RRC Archives

Should I mail you a pay stub showing an increase of a few dollars per pay check. Boy was I living high with those dollars in my pocket after the tax cut. One more lunch out office the office during the pay period. Whoopee! Those were the days. The interest deduction on student loans was either unchanged or so minimal I didn't even notice.

The things Piggie cites which are supposed put money in your pocket don't all work for just one person/family typically.

The EIC is a good thing, but it is intended to help people in lower income tax brackets (see below). People who get the EIC are pretty unlikely to have capital gains. I hope people getting the EIC don't have student loans since that would probably mean they may have a degree or some college education, but a pretty low paying job. Not really the intended outcome of college. Here's the IRS info on who qualifies....

"The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a refundable Federal tax credit for eligible individuals and families who work and have earned income under:

$11,490 ($12,490 if married filing jointly) if there is no qualifying child
$30,338 (#31,338 if married filing jointly) if there is one qualifying child
$34,458 ($35,458 if married filing jointly) if there is more than one qualifying child."

did you get that part in your post busty...a "refundable tax credit"..know what that means? that means the government gives you money you never put in the system to start with. most credits will reduce your tax liability to zero at the maximum..nope here, the lovable gov't gives you money from OTHER tax payers....

one I forgot...for the past two years, the IRS has given folks an allowance for buying over priced hybrid vehicles...(I know, I know..not a very Republican thing to do..but hey, we like to deal in facts here)..you can pay 20,000 grand for your car that runs on granola, cow dung, and good vibes brah, and the gov't will allow you to deduct part of that price tag....geesh, even our republicans are turning soft.

my point was not to argue taxes per se, but to point out that tax rates are the lowest in 20 years, inflation has, remarkably, stayed on an even pace during this mini-recession, folks have found a gold mine in the prices of their houses, yet some (no pointing fingers here of course) people will bitch about the economy no matter what. they look at the partisan side without realizing that most economic activity is controlled outside the white house.

I won't argue that W had anything to do with the cyclism of the economy/ housing market/ interest rates. Like you say, seems to me like W has benefited from these things being in positive territory while on his watch.
What I do really dislike about his tax policy is his disingenous pandering to middle class by putting a few dollars in their pocket to buy their approval while this tax policy is really only benefiting the top wealthy 1% of tax payers.
Say what you will re: these super wealthy have more, have paid more, and should benefit more, but the long term outcome of this carnivorous policy is to continue concentrating the wealth at the top and rubbing out the middle class.
Folks with college degrees working for the Waltons for less than $10/hr and the crappy benefits they offer if the employee is eligible.
Give us a Republican who has a conscience and isn't serving at the behest of the super rich.

I am a college graduate and I don't make shit. Part of that is a choice I admitt. I get days off to go climbing. But as credit card debt mounts I wonder. There are those of us who realize that a degree does not mean a job. The good doctor Bill Ramsey made a good arguement though. College is an education. It teaches us how to think better. So what does one do when they want to earn more?

pigsteak wrote: one I forgot...for the past two years, the IRS has given folks an allowance for buying over priced hybrid vehicles...(I know, I know..not a very Republican thing to do..but hey, we like to deal in facts here)..you can pay 20,000 grand for your car that runs on granola, cow dung, and good vibes brah, and the gov't will allow you to deduct part of that price tag....geesh, even our republicans are turning soft.

Umm what about the larger tax credits that businesses get for buying gas guzzling useless SUVs? The reason you see so many humvees is that businesses get a bigger tax break for a humvee than a normal citizen gets for a hybrid. Do you know why piggie? To prop up big business. If you look more carefully, the hybrid tax credits are only for a few years and are being phased out. But the business tax credits for purchasing SUVs are not.

I haven't looked at your inflation page. I'm still pretty sure that inflation has negated any money that you believe W put in your pocket though.

Does anyone concur with me that a preemptive nuclear strike on Communist China's political and military might just might be enough of wag the dog scenario to pull this peace nik president out of the doldrums and into the limelight of a true American hero and beacon of freedom that would resonant throughout the world and scare the shit out of the truly deserving to be bitch slapped islamic world?

no

one for the status quo

and one for the absurdly annoying..

leo tolstoy wrote:everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.

nice quote, was he a commie too?