A Taxing Problem - When is Enough..Enough?

[Guest]

We all know about income tax, excise taxes, taxes on fuel, taxes on alcohol (hic) taxes on cigarettes, taxes on communications (can you hear me yet), transportation, social security and Medicaid, estate taxes (death does not end your tax obligation) and of course corporate taxes. Then we have those other pesky taxes like real estate and state sales taxes. These are just the tip of the iceberg because government with stealth and guile has the product of your labor constantly in their greedy sights. Check out the link below, with credible sources, for more government revenue stream producers. Be sure to check the whole list.

http://nowandfutures.com/taxes.html

The controversy over the extension of the payroll tax cut (FICA) is a contrived waste of time and pure political theater. If the often cited twenty bucks a paycheck is an honest concern to those in Congress, why don't they take a bite out of all those taxing targets listed above and in the link. Why don't they give "we the people" real tax relief?

Let me make it clear, I believe the government has a right and an obligation to tax in order to provide a strong military, veteran benefits and assistance to those in need. I believe they need to provide us with security from our enemies foreign and domestic. I believe they need to be securing our borders. I'm sure you can list a few more that I can agree with.

I do not believe the government and taxpayer dollars should be involved in social engineering, corporate welfare, building cars, betting on winners and losers in the private sector or manipulating the redistribution of wealth.

For these reasons, I believe the entire payroll extension exercise was a worthless, contrived, calculated, politically motivated distraction to take our attention from a floundering, self-promoting Congress and Administration. Frankly and sadly, I don't expect more for the foreseeable future.

[Guest]

The controversy over the extension of the payroll tax cut (FICA) is a contrived waste of time and pure political theater. If the often cited twenty bucks a paycheck is an honest concern to those in Congress, why don't they take a bite out of all those taxing targets listed above and in the link. Why don't they give "we the people" real tax relief?

Let me make it clear, I believe the government has a right and an obligation to tax in order to provide a strong military, veteran benefits and assistance to those in need. I believe they need to provide us with security from our enemies foreign and domestic. I believe they need to be securing our borders. I'm sure you can list a few more that I can agree with.

I do not believe the government and taxpayer dollars should be involved in social engineering, corporate welfare, building cars, betting on winners and losers in the private sector or manipulating the redistribution of wealth.

For these reasons, I believe the entire payroll extension exercise was a worthless, contrived, calculated, politically motivated distraction to take our attention from a floundering, self-promoting Congress and Administration. Frankly and sadly, I don't expect more for the foreseeable future.

I could not have written it any better! I agree totally.

If $20-$40 per paycheck is so important then let the unions cut their dues to make up the difference.

Another thing not so related to this but kind of....

I am all for giving to the needy but this year I watched as lines of cars were shown on our local station pulling up in cars newer than mine, mostly expensive cars, and they showed the people waiting and calling their friends on their IPhones to tell them they were getting free food.
We have 6.5% unemployment and there are jobs to be had here, get a cheaper car, a cheaper phone, a second job and then come get the free food!


Really!??

It seems that people(some not all) don't want to do the hard things to help themselves.

[Guest]

:BigApplause: well said....nobody bought Obama's lame example of one family will have to give up Friday pizza....

abuse as usual and business as usual in Washington allows it to continue...don't wanna make anybody mad by enforcing the law now do we?

btk

[Guest]

Isn't pizza considered a necessity? :cus:

[Guest]

Cabo,no disagreement from me this time....you are spot on.

[Guest]

cabo-:agree:

[Guest]

Notlongnow -

I would bet any one of those families you saw getting food from a food bank would be willing to trade living situations with you for a month. Your salary or retirement pension for their monthly income - your retirement for their job.

Walk a mile in their shoes before making a blanket statement.

[Guest]

We all know about income tax, excise taxes, taxes on fuel, taxes on alcohol (hic) taxes on cigarettes, taxes on communications (can you hear me yet), transportation, social security and Medicaid, estate taxes (death does not end your tax obligation) and of course corporate taxes. Then we have those other pesky taxes like real estate and state sales taxes. These are just the tip of the iceberg because government with stealth and guile has the product of your labor constantly in their greedy sights. Check out the link below, with credible sources, for more government revenue stream producers. Be sure to check the whole list.

http://nowandfutures.com/taxes.html

The controversy over the extension of the payroll tax cut (FICA) is a contrived waste of time and pure political theater. If the often cited twenty bucks a paycheck is an honest concern to those in Congress, why don't they take a bite out of all those taxing targets listed above and in the link. Why don't they give "we the people" real tax relief?

Let me make it clear, I believe the government has a right and an obligation to tax in order to provide a strong military, veteran benefits and assistance to those in need. I believe they need to provide us with security from our enemies foreign and domestic. I believe they need to be securing our borders. I'm sure you can list a few more that I can agree with.

I do not believe the government and taxpayer dollars should be involved in social engineering, corporate welfare, building cars, betting on winners and losers in the private sector or manipulating the redistribution of wealth.

For these reasons, I believe the entire payroll extension exercise was a worthless, contrived, calculated, politically motivated distraction to take our attention from a floundering, self-promoting Congress and Administration. Frankly and sadly, I don't expect more for the foreseeable future.

Well said.

Lets not be embarrassed for working most of our lives to have what we have. I am sick to death of the I WANT IT NOW mentality. I labored for 40 years and I am not going to give it away. Too darn many hands out that are younger and healthier than mine.

[Guest]

One thing to point out about the food banks.

Do you think it's so hard to see where someone who has an iPhone and becomes unemployed could THEN need assistance?

I'm not talking about the recent blog post where a Wal-Mart cashier told some horrow stories of what she saw being purchased with Food Stamps, WIC vouchers and EBT cards. There's no excuse for buying lobster meat with Food Stamps.

[Guest]

One thing to point out about the food banks.

Do you think it's so hard to see where someone who has an iPhone and becomes unemployed could THEN need assistance?

I'm not talking about the recent blog post where a Wal-Mart cashier told some horrow stories of what she saw being purchased with Food Stamps, WIC vouchers and EBT cards. There's no excuse for buying lobster meat with Food Stamps.

Regarding:

Do you think it's so hard to see where someone who has an iPhone and becomes unemployed could THEN need assistance?

What responsible people do when they lose their job is GIVE UP the non-essentials, to put THAT money toward food and essentials. A smartphone and its internet-access data plan are not essentials!

And regarding:

.....post where a Wal-Mart cashier told some horrow stories of what she saw being purchased with Food Stamps, WIC vouchers and EBT cards.
There's no excuse for buying lobster meat with Food Stamps.

People are going to do what they can get away with. What there's no excuse for is the government ALLOWING lobster to be bought with food stamps. This is why the federal government is the absolute worst management to put in charge of massive programs like national healthcare. They're always ENABLING people to remain dependent because the dependent lifestyle isn't all that bad.

[Guest]

Regarding:



What responsible people do when they lose their job is GIVE UP the non-essentials, to put THAT money toward food and essentials. A smartphone and its internet-access data plan are not essentials!

And regarding:



People are going to do what they can get away with. What there's no excuse for is the government ALLOWING lobster to be bought with food stamps. This is why the federal government is the absolute worst management to put in charge of massive programs like national healthcare. They're always ENABLING people to remain dependent because the dependent lifestyle isn't all that bad.

ALL good points. :agree:

[Guest]

ilovetv: Taking your points in order..

1) If you have an iPhone and your find yourself unemployed, it *IS* a necessity. You need to be available at any time for an interview or ANYthing that could lead to a job. There are MANY people who have given up land lines entirely because a cell phone IS the cheaper alternative. If I had to give one up, it WOULD be the landline. Given that, staying on your plan is usually the cheapest option because you're locked into a contract for a couple of years.

As far as net access goes, at least on my plan, it's bundled in. If I got REALLY desperate, I could give up my 'regular' internet access (I have what used to be called Fios up here) while still having access via my phone.

I have to tell you, I see here what I saw in my ex-wife - an inability to consider circumstances other than one's own experience. What I'm talking about above is ESPECIALLY true for younger people and THEY have higher unemployment rates. In an extreme case, a person can still be available for work WITH a cellphone and WITHOUT a permanent address.

2) As to the food stamps/lobster thing - until we have a nationwide databse of what UPC codes can and can't be used for Food Stamps, we'll have this problem. Right now, we can easily flag the difference between 'food', tobacco and alcohol. But knowing the difference between, say, a box of pasta and a box oc Velveeta is splitting hairs finer than the government does. It'll do "categories", as near as I can tell, but not finer than that.