43% Pay NO Federal Income Tax - ARE YOU KIDDING ME??

[TerriDoodle 6]

We didn't pay any income tax in 2006. I don't think that's a sign the system is broken. I had started my own business and our yearly income was half what a family of 4 needs to survive in our area that year.

Sorry, but I believe that every single American should pay income tax unless you are disabled. Even if it is 3% or 5%...I don't care...just something to give you a REASON to monitor your government. If you don't have an investment (especially those who receive welfare benefits on top of that) then what inspires you to keep these bozos in DC accountable?

Do you honestly believe it is fair for you to not pay one single dime in income taxes? Would you be willing to pay 5%? 3% 1%?

[BethFromVA 5]

These assholes really don't get it, do they? This was FAR from right-wing! There were MANY democrats at our protest!

This is a CITIZEN protest, not a right/left one! Otherwise what they're saying is that the RIGHT are the ones paying taxes, while the LEFT are the mooches sponging off the system. Which we know isn't exactly true.

[TerriDoodle 6]

These assholes really don't get it, do they? This was FAR from right-wing! There were MANY democrats at our protest!

This is a CITIZEN protest, not a right/left one! Otherwise what they're saying is that the RIGHT are the ones paying taxes, while the LEFT are the mooches sponging off the system. Which we know isn't exactly true.

Are you referring to the CNN and MSNBC assholes? Oh, they get it....they just don't care anything about responsible journalism! Hence their ratings. 'Nuf said.

[BethFromVA 5]

Are you referring to the CNN and MSNBC assholes? Oh, they get it....they just don't care anything about responsible journalism! Hence their ratings. 'Nuf said.

Yeah, I meant them.

Do you really think they get it? I dunno, I think they don't. I think THEY truly think this is a right-wing issue organized by FOX. I've heard that a lot. This was a grass-roots effort by everyday citizens who wore no political affiliation on their sleeve. I saw black, white, brown, yellow... all sorts of people there.

People are in a stranglehold by their government, which is taking more liberties than the Constitution allows them to have -- for the very same reason they fled the tyrrany in Europe. This policy is NOT sustainable in any way, shape, or form.

We had some great speakers at ours, one of whom had lived in the USSR for a time when they played the inflation game, printing money like the US is. A month's wages very quickly got to the point where they wouldn't stretch the week, and then a day. This woman said hundreds of people a day were plunging from buildings to their deaths because they had been wiped out. She and her family literally walked past bodies on the streets on their way to church.

She said this happened in a matter of months due to the same types of things that our government is now doing. The one thing you can say about people in general and government specifically -- they NEVER learn from past failures.

[TerriDoodle 6]

It's f*cking ridiculous, Jack. The whole thing just needs to be tossed....NOW. I am going to throw my energy behind the national sales tax...Americans For Fair Taxation. Something's gotta give.

[plain 12]

Sorry, but I believe that every single American should pay income tax unless you are disabled. Even if it is 3% or 5%...I don't care...just something to give you a REASON to monitor your government. If you don't have an investment (especially those who receive welfare benefits on top of that) then what inspires you to keep these bozos in DC accountable?

Eh, I can see not paying tax in Mac's situation (um....by that I mean legally not qualifying), because start up and small business are so vital for our economy.

The thing that's hard for me to swallow is "generational welfare", ie 4 generations of a family being on welfare (like that which was discovered in the wake of Katrina). That's where the system is flawed.

[BJean 16]

you got that right, plain.

Btw, there are Americans who refuse to pay taxes - period. They do not file, they do not pay, in many cases they are not in jail.

Eventually they may go to jail, but it usually takes a really long time for Uncle Sam to catch up with them. And when he does, it may result in a fine, which the culprit is allowed to pay out on a schedule. So Sammy gets the money, if and when they decide to pay that.

I know that there have been generations on welfare because my Mother worked in a job where she was exposed to it on a daily basis. I did think that there had been some changes made to the system and that it had become much harder to take advantage of welfare over a long period of time. But let's face it, there are dishonest people at the bottom of the barrel and there are crooks at the top bilking the system. Honest people in the middle seem to be hit the hardest.

[MacMadame 81]

Do you honestly believe it is fair for you to not pay one single dime in income taxes?

Yep, it's totally fair. I've paid taxes out the ying-yang when I was making six figures and I'll be paying them again this year. The government won't collapse during those two years I was trying to get my business going and even 1% during those years would have been a big burden on us. Heck, we're still trying to get out from under those two years in a lot of ways.

Fair doesn't mean equal. I tell my kids that all the time and I mean it.

[MacMadame 81]

re: "Fair doesn't mean equal."

I have been unable to understand what you mean with this statement. Can you provide examples?

My son goes to bed later than my daughter. My daughter says "it's not fair" but it is fair. He's older. When she's older, she'll stay up later too.

It works with income tax too. It wouldn't be fair if Bill Gates and I paid the same tax. It's not really even fair if we pay the same percentage. Because 10% of his income is nothing to him, but to me it's a big portion of my disposable income.

[jenajjthr 0]

re: "Fair doesn't mean equal."

I have been unable to understand what you mean with this statement. Can you provide examples?

Another example: You are in a room with 20 people and you are the only one who knows CPR. One person has a heart attack and needs CPR. If you give him CPR you are not being "fair" to the other 19 people because they might need it too, but you can't give it to them if you are giving CPR to someone else.

Equal doesn't mean "fair" and "even" it means giving or getting what each individual person NEEDS at that moment.

As for taxes, see the above post. Hypothetically Person A make 30,000 a year, 10% flat tax would be 3,000 leaving 27,000. That is a lot to take away when one makes so little a year and it is hard to make ends meet. Person B makes 300,000 a year, 10% flat tax would be 30,000 leaving 270,000. Same percentage, but there is a lot more money to go around to make ends meet.

10% may not sound like much, but the less you make the more each dollar, dime, and nickel count.

As for the statement 43% pay no taxes, how much do those people make? We are not talking loads of money. What that means is after you take in all your income, deduct all your allowances, you have earned so little money that you don't owe the government any money. The 43% number does not include taxpayers who actually earned a high salary.

Hmmm, which would I rather have? A low income so I don't owe any taxes or a higher income and actually do owe taxes. Let me think....I'd rather have the higher income, then maybe I wouldn't be living paycheck to paycheck.

[BJean 16]

Jack you seem to be saying that nearly half the people in America get a check from the government. Wha, wha, what?

Just because some people don't make enough money to owe taxes, doesn't mean that they are getting welfare checks. Or am I totally missing the boat on your point this time too?

You and I have a very different way of looking at things and interpreting statistics - well not true statistics, but numbers.

jenaj: good post!

[babygrl1234 6]

Jack you seem to be saying that nearly half the people in America get a check from the government. Wha, wha, what?

Just because some people don't make enough money to owe taxes, doesn't mean that they are getting welfare checks. Or am I totally missing the boat on your point this time too?

You and I have a very different way of looking at things and interpreting statistics - well not true statistics, but numbers.

jenaj: good post!

They may not all get welfare but they might get a refund check.

[BethFromVA 5]

They may not all get welfare but they might get a refund check.

Which IS a welfare check. The people just don't know that they're on welfare from other people's money.

[MacMadame 81]

A refund check is most definitely NOT a welfare check. It's your own money that you put in coming back to you.

[BethFromVA 5]

A refund check is most definitely NOT a welfare check. It's your own money that you put in coming back to you.

But if you paid no taxes? Or are you referring to prior years' taxes?