WatchAmericans for Tax Fairness praised Senate Democrats for passing a bill to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for 98 percent of Americans who make less than $250,000 in household income and end the Bush tax breaks above that income level, which disproportionately benefit the richest 2 percent. The Senate voted to pass the bill, the Middle Class Tax Cuts Act (S. 3412), by a 51 to 48 vote.
http://wealthforcommongood.org/51-senators-vote-to-end-bush-era-tax-cuts-on-top-2/
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That bill is DOA in the House.
Republicans are determined to raise taxes on 98% of Americans if they don't get tax cuts for the richest tax bracket. It's extortion, but they don't care.
The kicker?? The punchline?? Republicans are the one that passed this tax legislation with a deadline. Republicans created this crisis because they wanted to force a tax showdown during the 2012 presidential election.
Anyone who casts a vote for a Republican should seek therapy.
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freak80 says
Democrats moderated on guns. Big time. Obama signed a bill legalizing guns in national parks and he gets an F grade from gun control groups.
His reward? The president of the NRA giving a speech telling everyone that Obama has secret plans to seize all the guns in his next term. Many if not most Republicans are not sane people. They lack basic critical thinking skills and simply spew out anything they feel regardless of how absurd or untrue it is. More Republicans are like Michele Bachmann than Mitt Romney, which makes the entire movement and indeed the entire party toxic and dangerous.
NRA says Says Barack "Obama admits he’s coming for our guns, telling Sarah Brady, ‘We are working on (gun control), but under the radar.’ "
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/jun/14/national-rifle-association/barack-obama-coming-after-guns-under-radar-nra-say/
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Ruki says
Correct. Mitt Romney paid 13% in federal taxes and I paid a lot more. Not equal at all.
Republicans want to reduce Romney's taxes to 0%. Yes 0%. No exaggeration at all so why are you voting for a candidate that wants to violate the equal protection clause of the constitution?
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Yeah, but the Dems still got it passed. They haven't been looking very effective lately, and it's good to see them rallying behind something worthwhile.
Small victory, but it shows the Republicans are completely out of touch with what's going on out here...
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iwog says
People vote Republican because they don't like the Democrat stance on gays, guns, n' God. Like I keep saying, if the Democrats would moderate on social issues, far more average people would vote for them. I'm not holding my breath.
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freak80 says
I don't agree with homosexuality being part of the political dialog, however Obama is in a desperate fight to keep up with Romney's corporate donations and I can understand why he did it.
Fortunately Obama is on the right side of history and public opinion is moving slowly in the direction of gays being defined as regular people. This will become less and less of an issue as time goes forward.
The other two are insane. Obama was a Christian for 20 years and is probably the most pro-gun Democrat in decades. The propaganda jihad doesn't care, and Republicans are too lazy to check.
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iwog says
To be fair, prior to 1960s the Republican Party and the Democrat Party were largely the opposites of what they are today. In the 1960s they switched.
So pre-1960 republicans were really modern democrats and vice versa. Teddy Roosevelt and Ike would be democrats today. Think about it. Teddy was a trust buster and an environmentalist! No way the Republican Party of today would have him.
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Meccos says
Actually you can't turn it around no matter how badly you twist it.
The tax cuts are expiring because Republicans passed the Bush tax cuts with an expiration date. They wanted a campaign issue to bash the Democrats with come 2012 and here we are. Democrats aren't holding anything hostage, in fact everything that will happen automatically is entirely the fault of the Republican party. They designed it that way. Thus if nothing happens, REPUBLICANS shoot the hostage.
If you can't understand this far, don't vote. You're not qualified.
Now Democrats want tax cuts for Americans who need it most, while agreeing with Republicans that we need less debt. Therefore what Democrats are offering is a compromise. Tax anyone who makes over $250,000 per year at a higher tax bracket. I think it's 4% higher or the top rate we had under the Bill Clinton boom economy.
Furthermore Democrats also want to compromise on capital gains and dividends, cutting them back to 20% but not as low as 15% as they were under Bush. Considering capital gains are set to revert to 28%, and dividends are set to revert to income, this is one hell of a compromise for rich people. AGAIN it is ONLY because Republicans sabotaged their tax bill that this is even an issue this year. Again if Democrats don't give in to all Republican demands, REPUBLICANS shoot the hostage.
This is mind numbingly simple, even for brainwashed conservative Fox viewers.
Democrats want to compromise on:
- Capital gains, cutting them from 28% to 20%
- Dividends, cutting them from income to 20%
- Income tax cuts, cutting all tax brackets except the highest ones. (rich people will benefit from these cuts the same amount as everyone else)
- The estate tax. Obama has already compromised on this once, and is ready to do so again. I don't know of any specifics.
Republicans are willing to compromise on:
- FUCKING NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now you silly little children who think you're making a point here, please read this post carefully several times until you understand the real issues. I haven't even touched on the criminal abomination of the Ryan act or Romney's tax plan, but this is enough for now.
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Meccos says
You didn't reply to anything.
I listed ways in which Dems want to compromise. No reply. I asserted that Pubes refuse to compromise. No reply. I explained that Republicans sabotaged their own tax law for political purposes, so it is THEY who are threatening to kill the hostage. No reply. I pointed out that the Democrats want to cut taxes for everyone since even the rich pay the lower tax brackets too. No reply.
After totally ignoring every point I made, out of fear I guess, you THEN listed the following talking points to which I will comment on directly: (like you didn't)
1. Dems should lower taxes for everyone. (they are)
2. Only the wealthy make significant earnings from capital gains and dividends. (Dems want to compromise at 20% to keep Republicans from lowering them to 0%. Not holding the line at 28% is why it's a compromise)
3. Thus the argument used to increase wage income tax on the "wealthy" doesn't make sense. (your conclusion has nothing whatsoever to do with your premise. "cap gains and dividends soooooo.......don't raise taxes on people making over 250k) Huh?"
Meccos says
Wealthier people don't pay their fair share already. Linking raw data and then saying "SEE?!?" is not how you construct an argument.
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Meccos says
I didn't know about Romney's 200k cap. It doesn't really matter however because the only tax plan Romney is going to have the opportunity to sign into law is the Ryan plan. Anyway Romney does call for the abolishment of the estate tax and the AMT so your assertion about Democrats favoring the rich is still absurd.
Of course Romney is going to lose in November so it's all a moot point.
Meccos says
Makes sense, so your original explanation was sarcasm too? That pretty much wipes out your only point doesn't it?
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Meccos says
No, it means I misread the article. One of the most vile things about internet conversations is assholes who take a small point of misunderstanding and blows it up into YOU LIAR!!! ADMIT YOU LIED!! DO IT!!!! Integrity is very important to me which is why I have no problem admitting I didn't realize about that provision in Romney's plan.
Meccos says
My original point is Romney is toxic to American tax policy, wants to eliminate the AMT, wants to eliminate the estate tax, and will cut many tax benefits to the lower and middle class.
So no, it doesn't change my point whatsoever.
Meccos says
Right......because Congress which is full of psychopaths is going to abandon the Ryan act which the House already passed and do what Romney wants instead.
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What it does show is that the filibuster rule in the Senate should be discarded.
That is the reason this vote was postponed for so long. It's a mystery why Republicans allowed it, but I suspect it was because they wanted an up or down vote on their own tax bill and made a deal.
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Ruki says
Actually the first president to violate your twisted version of the equal protection clause was Teddy Roosevelt......A republican. Who knew that Republicans had a 100 year history of pissing all over the constitution?
"When our tax laws are revised the question of an income tax and an inheritance tax should receive the careful attention of our legislators. In my judgment both of these taxes should be part of our system of Federal taxation. I speak diffidently about the income tax because one scheme for an income tax was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court; while in addition it is a difficult tax to administer in its practical working, and great care would have to be exercised to see that it was not evaded by the very men whom it was most desirable to have taxed, for if so evaded it would, of course, be worse than no tax at all; as the least desirable of all taxes is the tax which bears heavily upon the honest as compared with the dishonest man. Nevertheless, a graduated income tax of the proper type would be a desirable feature of Federal taxation, and it is to be hoped that one may be devised which the Supreme Court will declare constitutional."
~ Theodore Roosevelt
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Ruki says
LOL.....really???? Your point was that every president for the last 110 years has violated the equal protection clause of the constitution?
Doesn't that make you anti-American? At least anti-American as far as anyone alive today is concerned?
Ruki says
Yeah except he wasn't, he was talking about progressive taxes which is the only thing your equal protection nonsense house of cards is built on.
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Ok, so 1 out of 3 ain't bad.
But Obama has clearly given the homosexual pressure groups what they wanted: ending "don't ask don't tell."
What was so terrible about that policy? It seemed sensible to keep one's private activities private in a military context.
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iwog says
Agree with you there.
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iwog says
I hear this slogan a lot, but what does it really mean?
The slogan seems to assert:
"X is better than Y because we are doing X now and were doing Y in the past"
Sure, X *might* be better than Y, but just because we're doing X now rather than Y doesn't make X better.
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iwog says
Obama was a member of the UCC, which is more of a civic club (like the Rotary Club) than a traditional Christian church. The UCC generally promotes left-wing social causes. That doesn't disqualify Obama from the presidency, but it's tough to say Obama was somehow deeply religious. Religious conservatives aren't going to vote for someone with such a background (rightly or wrongly).
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Ruki says
Jesus you're intentionally dense sometimes.
Teddy Roosevelt says
But hey......graduated taxes aren't the same as progressive taxes, right Shrek?
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iwog says
We can turn this argument around and say that the democrats refuse to have tax cuts for all, thus placing the middle and lower tax brackets hostage for higher rates...
The repubs want tax cuts across the board for EVERYONE... so if the democrats really want to help the middle and lower class, then they can just agree with the repubs and cut taxes for everyone.
Another point to be madeis that as of 2010, if you made 375k you are in the top 2% of earners, therefore a tax on 250K or more isnt a tax on the 2%,...its more of a tax on the top 5%. So lets stop attacking the the 1%, the 2% or the 5%. Enough of the class warfare and lets treat everyone the same.
If the concern is truly about making "the rich" pay their fair share in taxes, then the discussion should be about taxing capital gains, not taxing wages.