Conservatives are busy cutting taxes for the wealthy while slashing programs which help the less fortunate or which run contrary to their ideology.
The majority of Americans who work have income which is taxed at 25% or above. The wealthy send their money to work, and receive income in the form of capital gains and dividends; that income is taxed at 15%. Which should be considered more valuable, income from people doing actual work, or income from money which is doing the work? Conservatives think that if you have to work for a living, your income should be taxed at a much higher rate.
Conservatives also think that budget deficits should be eliminated without raising taxes on the wealthy. To balance the budget in the absence of revenue increases, spending cuts must be made. Conservatives are proposing a large number of cuts which will hurt millions, many of whom are poor, disabled, sick or elderly.
Let's look first at a few of the reasons that the deficit has increased for 2011.
If income from capital gains for just part of the top 1% (those making over $500,000) was taxed the same as regular income, federal tax revenues would have been $72 billion higher in 2008. A low estimate for lost revenues in 2011 from this ongoing tax break would be 70 billion.
For those owning stocks, the extension of lowered tax rates (currently 15% or less) on dividend income will cost about $37 billion in 2011.
Extending the Bush tax cuts on the highest income families will cost more than 40 billion in 2011. (The total cost of extending the Bush tax cuts is $272 billion per year.)
The one-year Social Security 2% tax holiday will cost $112 billion. (Revenue to the Social Security Trust Fund which is lost from that 2% payroll tax cut is made up for with money from general revenues.) This deal was done in exchange for dropping the Making Work Pay tax credit. The change will benefit wealthy taxpayers more than than lower income taxpayers; some with low income will see a net tax increase.
A new temporary option for businesses to write off 100% of their expenses will add $21 billion to the 2011 deficit.
The lowered estate taxes for the wealthy are estimated to cost in excess of $12 billion this year.
These tax provisions alone, already enacted and benefiting mostly the wealthy, add up to 292 billion in lost revenue for 2011.
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The majority of Americans who work have income which is taxed at 25% or above. The wealthy send their money to work, and receive income in the form of capital gains and dividends; that income is taxed at 15%. Which should be considered more valuable, income from people doing actual work, or income from money which is doing the work? Conservatives think that if you have to work for a living, your income should be taxed at a much higher rate.
Conservatives also think that budget deficits should be eliminated without raising taxes on the wealthy. To balance the budget in the absence of revenue increases, spending cuts must be made. Conservatives are proposing a large number of cuts which will hurt millions, many of whom are poor, disabled, sick or elderly.
Let's look first at a few of the reasons that the deficit has increased for 2011.
If income from capital gains for just part of the top 1% (those making over $500,000) was taxed the same as regular income, federal tax revenues would have been $72 billion higher in 2008. A low estimate for lost revenues in 2011 from this ongoing tax break would be 70 billion.
For those owning stocks, the extension of lowered tax rates (currently 15% or less) on dividend income will cost about $37 billion in 2011.
Extending the Bush tax cuts on the highest income families will cost more than 40 billion in 2011. (The total cost of extending the Bush tax cuts is $272 billion per year.)
The one-year Social Security 2% tax holiday will cost $112 billion. (Revenue to the Social Security Trust Fund which is lost from that 2% payroll tax cut is made up for with money from general revenues.) This deal was done in exchange for dropping the Making Work Pay tax credit. The change will benefit wealthy taxpayers more than than lower income taxpayers; some with low income will see a net tax increase.
A new temporary option for businesses to write off 100% of their expenses will add $21 billion to the 2011 deficit.
The lowered estate taxes for the wealthy are estimated to cost in excess of $12 billion this year.
These tax provisions alone, already enacted and benefiting mostly the wealthy, add up to 292 billion in lost revenue for 2011.
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2 comments:
the country should reduce taxes across the board and reduce spending lock step as well. every american should pay something, and the rate of taxation should be the same across the board. I think that's referred to as "fair". to do this we'd need to reduce the military presence of the us across the world. put social security back the way it was designed. Only to cover people for the last 3-4 years of life. remember when ss was created the average american only lived to 63 or 64. So ss was created to cover people's expenses for literally a couple of years - now it covers people for 20 years or more. average age is now early to mid 80's. yet retirement age is still 62 or 65 or 70, depending on the individual and their choice on when to stop working. this is unsustainable. don't pit classes of americans against each other, don't be envious of someone else's success. focus on the problem. too much spending, period. then become a tea party member, throw the clowns out of congress and the senate, take back america, and lets fix the over-spending issues. that means cut defense, cut social programs, cut taxes, and put the money back in the hands of the people that earned it. run a scan of tax returns of republicans vs. democrats. democrats are very minimal "givers" of charitable donations. republicans are very large givers of charitable donations. why is that? it contradicts your entire dialogue above - doesn't that at least make you think?
Conservatives rejected a proposal for a tax increase which was tied to spending cuts at a ratio of $1 increase for every $10 in cuts.
Are you proposing that the wealthy also be subjected to payroll taxes for all of their income (not just the first $106,800)?
Read the second page of this post. Conservatives are not interested in fixing the deficit. They are practicing disaster capitalism, whereby the debt goes up so high that they can convince people that their solution is to cut social programs.
Conservatives are now balking at military spending cuts, and want to increase their budget. They are busy shifting program costs to the states. Ryan's budget increases the deficit when you take out his unspecified cuts and unnamed tax reforms.
Charity? How did that work before social security? Look up poorhouses. And are we talking about charitable giving as a percentage or dollar amount?
Romney himself says that austerity measures during the recovery will drive us back into a recession or a depression.
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