Think again. They really like to toss out the word "billion" a lot, and when this e-mail came in I couldn't help but chuckle to myself. (if anyone knows the source I'll gladly link to it. I just couldn't find it.) Enjoy the read, or rather, get ready to be sick. ----------------------- The next time you hear a politician use the word "billion" in a casual manner, think about whether you want the "politicians" spending your tax money. A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases. A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959. B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive. C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age. D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet. E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it. While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans. It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division . . . Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D), is presently asking the Congress for $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number, what does it mean? a. Well, if you are one of 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, child), you each get $516,528. b. Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets $1,329,787. c. Or, if you are a family of four, your family gets $2,066,012. Washington, D.C. ... HELLO!!! ... Are all your calculators broken?? This is too true to be very funny TAX Tax his land, Tax his wage, Tax his bed in which he lays. Tax his tractor, Tax his mule, Teach him taxes is the rule. Tax his cow, Tax his goat, Tax his pants, Tax his coat. Tax his ties, Tax his shirts, Tax his work, Tax his dirt. Tax his tobacco, Tax his drink, Tax him if he tries to think. Tax his booze, Tax his beers, If he cries, Tax his tears. Tax his bills, Tax his gas, Tax his notes, Tax his cash. Tax him good and let him know That after taxes, he has no dough. If he hollers, Tax him more, Tax him until he's good and sore. Tax his coffin, Tax his grave, Tax the sod in which he lays. Put these words upon his tomb, "Taxes drove me to my doom!" And when he's gone, We won't relax, We'll still be after the inheritance TAX!! Accounts Receivable Tax Building Permit Tax CDL License Tax Cigarette Tax Corporate Income Tax Dog License Tax Federal Income Tax Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA) Fishing License Tax Food License Tax Fuel Permit Tax Gasoline Tax Hunting License Tax Inheritance Tax Inventory Tax IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax), IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax), Liquor Tax, Luxury Tax, Marriage License Tax, Medicare Tax, Property Tax, Real Estate Tax, Service charge taxes, Social Security Tax, Road Usage Tax (Truckers), Sales Taxes, Recreational Vehicle Tax, School Tax, State Income Tax, State Unemployment Tax (SUTA), Telephone Federal Excise Tax, Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax, Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax, Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax, Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax, Telephone State and Local Tax, Telephone Usage Charge Tax, Utility Tax, Vehicle License Registration Tax, Vehicle Sales Tax, Watercraft Registration Tax, Well Permit Tax, Workers Compensation Tax. COMMENTS: Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago And there was prosperity, absolutely no national debt, the largest middle class in the world and Mom stayed home to raise the kids. What the heck happened?????
And how many Billions have been wasted in Iraq looking for them there weapons of mass destruction? Nice try. :/
100,000's of people were killed and even more supressed. You lefties like to try and put a price on that, but some of us, including many women and children who now go to school and are now working in government, tend to think price tags are insulting. You don't mind over half a million per family in a hurricane zone, but God forbid we do that for a people who were living under Saddam's regime. Oh no, no money for the people the GOP wants to try and help.
The tax arguments are possibly the GREAT BS political argument of all time!!!!! But first to the argument of spreading dollars amongst the New Orleans or Louisiana population. If people living in crappy trailors are living high off the hog....where is the money going. Much money has been spent and there is more to spend for rebuilding in that area. Much of it goes into infrastructure repair. No families directly sit on the cash. Go down there see all the devastation still in place. The money hasn't been spent on removing all the mess and debris. Republicans spend just like Democrats. Our current system of members of congress throwing money into all types of stupid programs in their own states and districts is rampant waste of taxpayers money. Now it is being even more distorted with evidence of members of Congress making personal investments in line with their own entitlement spending in their regions/districts. This is theft of American taxpayer money whether Dem or Rep. The US economy was very strong and huge wealth was created during the 90's when Clinton was Pres and taxes were higher than while Bush has been pres. Out of curiousity what are the tax rates like in China. The economy is booming. Enormous wealth is being created....allbeit starting from a much lower/poorer basis. Are the tax rates high or low? I don't know....does anyone?
Depends on what you mean by high? A few hundred years ago, people balked at the church getting 10% of people's income and thought that was a horrible crime. Depends on what you mean by low? When reagan took office, the highest bracket was at like 70% or something. Its (what?) 37% now? I think they are too high, but the government spends too much too (way too much). But people expect too much from the government too (gimme money, gimme money) Families did get $2000 from the government after Katrina. Check on the internet on how many stories there are of people buying $800 purses and expensive crap they had no business buying. I think that undercuts your point. The money was mismanaged, no doubt. Add to that; the mayor of NO receiving a bad from a junkyard to remove all the old cars and would pay the city to do it. Mayor turned it down, and now taxpayers will foot the bill for those removals instead. Wonderful Buying votes thru pork IS a lot easier than actually governing well. Both sides of the aisle realize this; unfortunately. Internet bubble. You conceded this point in another thread (presidents getting too much credit and too much blame). Curious why its brought up again? I think starting from a lower basis is the point. Growing at 10% of nothing is good, but its still nothing. (I know China's economy isn't nothing, just making a pont). Also, the wealth being created is being done for a VERY narrow group of people. Check out the wages over there. They are awfully low, which is why their economy is booming (what can't be accomplished with cheap expendible labor?)
Bush is a HUGE spender. No doubt about that. Same with most repubs. I was simply pointing out that Dems are no better. They both suck.
They'll spend as much as they can, till that power is eliminated. I'd like a repeal of the 16th, but I'd settle for a fairly restrictive measure e.g TABOR. While the Tax payers bill of rights is not perfect, I do think it would be nice to have something similiar to that on a federal level...both restricting spending and taxes.
Sorry Lorien: Take Clinton's name out of it. Mistake. Didn't want to give him credit. Just want it to be restated that "marginal differences" in taxes don't seem to make a difference with regard to wealth creation. Now there would probably be a big difference, though, between high rates like 70% max versus current rates or rates during the 90's. With regard to the New Orleans thing....there is a big big difference between the $2,000 families were given and the $500,000/individual first mentioned. That $500,000 thing is a mirage dumb statement and even if that much money was sent to New Orleans it wouldn't plop into people's laps. Much needs to be spent on infrastructure repair, etc. BTW; from anecdotal reports I've heard from people I know there are great wages in New Orleans for people doing repair, etc. Little labor, lots of job opportunities, etc. In terms of waste there. Hah. I'll bet there are plenty of places and people to blame. I don't think I was blaming anyone in my citation above. I am curious about tax rates in places like China, Japan, Korea, etc. I don't know if the tax rates are high or low. Does anyone know how they compare to the US? But I don't think low wages (like in the Far East) are the only part of the deal to make economies sing! For instance there are low wages in Mexico and it doesn't have an economy like any of those other countries.
I do wonder, though, let's say $500,000 was dumped in everyone's lap instead. Would NO be better off now? Seems the local/state governments haven't done a whole lot. Poor leadership at the city level I think really needs to be examined more. You got me curious too. Japan: (2005) http://www.worldwide-tax.com/japan/japan_tax.asp 18 million yen+ (about $150,000 per year) - 37% 3 million yen (about $28,000 per year) - 10% Plus stuff in the middle China seems more complex, plus the per year wages seem absurd to me. http://www.worldwide-tax.com/china/china_tax.asp 500 cny (63 dollars/year *boggles*) - 5% 100,000 cny (about $12,500 per year) - 45% S Korea: http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/country.cfm?id=KoreaSouth Top tax rate of 38.5% Here's a complete list: http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/countries.cfm Corruption, perhaps? I'm not sure why mexico's economy is always in the shitter and people flee the country. Too much regulation? I know China's economy started moving when deregulation and private businesses came more into the picture.
hmmmm... Our top tax rate and those of Korea and Japan are similar...of course, state and other taxes and their add ons and then various types of exemptions probably paint dramatically different pictures. Interesting.... I would have guessed they have much higher tax rates. I'll have to look at that web site.
Taxes aren't the whole picture. People who want to make money aren't going to throw up their arms and say "welp, taxes are too high, I'm not making money anymore". Other factors come into play - regulation, red tape, employment laws, subsidies, etc. I think those probably play a larger, if not more important role in prosperity. And that is something I like Bush for. Executive Orders he has signed has loosened up a lot of red tape (which many liberals want in place) to make the economy flow smoother. Next president has to decide whether or not to keep them in place or not.
I'll agree with that, but what's up with crap like Bush signing for $20 BILLION for ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS to have health care. W-T-F
Votes? I dunno. Seems to me if an illegal shows up in a hospital; its the perfect opportunity to deport them to me.
He came out the other day and took a strong, principled stand against lying http://hotair.com/archives/2006/09/08/video-clinton-takes-strong-principled-stand-against-lying/ I love him!