Romans 13:6-7
You must also pay your taxes. The authorities are God’s servants, and it is their duty to take care of these matters. Pay all that you owe, whether it is taxes and fees or respect and honor.
Discuss.
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And when you can
Using your power in these matters
Change the rules so that
All you owe is
A very small percentage of all you have
And then
When it comes time to pay
As you seek higher office
To provide yourself lower taxes
File for an extension
From the Book of Republican Grifter
“Some folks are born silver spoon in hand
Lord, don’t they help themselves, oh
But when the tax men come to the door
Lord, the house look like a rummage sale….”
Saint John of Clearwater
But…but…government is bad. We need to shrink it and drown it. Starve the beast.
But…but…the Bible says…
You just made the religious right soil themselves.
“Only little people pay taxes.”
– Leona Helmsley
Oh, and Donald Trump, David Koch, Jeffrey Goldberg, Bernie Madoff etc etc etc…
So, acting in My name, Rome demands that all its occupied territories pay taxes!
Why would any of you think this was My word?
I was part of a conservative church for over a decade. I sat through lots of sermons, lots of bible studies and lots of sunday school. Not once did this verse ever come up. I was aware of it because I actually bothered to read the bible a few times. I finally got sick of the overemphasis on stuff the bible didn’t seem to be that interested in (like, say, demonizing gays and electing conservatives to public office) and the complete lack of interest in matters the bible did have quite a lot to say about (like, say, not worshipping money and focussing more on your own morals than those of unbelievers’) and moved on.
Teahadist heads explode, shit flies everywhere…
In this one Goldy is taking a swipe at that hypocrite Obama, who’s tax rate is lower than his secretary’s.
You usual suspects and the neo-cons are always arguing over this tax shit. The solution is simple: go to a single, flat rate tax on income and be done with it. The tax laws aren’t there for you to re-distribute wealth or to help out your friends in business. The tax code ain’t there to benefit politicians of either the liberal or conservative persuasions.
“When I was a kid, I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realized that god, in his wisdom, doesn’t work that way. So I just stole one, and prayed for his forgiveness.”
– Emo Phillips
Au contraire, mon Randian ami.
A valid societal goal it the retardation of accumulation of great wealth. A progressive tax code is a health, good, functional thing.
re 10: “The solution is simple: go to a single, flat rate tax on income and be done with it.”
I suspect that defining what is and is not income will favor the rich. For every ‘simple, common sense solution’, there are millions of simpletons who will believe it.
21% of the First Family income was donated to charity. The largest recipient of the Obamas’ donations was the Fisher House Foundation, which provides homes to relatives of hospitalized members of the military and scholarships to children of deceased and disabled soldiers. The group received $117,130 from the Obamas in 2011.
Through their enormous charitable foundation, the Romney Family “probably” give about an equal percentage of their annual income to charity. But tax records of the foundation indicate that almost all of that giving is directed to the Mormon Church and its various affiliates (after paying all the salaries and expenses for all the foundation staff – all of whom are… you guessed it… Mormon).
I’d say that was food for ‘bagger thought.
I’d say that, but only if there were any evidence that ‘baggers thought.
Republicans may as well dodge taxes because they’re going to Hell anyway for all the other shit they’ve done.
I would trade an income tax for a flat wealth tax .
Just think how much harder the wealthy would work if they had to work for wages!
@2 …and some people are in need of getting whacked with an iron shovel upside the head.
@13 wrote, “For every ’simple, common sense solution’, there are millions of simpletons who will believe it.”
Indeed.
@9 – You’re a moron. It’s hard to come to any other conclusion, as you’re clearly too stupid to understand not only did Obama not create the current tax code, but he’s the presidential candidate who’s pointing out how unfair it is.
@8 – No, not really. No heads will explode. You’re talking about people who are extraordinarily skilled at ignoring any fact that contradicts their idiotic world view.
12 & 13,
OK, here it is, yet again:
1. Take the current federal minimum wage and mutlitply that number by 2,080. Then, for a little extra cushion, multiply by 1.5. Now, we have an amount that should come income-tax-free to any and every one in the US, whether the money comes from wages, interest income, capital gains or whatever – use the standard definition of “income” that’s in use now.
2. Once we have the amount that a single individual gets tax-free in income, then we multiply that amount by the number of people claimed on the tax return. For a family of 4, multiply the single amount by 4 to compute the amount of total household income that comes to the family tax-free.
3. Compare the amount in step 2 for the entire family to that family’s total income. If the total family income is <= the tax-free amount, no taxes are due. If it's greater, subtract the tax-free amount for the family from family total income. That remainder is taxed as a single flat rate for everyone, no matter who they are. No deductions for mortgage interest, no three martini lunches, no leased vehicles, etc.
It's so simple and incredible that it would literally put H&R Block out of business. That should be the goal – to make the tax preparation industry obsolete. Make the term "tax attorney," "tax preparer" or "tax accountant" be as meaningless as making stoneage tools.
Why can't you people simply support a flat-tax? How are you personally benefitted from such a complex monster as is our tax code? It just doesn't make any sense.
BTW, Liberal Sci – I think it's the estate tax that attempts to stop the massive accumulation of wealth from generation to generation, not the income tax. As you can see by all of the wealthy dynasties we have in America (Rockefellers, Kennedys, Vanderbilts, etc.), the estate tax has been less than successful in stopping the accumulation of wealth. It usually only hits the owners of small businesses who work their guts out for a lifetime in the private sector to build a business. You know the type – the salt of the earth people that all these politicians pretend to want to help.
@12,
It’s the estate tax that tries to prevent the accumulation of wealth from generation to generation. It hasn’t worked so well, since the Rockefellers, Kennedys, Mellons, Vanderbilts, etc. are all still very, very rich. Heck, even Al Gore is one rich dude. I wonder how he plans to avoid paying any estate taxes once he departs for the afterlife??
I just can’t see why you people won’t support a simple, flat rate income tax versus the complicated monster we have now.
The Republican Party, as it is now, would execute Jesus Christ in a heartbeat. As Stephen Stills once said, “Jesus Christ was the first nonviolent revolutionary.” Mitt Romney would shake Christ’s hand, because Romney will be anything to anyone, but he hasn’t a clue what Jesus Christ was all about.
21 PI
A wealth tax and an estate tax are VERY different things.
The estate tax is paid once, it only effects investment behavior if you think you want to ass $$ on. The estate tax also encourages the 1% to avoid paying any taxes by gifting their money or creating trusts and foundations.
A wealth tax is paid every year .. like an income tax.
Currently the 1% have little incentive to invest money back into the economy. The result is that we tax the 99% so that very put money in gold, hide funds in Switzerland, pay for political campaigns, etc.
All these non productive assets would be taxed by the wealth tax.
The WT would not be limited to money frozen in Mitt Romney’s five h9mes. I would also tax his UNREALIZED capital gains .. currenlty we get bubble,soelled APPLE … companies valued fart over what they will ever return in earnings.
My wealth tax would force Romney and his class to invest their dollars in dividend producing securities or or lose assets to the tax.
@21 What’s your rationale for assuming a relationship between the federal minimum wage and a family’s subsistence needs?
As for the flat tax, enacting the Buffett Rule is a start in that direction, albeit an incomplete one.
@24 Well, I put my (modest) wealth in dividend paying securities! My stocks are worth more than my burrow. If you’re curious which stocks I own, a partial list is:
Abbott Laboratories, American Greetings, Arch Coal, AT&T, Bank of New York Mellon, Boeing, Chevron, Darden, Ford, Gannett, General Electric, Hartford, IBM, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg, Kinross, Lockheed, McDonalds, Meredith, Noble, Novartis, Peabody, Starbucks, Unilever, Verizon, Vodafone, Weatherford.
Roger …
The real problem with”investing” is “gambling.”
Stocks that do not pay dividends depend on the market to place value. An investment in Apple is an obvious example. There is no way Apple’s future possible growth justifies its price.
As a result $ invested there so not contribute to productive capital.
It seems to me that portfolios like yours should be tax advantaged because of the dividend rate.