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Shiny Keys and Pennies.
Author: Raine    Date: 04/18/2011 12:49:21

Here's hoping everyone managed to get through a particularly rough weekend with regard to the weather. I awoke to an article that I must say didn't surprise me, it seems the super rich saw their taxes drop dramatically.
The Internal Revenue Service tracks the tax returns with the 400 highest adjusted gross incomes each year. The average income on those returns in 2007, the latest year for IRS data, was nearly $345 million. Their average federal income tax rate was 17 percent, down from 26 percent in 1992.

Over the same period, the average federal income tax rate for all taxpayers declined to 9.3 percent from 9.9 percent.
Interesting numbers. Then I came across a very good article, 9 Things The Rich Don't Want You To Know About Taxes-- once again, not shocked, until I came across this interesting tidbit:
Despite skyrocketing incomes, the federal tax burden on the richest 400 has been slashed, thanks to a variety of loopholes, allowable deductions and other tools. The actual share of their income paid in taxes, according to the IRS, is 16.6 percent. Adding payroll taxes barely nudges that number.

Compare that to the vast majority of Americans, whose share of their income going to federal taxes increased from 13.1 percent in 1961 to 22.5 percent in 2007.

(By the way, during seven of the eight George W. Bush years, the IRS report on the top 400 taxpayers was labeled a state secret, a policy that the Obama administration overturned almost instantly after his inauguration.)
Boldface mine. THAT shocked me. If I recall correctly, the first of the Bush Tax cuts went into effect in 2001. That would be the first of those seven years that the State Secret was in place. Interesting timing at the very least.

I bring this up because so many times, people wonder why the Koch brothers and The Americans for Prosperity, the FreedomWorks funded tea Party and other astroturf groups suddenly reared their ugly heads as soon as Obama took office. Many (myself included) thought this was because many in the tea party have shown a general tendency toward racism, but then WHY the super rich? Maybe this is why: they don't want you to know that they are NOT paying their fair share as Americans. As a perfect distraction, the Tea Partiers have been whipped into a zealous, angry frenzy and have ignored the fact that their corporate overlords supporters pay less in taxes than any number of members of the party. It all about distracting people from the truth about the rich in this country.

Does one need anymore proof than Trump?
Lots of other people live tax-free, too. I have Donald Trump’s tax records for four years early in his career. He paid no taxes for two of those years. Big real-estate investors enjoy tax-free living under a 1993 law President Clinton signed. It lets “professional” real-estate investors use paper losses like depreciation on their buildings against any cash income, even if they end up with negative incomes like Trump.
He's running around calling for a birth certificate everyone has seen, and - most recently - he is raising from the dead the Bill Ayers Ghostwriter lie. In the mean time, a grandmother on Social Security pays 22% or more in taxes, and Trump paid NOTHING.

To make matters worse, the members of the tea party 'over a certain age', may face having their Medicare completely abolished. Does anyone think the 400 super rich really have to worry about Medicare? I suspect not.

I cannot begin to tell you how disgusted I am that 400 people in this nation had the amount of taxes they paid considered a state secret, but I will tell you this. Obama is NOT the same as his predecessor. For all the flaws that some have with him, he is calling for the richest 1% to pay a fair share of the monetary/tax burden in this nation, and quite honestly, if he does nothing, the Bush Tax cuts will expire. Something has to happen.

Perhaps we could start by getting people to realize they are being lied to.

and
Raine
 

116 comments (Latest Comment: 04/19/2011 02:33:47 by clintster)
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Comment by wickedpam on 04/18/2011 13:07:30
Morning

Good article - actually understood a discussion on economics for once

Comment by TriSec on 04/18/2011 13:09:45
Good Morning!

We lucked out regarding the weather...I had the Cub Scouts down to Camp Massasoit (Plymouth, MA) and it didn't start raining there until after 10pm Saturday. Then it was all done by daybreak. It was windy, but nothing like what happened elsewhere.

And in a side note, I'm a happy av-dork this morning. I saw a DC-8 in the sky over my mother's house yesterday. I haven't seen one in so long I didn't even recognize it. (thought it was a 707). I was able to do some fleet resarch this morning and found the bird.



Comment by Raine on 04/18/2011 13:12:28
Quote by wickedpam:
Morning

Good article - actually understood a discussion on economics for once

I bookmarked that one. It was AMAZING. I got so sucked into it, I didn't know how to approach the blog.

I did btw, add an additional tidbit from it to the blog. Trump appears to be one of those 400, and he didn't pay taxes at all for 2 out of 6 years.

Comment by TriSec on 04/18/2011 13:13:02
Oh, and I'm sorry to report that the Regulars were able to disperse the Patriots on Lexington Green this morning.

(Don't forget; we actually lost the first battle of the revolution, shot heard 'round the world or not. It was a few hours later at Old North Bridge that the Patriots were able to turn the British back and start the disastrous retreat/rout.)



Comment by Raine on 04/18/2011 13:13:39
BTW, Good morning, and I am glad you are ok, Mala. that was some wicked weather huh?

My friend lives in Raleigh in the area hardest hit. She is ok, but sadly a few people in her area did die.

Comment by wickedpam on 04/18/2011 13:17:14
Quote by Raine:
BTW, Good morning, and I am glad you are ok, Mala. that was some wicked weather huh?

My friend lives in Raleigh in the area hardest hit. She is ok, but sadly a few people in her area did die.



Yeah, we've got some people we know in the Raleigh area too, been checking the book of faces to get any news.

At home - Dime size hail! This is only the second time I've seen hail in the Manassas area!

Comment by wickedpam on 04/18/2011 13:17:45
BTW - glad you guys got back okay - did you drive back Sat night?

Comment by BobR on 04/18/2011 13:21:28
Quote by wickedpam:
BTW - glad you guys got back okay - did you drive back Sat night?

Sat afternoon - we sort of threaded the needle on that one, between the two waves of storms.

Comment by Raine on 04/18/2011 13:23:24
Quote by wickedpam:
BTW - glad you guys got back okay - did you drive back Sat night?
We drove back in the afternoon -- EVERYTHING was hitting JUST to the west of us. Thankfully the storms were heading mostly north, so we only saw a lot of rain. It was nervwracking. We were listening to WTOP and I was tracking the storms on the atlas. By the time we got home All the storms were either *just* to the west of Alexandria or *just* to the east.


Comment by Raine on 04/18/2011 13:26:38
I wish I had read this before I wrote the blog. EJ Dionne Nails it perfectly.
Those elites will have no moral standing to argue for higher taxes on middle-income people or cuts in government programs until they acknowledge how much wealthier they have become than the rest of us and how much pressure they have brought over the years to cut their own taxes. Resolving the deficit problem requires the very rich to recognize their obligation to contribute more to a government that, measured against other wealthy nations, is neither investing enough in the future nor doing a very good job of improving the lives and opportunities of the less affluent.


Comment by wickedpam on 04/18/2011 13:27:32
Wow, you guy's really did thread the needle on that one!

Comment by TriSec on 04/18/2011 13:28:38
BBC reporting on the Philadelphia and Syracuse symponies going bankrupt recently.

Of course, no sports team has suffered such a fate.



Comment by TriSec on 04/18/2011 13:35:52
And away we go! The Wheelchairs are already on the course, and the Elite Women have just started.



Comment by Raine on 04/18/2011 13:39:27
Quote by TriSec:
And away we go! The Wheelchairs are already on the course, and the Elite Women have just started.


Sounds like a perfect day for a jaunt....


Comment by Raine on 04/18/2011 13:47:35
http://www.creators.com/editorial_cartoons/1/19269_thumb.gif


Comment by wickedpam on 04/18/2011 13:53:20
Psst - Raine - be nice to Julie - she's my sane right wing friend on the board who I actually like - she's a totally math geek too

Not to say you wouldn't be nice - you both are passionate people about your sides

Comment by Raine on 04/18/2011 14:08:46
Quote by wickedpam:
Psst - Raine - be nice to Julie - she's my sane right wing friend on the board who I actually like - she's a totally math geek too

Not to say you wouldn't be nice - you both are passionate people about your sides

What? is this something of the Face of Cracks?


Comment by Raine on 04/18/2011 14:10:17
ahh yes, I See it is. Of course I will. She doesn't seem like a bagger at all.

Comment by wickedpam on 04/18/2011 14:10:48
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
Psst - Raine - be nice to Julie - she's my sane right wing friend on the board who I actually like - she's a totally math geek too

Not to say you wouldn't be nice - you both are passionate people about your sides

What? is this something of the Face of Cracks?



yep - I realized after I hit enter that it was kinda insulting - sorry about that - please accept my apology

Comment by Scoopster on 04/18/2011 14:11:04
Mornin' all & Happy Mondee..

Comment by Raine on 04/18/2011 14:12:20
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
Psst - Raine - be nice to Julie - she's my sane right wing friend on the board who I actually like - she's a totally math geek too

Not to say you wouldn't be nice - you both are passionate people about your sides

What? is this something of the Face of Cracks?



yep - I realized after I hit enter that it was kinda insulting - sorry about that - please accept my apology
That's fine. No apologies needed, I can understand what you are saying, I've had to tell people that wrt my mom.


Comment by wickedpam on 04/18/2011 14:12:39
Quote by Raine:
ahh yes, I See it is. Of course I will. She doesn't seem like a bagger at all.


oh no, she's not - in fact she was key in helping me get ride of 2 of the 3 board crazies (still waiting for the 3rd shoe to drop) but she and her husband (also very nice) are like Hannity fans and fox viewers but I don't think they're obsessed with it like the true crazies are


Comment by wickedpam on 04/18/2011 14:15:41
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
Psst - Raine - be nice to Julie - she's my sane right wing friend on the board who I actually like - she's a totally math geek too

Not to say you wouldn't be nice - you both are passionate people about your sides

What? is this something of the Face of Cracks?



yep - I realized after I hit enter that it was kinda insulting - sorry about that - please accept my apology
That's fine. No apologies needed, I can understand what you are saying, I've had to tell people that wrt my mom.


Thanks wrt?


Comment by Raine on 04/18/2011 14:23:51
WRT: With Regard to

Comment by wickedpam on 04/18/2011 14:28:02
Quote by Raine:
WRT: With Regard to



Ah! Learned something new today

Comment by Raine on 04/18/2011 14:36:30
I hope I am doing ok, Mala.


Comment by Raine on 04/18/2011 14:36:47
TRI! your Gov is on the Big SHOW!!!!

Comment by wickedpam on 04/18/2011 14:38:21
Quote by Raine:
I hope I am doing ok, Mala.


oh yeah THank you

Comment by BobR on 04/18/2011 14:45:06
Comment by TriSec on 04/18/2011 14:48:11
Quote by Raine:
TRI! your Gov is on the Big SHOW!!!!


Mmm....he's been on a book tour. But good for him!

(And he's been touting the Massachusetts Success...we have healthcare, and we've been recovering faster than just about all the rest of the states. Maybe we're doing something right. But you can't tell the rest of the US that. "Taxachusetts" won't go away. But then, you get what you pay for.)



Comment by TriSec on 04/18/2011 14:49:16
And a photo finish at the Men's Wheelchair. Shocker of the day: Ernst Van Dyck didn't win!!!


Masazumi Soejima's winning time of 1:18:50 is one of the fastest men's wheelchair marathons ever. He nipped Australian Kurt Fearnley, who finished second, and Ernst Van Dyk of South Africa at the wire by a single second. Both Fearnley and Van Dyk were timed in 1:18:51.



Comment by wickedpam on 04/18/2011 14:51:54



jeez - How is the national news missing this?! (Yes I know its corparate media)

Comment by Raine on 04/18/2011 14:54:13
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Raine:
I hope I am doing ok, Mala.


oh yeah THank you

I don;t mind talking with reasonable people. I used to enjoy the conservative forum on AAP -- until, well that happened...

I would never have been able to hold my shite with these teabaggers that probably have infiltrated over there.

Comment by wickedpam on 04/18/2011 14:59:06
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Raine:
I hope I am doing ok, Mala.


oh yeah THank you

I don;t mind talking with reasonable people. I used to enjoy the conservative forum on AAP -- until, well that happened...

I would never have been able to hold my shite with these teabaggers that probably have infiltrated over there.


is that site still up?

Comment by Raine on 04/18/2011 15:00:17
Quote by wickedpam:

is that site still up?
Dunno.

Don't think about it much.


Comment by wickedpam on 04/18/2011 15:06:39
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:

is that site still up?
Dunno.

Don't think about it much.



apparently me neither

No, but I get your point - a reasonable discussion will always yield common ground and a possible compromise to a solution.

Comment by TriSec on 04/18/2011 15:08:52
And now the Sux are underway.



Comment by TriSec on 04/18/2011 15:09:53
The women's leaders are headed for Heartbreak Hill...the men are at the halfway point on course-record pace.



Comment by Raine on 04/18/2011 15:37:30
IT's a libertarian wet dream, and I suspect -- unconstitutional.
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.



Comment by Scoopster on 04/18/2011 15:42:42
http://i55.tinypic.com/258o6kw.jpg


My first three words were rage, eat, flesh

Comment by Raine on 04/18/2011 15:44:37
Quote by Scoopster:
http://i55.tinypic.com/258o6kw.jpg


My first three words were rage, eat, flesh

Crush, Fool, Deed.

WHAT?

Comment by BobR on 04/18/2011 15:45:41
Quote by Scoopster:
http://i55.tinypic.com/258o6kw.jpg


My first three words were rage, eat, flesh

mine were secret, suicide, and lust

Comment by wickedpam on 04/18/2011 15:48:17
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Scoopster:
http://i55.tinypic.com/258o6kw.jpg


My first three words were rage, eat, flesh

Crush, Fool, Deed.

WHAT?



Chat, Manic, Dream - huh? What does that mean?

Comment by TriSec on 04/18/2011 15:58:37
Caroline Kilel of Kenya has won the women's marathon....2:22:36

Comment by TriSec on 04/18/2011 16:00:20
Bail, Fool, Leave.

Sounds like I'm Sarah Palin.




Comment by TriSec on 04/18/2011 16:06:28
Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya has won the Boston Marathon in an unofficial record time of 2:03:01.

Comment by Raine on 04/18/2011 16:06:59
Thank you so much Republicans. No really, THANK YOU. fuckyouverymuch.
Stocks fall as U.S. credit rating outlook lowered to 'negative' by Standard & Poor's (snip)

"More than two years after the beginning of the recent crisis, U.S. policymakers have still not agreed on how to reverse recent fiscal deterioration or address longer-term fiscal pressures," S&P analyst Nikola Swann said in a statement.

The United States debt is currently approaching the legally set debt ceiling of $14.3 trillion, though the White House and Republican congressional leaders have indicated they are likely to come to an agreement to raise the limit.

Even if that happens, S&P analysts expressed concern in their report that the United States will not succeed in taking longer-term measures to reign in the rising national debt.

Republican leaders and President Obama have recently introduced rival plans for reducing the government deficit. S&P analysts wrote that they were skeptical that the two sides could come together. Even if they do, the report says, their plan could take time to implement and could be reversed by future political leaders.


Comment by Scoopster on 04/18/2011 16:14:50
Comment by Mondobubba on 04/18/2011 16:17:21
Quote by Scoopster:
http://i55.tinypic.com/258o6kw.jpg


My first three words were rage, eat, flesh


Bail, the, see. WTF?

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