Tax talk on trail

I guess I haven't been patriotic enough by having 72% of my money go to pay for those who refuse to work....hmmmmmm

34% - goes to federal income tax
8% - goes to state income tax
8% - goes to local sales tax
22% - goes to the embedded tax found in all products I buy (22% corporate tax that is passed to me)

For those of you in Rio Linda - That adds up to 72%

Thanks for making the nation more communist.

John McCain sucks

How big has the repub administration made the government? Bigger than ever, and not much for the middle class either. Our massive explosion of government spending has gone to private companies through no bid contracts. Enough!
Massive tax cuts for the ultra rich have put the burden of paying for the deficit back on the middle class. Time to have a government which works for the population, not against it. We need safety regulations and people to enforce them for food, toys, workplaces and infrastructure. No more falling bridges and lead tainted toys.

Government should be there to protect the citizens, not just spend our money on military private contractors and corporate bail outs. Vote Obama/Biden!

Tax and spend liberals are much more fiscally responsible than the borrow and spend conservatives.
Witness the financial disaster we face with the deficit. I don't like paying more taxes, but we have to do it to pay down the debt we face after 8 years of Bush stupidity.

Wow, now THAT 72% Tax math is about as creative as I have seen.
Nice work, you shouldbe in the Bush Cabinet.

Since it sounds like all you guys want to do is gripe and say Obama is going to raise your taxes. Have you actually gone to his website and taken a few minutes out of your day to read what he has in mind? Probably not.
Why is it okay for the vast majority of Americans to watch the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Is that what our founding fathers meant for us? I do not think so. It seems like we become less and less moral and more selfish everyday. What happened to help thy neighbor. Does not sound to christian to me. Plus your taxes do not go to people who refuse to work. Just because there are maybe 1% of the population that cannot work due to mental illness or other issue you should not damn the majority. Walk in their shoes and see.

You ever asked a poor person for a job? Lower taxes (across the board) on people making money frees up capital - capital investment creates jobs. This is simple economics.

Charlie Daniels thoughts on Obama--

Since I identify with the people who fall into Barrack Obama's elitist description about people of faith who keep firearms I'm not very happy with Barrack Obama's recent remarks.

He said something to the effect that us rednecks cling to our guns and our religion when we get frustrated and I would like to take umbrage to these remarks. My faith goes much deeper than his superficial explanation and I love my guns even when I'm not frustrated.

And I am not by myself. I was going to church and shooting guns before Mr. Obama was even born and come from a long line of good people who have been doing it for generations.

To me this latest Obama blunder only helps reveal the depth of condescension the far left wing of the Democrat party has for the folks out here in flyover country.

Mr. Obama's remarks are insulting to a lot of folks. It's kind of like Abraham Lincoln said, 'God must love the common people because He made so many of them'.

His remarks make me think that Obama doesn't know the people of this country very well. I'm sure he knows the jet set and the Hollywood bunch, the limousine liberals and the save the whales, kill the babies crowd, but does he think that the ordinary people don't count? Does he think that they're so stupid that they don't know who he's talking about when he says these things? Does he think their opinions aren't important?

Apparently.

How can a man stand in front of America and tell people what he wants to do for them and have so little respect for a whole segment of the population? In fact, a very large segment. Does that mean that he would only represent the high-minded liberal ideals of the far left and ignore the rest of us?

What kind of Commander and Chief would he make if he doesn't respect the very people who make up the lion's share of the armed forces?

You may say I'm over reacting, but I'm getting sick and tired of him making these elitist statements and saying that he had been taken out of context or some other flimsy excuse.

After his wife's remark about not being proud of this country and his pastor's statements callingAmerica the U.S.K.K.K.A. And his own statement about not wanting his daughter punished with a baby, it makes me wonder what kind of a man Obama really is and what kind of a president he'd make.

Would he be an antigun advocate pushing the effort to take the firearms out of innocent citizen's hands? Would he not respect the religious beliefs of America, not taking them into account in his agenda?

I really don't know much about the man and neither does America. He basically came from out of nowhere and as the facts come out little by little, they don't make a particularly confident picture.

I have a great fear that if our military gets broken by another President, this time we're not going to have time to fix it again and what that spells for America, I don't even want to contemplate.

Oh well, I guess I'll grab my gun and go to church.

Pray for our troops

What do you think?

God Bless America

Charlie Daniels

McCain and Palin will bring this country to it's knees. Think Hoover after the roaring twenties. I'm surprised the McCain hasn't offered a chicken for every pot!

Taxes ARE Patriotic.... I want to give even more of my hard earned money to the government. Doesn't every good american want that?

No takes for 95% is a joke.

* Neary 50% already dont pay any taxes
* 10% already pay 70% of taxes
* What about capital gains tax, payrol tax that Obama is trying to increase.
* His health care plan, will increase the cost for everyone.

"Patriotic?" coming from a guy whose salary is paid by tax payers? And who gave $300 charity out of more than $300,000 income.

Dear Charlie Daniels, I really liked Long Haired Country Boy and your other early work, but it was when you became a shill for the Rich and Republican that you lost me. Face it, your party has consistently screwed over the common man and woman and sells us out at every turn. Huge transfers of wealth to the top cannot be sustained. You've studied history; what's the inevitable outcome of such disparity? That's right. Why don't you hang out with Willie Nelson, Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp instead of your Republican politician friends that use you and laugh and talk about you like a dog behind your back.

Senator Obama did not just come from "nowhere." He unlike the republican candidates pulled himself out of a low income single parent situation, maybe that means "nowhere" to you. To me that means he has been able to rise above the challenges that hold many people down and in the process has gained perspective about the elitist mentality in America.

Lets not even discuss the military and those problems because it is the elitist mentality that has put our economy and proud soldiers in a losing situation.

To think that Obama is less in touch with the common man then McCain is...that's seriously delusional. Just like Bush, McCain grew up with uncommonly wealth. I'd give him his due for enlisting in the military (no not the national guard), something that most in his circles of friends would never have done. But, even there he was part of an elitist class. So, no there's no way that he's more in touch with common folk. Honestly, he doesn't really fish, hunt or watch nascar. And when he does, it's for political purposes; like getting together with his lobbyist friends on K street to discuss policy.

Out come all the old Republican arguements. Tax and spend, big government, elitest, gun hating, associates with terrorists, tied to corruption, goes to a rascist church, yada, yada, yada. Why don't you throw in the Muslim claim why

I'm not going to waste my time refuting all this, it's all been done already but, as the saying goes, there's none so blind as those that don't want to see.

The fact is that you Republicans are clinging to an outdated view of the Democrats and the world. The party in power is not the Republican party of the past. They are neocons whose agenda is power for it's own sake and to promote the self interests if a select few. The poor huddled masses are thrown a few crumbs and fed propaganda based on lies. The fact is that starting with Reagan the noecons have been the party of big spending and large government. They have financed this with borrowing on an unprecedented scale while keeping taxes low. Those debts can only be repaid through taxes you dummies.

The current finacial crisis has been created by the greed of those that support the neocons. Freed of the regulationsdesigned to protect us they have made out like bandits and continue to do so with golden parachutes paid for by us. Where is all this money coming from? You guessed it, more borrowing. The neocons tell us that all the suupprt for big business is good for us. Duh, has anyone seen the benefits? As some blogger aptly said, it's not trickle down, it's tinkle down buddy.

Small businesses (the true economic engines of this country) have seen virtually none if the largesse dispensed to the big businesses. To survive they have cut back on everything, putting people on limited hours and cutting or eliminating benefits. Far from supporting small businesses the neocons have burdened them.

Given all the evidence that is right before your eyes you still support your party by distorting Obama's life and record and making up these tax and spend lies. McCain was a good man but he has thrown in his lot with the neocons, reversing long held positions in a desparate attempt to land the Presidency. He is, to all intents and purposes a Bush clone. I for one will not take the chance that he will kick over the traces his handlers control. It has to be Obama.

Hey Joe Biden, You first. Soon as you and Obama starting writing big checks to the federal government above what you are paying now then maybe the rest of us will be "patriotic". The name for this tax policy is "Redistribution of Wealth" or AKA
Socialism.
Vote NO on Obama / Biden

Why would America REWARD complete Republican failure ?

We wont.

Chris, I think your math is a little deceitful.
1st of all there is no Federal Tax Bracket of 34%.
2nd even if someone was taxed at these high rates of 33% and 8% that is only their Adjusted Gross Income that is taxed NOT the actual amount that they earned. Adjusted Gross Income is taxable income AFTER write offs, expenses, donations, etc.
Sales tax is a given but is only on certain products or if you spend over a certain amount. Plus many people buy products online in which case you may pay no sales tax.
The 22% of "embedded tax" you put is voluntary. If you don't do business with the company you won't be taxed.

McCain and Palin are LYING AGAIN. All but the richest 5 percent will pay 3 times LESS under Obama's plan. Jeez, he really thinks we're stupid......

You can raise taxes to save our withering infrastructure, schools, financial system, military, etc....

Or you can cut taxes and watch the US crumble.

Your choice.

Tax changes with the new presidents(From CNN):

Income Avg. tax bill Avg.

McCain Obama
Over $2.9M -$269,364 +$701,885
$603K and up -$45,361 +$115,974
$227K-$603K -$7,871 +$12,000
$161K-$227K -$4,380 -$2,789
$112K-$161K -$2,614 -$2,204
$66K-$112K -$1,009 -$1,290
$38K-$66K -$319 -$1,042
$19K-$38K -$113 -$892
Under $19K -$19 -$567

95% of Americans will have more money because of Obama. Facts speak louder then rumors and lies.

If you look at when President Clinton was in office he raised taxes on the wealthy people,and lowered taxes for the middleclass and he had a surplus of $288 trillion dollars before Bush got in there and now we have a deficiet more than double!!! If you think about it ,it only makes sense,the wealthiest people pay cash for everything ,it is the middleclass that has to pay on credit that pays the interest and keeps the economy going and when you take those peoples jobs away,and scam them into a home loan,that is what hurts the market.The republicans believe in the trickle down effect ,from wealthy to middleclass, and with all that's going on in the financial system this is the affect of the trickle down affect.Why do you think we had a large deficet with Reagan,Bush41,and now Bush 43.

Just like the hippies of the 60's. Remember everyone knows everything and everyone else is stupid. Lets all hate America now, smoke our pot and make love. Wait a minute, whats the matter with me ? Those guys are todays democratic leaders.
I don't give a squat. Raise my taxes, I will raise the price of my products to the public. My children are not going to go hungry while the "chosen" one feeds the little daddy-less ones in the ghetto with my tax dollars. It has only just began. Tax me all you want Obama. Like any society, the lowest on the ladder starve first.
sincerely
The American Business Man

Maybe BO and JB have never heard of Deferred Compensation. People that earn over $150,000 are eligible to defer (in most cases) 75% of their salary and 100% of their bonuses… which means that money is not taxed until they decide to withdrawl it, and even then it doesn’t count towards FICA/Medicare. So with that in mind, the tax burden falls right back onto the rest of America that earns under $250,000. Democrats could use a good education in finance.

Warren Buffett has famously said, “if there is a class war in America, my side is winning.” In his annual letter to shareholders this year, the billionaire investment guru urged corporations to pony up on taxes, saying, "We hope our taxes continue to rise in the future—it will mean we are prospering—but we also hope that the rest of corporate America antes up along with us.”

FACTS:

In 2004, tax fraud was estimated at $311 billion a year, more than the entire budget for Medicare.

Most cheaters go unpunished. What’s worse, the legal tax system is rigged to favor rich people and large corporations at the expense of ordinary citizens and small businesses.

If tax dodging were a business, it would be the nation’s largest corporation. The current $311 billion tax gap is the equivalent of the total income taxes paid annually by all individuals and families earning less than $75,000.

If we simply collected taxes that cheaters are withholding from the system, we would have enough to give a free college education to every child in America, or to provide health insurance for small business employees, or to cut social security taxes in half.

It amounts to more money than we spent for Medicare in 2003, almost as much as the Defense budget in the same year, and almost enough to pay this year’s deficit of $403 billion.

Large corporations and rich individuals have greater opportunities to cheat – by understating income or shipping money to foreign tax havens, by inflating deductions or claiming expenses that never existed, or by speculating in the stock market and then not reporting the gains.

People with a job or a pension have no similar opportunity to lie about income or evade taxes.

As their biggest donors turned into the biggest tax cheaters, politicians have reacted by handcuffing the tax police. Congress has consistently under-funded IRS enforcement efforts and computer upgrades that would catch more tax dodgers.

Even when everybody abides by the law, middle-income households pay more taxes than rich ones. And politicians keep handing out tax favors to their campaign contributors – at our expense.

A tax system favoring the rich fuels the growing concentration of wealth in America – and therefore threatens our economic growth and even our democracy.

Middle class spending is the growth engine in a free market economy, and when taxes rob the middle class in favor of the rich, the economy shuts down.

Huge fortunes also produce political power that is hard to control. That’s why all modern democracies use their tax laws to prevent excessive concentration of wealth. And that’s why we need a fair taxes campaign in America.

In this election year, both candidates are certain to say a lot of things about taxes. But neither of them is likely to talk about fraud, favoritism and abuse of power.

In the year 2000, at the height of the last economic boom, IRS data shows that on average, the richest 400 taxpayers each had taxable income of $151 million, but these 400 taxpayers paid 27% of their income in federal, state, and local taxes.

All other taxpayers had average taxable income of only $34,600, and yet their tax burden was 40%.

“Since 1980, America’s elected officials have turned a reasonably fair tax code into one crafted for the benefit of those who give the largest campaign contributions, enjoy the greatest access, hire the most influential lobbyists, or otherwise exercise power beyond that enjoyed by average citizens.”

In 1965, individual taxpayers paid 66% of all US income taxes, and corporations paid about a third. But by 2000, the corporate share had dropped to 18%.

Not since 1929 have so few people controlled so much of the wealth in our country. Between 1970 and 2000 average annual income for the top 13,400 households in America increased from $3.6 million to nearly $24 million. That’s a staggering 538% increase. These 13,400 households account for just .01% of the population.

At the same time, the average income for 90% of US households actually fell from $27,060 to $27,035.

Between 1990 and 2000, the average CEO pay went up by 571% and corporate profits grew by 93% while worker pay barely stayed ahead of inflation.

Historians point out that more people moved up into the middle class during the 1950s and 1960s – and American wealth was much less concentrated – when the top income tax rate was 91%, impacting salaries and capital gains equally.

According to IRS data for 2000, most American households earned 70% of their income from work and only 10% from capital gains. But in the highest tax brackets, the situation is completely reversed.

The Bush budget for 2005 cuts another $6 billion in federal support to states, and yet public investment in education, job training, child care, the environment, energy, and research is already less than half what it was during the 1960s and 1970s.

Prosperity that was supposed to ‘trickle down’ has instead flowed straight uphill.

Currently, the republican agenda works to place the cost of health insurance on the backs of those making the least and removing this burden from corporations and replace public schools with private corporations (think Freddie Mac and Fannie May – as long as they make money its private, when such a system begins to crumble its the taxpayers turn to pick up the bill; the new capitalism.)