Trickle-Down Taxation

I read a post on a message board recently that got me thinking. One person said "we don't have to worry about our taxes going up; that will only happen to productive, hard-working Americans making $250,000 or more." The other person said "my employer makes that much; there goes my raise."

Previously I had been all for the idea of increasing taxes on better-off individuals and companies while keeping taxes low on the rest of us. But this little exchange got me to think. If the company I work for has to pay more taxes, they will have less money to pay their workers or to invest in capital improvement. So really a tax increases on businesses and well-off individuals can really also end up being a tax increase on the rest of us, without the rest of us realizing it. So we end up paying one way or the other.

Of course there is no guarantee that if our employers get to keep the money, they will use it to increase our compensation or to better our working conditions.

So Sayeth The Shack

Post-Election Taxes

The following was received via e-mail. Thought I would pass it on.

DATA ON TAXES

Proposed changes in taxes after the 2008 General election:

CAPITAL GAINS TAX

MCCAIN

0% on home sales up to $500,000 per home (couples). McCain does not propose

any change in existing home sales income tax.

OBAMA

28% on profit from ALL home sales

How does this affect you? If you sell your home and make a profit, you

will pay 28% of your gain on taxes. If you are heading toward retirement and

would like to down-size your home or move into a retirement community, 28%

of the money you make from your home will go to taxes. This proposal will

adversely affect the elderly who are counting on the income from their

homes as part of their retirement income.

DIVIDEND TAX

MCCAIN 15% (no change)

OBAMA 39.6%

How will this affect you? If you have any money invested in stock market,

IRA, mutual funds, college funds, life insurance, retirement accounts, or

anything that pays or reinvests dividends, you will now be paying nearly

40% of the money earned on taxes if Obama becomes president. The experts

predict that 'Higher tax rates on dividends and capital gains would crash

the stock market, yet do absolutely nothing to cut the deficit.'

INCOME TAX

MCCAIN (no changes)

Single making 30K - tax $4,500

Single making 50K - tax $12,500

Single making 75K - tax $18,750

Married making 60K- tax $9,000

Married making 75K - tax $18,750

Married making 125K - tax $31,250

OBAMA (reversion to pre-Bush tax cuts)

Single making 30K - tax $8,400

Single making 50K - tax $14,000

Single making 75K - tax $23,250

Married making 60K - tax $16,800

Married making 75K - tax $21,000

Married making 125K - tax $38,750

Under Obama, your taxes could almost double!

INHERITANCE TAX

MCCAIN 0% (No change, Bush repealed this tax)

OBAMA Restore the inheritance tax

Many families have lost businesses, farms, ranches, and homes that have

been in their families for generations because they could not afford the

inheritance tax. Those willing their assets to loved ones will only lose

them to these taxes.

NEW TAXES PROPOSED BY OBAMA

New government taxes proposed on homes that are more than 2400 square feet.

New gasoline taxes (as if gas weren't high enough already)

New taxes on natural resources consumption (heating gas, water, electricity)

New taxes on retirement accounts, and last but not least....

New taxes to pay for socialized medicine so we can receive the same level

of medical care as other third-world countries!!!

You can verify the above at the following web sites:

http://money.cnn.com/news/specials/election/2008/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.taxes.html

http://elections.foxnews.com/?s=proposed+taxes

http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourworld/politics/articles/mccain_obama_offer_different_visions_on_taxes.html

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/barack_obama/

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/john_mccain/

Leave The Gas Tax Alone

Over the past few months, as fuel prices have skyrocketed, there as been talk, especially among presidential candidates, of lowering or (temporarily) abolishing fuel taxes. One of the more popular ideas has been a "summer break" from fuel taxes.

According to an article in yesterday's paper, however, this talk has been mostly silenced, and replaced by the idea of raising fuel taxes. This new idea is being "quietly" discussed in congress (sounds a little like pay increase that Pennsylvania lawmakers voted themselves in the not so distant past) especially among those who have constituents who would profit from additional road construction.

At this time I feel that both of the above are bad ideas. Lowering or temporarily eliminating the tax would be bad because the money is need for road repair. And oil companies would probably just raise the prices back to where they were before the tax reduction anyway. Raising the tax is an even worse idea given the current economic situation. The consumer, the very engine that is supposed to be driving this economy, is already being suffocated by massive increases in the cost of necessities such as food and fuel. The higher tax would further increase the cost of fuel, which would, in turn, cause even higher prices for everything else. This would just strengthen the economic choke hold on the consumer and would ultimately not benefit anyone. So the best thing to do right now is to not change fuel taxes at all.


So Sayeth The Shack

How To Spend Your Rebate

I received the folloing via e-mail. Not sure of the source but thought I would pass it on....

IRS rebate, and just who it finally Helps !

The federal government is sending each and everyone of us a $600 rebate.

If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, the money will go to China .

If we spend it on gasoline it will go to the Arabs.

If we purchase a computer it will go to India ..

If we purchase fruit and vegetables it will go to Mexico , Honduras , and Guatemala ..

If we purchase a good car it will go to Japan .

If we purchase useless crap it will go to Taiwan ....and>none of it will help the American economy.

The only way to keep that money here at home is to buy prostitutes, weed, beer, and tattoos, sincethese are the only products still produced in the USA .

Thank you for your help & please support the USA......

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More Government Waste

Two more examples of our government wasting our tax money have caught my eye recently . One is the congressional hearings concerning baseball players using steroids. What business is this of congress? Steroid use is illegal right? So just deal with this the way you would deal with any crime. Why does it have to go through congress? Personally I don't care whether or not baseball players, or any athletes, use steroids. We pay these people millions of dollars a year and in return expect perfection. So it is no wonder they turn to steroids and other methods to enhance their performance and stay on top of their game. Basically they are doing it to give us what we expect of them for the money they are making. But congress should keep their noses out of it. They have more important things to do for the money we are paying them...not that they ever do it.

The other thing I recently heard that the IRS is going to spend millions of dollars...I forget the exact figure...to mail out notices to people to let them know they will be getting tax rebate checks. Hello? Does no one already know this? Do they really have to send out these notices? How about they at least save some of that money by sending e-mail notices to taxpayers who have e-filed, instead of using the postal service.


So Sayeth The Shack

Spend It All!

Well from the latest news, a round of tax rebates is just about a done deal. The government needs to "give" people more money so that they can spend it to boost the sluggish economy.

It seems to me that there is something wrong here. Why is it that we all need to spend every penny we earn...and more...to keep the economy chugging along? When I was young, people saved as much as possible. Credit was used sparingly and only for major purchases, like a home and perhaps a car. If we wanted something, we saved for it. If something worked, we kept it; if it didn't work, we got it fixed. Only as a last resort did we dispose of it. Now, if something doesn't work, we toss it and get a new one. If we can't afford it, we buy it on credit. Savings, what's that? Most technology is made to become obsolete within a few years. Cell phones, computers, video game systems, etc all have a life of just a few years or so before a major upgrade or replacement is necessary. We would have been better off without all this stuff. Maybe the Amish have the right idea of forsaking technology and conveniences.

We are sometimes chastised for not saving enough and being too deep in debt, but when there is a reduction in consumer spending and the economy slows down, the economists and politicians panic like they are now. I wonder what would happen if everyone stopped spending on all but the necessities and started saving like in the "old days". Would the economy completely collapse?

I think everyone who gets a rebate should either sock it away in savings or use it to pay down old debts. Don't spend a penny of it on anything new.


So Sayeth The Shack

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Don't Send Me The Bill!

War costs could total $1.6 trillion by 2009, panel estimates

The headline from CNN speaks for itself. So I wonder how many people would support this war if, though taxation, they were the only ones who had to pay for it while those who were against the war did not have to help pay for it.


So Sayeth The Shack

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