more, I just expect the poor to pay less.
Why would I expect anyone to work four months for the government (unless you actually work for the government, and not just to fund the government)? And that’s only talking about income taxes. If you only pay attention to your 1040, you’re missing a huge part of the tax picture.
Don’t forget we get taxed when:
1- We make our money
2- We buy something with our money
3- We keep the property we bought
4- We sell the property we bought
5- And in several other areas we probably don’t understand because of a tax code that is 16,845 pages long
It’s easy for rich people to say "Hey- I'm not getting taxed enough!" and get attention. But if they really want to pay more taxes, I don’t know of anyone out there stopping them. They can tell their accountants to stop finding all those deductions that they pay them big money to find. They can increase the wages they pay their employees. And they can increase the benefits they afford their employees (like company health care), just to name a few. If doing all that still doesn’t ease their conscience (or their need for attention), they can make a voluntary donation to the Treasury to help decrease the national debt—it IS allowed, after all.
If you want to hear some real reason on the subject, check out Thomas L. Friedman’s article in the NYTimes about Hillary and McCains pipe dream of a summer tax break on gas.
"The McCain-Clinton proposal is a reminder to me that the biggest energy crisis we have in our country today is the energy to be serious — the energy to do big things in a sustained, focused and intelligent way. We are in the midst of a national political brownout."
And if you want to read about a politician who sees things for what they really are, check out this short Wall Street Journal article on The Tax Me More Act.
"It's a great injustice that citizens wishing to fulfill their dream of paying more taxes cannot simply check a box on their 1040 form to make a donation..."
Oh- and what about that economic stimulus check set to arrive any day? Not only is it too little, too late—it's a joke. "Here's $600 if you'll pretend with us that everything is OK. Pretend like you actually have $600 to spend. And while you're at it, pretend that it's going to make a drop of difference in the cesspool that is our current political and economic situation."
Like Friedman said- "It is great to see that we finally have some national unity on[...]policy. Unfortunately, the unifying idea is so ridiculous, so unworthy of the people aspiring to lead our nation, it takes your breath away."
Why don’t I want the government to raise taxes on the rich? Because one day I expect to be "rich"- and when I am, I’d rather give my money to individuals to use—not a government to squander.
By the way- if you need actual good ideas on how to use your stimulus check (assuming you'll be getting one), check here. You'll notice a new flat screen TV didn't make the list. |
posted by Brett Crockett @ 7:00 AM   |
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| 2 Comments: |
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Great post. You should write more often. ;)
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taxes should be lower for the poor and higher for the rich. I had a political science professor who had very wealthy family members who always said that once you get rich enough, you never have to buy anything ever again, you get all kinds of free stuff (someone pays to fly you to the olympics, put you in a fancy hotel with free food and free tickets to events). For example, I had one friend who was from Vegas and who was an executive assistant to a casino owner. One Christmas he had to keep a list of what other people gave her (some of whom were pretty much total strangers). Among the loot (in one year):
- Nine (9) cars (and we aren't talking Corollas)
- dozens of diamond goods
- condos,
etc, etc, etc.
Why a teacher working 60 hours a week to make $40,000 per year to feed her 4 kids should pay any taxes at all is beyond me when the top 10 or 5 or 3 or 1% of the wealthiest could afford to carry more of the tax burden without even noticing it and make up for the much poorer. I think anyone making under $200,000 should have a much lighter tax burden while those over $1,000,000 should have a much heavier one. Of course, ideally we would do away with all kinds of government waste and everyone could pay a ton less in taxes. I don't see that ever happening though. Look at the budget since Bush took office--lowering taxes and increasing spending are incongruent objectives, something the repubs cannot seem to understand. compare these budget figures:
Here are some budget numbers
2009 - $3.10 trillion (submitted 2008 by President Bush)
2008 - $2.90 trillion (submitted 2007 by President Bush)
2007 - $2.77 trillion (submitted 2006 by President Bush)
2006 - $2.7 trillion (submitted 2005 by President Bush)
2005 - $2.4 trillion (submitted 2004 by President Bush)
2004 - $2.3 trillion (submitted 2003 by President Bush)
2003 - $2.2 trillion (submitted 2002 by President Bush)
2002 - $2.0 trillion (submitted 2001 by President Bush)
2001 - $1.9 trillion (submitted 2000 by President Clinton)
2000 - $1.8 trillion (submitted 1999 by President Clinton)
1999 - $1.7 trillion (submitted 1998 by President Clinton)
1998 - $1.7 trillion (submitted 1997 by President Clinton)
1997 - $1.6 trillion (submitted 1996 by President Clinton)
1996 - $1.6 trillion (submitted 1995 by President Clinton)
I'm just guessing the increases under W have more to do than with inflation alone. You should also look up budget deficit numbers, which deficits have grown steadily under W. Thanks W for unbridled spending, unnumbered scandals, and a war which has made me feel much more safe and secure.
"Now in its sixth year, the war in Iraq has claimed the lives of at least 4,061 members of the U.S. military. Only the Vietnam War (August 1964 to January 1973), the war in Afghanistan (October 2001 to present) and the Revolutionary War (July 1776 to April 1783) have engaged America longer."
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D90CEKGG0&show_article=1
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Great post. You should write more often. ;)