Tag: taxes

Cost of Wars Felt Decades Later

And this is only a very small fraction of those cost in monetary terms for any War but especially Wars of Choice, billions are just plain blown up in the occupations, billions are just lost, and more!

The Meaningful Real Costs in Lives Loss or Changed Forever can not be Calculated!

And out of these two occupations we’ve given the small band of criminals exactly what they wanted, raised the hatreds towards us and created the long term possibility, already started, of continued blowback, our legacy to the coming generations!

Americans are Socialist


And they say we’re a center right country.  Ha!  

(Reuters) Most Americans believe tax hikes are OK if you’re making more than $250,000, a policy proposed by President Barack Obama, but hands off Medicare and Social Security, a poll released on Monday found.

The Quinnipiac University poll found that 60 percent of Americans among both major political parties think raising income taxes on households making more than $250,000 should be a main tenet of the government’s efforts to tame the deficit. More than 70 percent, including a majority of Republicans, say those making more than $1 million should pay more.

But 80 percent say raising taxes on those making less than that should not be part of the government’s approach. Moreover, most oppose touching Medicare and Social Security – two long-term drivers of the budget deficit over the coming decades. Link

h/t TBH

Todays Youth and Health Concerns

This is going to be rather short, was going to wait and place in an open thread but thinking it really needs a stand alone and frankly many more separate posts and discussions or ability to add reports from around the country.

This isn’t a new dangerous problem it’s been growing for the last couple of decades and especially in the recent past one, especially the health problems.

Fighting the Continued War on the Homefront

Forced to clean up what was left and wasn’t even considered as we sent our soldiers, not into one more failed policy War and long Occupation of others but a second one as well, both still ongoing, both still creating soldiers and veterans, as well as families of, who are owed, more then any previous as they serve in both theaters and multiple tours, adding to all those that preceded and the numbers grow even as us older vets pass on, some getting the help some not and being fought for every step of the way!

Wounded Veterans’ New Fight: The VA

Eschelon Minus: Mad “Stacks” Droppin’ In At The IRS

(Cross-posted from The Free Speech Zone)

February 16th:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Worried about a tax audit? Maybe you should be. More Americans than ever may be subject to unwanted attention from the Internal Revenue Service this season as the government pumps billions of dollars into tax collection.

More than 1.4 million Americans were audited last year, the most in a decade. Even more audits are expected as the Obama administration plans to spend $8.2 billion in tax enforcement initiatives in 2011, a nearly 10% increase over last year.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/1…

Hmm, why they doing that?

February 18th:

Republicans have complained that Mr. Obama is trying to make it appear in an election year that he is doing something about high annual deficits, which have become a big issue for independent voters especially. Yet whether or not the commission succeeds in sending proposals to Congress after Dec. 1, its deliberations will force both parties to address whether to raise more revenues and make long-range reductions in Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security – the tough steps many economists say are essential to controlling a debt growing larger than the economy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02…

Translation?: Obama wants both parties to take the blame for having to fuck us out of money for revenue with tax hikes because, well, what do you want them to do?  Tax the rich?!

ROTFLMFAO!!!!

That same day….

Who Do We Trust with Our Tax Dollars? Who Should We Trust, Instead?

I thought I’d do something different today for comparison’s sake.  With everyone sufficiently indignant at our banking system, our government’s response, and at the abuses within the Bailout, I thought I might provide some needed contrast.  The details which follow first are the literal steps one has no choice but to follow to attain food stamps in Washington, DC.  I pulled certain phrases off of an advocacy website PDF here but the construction is largely mine.



How to Obtain Food Stamps in the District of Columbia

1.  Sit in line at the Food Stamp office nearest you and, while waiting, fill out a 12 page form.

OR

Print the form and fill out all 12 pages.

2.  To make sure you do not try to cheat the system, you will first be required to reveal your

a) Household income

b) Cash present on hand

c) Rent and utility costs

3.   You will then be asked to provide

a) where you work (if you are, in fact, employed)

b) your employer’s name and telephone number

c) when you started working for them

d) how much your paycheck is before taxes

e) and how often you get paid

4.  If you or anyone else in your household makes some degree of income, repeat step 3

5.  If you have a bank account, you are required to prove it by providing a bank statement

6.  If you own anything else besides your home, you are required to state that you do.

7.  If you have stocks and/or bonds, please respond in in the affirmative.

8.  Did you sell, trade, or give away anything more than $1,000 in the past three (3) years?  If so, please mark “yes” and attach a description to this form.

9.  Provide the exact dollar amount of that which you pay in rent.  Don’t forget to leave out utilities if not included in rent and whether or not you pay for air-conditioning and heating costs separate from your rent.

10.  Mail form.  Wait approximately three and a half weeks for a reply, only to be told after four separate phone calls spent futilely trying to speak to an actual person that, due to a severe backlog in unprocessed claims, it may be up to a month and a half before your paperwork is processed.

OR

Drop off form at Food Stamps office.  Speak to case worker after waiting for several hours.  Turn in form.  Wait approximately three and a half weeks for a reply, only to be after four separate phone calls futilely trying to speak to an actual person that, due to a severe backlog in unprocessed claims, it may be up to a month and a half before your paperwork is processed.

11.  Wait

12.  Keep waiting.

13.  Finally receive form in mail informing of date to meet with caseworker to determine whether Food Stamps will be granted.  Date is eight business days from when one received notice.

14.  Collect necessary documentation to prove identity.  This includes:

a) Photo ID/Drivers’ license

b) Recent rent receipt, copy of lease, mortgage payment, or landlord’s name and phone number.

c) Proof of income, last three pay stubs, VA benefits, educational scholarships, grants or loans, unemployment payments, or your employer’s name and phone number.

d)  Proof of Housing Expense:   Recent rent or mortgage payment receipts.  This includes receipts of all recent utility bill(s): phone, gas, electric, and water.  All of these documents must have your address printed on them.

e) Bank statements:  If one has an account at a bank or credit union, bring a  recent bank statement or bankbook. Also if you have any other type of financial account (for example, a CD) be sure to bring that, too.

f) Social Security Card

g) Proof of any Assets:  Bring proof of ownership for buildings, land, policies, burial arrangements or plots, and/or other property (not your home that you stay in) you reported in your application.

15.  After all hoops have been jumped through and forms brought to the attention and signed off by the appropriate party, wait for judgment about food stamps.

16.  Ten days later, judgment is granted.  Realize that $100.12 per month means approximately one week’s worth of groceries for one person.  Shrug and say to self that every little bit matters.

17.  Attend mandatory EBT Card (Food Stamp) card training before receiving.  Training lasts approximately 15 to 20 minutes.

18.  Proceed directly to grocery store.



How to Obtain Bailout Money in the District of Columbia




1.  Be a CEO of a large financial institute.

2.  State that you are nearly bankrupt, but too big to fail.

3.  Collect emergency funds.

O’Reilly predicts Pelosi’s MURDER in violent tea party, even Beck balks. “It’s gonna get ugly”

Crossposted at Daily Kos

    Sick Fux.

BECK: Last week, I head you say that – you were on with Dennis Miller. … You two were talking about an insurrection coming.

O’REILLY: Tax revolt.

BECK: He used the word insurrection. And not in a comedic way.

O’REILLY: Yeah, tax revolt. I think people, when they figure out how badly they’re going to get hurt in the next few years, there’s going to be a tea party on taxes and its gonna get nasty. Nancy Pelosi’s going to be bobbing up and down in the Boston Harbor.

    This statement appeared to be too much for Beck even, who replied, “Uh, I don’t think that’s necessary.”

ThinkProgress.org

    More below the fold.

It’s Official: CBPP calls Tax Cuts a Boon to Top 1%

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities economists just confirmed the trends of the last 8 years — Most of the the Economic Gains went to the very Wealthy, while the rest of us struggled to just get by

TOP 1 PERCENT OF AMERICANS REAPED 2/3 OF INCOME GAINS In last Economic Expansion,

Income Concentration in 2007 Was at Highest Level Since 1928, New Analysis Shows

By Avi Feller and Chad Stone – September 9, 2009

Two-thirds of the nation’s total income gains from 2002 to 2007 flowed to the top 1 percent of U.S. households, and that top 1 percent held a larger share of income in 2007 than at any time since 1928, according to an analysis of newly released IRS data by economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez.

During those years, the Piketty-Saez data also show, the inflation adjusted income of the top 1 percent of households grew more than ten times faster than the income of the bottom 90 percent of households.

Bush Tax Cuts: a Handout to the Rich, but at What Cost to Society?

How to save $1.3 trillion a year, get healthcare reform, and lose weight doing it

Michael Lemke, Special Interests Examiner – Sept 3, 2009

Ending the Bush tax cut for the top 1% would save $132 billion next year alone.

While the rich have been getting richer at a staggering rate both under Clinton and under Bush, the lower 80% of US households have been stagnating or getting poorer. We have reach the highest level of income inequality in US history, surpassing even the obscene levels of the late 1920s.

http://www.examiner.com/x-1908…

Well, that’s one sure fire way to help pay for Health Care —

Repeal the Bush Give-Away to the Top 1%, or just let them sunset, as the legislation requires!

January 1, 2011, is one Sunset, that can’t come soon enough!

Considered Forthwith: Joint Committe on Taxation (HCR info)

Welcome to the 22nd installment of “Considered Forthwith.”

This weekly series looks at the various committees in the House and the Senate. Committees are the workshops of our democracy. This is where bills are considered, revised, and occasionally advance for consideration by the House and Senate. Most committees also have the authority to exercise oversight of related executive branch agencies.

And we’re back. This week, I will be looking at the Joint Committee on Taxation. With the upcoming Finance Committee mark up of the Baucus bill, this little known committee will be in the spotlight. This is the committee responsible for studying the impact of tax policy and has calculated the revenue projections for the Finance Committee bill (opens a .pdf file).

Late Weird Update! Time To Tax The Ultra Wealthy Appropriately

One of the most pernicious frames the Republican Party and Grover Norquist have ever placed on our nation is this idea that the rich should not be taxed at much higher levels than the rest of the nation. This frame is so well placed it has become nearly and article of faith for the nation if we some how put a significant amount of tax on those who can most afford it this punishes the whole nation. The Dog thinks this is flatly insane.

Originally posted at Squarestate.net

UPDATE:

So who says we are shouting down a whole or only talking to ourselves? Today the Dog got an e-mail from the Neil Cavuto show on Fox “Going out of” Business Network asking if he would like to be on the show to talk about raising taxes on the rich. After thinking it through the Dog has turned them down, why be a chump they can treat like a punching bag? If this were one of the Dog’s signature issues it would have been different, but since this was a one off essay, it is not worth outing the hound to look like a putz. Still we are getting attention on our humble blogs, so as Buhdy says “SHOUT LOUDER!”  

Roll Back the Bush Tax Cut to Pay for Health Reform

I caught the Randi Rhodes show today. She was suggesting that all we have to do to pay for Health Care Reform, including a Public Option, was to just Roll Back the Bush Tax Cuts!

What a Brilliant Idea!

Thanks Rhandi … (So glad you’re back btw)

As it turns out, we just need to let the Bush Tax Cuts Expire, when they are due to “sunset” (ie. Don’t Renew them!)

When Would the President’s Tax Cuts Expire?

by Andrew M. Grossman – April 21, 2004

In 2001 and 2003, President George W. Bush proposed and Congress passed a series of tax cuts to reinvigorate the economy and reduce the government’s burden on workers’ paychecks. Because of opposition to these measures from some in Congress, they were implemented as temporary tax cuts, all of which will expire by January 1, 2011.

http://www.heritage.org/Resear…

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