Thoughts on taxes, torture, and Stevie Nicks
I am so happy knowing there are republicans out there who want to lower my taxes. I wish they had the same concern when comes to escalating the national debt to make up for the lost revenue from lower taxes. That's exactly what happened under Reagan, Bush 1, and Bush 2. They lowered taxes and the national debt spiraled. Clinton did not lower taxes and the national debt remained about the same. Personally, I would like to see every bodies taxes lowered and fix the problem by cutting spending.
I would start with cutting the perks and benefits that senators and congressmen have so graciously bestowed upon themselves over the years (that's not our biggest expense, just the one that pisses me off the most). Next, I would end this nonsense in Iraq, dismantle homeland security, put an end to no bid contracts, and then do something about lobbying and the way we finance campaigns. If this country was run like a real business, we could have lower taxes for everybody, national health care, better education, and more money for infrastructure. I know, I'm dreaming.
I get tired of hearing the same old cliches and sound bites over and over, however, I have to admit that I've used them myself. It's hard to get a political point across without spouting one off now and then. I used a cliche a couple of blogs back when I was talking about abortion and I said that if you don't like abortions then don't get one. That being said, I am getting a little tired of the republican cliche that say's, "If any rich folks don't like having lower taxes, nobody is stopping them from paying more." That's great. I wish I would have thought of that when we were being lied into the war with Iraq...."You want a war? Well nobodies stopping you from sending your own kids to fight it." or "If you are all for borrowing trillions from China to finance this war, nobodies stopping you from putting it on your own credit card." There may not be any rich folks offering up more in taxes than what is legally required, but a lot of them, Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, and Ted Turner especially, are doing more than their fair share of giving millions to worthy causes. But how many Republican leaders in congress or from the executive office have sent their kids to fight in Iraq?
I'm not convinced that rich people should pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes. Personally, I'm all for a national sales tax where everybody pays the same, just less red tape and beauracracy. However, I do not buy into the trickle down theory that says if you make the rich richer, they will create more jobs for the little people i.e. we can ride on their coat tails and pick up their scraps. Talk to me about the trickle down theory when the rich have quit outsourcing American jobs to 3rd world countries or when they can no longer establish offshore bank accounts to hide their incomes. Then maybe the little people, the working Americans, could at least get ALL of their scraps.
Changing the subject....In my last blog about torture, I ended it by saying that I had some pondering to do. I have since come to the conclusion that we do not need to hurt people physically to get information out of them. There are better and much more effective means of torture to get someone to talk. For instance, today as I was driving around listening to Christmas Carole's on the radio, they played Silent Night, sung by Stevie Nicks. I wanted to pull over and ram a nail into my knee cap. I mean I would have divulged any information anybody wanted, just to get that song to stop, and I don't even have any information!
Comments
Joe,
Technically, by your definition, Stevie Nicks music would then become actual torture if enemy combatants were forced to listen to it. I actually like some of her music (call me wierd, I know) so that wouldn't work with me. Force me to listen to a bunch of shopping mall christmas pop music and I may just confess to everything.
Obama Barrack made a campaign promise of a middle class tax cut. Some politicians promise lower taxes for everyone. Some even call for abolishing the IRS. What I never hear from any of them on both sides is "what is a fair amount of tax for people to pay and how do we get there?"
I have sometimes thought that paying 10 or 15 percent of my income to the government is fair. That means that if I make $40,000 a year I have to give $6,000 to the government, which leaves me $34,000 to live on.
If that were the percentage everyone paid and the government promised to leave me alone after that, I could live with it.
The problem is that after the federal government takes away my money, then comes the state, county, and city. They ALL want a piece of my income.
My income is taxed before I ever get it. When I spend what's left I pay taxes on that spending. If I'm smart enough to invest the money that's already been taxed, I'll pay taxes on whatever interest I earn. If I save money over my lifetime and try to leave a little to my kids, the government will tax that too.
Meanwhile, government officials at the city, county, state, and federal level, all make more money than me. They housing and car allowances. They give themselves raises to stay competitive with other government officials. If I complain about this, they call me greedy and say I should be paying more to take care of those less fortunate than I am. But those less fortunate get pennies on the dollar compared to what the government class takes for themselves. The government class produces nothing, but takes everything. They are killing the golden goose.
Did they ever consider that, if they hadn't taken so much of my own money to begin with, I wouldn't need their food stamps to survive on?
And no matter which party I vote for, this situation never improves. What a mess.
Dane
Joe's reply....I actually like Stevie Nicks music....except when she sings silent night. Have you ever heard that? It's grinds on me like listening to Cher sing "Do you believe in love after love." Now that song should be outlawed, as should everything Cher ever recorded!
Speaking of taxes, Id bet that if you add everything we pay from property taxes to sales taxes to income taxes and everything in between, we probably pay over half of our income to taxes in one form or another.
Posted by: Dane Langston | December 13, 2007 10:44 AM
I know that song. It repeats the same verse over and over and over until you want to scream.
Not to pile on, but as long as we're looking at taxes. It seems not only regressive the taxes that people making lower and middle incomes have to pay, but what about the fees they have to pay to tax preparers to do it for them? People paying as little as $1500 could be paying several hundred dollars just to figure it out. Our tax system in this country is a total mess! Just another reason to scrap the system and start over fresh.
What would you think of a flat tax, let's say it's at 15% that starts after a certain income, like say, $40,000? People making under $40k would not have to pay, and people making more would pay for the amount over 40k. So someone making 50k would pay 15% of 10k, or $1500. Someone making 100k would pay $9,000. Seems fair to me.
I wish the politicians would discuss actual tax rates instead of resorting to "he's going to raise your taxes," or "he'll cut taxes for the rich!" Lets get some real discussion from these guys!
I agree....I have some thoughts about a national sales tax that I will do a blog on soon.
Posted by: Dane Langston | December 13, 2007 04:09 PM