The core belief that animates the modern conservative movement is that taxes are too damn high and getting higher all the time. They believe that rampaging government at every level — local, state and federal — takes more and more of their hard-earned money, leaving the private sector barely enough resources to sustain itself.
In fact, I’d love to ask delegates to the 2012 Republican Convention in Tampa this month one simple question: As a share of the economy, how much have total taxes increased over the last 50 years? Most would probably guess that it has doubled or tripled.
The real answer is that it has not changed at all. As a share of gross domestic product — and that’s the standard measure of tax burden accepted by most economists, both liberal and conservative — taxes at every level today amount to roughly 25 percent of the economy, just what they did back in the early ’60s.

In other words, the image of an ever-gluttonous government that serves as the basis of modern conservatism is false.
The chart above, compiled from decades of federal data by the Tax Policy Center, has a lot of smaller stories to tell as well:
– Local and state taxes account for the same share of the American economy today as they did back in the 1930s, which means it is unchanged for 80 years.
– As a share of GDP, taxes on corporations have fallen to less than half of what they were back in the 1950s.
– The only type of taxes to have grown as a share of the economy in the last 50 years have been federal payroll taxes, used to finance Social Security and Medicare and generally hitting the working and middle classes. For the last 30 years, revenue surpluses generated by Social Security have been diverted out of that program and used to run general government programs.
– To shrink then-rising deficits, President Clinton signed tax increases into law in 1993 at considerable political cost to himself and his party. The results are evident in the chart in the form of gradually rising revenue from the individual income tax. What the chart does not show is that despite GOP predictions of economic calamity after those tax increases, we went on to enjoy the longest period of economic expansion in our nation’s history.
Thanks to that rising revenue, we were also able to reclaim control of our nation’s fiscal destiny, slashing the annual deficit to zero. That proved temporary. Major tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 did not produce the economic boom that their backers had promised, but they did set off another cycle of rapidly increasing deficits.
A gradual return to the Clinton-era tax rates — not just for the wealthy, but for everybody — would allow us once again to reclaim control of our national finances. (And yes, at this point significant spending cuts will be required as well.) But in a political climate dominated by false notions about taxation, that option is simply not open to us.
– Jay Bookman
299 comments Add your comment
Scuba Steve
August 20th, 2012
8:22 am
First
Doggone/GA
August 20th, 2012
8:26 am
” we went on to enjoy the longest period of economic expansion in our nation’s history
but, but, but…the tech bubble! (Had to get that in there!)
Peter
August 20th, 2012
8:29 am
Well start a few wars that are un-funded and see what happens to the US treasury ?
Lord Help Us
August 20th, 2012
8:32 am
I miss Slick Willie…
barking frog
August 20th, 2012
8:33 am
The job creators are concerned about taxes.
Without the tax cuts the
current hiring tsunami
would not have happened.
the cat
August 20th, 2012
8:34 am
President Clinton presided over 8 years of peace and prosperity. I long for those days……
Jay
August 20th, 2012
8:35 am
Barking Frog, temporary tax cuts to get the economy through tough times is a perfectly appropriate tool. But when those “temporary” tax cuts become permanent, and are followed by still more “temporary” tax cuts …
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 20th, 2012
8:35 am
Major tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 did not produce the economic boom that their backers had promised
wha?????
gadem
August 20th, 2012
8:36 am
Some people have the belief that they can use all of the resources and not pay on red cent. Let them tell it, they are taxed to death. I guess some people will believe whatever lie they are told.
Doggone/GA
August 20th, 2012
8:37 am
“Well start a few wars that are un-funded”
I’ve seen this inaccuracy posted here many times lately. Those wars were not unfunded…they were unbudgeted. If they were unfunded that would mean that no money was spent on them…and clearly THAT is untrue.
Jeffrey
August 20th, 2012
8:37 am
Romney doesn’t want to talk about his taxes. He wants to talk about jobs and the economy for which his only plan is to cut taxes for people like him. Am I the only one who sees how this leads right back to his taxes?
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 20th, 2012
8:37 am
President Clinton presided over 8 years of peace
Well, except for those daily carpet bombings in the former Yugoslavia….oh, and that right wing terrorist hit on Oklahoma City federal building….oh, and the first hit on the WTC in 1993.
barking frog
August 20th, 2012
8:39 am
the cat
but the presider had newt…
ty webb
August 20th, 2012
8:40 am
“President Clinton presided over 8 years of peace…”
well, except for Sudanese aspirin factories.
Lord Help Us
August 20th, 2012
8:41 am
Will any gop admit they were better off after eight years of Clinton than after eight years of GWB?
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 20th, 2012
8:42 am
sorry – off topic but this is dumbfounding:
today the iPhone brings in more revenue than the entirety of Microsoft. No, really. One Apple product, something that didn’t exist five years ago, has higher sales than everything Microsoft has to offer. More than Windows, Office, Xbox, Bing, Windows Phone, and every other product that Microsoft has created since 1975. In the quarter ended March 31, 2012, iPhone had sales of $22.7 billion; Microsoft Corporation, $17.4 billion.
http://www.vanityfair.com/business/2012/08/microsoft-lost-mojo-steve-ballmer
USinUK - pro-gay-marriage thug and former Girl Scout
August 20th, 2012
8:42 am
“but, but, but…the tech bubble! (Had to get that in there!)”
yeppers … Clinton killed the internet star … or something like that
barking frog
August 20th, 2012
8:43 am
Jay
are you saying that good
stuff should not be followed
with more good stuff and
that totally eliminating
taxes would not result in
an economic boom for the
masses ?
USinUK - pro-gay-marriage thug and former Girl Scout
August 20th, 2012
8:43 am
“today the iPhone brings in more revenue than the entirety of Microsoft”
you know why??
because it is laced with crack.
iPhone is seriously one of the most addictive things … ever.
gadem
August 20th, 2012
8:47 am
I think that Jay is wrong. From what I heard, those tax cuts to the job creators ignited the most job creation the world has ever seen. Kind of like the Big Bang theory only this happened with jobs.
lynnie gal
August 20th, 2012
8:47 am
If lower taxes for the wealthy, ahem, I mean the “job creators” creates for jobs, why have we been losing jobs since Bush cut their taxes in 2001? They expect us to believe that if we’ll just let ‘em cut some more, take the tax rate for someone like Romney down from 13% to, say, 7% or even zero, this will magically create jobs. Only a simple minded dimwit would believe that.
Recon 0311 2533
August 20th, 2012
8:48 am
Temporary tax cuts to get the economy through tough times is a perfectly appropriate tool. But when those tough times become seemingly permanent, we should not as president Obama once stated be raising taxes on anyone.
Jay
August 20th, 2012
8:50 am
“Are you saying that …totally eliminating
taxes would not result in
an economic boom for the
masses?
Absolutely I’m saying that. If you eliminate taxes but not government, you get deficits that make these look like an anthill, with dire economic consequences.
And if you eliminate taxes AND government, you get anarchy and a collapse of civil society. See, Somalia.
stands for decibels (SfBA)
August 20th, 2012
8:50 am
Jay, there you go again with your silly notions of proportionality and history and expecting people to mean what they say and stuff.
Recon 0311 2533
August 20th, 2012
8:55 am
Lets scrape the current tax code and adopt a consumption tax so everyone pays their fair share.
commoncents
August 20th, 2012
8:55 am
Jay @ 8:50 – Absolutely I’m saying that. If you eliminate taxes but not government, you get deficits that make these look like an anthill, with dire economic consequences.
Sounds like we need to get rid of some government…
USinUK - pro-gay-marriage thug and former Girl Scout
August 20th, 2012
8:56 am
” From what I heard, those tax cuts to the job creators ignited the most job creation the world has ever seen”
wait … wait … WHICH tax cuts??
commoncents
August 20th, 2012
8:56 am
*some, not all.
USinUK - pro-gay-marriage thug and former Girl Scout
August 20th, 2012
8:57 am
“Sounds like we need to get rid of some government…”
yay!!
let’s start with the DOD since they’re the biggest spenders
barking frog
August 20th, 2012
8:57 am
Jay
Is it necessary for you to
reveal the Romney/Ryan
plan before they do? Now
no October surprise.
Brad Steel
August 20th, 2012
8:57 am
While in the oval office, President Clinton presided over one sweet piece.
Paul
August 20th, 2012
8:57 am
” But in a political climate dominated by false notions about taxation, that option is simply not open to us.”
Sigh…. Jay, Jay, Jay…. why do you persist in assuming the current conservative movement has a connection with reality when it is not in evidence?
Since taxes as a percent of the economy have remained constant, the next interesting step would be to see which segments have seen their overall contribution increase or decrease. I’m guessing corporate contributions have shifted dramatically. But I suppose that’s to be expected, else how could a couple dozen major corporations pay more to a single employee than they pay to Uncle Sam?
Morality?
August 20th, 2012
8:59 am
Remember Ruby Ridge.
TrishaDishaWarEagle
August 20th, 2012
8:59 am
I opt out of the so called social contract..to hell with you all
USinUK - pro-gay-marriage thug and former Girl Scout
August 20th, 2012
9:00 am
“Sigh…. Jay, Jay, Jay…. why do you persist in assuming the current conservative movement has a connection with reality when it is not in evidence?”
hope springs eternal?
Granny Godzilla - Union Thugette
August 20th, 2012
9:00 am
“THE” Big Lie?
Pardon me, but that would suggest the current conservatives are pushing only one…..
jconservative
August 20th, 2012
9:02 am
Slick Willie?
Based just on the legislation signed into law, and just the legislation signed into law, the most conservative president we have had since Herbert Hoover is Bill Clinton.
The above is a fact. Easily checked out if you put the time into reviewing all legislation signed by every president since Hoover.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 20th, 2012
9:03 am
If we scrape the tax code, what will we end up with a pile of?
TaxPayer
August 20th, 2012
9:04 am
Clearly, you guys are missing the point. Whoever said Republicans wanted to return to the roaring 60s!
Doggone/GA
August 20th, 2012
9:04 am
“guessing corporate contributions have shifted dramatically”
“– As a share of GDP, taxes on corporations have fallen to less than half of what they were back in the 1950s.”
Mama Says
August 20th, 2012
9:05 am
“leaving the private sector barely enough resources to sustain itself”
“As a share of the economy, how much have total taxes increased over the last 50 years?”
Jay and his self contrived GOP standards, like he truly feels them and knows what they are. It is true that the private sector would spend more if they had more, however your basic argument is void of one thing–the main thing, Conservatives INDIVIDUALS think we can spend our money better than the government. Therefore your figures on GDP themselves indicate that the taxes have risen due to inflation and it’s relationship to the GDP.
10 years ago what would a dollar have bought you ? what will it today ? you are taking more because the dollar is less, comparatively speaking.
You cant have your argument both ways. You argued 3-4 weeks ago that salaries were stagnant and have been for 30 some odd years. If that is the case then it goes without saying that the amount you take hurts more than it did 20-30 years ago, because inflation historically rises and the value of the dollar has been dropping for years.
by the way if you were absolutely correct then you would be saying that the democrats wish to raise taxes above the historic trend line, given the fact that you say they are what they have been for 50 years, and you guys want more.
One more thing. Clinton was the president who lied to a grand jury correct ?
Peace and prosperity ?
Somalia, Bosnia, Sudan…come on peace under Clinton ? He bombed more countries than Bush did.
Morality?
August 20th, 2012
9:06 am
Cut Big Gub’ment’s 1% per year until the budget is balanced. Start with the arrogant and unnecessary “Thought Police” thugs owned and run by Prez Obama.
The Thin Guy
August 20th, 2012
9:07 am
Looks like Bookman will be canceling his subscription to Newsweek
http://newsbusters.org./blogs/noel-sheppard/2012/08/19/shocking-newsweek-cover-hit-road-barack-why-we-need-new-president
Don
August 20th, 2012
9:08 am
The problem is government spending which has historically been 19-21% of GDP is headed to 22-24% of GDP. The solution is to get both taxation and spending to the 20% level. Can’t do that without entitlement reform AND tax increases AND cuts in military and discretionary spending.
Any politician that leaves one of these three out is LYING to us.
Van Jones
August 20th, 2012
9:08 am
I’m much more concerned about the growth of total government spending and that little thing we call the defecit.
Jay
August 20th, 2012
9:08 am
Mama, your post makes no sense. Not to me anyway.
kayaker 71
August 20th, 2012
9:08 am
My property tax bill 4 yrs ago was about 1600/yr. Last year it was 3900. Most of my neighbor’s property taxes at least doubled in the last four years. That might have nothing to do with the federal tax burden but it ups my tax burden to over 300/month.
Peter
August 20th, 2012
9:09 am
Well I can certainly appreciate the fact the Non Budgeted wars are in fact an every day Republican idea…… The Republican’s would have America waste all the money on War, so a few rich can get richer.
Cost plus contracts… are the shinning example of how the GOP will spend your money like water, but then cry foul when American’s want to help American’s in America !
Thank you for pointed out the Wars were not Budgeted……… Nice to see the GOP point out how they actually think.
Fly-On-The-Wall
August 20th, 2012
9:10 am
This will not deter the conservatives at all. They will simply say that if we reduce taxes and cut spending even further it would improve our economic condition faster.
Oh, they will dispute this because they *know* we are the most overtaxed nation on earth….until they want to complain about how Europe overtaxes their citizens for their socialized govenments.
Jay
August 20th, 2012
9:10 am
kayaker, given what property values have done in the last four years, that is very difficult to believe, to say the least. What county do you live in ?
Morality?
August 20th, 2012
9:12 am
Yes I agree “Scrape” the tax code…….. do you mean SCRAP the tax code? FLAT TAX will curb the over burdening influence of the Fed Gub’ment on our private lives and it will help reduce the Fed debt because we can TERMINATE a bunch of pencil pushers from the payroll.
kayaker 71
August 20th, 2012
9:12 am
Bookman, 9:10,
Bibb county.
weetamoe
August 20th, 2012
9:12 am
Since Jay’s usual comment club anticipates/makes up all points of view on the subject and then mocks themselves to absurdity, it appears the discussion is over.
Common Sense
August 20th, 2012
9:12 am
Tax Receipts? You are joking right?
No mention of all the debt to date that will also needed to be added to those already collected receipts to have paid for what has ALREADY been spent?
How much more deceitful could this “conclusion” be?
Vast Right Wing Conspiracy (aka "Knuckle-Dragger")
August 20th, 2012
9:12 am
Poor old Jay, you miss the argument, entirely, again (what a surprise!). Nobody cares what happens as a percentage of GDP. What people care about is how much they pay individually, and the utility gained by every extra dollar of taxation. In an average year, I provide the government with somewhere between 50% and 60% of my income. If you add in private school, because the public schools are no good in my area, it jumps even higher. This is, as you will agree, too much. Add in the consternation of knowing at least 50% of my tax money, probably higher, is wasted due to incompetence and criminal activity, and nobody in their right mind wants to pay more. My suggestion for liberals, if they feel compelled to continue to feed the Beast, is send in some more of your own money and leave me alone. These concepts may be too “high level’ for you to understand, Jay, but I hope this helps.
I enjoy your funny stuff alot better, like the global warming posts. Please stick to those types of posts. Been a fairly cool August, so far, so I guess global warming is over.
atler8
August 20th, 2012
9:13 am
Oh goodie! TDWE is back spewing “..hell..” already this morning.
I remember her saying how she hated liberals over on the Galloway blog.
She would probably like to send a significant percentage of the American population that she disagrees with politically off to some sort of internment camps or, at the very least, revoke their right to cast a ballot.
Misty Fyed
August 20th, 2012
9:14 am
As a conservative, I’m not as concerned with the tax rate as I am with the fact that the tax rate is not tied to the spending rate. When politicians can routinely spend more money without coming up with a way to pay for it, we get the mess we are in now. Right now we are taxed at a ground beef rate but living a lobster life style. I’d love to see a balanced budget amendment. Of course there will be exceptions to it but when citizens have to pay for the services they want, they may be a little more judicious in the programs they support.
Get Real
August 20th, 2012
9:15 am
very Good Comrade Bookman
gadem
August 20th, 2012
9:18 am
kayaker your property tax bill is higher because the cuts are trickling on down…State and Federal money is drying up, so the county has to tap its citizens to pay for roads…schools…fire and police. You know the things that taxes are suppose to pay for. Do you not want to pay taxes at all?
TaxPayer
August 20th, 2012
9:18 am
Are mama says and the knuckle dragger the parents of that Todd Akin fella.
kayaker 71
August 20th, 2012
9:19 am
My, how time changes things. Twenty years ago, Randy Weaver was shot and members of his family killed, including his wife, when reports of him selling two sawed off shotguns illegally surfaced. Now we have an Attorney General who gives guns away to drug cartels, resulting in the killing of hundreds of Mexican civilians and at least one border agent, while covering up the facts to the case with Executive Order protection.
zeke
August 20th, 2012
9:20 am
jay, you really think facts matter to tea party and republicans…..they are a combination of greedy and religious zealots…..
TaxPayer
August 20th, 2012
9:21 am
Do you not want to pay taxes at all?
Now you’re getting somewhere.
Soothsayer
August 20th, 2012
9:22 am
kayaker: you and every single person should be filing an annual PT-50R where you tell the county what your home is worth and not vice versa.
Simply put PT-50R in your search engine and download it. It is form you can fill out on the screen and print or print and fill out in longhand.
The information you need to fill out the form can be found on last years property tax bill.
To find out what your home may be worth go to http://www.zillow.com.
Jay
August 20th, 2012
9:22 am
“As a conservative, I’m not as concerned with the tax rate as I am with the fact that the tax rate is not tied to the spending rate. When politicians can routinely spend more money without coming up with a way to pay for it, we get the mess we are in now. Right now we are taxed at a ground beef rate but living a lobster life style.
Misty, I agree with a lot of that. But who’s to blame for it? Who has cut taxes over and over again, without doing the hard work of cutting government? Who has instead INCREASED government by such things as Medicare Part D and getting us involved in two long wars, one that was entirely optional?
I think this is a fundamental conservative miscalculation. They have made government falsely cheap, and you know what happens when people don’t have to pay the full price for something? They demand even more of it.
TaxPayer
August 20th, 2012
9:22 am
kayaker71 is being hard on GW again.
Granny Godzilla - Union Thugette
August 20th, 2012
9:23 am
Misty Fyed
August 20th, 2012
9:14 am
As a conservative, I’m not as concerned with the tax rate as I am with the fact that the tax rate is not tied to the spending rate. When politicians can routinely spend more money without coming up with a way to pay for it, we get the mess we are in now.
basically correct, but way too late to have been of any real use. if you (or “yours”) had led that charge in 2002 or 3 or 4 or 5…..you
might have had some credibility.
Right now we are taxed at a ground beef rate but living a lobster life style.
i assume you are speaking for yourself…..as you certainly aren’t speaking for me or the folks who are lucky to get ground beef
I’d love to see a balanced budget amendment. Of course there will be exceptions to it but when citizens have to pay for the services they want, they may be a little more judicious in the programs they support.
balanced budget amendment with exceptions….sounds like pork paradise
RB from Gwinnett
August 20th, 2012
9:29 am
And here’s the lie Jay keeps wanting to skip over. While the percent of GDP taxes represent may not be changing, the percentage of the population footing that bill has. It’s now close to half and all indications are the dems want that trend to continue until only the “wealthy” are paying the entire bill.
The other lie is the percentage of the tax revenue that essentially equals wealth redistribution vs spending on infrastructure, defense, etc.
My property taxes keep going up too, jay. Fees at every government agency are going up. Governments everywhere are scheming every day to find new revenue sources in their thirst for the people’s money as if that’s their purpose for being.
Generation$crewed
August 20th, 2012
9:29 am
So taxes have basically remained the same as a percentage of GDP!!!
But spending has not remained the same seems to be higher, especially entitlement spending.
Yep Bookman your right it’s conservatives faults cause we all know gown they are the knights for entitlements.
Oh right democrats want to engage spending cuts and tax increases.
Could you point me to the specific cuts dens or more specifically President Obama is proposing to cut spending?
If there is no plan to cut spending do the dens intend to be honest and tell everyone their taxes will need to go up to keep paying for all of their pet programs?
Welcome to the Occupation
August 20th, 2012
9:31 am
Jay: “– As a share of GDP, taxes on corporations have fallen to less than half of what they were back in the 1950s”
Note also that due to existence of this now radically globalized economy, a great many companies – not all certainly, but a great many – now enjoy almost a total lack of restrictions on capital flow, meaning that they can earn money here in the US, then move that money to tax havens abroad and essentially avoid paying taxes on it. One way they now enjoy essential IMMUNITY FROM TAXATION now which was unheard of say 40 yrs ago.
kayaker 71
August 20th, 2012
9:32 am
Soothsayer,
Zillow is pretty far off base. I don’t think that I would use it to get a fair estimate of property values or of statistics regarding residential property. At least, it doesn’t fit mine very well.
Not Blind
August 20th, 2012
9:33 am
Knuckledragger nailed it. GDP has been rising while wages have been stagnant if not falling. Technology has eliminated many jobs. This increases productivity which is great for the GDP but terrible for the worker paying the taxes. It is plain foolishness to say that most taxpayers are not paying more taxes now than in the past. The use of cherry picked statistics and “…standard measures…” as a smoke screen for failed policies is intellectually dishonest.
Simple Truths
August 20th, 2012
9:34 am
Jay supporting higher taxes for everyone? Say it isn’t so…
Mama Says
August 20th, 2012
9:34 am
Ok Jay I will try it once more.
1st of all you applied your own thoughts as to what conservative motivations are and then argued against your thoughts.
Second. Several weeks ago you blogged that salaries are stagnant and have been for 30 years.
Now you are saying that taxes are the same and have been for 50 years.
You say all this with no account for inflation and its relationship to the GDP.
A dollar buys less today than it did 30 or 50 years ago right ?
then if taxes are the same rates now as they were 50 years ago and as you say salaries have not increased, then the fact is that the government is taking more of the INDIVIDUALS money than they use to. While your figures only talk of rates past and present you have no mention of the larger inpact inflation has on the individuals net salary.
example would be 30 years ago it took 1 out of 10 tax dollars to fund a program, today it takes 4 out of 10 to fund the program and deliver the same benefit.
If salaries are stagnant then you have to be impacting individuals more today than you did yesterday, right ? since it takes more dollars for the individual to live in todays world and you have not decreased what you take from them.
understand now ?
Paul
August 20th, 2012
9:34 am
Vast Right Wing
“. In an average year, I provide the government with somewhere between 50% and 60% of my income”
I’m skeptical Could you break it down, no numbers, just percentages, as in “Gross Income Reported: X. Adjusted gross income: .7X. Of AGI, fed tax .15X.
Or in you case, apparently, fed tax as a percent of AGI: .4X?
George P. Burdell
August 20th, 2012
9:35 am
Similar charts with 2011 included are available and they show that government revenues have already rebounded to as high a level as we have ever seen historically. We still have a huge deficit and the scary trend to me is that when government reveues get to a certain height, we inevitably have an economic slowdown that follows. If that holds true, we are right on the cusp of another economic slowdown. I’m sure your personal view on who is responsible for the coming slowdown will have a lot to do with who wins in November so no matter your political leanings, go ahead and start working on your arguments for that eventuality.
MiltonMan
August 20th, 2012
9:35 am
…and defense spending is the same, in terms of GDP, but you libs keep harking about a bloated defense budget that needs to be cut.
TaxPayer
August 20th, 2012
9:35 am
I remember at one time hearing Republicans talk about how they were not against taxes. They just wanted local control.
stands for decibels (SfBA)
August 20th, 2012
9:36 am
My property tax bill 4 yrs ago was about 1600/yr.
1600? per year? really?
And instead of being glad that you were able to avoid paying the freight for all those years in the past, you’re whining about why you have to pay it now.
Typical.
St Simons - he-ne-ha
August 20th, 2012
9:36 am
It’s a race for the neocons. That’s what it is.
Can they dumb down the education system fast enough? (with private
for profit jaysus-rode-the-dinosaur bible schools)
Fast enough that the chiddren don’t figure out the whole neocon house
of cards is a Big Lie.
I have faith in the children. They’re gonna figure it out.
And the con house of cards will come tumbling down.
We’re very close to this time – right now.
Chris Sanchez
August 20th, 2012
9:38 am
Jay:
How about a little intellectual honesty? BOTH political parties have increased the size of government while paying lip service to wanting a smaller government. Remember Mr. Obama stating “I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less…” August 28, 2008? No?
Both parties are to blame for the mess our federal government has created. Thankfully, the states must have balanced budgets or it would be just as bad at the state level. Here in Georgia, some may not like the tough decisions that our political leaders have made but they have made those decisions and our budget is balanced.
Before anything in Washington DC will get fixed, the people “We the People” send there must change. I for one would like to see term limits enacted. Nothing will change until the people are changed!
Not Blind
August 20th, 2012
9:39 am
Kayaker, there is an appeal process. Some counties though won’t budge hardly at all even if they know there are valuation errors. I live in Gwinnett where fortunately the county assessor administration has a policy of fairness. Nonetheless, it’s up to the property owner to initiate and follow through on the appeals process. If you or none of your neighbors do this then the county doesn’t feel obligated to look out for your interests.
Gordon
August 20th, 2012
9:40 am
“A gradual return to the Clinton-era tax rates — not just for the wealthy, but for everybody — would allow us once again to reclaim control of our national finances. (And yes, at this point significant pending cuts will be required as well.)”
I generally agree with what you wrote, except for the above. This makes it sound like the bulk of the work will be done by tax increases. The reality is the bulk of the work must be done by entitlement reform.
Here’s what I predict will happen: Eventually there will be compromise and there will be tax increases and entitlement reforms. After a relatively short time, the media and mostly Democratic politicians will highlight instances where entitlement reform has hurt someone. Rather than make sensible adjustments, the entitlement reforms will be rolled back, but the tax increases will remain. The tax increases will not nearly be enough to cover the entitlements, and calls will be made for more tax increases. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Tax increases should be tied legislatively to entitlement reform, and the proportion is not nearly 1 to 1 because it can’t be. Roll one back, they both get rolled back.
Jay
August 20th, 2012
9:41 am
Salaries are stagnant after accounting for inflation, Mama. That’s where your string of logic falls apart, right at the beginning.
Furthermore, using taxes as percentage of GDP as the measure removes inflation as a factor, since both the numerator and denominator — taxes and GDP — are affected equally by it. They are both figured in the same dollars.
… “example would be 30 years ago it took 1 out of 10 tax dollars to fund a program, today it takes 4 out of 10 to fund the program and deliver the same benefit.”
Example of how you are wrong, you mean. Fifty years ago, it took basically 25 cents out of every dollar to fund government. Today, it takes basically 25 cents out of every dollar to fund government. That’s the whole message of that chart.
stands for decibels (SfBA)
August 20th, 2012
9:41 am
So, 20 years since Ruby Ridge. Thanks, resident righties, for reminding me of the milestone.
So any of your buddies got a Ryder truck rented to commemorate this one?
ragnar danneskjold
August 20th, 2012
9:41 am
The “Big Lie” is that conservatives want taxes cut. While that would have a beneficial effect, the level of taxes is not the reason the Obama-conomy is in the dumps. Rather it is the exponential explosion of Federal spending and over-regulation of the economy. Taxes are too high, but the adverse change over the past five years has been in the level of government spending and regulation.
If a leftist is honest, that economic truth is painfully obvious. Either regulators are effective or they are not. If they are not effective, the spending is a pure waste. However, if they are effective in preventing behaviors the overlords deem undesirable, their regulation inevitably constrains the innocent as well as the evil – through costs and manpower dedicated to “compliance.”
The solution to the foolishness is not so distasteful as leftists imagine. Certainly the level of spending for regulation needs to be cut back sharply. However that diminishment of the government need not leave the idiots exposed to the sharpies. Ragnar’s simple rules for intelligent regulation:
(1) Do not prevent evil; punish it. Do not spend tons of money on policemen to invade the business place. When an evil act arises, punish it. Thus one would eliminate EPA environmental impact statements, and would punish actual pollution. One would eliminate the FDA’s authority to prohibit drugs and products from entering the marketplace, but would enhance the FDA’s capacity to put people in jail for actual harm.
(2) Abolish the fine. Fines allow miscreants to evade the law, to simply pay money for the right to occasionally break the law. Fines benefit the wealthy at the expense of the poor. Diminishing the capital base by feeding money to government is the problem, not the solution. The only appropriate penalty for law-breaking is incarceration.
(3) Rethink the purpose of agencies. EPA and FDA have much expertise to offer the public and industry, but their primary efforts revolve around telling businesses how they have to run the company, substituting the bureaucrats’s biases for the entrepreneur’s market sense. Why should EPA have “authority” at all – it should be reconstituted along the lines of the FBI crime labs, as a resource for state governments. Similarly FDA ought not be keeping drugs from coming to market – rather it should have the power to “accept” the beneficial effects of drugs and devices and to insulate same – on a case-by-case basis – from any litigation.
The government need not be the enemy of the economy. Except when leftists are in charge.
(2) Do not
kayaker 71
August 20th, 2012
9:41 am
stands for decibels, 9:36,
Nope. Only pointing out the fallacy in Bookman’s piece, nothing more. And if the lions share of my property taxes goes for paying for Bibb county education, and Bibb county has a 51% high school graduation rate, I’m not getting much for my buck.
Thomas Heyward Jr
August 20th, 2012
9:43 am
Comes now the Good Keynesian.
.
He ignores the most insidious TAX of all.
The planned devaluation of one’s currency.
.
That’s is why “GNP” figures are tossed around………to hide this fact.
.
lol
stands for decibels (SfBA)
August 20th, 2012
9:45 am
Only pointing out the fallacy in Bookman’s piece, nothing more.
I really don’t think a sample size of one (1) disproves any “fallacy” concerning the nation’s overall tax burdens as a percentage of GDP.
Soothsayer
August 20th, 2012
9:45 am
“Zillow is pretty far off base. I don’t think that I would use it to get a fair estimate of property values or of statistics regarding residential property. At least, it doesn’t fit mine very well.”
Not sure what you mean by that.
The county bases is assessment of your property on sales (of property similar to yours) in the previous year.
If you play around with zillow you can find sales for the previous year in your entire county. This is what you want to use for your “return” value on the PT-50R. It is important that these sales be homes similar to yours, i.e., square footage, lot size, etc.
Most of you are getting royally screwed on your county property tax bills. That is, the value the county assigns to your house is far higher than what it should be.
Jay
August 20th, 2012
9:45 am
“It is plain foolishness to say that most taxpayers are not paying more taxes now than in the past.
No, it is not. It is plain fact.
For example, here’s the effective total federal tax rate as a share of income. According to the most recent numbers available, every single income group is paying LESS of their income in federal taxes than they were in 1979.
Every single one, from poor to rich.
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Docid=456
stands for decibels (SfBA)
August 20th, 2012
9:45 am
The planned devaluation of one’s currency.
Is this before or after the “planned” grabbin’ of all yer gunz?
independent thinker
August 20th, 2012
9:46 am
CAN SOMEONE ON THE RIGHT WING SIDE TELL ME WHAT GROVER NORQUIST DOES FOR A LIVING? why do the GOP sheep in Congress worship him? Has he created any jobs?
Jay
August 20th, 2012
9:46 am
“The “Big Lie” is that conservatives want taxes cut.
Wow. I have to admit, I didn’t see that one coming.
Not Blind
August 20th, 2012
9:47 am
Jay, I didn’t say JUST FEDERAL TAXES. I said “taxes”.
barking frog
August 20th, 2012
9:47 am
Kayaker71
“And if the
lions share of my property
taxes goes for paying for
Bibb county education, and
Bibb county has a 51% high
school graduation rate, I’m
not getting much for my
buck.”
………
that would depend on how
well educated the dropouts
are.
Doggone/GA
August 20th, 2012
9:47 am
“The reality is the bulk of the work must be done by entitlement reform.”
Before you state that so positively, I’d suggest you check out the percentage of government spending that is “entitlements” You might be surprised at how low it is, especially when compare to the DOD.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
August 20th, 2012
9:48 am
Well, I’m with Raghead. I say if a business pollutes the water so when we drink it we get killed we need to punish that business. Course, we’ll still be dead but at least we can strike back from the grave.
That’s my opinion—and Raghead’s—and it’s very true. Have a good Monday everybody.
Aquagirl
August 20th, 2012
9:49 am
Only pointing out the fallacy in Bookman’s piece, nothing more.
In other words, who cares what’s happening outside of YOUR tax bill? If you think your taxes are going up, that’s all that matters.
Perfect encapsulation of the Tea Potty type. Screw what’s happening with anyone else. If it ain’t happening in your bubble….it ain’t happening.
Not Blind
August 20th, 2012
9:49 am
This also does nothing to address that the tax revenues don’t come anywhere near to covering the expenditures.
Misty From Macon
August 20th, 2012
9:49 am
From what I heard, those tax cuts to the job creators ignited the most job creation the world has ever seen.
In India, China and Taiwam
Gordon
August 20th, 2012
9:49 am
Jay, regarding your 9:22 post:
Revenues must drive expenses, not the other way around. We must decide what to spend based on what our revenue is, not the other way around. If the American people want to pay lower taxes and express that sentiment by electing Republicans, it is up to BOTH parties to reduce the cost of government to accomodate that. Both have failed, but it is the Republicans who at least have a plan for reducing government.
If Democrats were smart, they would be eager to cut entitlements and then tell the American people that they must pay for the government they want. That would be the quickest road to the higher taxes that you want.
Thomas Heyward Jr
August 20th, 2012
9:51 am
Bookman is right though……………………….YOU don’t have to pay for all of the new Government play- things that did not exist in the fifties…(an Army of TSA gare-rapers, giant brand-new courthouses and school buildings, an Army of DHS workers, several war..I meant overseas contingiency ops, etc……………………….).
.
Your CHILDREN have to pay.
.
Keynesians also conviniently ignore generationl promises and/or debt.
Get me Rex Kramer
August 20th, 2012
9:51 am
“The only type of taxes to have grown as a share of the economy in the last 50 years have been federal payroll taxes, used to finance Social Security and Medicare and generally hitting the working and middle classes.”
I love it when libs say the poor and working class get hurt pay the payroll taxes. Many don’t pay a dime in income taxes, and heaven forbid they actually have to pay into their own retirement and healthcare plans for the future.
Gordon
August 20th, 2012
9:54 am
“Fifty years ago, it took basically 25 cents out of every dollar to fund government. Today, it takes basically 25 cents out of every dollar to fund government. That’s the whole message of that chart.”
Except that fifty years ago we were much closer to actually funding the government than we are today.
Doggone/GA
August 20th, 2012
9:54 am
“but it is the Republicans who at least have a plan for reducing government”
“small enough to drown it in a bathtub” is not a plan
Jay
August 20th, 2012
9:54 am
Not Blind, state taxes as a percentage of GDP have also been falling for years here in Georgia. And as the chart above documents, state and local taxes as a share of GDP are the same today as they were 40 years and as they were 80 years ago.
If you have actual data to refute that, please post it.
kayaker 71
August 20th, 2012
9:54 am
Frog, 9:47,
The statistic is amazing, based on data accumulated by WMAZ in Macon. The data states that if a child even reaches the 9th grade in Bibb county, they have only a 51% chance of graduating from high school. That’s only one in two. And those that don’t graduate, if they are lucky, find themselves in dead in jobs or collecting a check from the government every month. Too many absent fathers, mothers that don’t give a damn and too many bad choices.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 20th, 2012
9:54 am
My property tax bill 4 yrs ago was about 1600/yr. Last year it was 3900.
Very easy top appeal and get it reduced. My father-in-law works on a local county Board of Assessors.
zeke
August 20th, 2012
9:54 am
per some posters, if a business wants to prosper you reduce prices so overall revenues will go up. yes reduce expenses too. so i wonder why prices go up?
no doubt there is waste in government all levels, just like private sector. the feds in addition to all the big thinkers up there need an army of unbiased accountants/sme experts to go thru line by line the federal budget starting with congress and the white house. then the military budget and on and on. any saving id and corroborated should be cut with small portion going to a collective reward system.
tough to do cost benefit with some programs but if a program has only marginal benefits put it up for vote
Jay
August 20th, 2012
9:55 am
FOAS, you will not be allowed to post under that name or anything like it.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 20th, 2012
9:57 am
only a 51% chance of graduating from high school. That’s only one in two. And those that don’t graduate, if they are lucky, find themselves in dead in jobs or collecting a check from the government every month. Too many absent fathers,
That’s a lot of white chirrens with absent fathers.
Peter
August 20th, 2012
9:58 am
Been a fairly cool August, so far, so I guess global warming is over.
HA HA HA…… HA HA HA………
Yup that drought in the Midwest means no global warming ever again !
larry
August 20th, 2012
9:58 am
heaven forbid they actually have to pay into their own retirement and healthcare plans for the future.
That is running a surplus right now. I have read alot of people wanting entiltlement reform but not a single person has suggested defense spending reform.
The pentagon is the department we really need to reform first, not something that i am entitled to, that i have paid into my entire life.
mm
August 20th, 2012
9:59 am
“Lets scrape the current tax code and adopt a consumption tax so everyone pays their fair share.”
As usual, a low information comment from the righties. Consumption taxes do not tax savings, therefore favoring the wealthy and penalizing the poor. Why do you cons favor the rich at your own expense?
Soothsayer
August 20th, 2012
9:59 am
Hmmmmm . . . FOAS? I got the first three letters. Jay, help us out, what was the last letter?
Thomas Heyward Jr
August 20th, 2012
10:00 am
(And yes, at this point significant pending cuts will be required as well.)
.
Watch it………….that “pending” word is a Krugmanian slip.
.
Sneaky and Insidius……these progressives.
Don't Tread
August 20th, 2012
10:00 am
Yep…the correct answer in Bookmanland, regardless of the problem is either less freedom, more taxes, or both.
wahoo
August 20th, 2012
10:03 am
I’m not sure how Jay and apparently a few others can miss the obvious upward trend in total taxation as a % of GDP from the WW2 era, when the total tax burden first crossed 20%, to the late 1990’s when the total tax burden exceeded 28%. There were the tax cuts of the early 2000’s and then the global recession of the late 2000’s (which significantly reduced tax receipts) to push taxes as a % of GDP below their peak levels, but they still exceed 24% even today.
barking frog
August 20th, 2012
10:03 am
Kayaker71
The dropout rate in high
school can be changed by
raising the age at which you
can drop out legally but that
may not change the level of
education.
larry
August 20th, 2012
10:03 am
Been a fairly cool August, so far, so I guess global warming is over.
Lets see, last year, record number of tornadoes.
This year, record number of record high temputures.
Nope, global warming is still with us.
Mama Says
August 20th, 2012
10:04 am
Ok Jay,
I am wrong.
we all are doing wonderfully, the economy is good and I have more money to spend than I did 10 years ago. By the way its the conservatives fault if I dont.
jezz— if you are actually arguing that the governemnt is taking the same why do the dems want more ?
Bhorsoft
August 20th, 2012
10:04 am
One of the other small stories the chart seems to show me is that, although overall taxation is changing, the tax burden from state and local governments has increased at the expense of the federal government. Despite that, state finances are still in the crapper (see this past Sunday’s education article) and the it is hitting local governments hard. You may be getting Federal tax cuts, but when were your property taxes last cut?
Granny Godzilla - Union Thugette
August 20th, 2012
10:05 am
Less Freedom?
almonds, walnuts and pecans.
Jay
August 20th, 2012
10:05 am
And again, if conservatives have actual data to refute any of this, please post it. Anguished cries of “it just can’t be true” don’t cut it.
kayaker 71
August 20th, 2012
10:06 am
Finn, 9:57,
Nearly 73% of high school students in Bibb county schools are black. Only 22% are white. I would say that the number is “chirrens” is decidedly with black folks, ne-ces-pas?
MiltonMan
August 20th, 2012
10:06 am
I wonder how many citizens were leeching off the government 50 years ago.
Erwin's cat
August 20th, 2012
10:07 am
Doggone – Before you state that so positively, I’d suggest you check out the percentage of government spending that is “entitlements” You might be surprised at how low it is, especially when compare to the DOD.
——————————————
2011 DOD 19%
2011 Entitlements 43%
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:U.S._Federal_Spending_-_FY_2011.png
Jay
August 20th, 2012
10:08 am
I agree, wahoo. If you want to go back to the pre-WWII era, you can indeed make the argument that government’s share of the economy has grown. But that’s hardly the argument that conservatives make.
Joe the Plutocrat
August 20th, 2012
10:08 am
excuse me; but by ‘in living color’ I thought you meant this;
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/17/paul-ryan-gm-federal-funds_n_1799515.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Caim%7Cdl1%7Csec3_lnk3%26pLid%3D194373
Ayn Rand is spinning in her grave.
Matti
August 20th, 2012
10:09 am
Lies, damn lies, and Republican lies! Why let the truth get in the way of good propaganda? War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.
killerj
August 20th, 2012
10:11 am
Your a fool Jay,uncle sam is so big they can,t even pay for what they have spent in the last 20 years,explain to me why you see thousands of empty buildings where once it thrived?,tell me more about IRS expanding or the fraud that,s rampant with our elected officials?let me explain about your chart,s Jay,they lied to you too about the info that,s on your piece of paper,plain and simple ,uncle sam is out of their jurisdiction.
Joe the Plutocrat
August 20th, 2012
10:11 am
Milton, don’t you mean citizens in Wisconsin in 2008? how dare wunderkind Ryan; as a representative of the evil federal government; petition a private enterprise (GM) to keep a plant open? doesn’t Ryan know that free enterprise answers only to the market; and if the market says ‘close the plant’ you close the plant? geez; where is John Galt when you need him?
Bill Orvis White
August 20th, 2012
10:11 am
It’s not so much that the FACT that this once-free nation has the highest corporate tax rates in the free world; it’s that FACT that the Socialist-Democrat Party spend$ WE THE PEOPLE’s (common sense working folks) dollar$ and runs up the deficit beyond belief-thus creating uncertainty which thus prevents folk like me from hiring people. THIS IS WHY PEOPLE LIKE ME WILL NOT HIRE ANYONE UNTIL THIS DISGRACE OF A “MAN” is RIGHTFULLY REMOVED FROM THE OVAL OFFICE. The ONLY time we should be running deficits is when we are at war. The honorable Pres. George W. Bush was a war president who HAD to take on deficits after making painful decisions. I recommend ALL of you naive liberals on here to read and study “Decision Points,” BTW! Now, back to the fact that this once-free nation has the highest corporate tax rates in the industrialized world. With that fact clearly laid out here on this lefty blog, let me wake you seculars up to this fact: Corporations are moving job$ out of this once-free nation to Red China BECAUSE THE CORPORATE TAXE$ are THE HIGHEST IN THE INDUSTRIALIZED WORLD! I’m repeating myself BECAUSE YOU MCFLYS JUST DON’T GET IT! After President Romney is sworn in, those taxe$ WILL BE chopped thus creating millions of jobs on this soil!
GOOD GRIEF AND GOOD NIGHT!
Amen!
Bill
Tom Middleton
August 20th, 2012
10:12 am
Jay, America’s very first tax was a whiskey tax to pay the $100 million debt incurred by our winning the revolution against Britain. Thank God these conservative jackasses weren’t around then to try and take us backwards, for we might have no freedom at all, much less an economy worth saving!
Doggone/GA
August 20th, 2012
10:12 am
“2011 Entitlements 43%”
You counted Social Security in that total. Social Security is separately funded from a payroll tax, as is Medicare. They do not come out of the general tax fund. In fact, it is inaccurate of that pie chart to even lump Medicare and Medicaid together.
Want to try again?
I'm a liberal and believe everything I read and nothing the other side comes up with...cause we're smart and they are not
August 20th, 2012
10:12 am
Speaking of big lies. It appears Newsweek has quit. Mostly a very liberal rag, It’s throwing Obama under the bus tomorrow….and backing up and running over him. Headline says’ Obama,it’s time to hit the road…Why we need a new President”……….BOO YAA…..Finally…… Ron Kessler writes a piece this AM saying this might break the dam and give liberal Journalist a pass to speak their mind.
Butch Cassidy (I)
August 20th, 2012
10:12 am
Don’t Tread – “the correct answer in Bookmanland, regardless of the problem is either less freedom,”
I asked this question a while back and never got a response. But since you bring it up, maybe you would be so good as to name 3 freedoms that you no longer have that you had prior to January 2009?
new guy
August 20th, 2012
10:14 am
Jay, excellent post. Suggestion for future topic: whether there is something about modern conservatism that disposes it to a disabling, even dangerous credulity. There is an argument to be made, after all, that in 2008, both progressives and conservatives wanted to believe that President Obama would govern as a liberal. The former, faced with the reality — that he is at his core a pragmatic conservative, and has governed as one — has accepted that incontrovertible fact, not without complaint. Many conservatives, despite all evidence to the contrary, obviously still believe that he is a liberal. (And of course those that know better still push that canard, for political reasons.) Or to take another example: how have Republicans managed to convince themselves, really and truly believe, that Paul Ryan is a fiscal and social conservative, as distinct from an ambitious young man who has no difficulty being both for and against Medicare savings, both for and against the Obama stimulus, both an admirer of and disapproving of Ayn Rand, and so on ad infinitum, if that is what it takes for him to get ahead? Or, finally, to put it still another way: are these really “big lies” that conservatives are foisting on the rest of us, or is there something else going on here, less malicious but more disturbing?
MiltonMan
August 20th, 2012
10:14 am
“I have faith in the children. They’re gonna figure it out.
And the con house of cards will come tumbling down.
We’re very close to this time – right now.”
Good God – been hearing this more than a Lady Gaga song. I remember when my folks predicted that the “slime ball republicans” would be defeated once and for all when they voted for none other than the idiot George Wallace.
kayaker 71
August 20th, 2012
10:15 am
I’m a liberal, 10:12,
It’s about damn time. Now if we could only get Comrade Bookman to wake up……
Butch Cassidy (I)
August 20th, 2012
10:15 am
Bill Orvis – “this once-free nation”
Same question to you Bill, name 3 freedoms that you no longer have that you had prior to January 2009.
Joe the Plutocrat
August 20th, 2012
10:15 am
Tom Middleton; now that’s what I call a ‘consumption tax’! good point.
Welcome to the Occupation
August 20th, 2012
10:15 am
Jay: “I agree, wahoo. If you want to go back to the pre-WWII era, you can indeed make the argument that government’s share of the economy has grown. But that’s hardly the argument that conservatives make.”
It’s not the argument they make, but it is unquestionably the objective of their efforts. Their objective ultimately is to roll back the New Deal and take us back to the 1920s lock, stock, and barrel. So that is the prospect that has to be kept in mind, regardless of the misdirection they have to employ to gull the Orvis Whites of the world.
Grasshopper
August 20th, 2012
10:16 am
Can we see a similar chart comparing expenditures please?
ragnar danneskjold
August 20th, 2012
10:18 am
Dear Jay @ 9:46, you confuse “conservative opposition to the leftist demand for higher taxes” with “conservatives demand lower taxes.” Big difference.
Thomas Heyward Jr
August 20th, 2012
10:19 am
And anyhoo……………………………Bookman probably considers Paul Ryan or Mittens a “conservative”.
.
No who’s telling whom “the Big Lie”.
GW
August 20th, 2012
10:19 am
They know it’s a lie. The idea is to exploit people’s general dislike of taxes and “big” govmn’t for their political gain. The GOP is not about policy. It is about winning elections fooling enough of the people enough of the time.
Drudge
August 20th, 2012
10:20 am
This is like listening to socialists arguing that austerity is bad for debt relief – reducing spending and taxes pumps more available cash into the private sector – Clinton & Reagan understood this. Carter and Obama do not.
J
TaxPayer
August 20th, 2012
10:20 am
2010 Receipts:
Individual Income Tax-42%
Corporate Income Tax-8%
Payroll Tax-40%
Excise and Other-10%
2010 Fed Outlays:
DoD-20%
Social Security-20%
Medicare/Medicaid/Chip-21%
Safety Net Programs-14%
Interest on Debt-6%
Fed retiree/vet benefits-7%
All other-11%
USinUK - pro-gay-marriage thug and former Girl Scout
August 20th, 2012
10:20 am
“FOAS, you will not be allowed to post under that name or anything like it.”
ooooo …
Freedom Of Access (to) Saltines??
Erwin's cat
August 20th, 2012
10:20 am
Doggone – what are you calling entitlements?
SS, Medicare, and Medicaid are not entitlements?…I thought we were talking about govt spending?
Mark in mid-town
August 20th, 2012
10:22 am
A few points. The percentage of GDP paid in taxes is a lot less important than the percentage of GDP consumed by government. It’s what government spends plus the cost of adhering to government regulations that is the real tax rate. As well, what is the money being spent on? If a larger and larger share of the money government spends is nothing more than income transfers, then that means that those who actually pay the taxes are getting less and less for the taxes they pay.
Jefferson
August 20th, 2012
10:24 am
Who is the candy asses that will work and pay into programs and then let wealthy lawmakers change the rules mid flight because they want a tax cut and are willing to let the US Gov’t not forfill their obligations to their citizens ?
Step up, I want to know who the candy asses are .
Jackie
August 20th, 2012
10:24 am
It is always hard to disprove a negative because the believers in those mis-characterizations always have a convenient out; start another conversation.
Doggone/GA
August 20th, 2012
10:25 am
“I thought we were talking about govt spending?”
I differentiate between the spending that comes from the general tax fund and the spending that comes from separately funded expenditures. DOD comes form the general tax fund, Social Security and Medicare do not.
Aquagirl
August 20th, 2012
10:25 am
Jay, America’s very first tax was a whiskey tax to pay the $100 million debt incurred by our winning the revolution against Britain. Thank God these conservative jackasses weren’t around then
Oh, they had Tea Potty whiners back then. George Washington knew how to deal with them. All the free musket rounds they wanted, courtesy of the taxpayers.
lovelyliz
August 20th, 2012
10:28 am
People who don’t beleive in science, facts and math are rarely bothered by economic reality especially when they are paid not to
gadem
August 20th, 2012
10:28 am
I wonder if those that keep citing the Newsweek piece actually read the Newsweek piece? It was written by a conservative journalists…but that doesn’t matter. Newsweek as a whole is disavowing liberal policies.
Tom Middleton
August 20th, 2012
10:29 am
Anyway, Jay that whiskey tax led to the Whiskey Rebellion in which a lot of folks headed to the hills for moonshining. Unfortunately for our later America, they moved so far back that they had to inbreed for somebody to marry, which, of course, led to NASCAR, racism, and the foundation and almost entire membership of this modern Republican Party!
hiram
August 20th, 2012
10:29 am
The discussion is flawed, because you are talking about apples and oranges. Taxes, as well as the return on your tax investments, vary, relative to your location.
And, other non negotiable expenses, like utility bills(think Ga. Power), which are tied to the same political processes as taxation, should be included in any dicussion on the cost of government.
Intangible cost, like quality of life issues, determined by government policies, should also be part of the discussion. Choosing to not enforce immigration laws, for example, can result in severe costs(tangible and intangible), for some communities(Dalton, for example), while having no affect on others. Lowering your quality of life to increase someone else’s is just another tax levied by the government.
Another factor is the tax dodgers, who, state and local governments allow to shift their tax burdens to every one else(think Delta Airlines).
In other words, the current discussion about taxes doesn’t factor in all of the variables – it is oversimplified.
Goody Three Shoes
August 20th, 2012
10:32 am
“I’m a liberal…………”
Niall Ferguson who wrote that Newsweek article you referred to is a liberal?
“Ferguson received a Demyship (half-scholarship) at Magdalen College, Oxford.[11] While there he became best friends with Andrew Sullivan, based on a shared affinity for right-wing politics”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niall_Ferguson
Are you ever going to do any homework before you take what you read on Drudge or some other site as the truth?
No one is counting on it.
If you are more intelligent than you express on this blog, please start demonstrating it.
getalife
August 20th, 2012
10:32 am
Getting down to crunch time and the cons don’t care if they pay higher taxes if the gop wins.
They don’t care if the gop steals SS and Medicare.
They don’t care if the gop collapses the economy again.
Party first.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 20th, 2012
10:32 am
Jay, America’s very first tax was a whiskey tax to pay the $100 million debt incurred by our winning the revolution against Britain. Thank God these conservative jackasses weren’t around then
No, they were around – they were the ones behind the Whiskey rebellion. The president had to send troops to quell it.
kayaker 71
August 20th, 2012
10:32 am
Aquagirl, 10:25,
That same George Washington was the ultimate 1%er of his time with an accumulated wealth, of get this, 525M dollars. Of course, he would never gotten along with the liberals of today, including you.
ragnar danneskjold
August 20th, 2012
10:36 am
I’ll second the economic theory behind Hiram’s 10:29 post. Hidden taxes arise from non-enforcement of economic laws, and also from hyper-enforcement of meaningless laws. To deny the “tax” effects of regulations is dishonest. Maybe Jay an I can agree to return to the regulatory world in place on Jan 19, 1993?
Williebkind
August 20th, 2012
10:37 am
AquaGirl:
George Washington had a large whiskey business after the war. You can google it if you want.
Steve Atl
August 20th, 2012
10:38 am
4 years later and Jay is still blaming George Bush…the grass is green, the sky is blue….
Goody Three Shoes
August 20th, 2012
10:38 am
gadem
People like “I’m a liberal” have willingly allowed themselves to be brainwashed that anything they are not told is the “real news” is the “liberal media”.
Therefore you get him reading another article bout the Newsweek article and running to say how a “liberal” writer denounced Obama.
Williebkind
August 20th, 2012
10:39 am
Well, I saw on TV that liberals are mostly communists these days. Enough said, vote Romey/Ryan and save America.
Thomas Heyward Jr
August 20th, 2012
10:40 am
Those Whiskey Rebellion dudes WON…(sorry about your gubmint school state-sponsored education that taught you otherwise.).
.
They never paid the taxes.
And those mooching Federalies NEVER went back.
.
Google it.
getalife
August 20th, 2012
10:40 am
One thing is for sure, if the gop win the cons will suddenly turn patriotic.
Aquagirl
August 20th, 2012
10:41 am
That same George Washington was the ultimate 1%er of his time with an accumulated wealth, of get this, 525M dollars.
So? When he wasn’t making money, he was actually serving his country, and not by flying around Alabama for the National Guard. George and I would get along just fine. You and the rest of the fake conservatives who don’t understand it’s not all about you….not so much.
the cat
August 20th, 2012
10:41 am
If you are more intelligent than you express on this blog, please start demonstrating it.
POST OF THE DAY!!!
stands for decibels (SfBA)
August 20th, 2012
10:41 am
Freedom Of Access (to) Saltines??
I think it’s “F— Off And… SOAR!”
(like you’ve never soared before)
I'm a liberal and believe everything I read and nothing the other side comes up with...cause we're smart and they are not
August 20th, 2012
10:43 am
Goody….don’t believe I mentioned the writer. I mentioned the Magazine. Big difference…..And Newsweek is mostly, almost always a has a liberal slant….Keep spinning.
RB from Gwinnett
August 20th, 2012
10:44 am
Jay, “Example of how you are wrong, you mean. Fifty years ago, it took basically 25 cents out of every dollar to fund government. Today, it takes basically 25 cents out of every dollar to fund government. That’s the whole message of that chart.”
Keep lying Jay…. The serious problem with this line of crap you keep feeding people is that 50 years ago, everybody actually paid their own 25 cents. Now, your neighbor is paying his 25 cents and yours, and you’re whining like a spoiled brat that he’s not providing you enough stuff so should pay more, all the while knowing if your tax bill doubles, you’re still paying NOTHING.
What about that is so difficult for you to get through your socialist head, Jay?
I'm a liberal and believe everything I read and nothing the other side comes up with...cause we're smart and they are not
August 20th, 2012
10:44 am
Maybe it’s Goody who can’t read.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
August 20th, 2012
10:44 am
Moralilty?
“Remember Ruby Ridge.”
Yes ………. remember that Weaver’s conduct, arrogance and irresponsibility cost the lives of his son and wife.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
August 20th, 2012
10:45 am
JAY:
Is there a chart that shows what we don’t like paying taxes for ?
Williebkind
August 20th, 2012
10:46 am
I never new a communists who did not like government control–at least the oligarchy would like it.
Williebkind
August 20th, 2012
10:47 am
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
I get you dont like living free!
I'm a liberal and believe everything I read and nothing the other side comes up with...cause we're smart and they are not
August 20th, 2012
10:48 am
In other big news today, A GOP candidate was caught eating white bread.
Donovan
August 20th, 2012
10:49 am
The “Big Lie” is the same answer for all of Bookman’s counter response to conservative arguments.
His acceptance to the reality of Social Security being looted for other government programs is a subtle confession of Democrat malfeasance for the purposes of vote buying and citizen control.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
August 20th, 2012
10:50 am
Yeah, RB is paying the taxes for all of us! Go RB!!
…err, get back to work so we can get our food stamps!
Tom Middleton
August 20th, 2012
10:50 am
“Those Whiskey rebellion dudes WON…gubmint schools…blah, blah, blah.”
Now tell us again how y’alls learnt ur letters?
Goody Three Shoes
August 20th, 2012
10:51 am
“I’m a liberal……..”
Spin all you like. You did mention more liberal writers, did you not?
You are not demonstrating intelligence, yet again.
Magazines do not write articles. Writers write articles that run in magazines. The writer in question is not a liberal and you ignorantly assumed he was one.
Williebkind
August 20th, 2012
10:52 am
Liberals are communists and want more government control. Hey that takes money but where do you get that money if half the population is on the dole? Communists and liberals are the same and we all know communism wont work in a real world. If you dont get rid of the liberals/communists then America will die.
TaxPayer
August 20th, 2012
10:52 am
The poor cons on here. Paying property taxes and state income taxes and fed income taxes and payroll taxes and sales taxes and LOST and SPLOST and
TSPLOSTand they never ever get anything in return for all their taxes that they paid because everyone else gets everything and leaves them with nothing. If only they could afford a fainting couch that they could call their own.Goody Three Shoes
August 20th, 2012
10:55 am
“his might break the dam and give liberal Journalist a pass to speak their mind.”
Dude you are acting dumb? You are doing a great job if that is not you outside of this blog. Let’s just be honest here.
Why would a “damn be broke” for liberal Journalists when the article in question was not written by a liberal?
You are attempting to spin away from your stupidity, but your track record is what it is.
Williebkind
August 20th, 2012
10:55 am
TaxPayer
August 20th, 2012
10:52 am
LOL, liberals sure are funny!
larry
August 20th, 2012
10:56 am
If only they could afford a fainting couch that they could call their own.
See, if they buy that fainting couch, they would have to pay sales taxes on said couch.
Oh , the horror!!
stands for decibels (SfBA)
August 20th, 2012
10:57 am
Weaver’s conduct, arrogance and irresponsibility cost the lives of his son and wife.
My take-away as well.
Doggone/GA
August 20th, 2012
10:57 am
“LOL, liberals sure are funny!”
Beats being pathetic, ANY day of the week.
Child, please
August 20th, 2012
10:57 am
Nice throwaway sentence at the end that the real cause of our ballooning public debt is the out of control spending of the federal. Figure out (FIRST!) what the federal government should be involved in (OK, I’m a Libertarian with two children and would prefer that government not be involved in much of what it does today) and then tax accordingly. Then the tax levels will be correct. Even a liberal (well, most of them) must admit that you can’t simply raise taxes 50% tomorrow to fund our bloated government (that is what it would take from all sources).
As a ‘conservative’, I’d say that we remove government from large amounts of the economy where they’ve “crept” for the last fifty years, first. Taxes aren’t too high or too low, we just have WAY TOO MUCH GOVERNMENT. Haven’t seen diddly poo from the Prez, Senate, or House to deal with that the last four years, so vote them all out.
larry
August 20th, 2012
10:57 am
Enter your comments here
F. Sinkwich
August 20th, 2012
10:58 am
How about publishing a chart of government spending as a percent of GDP for purposes of comparison?
Thanks.
Jackie
August 20th, 2012
10:59 am
I wonder if the Dems were the only party that borrowed money from the Social Security trust fund?
Secondly, Social Security trust fund is the largest single debt the US government has.
http://www.businessinsider.com/who-owns-us-debt-2011-7?op=1
Welcome to the Occupation
August 20th, 2012
11:00 am
Did somebody say Niall Ferguson?
Hahaa ahahahahahahaa ha. Make it stopppppppppp!
gadem
August 20th, 2012
11:02 am
In NEOCON fantasy land, if a woman is raped, her body shuts down so that she does not get pregnant.
Mama Says
August 20th, 2012
11:02 am
Hey Jay
give me your insider secret. Where do you come up with all the “facts” you qoute daily.
we should be on an even field.
by the way I love this trend you libs are starting to show.
Whats with this we are the patriots because we support the government taking your money stuff ?
some of you are actually trying to say the conservatives are anti American because we want less government.
Read your history folks–you cannot win that argument. No country ever revolted because its citizens felt their government wasnt taking enough in taxes.
Jackie
August 20th, 2012
11:04 am
Does anyone have a list of responsibilities they would remove from any level of government?
gadem
August 20th, 2012
11:04 am
I think Republicans need Sex Ed classes…
http://www.buzzfeed.com/annanorth/the-6-craziest-things-people-have-said-about-pregn
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
August 20th, 2012
11:07 am
Anyway, as you read Niall Ferguson, it’s worth noting that he has been wrong on economics ever since Obama took office.
Generation$crewed
August 20th, 2012
11:08 am
http://www.normanjohnsoncpa.com/fft/payingmore.htm
Seems this guy disagrees with you Jay!
Now he is only a CPA and you do write a blog, so maybe we should discount him.
Fair warning he did not use any colorful charts but he does say this……..
“Despite these differences we can make some general comparisons to give you a sense of how the tax burdens have changed over time. The U.S. Treasury Department provides inflation adjusted measures of “per capita tax burden.” The per capita tax burden indicates how much each person in the country would pay in taxes if everyone paid the same amount and how this amount differs today from earlier periods.”
And this….
“As large as that increase was, the increase in the per capita tax burden throughout the 1980s and 1990s was close to what has become a normal rate of increase, not the exception for the century. But let’s look back to what should have been a time of huge burden to Americans. At the end of the Second World War, the per capita tax burden stood at $2,505, up from less than $1,000 at the start of the war. So, while the per capita tax burden has risen 40 percent in a generation, it has risen over seven-fold, that’s 700%, in three generations.
So, are you paying more than your parents? Probably so – by 40% or more.”
But again he is just a CPA and you do write a blog, so maybe we should just believe you.
I mean you’ve never been partisan about things before right, I mean you never spin anything right
Joe Hussein Mama
August 20th, 2012
11:10 am
Donovan — “His acceptance to the reality of Social Security being looted for other government programs is a subtle confession of Democrat malfeasance for the purposes of vote buying and citizen control.”
And yet when a Democrat — who was running for President — proposed securing those funds so that Congress *couldn’t* “loot” those funds, the GOP laughed its head off.
Granny Godzilla - Union Thugette
August 20th, 2012
11:10 am
Mama Says
“Read your history folks–you cannot win that argument. No country ever revolted because its citizens felt their government wasnt taking enough in taxes.”
No, but entire nations have been brought down by allowing a wealthy elite aristocracy to literally starve the people….
Hint:Let them eat cake
USinUK - pro-gay-marriage thug and former Girl Scout
August 20th, 2012
11:13 am
“That same George Washington was the ultimate 1%er of his time with an accumulated wealth, of get this, 525M dollars.”
which he got by working for the gummint and marrying Martha.
USinUK - pro-gay-marriage thug and former Girl Scout
August 20th, 2012
11:14 am
Mama – 11:02 –
is reading not your strong suit??
look at the bottom of the chart above – NBER
enoughsaid
August 20th, 2012
11:14 am
The only thing missing with this article is an editorial cartoon by Luckovich showing his one party can only do wrong mentality.
TaxPayer
August 20th, 2012
11:15 am
Hint:Let them eat cake
That argument does not work on the Republican constituency. They like cake.
Goody Three Shoes
August 20th, 2012
11:15 am
Augusta National adds first 2 female members
http://www.ajc.com/sports/golf/augusta-national-adds-first-1502648.html
Compromise
August 20th, 2012
11:15 am
Studies show that people who pay taxes feel more strongly about tax increases. I have no chart to support this.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
August 20th, 2012
11:16 am
Williebkind :
1) If you are talking about Ruby Ridge ……… we are a nation of laws. If you are indicted, you have the right to hear your case heard in open court. You do not have the right to murder a U.S. Marshal.
2) If you are talking about taxes …………. work on the tremendous amount of waste, fraud and abuse first. Then we’ll discuss if there is a need to maintain or increase current levels.
Soothsayer
August 20th, 2012
11:16 am
Well, I see where Augusta National has done let in 2 clunky ol’ girls. Ewwwww! What is the World coming to? Is nothing sacred, anymore?
barking frog
August 20th, 2012
11:17 am
Forget the cake, I demand
Banana Pudding !
Soothsayer
August 20th, 2012
11:18 am
Oh, and by the way. I sure am glad to know I’m not a socialist anymore. Now, I’m just a regular ol’ garden variety communist. What a relief!
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
August 20th, 2012
11:18 am
Augusta National = He-man Woman Haters club.
USinUK - pro-gay-marriage thug and former Girl Scout
August 20th, 2012
11:19 am
“1) If you are talking about Ruby Ridge ……… we are a nation of laws. If you are indicted, you have the right to hear your case heard in open court. You do not have the right to murder a U.S. Marshal.”
it always scares the hell out of me when Scout and I are in agreement.
Welcome to the Occupation
August 20th, 2012
11:19 am
Niall Ferguson: proof of the endless capacity for Americans to swoon over bottomless hackery when it comes with the nice Oxbridge brogue.
getalife
August 20th, 2012
11:21 am
ferguson was a mccain adviser and gop hack.
Aquagirl
August 20th, 2012
11:21 am
If you are talking about Ruby Ridge ……… we are a nation of laws.
Unless you’re a wingnut, in which case we’re a nation of laws, except for you personally. Then you get to decide what laws apply to you, and shooting anyone who disagrees makes you the object of much fruitcake devotion.
larry
August 20th, 2012
11:22 am
I still say the House is up for grabs. This guy co-sponsored a bill with Rep. Ryan to redefine the definition of rape. Idiotic Ignorance is going to cost the Repubs.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/20/joe-scarborough-todd-akin-rape-morning-joe_n_1810077.html?ir=Politics&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009
Mama Says
August 20th, 2012
11:23 am
Ok Granny now the republicans are akin to French Aristocracy.
The richest country in the world now has peasents. you guys are getting funnier
Hey gay boy scout or whoever. I was asking generally as you should know since I asked for his DAILY source..duh
larry
August 20th, 2012
11:24 am
Augusta National adds first 2 female members
I never thought i’d see that in my lifetime. I said he!! would freeze over before they admit women.
I guess he!! has a winter storm warning as we speak.
Moderate Line
August 20th, 2012
11:25 am
What is left out is the growth of non-defense spending? In 1962 49.2% of the budget was for National Defense. In 2011 non-defense 19.4%. In 1962 Social Security was 13.2% and 2011 20.1%.
The Big Lie is that Non-Defense is rising and will continue to eat of the budget.
Also, the revenues in terms of GDP is misleading because with unemployment over 8% revenues would be down because people don’t have jobs. In this way it is misleading.
In 2007 receipts were 18.5% of GDP in 1962 they were 17.8%.
Soothsayer
August 20th, 2012
11:25 am
mama = low information much
kawasaki kid
August 20th, 2012
11:26 am
Don’t know if anyone reads the posts this far down the list, but since the 60’s, Big Money has armed itself to the teeth with conservative talk radio stations and bullsh– artists spewing hate and misinformation to millions of blue-collar rednecks, who avidly eat the crap up during the day while on the job driving or working. This is ground-zero for our political polarization.
stands for decibels (SfBA)
August 20th, 2012
11:26 am
UnU, Scout thinks Romney ought to release more of his tax records, and he thinks it shouldn’t be so easy to get a concealed-carry permit.
He’s all right, sometimes.
Soothsayer
August 20th, 2012
11:28 am
kawasaki: it’s called mass indoctrination.
I call it training to be fascist.
Granny Godzilla - Union Thugette
August 20th, 2012
11:29 am
Mama says….
Not all….Mrs. Silly Pants.
Unless you are admitting to all of us here that you are unaware
of the number of people in this nation that live in poverty?
But yes….the 1…2% are akin to the French Aristocracy.
And frankly it’s sick of you to think that it’s funny.
getalife
August 20th, 2012
11:30 am
willie will release he 2010 taxes in October
That is all you people will get.
So the gop will vote for a tax cheat with zero foreign policy experience but does know how to fire Americans. Her will raise taxes and try to steal SS and Medicare.
What could go wrong?
cc
August 20th, 2012
11:30 am
Bookman:
I do not understand why you waste your time and talent writing for a liberal rag. You should be in charge of the nation’s economy!
Corporations, companies and businesses do NOT pay taxes. Their tax obligation is added to the price of their goods or services and the consumer pays the taxes.
How brilliant to support an increase in taxes! That will take more money out of the economy and prevent any beginning of a recovery. Please not that I did not say, “slow the recovery”. There hasn’t been any recovery. An increase in taxes might permit obama to fund more “green energy” businesses founded by his campaign contributors. They manufacture products that consumers don’t want and will not buy, but it helps Obama with his fundraising.
Yes, Bookman, I believe you’ve nailed it!
. . . over $6 trillion and moving FORWARD . . .
larry
August 20th, 2012
11:32 am
Now i know its a freezing day in he!!.
I’m agreeing with Bill Kristol. It is “weird” that Mitt Romney paid only 13.9% on income of 42 million. Kristol says that Romney should pay more.
Yikes!!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/20/bill-kristol-mitt-romney-tax-rate_n_1810512.html?1345471816&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009
JamVet
August 20th, 2012
11:33 am
Corporations, companies and businesses do NOT pay taxes.
This inane neocon nonsense again?????????
F. Sinkwich
August 20th, 2012
11:33 am
Something more for lefties to feel good about:
“A provision of President Obama’s health care law imposes a second Medicare tax on investment income for Americans classified as wealthy, effectively raising taxes on investment income and taxing investors twice. The provision, a little-known part of ObamaCare, levies a 3.8 percent Medicare tax on investment income for couples making more than $250,000 or individuals making more than $200,000 a year.”
Higher taxes !! YEE-HAAAAA
JohnnyReb
August 20th, 2012
11:34 am
Jay, your piece paints the best possible support for LIberal policies but omits details that make or break.
First and foremost, while the taxes collected may be almost the same, the people paying it are not. Almost 50% of wage earners end up either paying no federal income taxes or get back more in April than they actually paid in. A smaller number of wage earners are carrying the freight. The federal government takes from the producers and gives to the those who do not.
If tax income has been about the same, why do we have such a deficit? While war spending that Liberals like to crow about contributed, the biggest expense has been growing entitlement programs. What has Democrats done to address this? More and more spending.
While the Left does not like the plan of the Right; all you have is more of the same. More spending, more borrowing, more growing the federal government.
I think Newsweek hit the nail on the head – it’s time for Obama to hit the road – go to retirement – live off the tax payers the rest of his life. After all, that’s all he knows.
Erwin's cat
August 20th, 2012
11:34 am
Moderate Line – What is left out is the growth of non-defense spending? In 1962 49.2% of the budget was for National Defense. In 2011 non-defense 19.4%. In 1962 Social Security was 13.2% and 2011 20.1%.
The Big Lie is that Non-Defense is rising and will continue to eat of the budget.
Also, the revenues in terms of GDP is misleading because with unemployment over 8% revenues would be down because people don’t have jobs. In this way it is misleading.
In 2007 receipts were 18.5% of GDP in 1962 they were 17.8%.
—————————————-
your points certainly have merit…especially for those proportionality types
USinUK - pro-gay-marriage thug and former Girl Scout
August 20th, 2012
11:34 am
dB – 11:26 – stop. you’re blowing my mind, man!
cc
August 20th, 2012
11:35 am
getalife:
Refresh my memory, please.
How many “tax cheats” did obama appoint to high government positions? How many of them were so bad that he actually dropped them? Did he pay to have those rcords “sealed” also?
Inquiring minds want to know!
USinUK - pro-gay-marriage thug and former Girl Scout
August 20th, 2012
11:35 am
” levies a 3.8 percent Medicare tax on investment income for couples making more than $250,000 or individuals making more than $200,000 a year”
ohnoes!!!
3.8% on a quarter million!!!
Chris
August 20th, 2012
11:36 am
Your graph is a percentage of GDP. Clever, but that matters little to the average Joe. Why don’t you due the comparison of tax liability to wage growth. Then maybe you will understand the average conservative’s argument (you know we’re not all CEO’s making 100s of millions, despite what you tend to think).
GT
August 20th, 2012
11:37 am
The problem with our economy is caused by private capital not government interference or too much government. Somewhere we have confused our values of how we conduct ourselves privately and how we express ourselves publicly. The economy over borrowed privately and was allowed to by private capital investors and banks easy credit which gave us a false sense of security and gave them huge profits. Then the government under Bush bails these facilitators out of there poor decisions leaving the middle class to suffer, while the facilitators kept their wealth for doing a horrible job and then turn on the new government daring them to touch them. They got the woman pregnant and now do not want to pay child support leaving the middle class to fend for itself. If the economy was fair and if these bandits had been allowed to go under like the nature of economics calls for new opportunity arises for up current in the middle class making them the new rich and beneficiaries of this fortune and the cause of the problems goes to the back of the line. When people say the whole world would have gone into depression if we had not bail the banks out, we say the middle class is in a depression and the rich that caused it are not, the world would not be much different to our sight. Now not only do you have a world propped up by government but a government very well looking at bankruptcy in the future itself. And it will be aided in this quest for bankruptcy by a Tea Party now and only now being obstructionist, claiming no credit for us being in this position in the first place.
Erwin's cat
August 20th, 2012
11:38 am
3.8% on a quarter million!!!
or $9500…but that’s okay because they can afford it more
Chris
August 20th, 2012
11:40 am
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
Augusta National = He-man Woman Haters club.
___________________________________________________
Augusta National = A private club that can do what it wants. It has the freedom to choose its members, and that freedom burns liberals.
Michael
August 20th, 2012
11:40 am
We have a strange mixture of events occurring now. The US has dropped a vehicle using a jet-propelled crane onto Mars. That vehicle is now preparing to fire a laser to disintegrate a rock and conduct experiments. For me, that action puts the US first in an important field in the 21st century.
Next week republicans will gather in Tampa to bemoan the government and complain about taxes.
Meanwhile, I’m willing to bet that the team in the Goddard space center pay ordinary income taxes at rates significantly higher than Mitt. This is because one of the odious parts of the tax cuts enabled Mitt to treat his carried interest (bonus) as a capital gain. So, our tax system rewards investment bankers and punishes scientists. For me that is not a strategy for success.
Also, given the influence of the tea party the republicans will propose moving forward boldly into the 18th century.
Jackie
August 20th, 2012
11:40 am
The current tax code as muddled and complicated as it is, how does any of us that file income tax returns not be a tax cheat? If you have ever been audited and have had to be additional taxes for a tax year because of filing errors, were you not a tax cheat?
Happy Trails
August 20th, 2012
11:40 am
“you know we’re not all CEO’s making 100s of millions, despite what you tend to think”
That is true, however you are a water carrier for many who are in the higher income brackets.
They would say thank you, but are currently busy “trickling down on you”
hiram
August 20th, 2012
11:42 am
This entire conversation is about the short term, a blip on the radar screen of time. I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes, but the D vs R argument is nearing an ironic end.
A democracy is based on mathmatics. You don’t have to be the firstest with the mostest, just the mostest.
The current irreversible shift in the country’s demographics, which favors the Democrats, can be completely attributed to the Repubicans.
While the Republican electorate was focused on weighty issues like gay marriage and guns, the relative handful at the top, were opening the country’s floodgates for a short term source of cheap labor(all Democrats), without any consideration as to the long term effects on their party.
In other words, while successfully distracting the clueless(majority of the party), they literally sold the rope to hang themselves, along with the rest of the party.
Soothsayer
August 20th, 2012
11:43 am
Corporations, companies and businesses do NOT pay taxes.
At last, a con gets something right.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
August 20th, 2012
11:43 am
…and that freedom burns liberals.
No but by all means continue to speak for me, sport.
Chris
August 20th, 2012
11:44 am
Happy Trails
“you know we’re not all CEO’s making 100s of millions, despite what you tend to think”
That is true, however you are a water carrier for many who are in the higher income brackets.
They would say thank you, but are currently busy “trickling down on you”
____________________________________________________
How am I a water carrier if I don’t work for them and don’t expect anything to trickle down from them? When you think for yourself and how you can get yourself into a better position without relying on the work of others, you will find a much more liberating existence.
Fearful!
August 20th, 2012
11:44 am
Nice pic of Ryan and Akin:
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/08/19/712251/how-todd-akin-and-paul-ryan-partnered-to-redefine-rape/
Happy Trails
August 20th, 2012
11:45 am
keep carrying that water
I own my own business thank you, but keep swinging when you are not carrying their water
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
August 20th, 2012
11:46 am
Augusta National adds first 2 female members
Well, it’s a sad day for us men. Most of us go to the golf course to get away from the nagging and honey-do lists. Now we’re going to get a steady diet of 6-hr. rounds behind a bunch of cookie-bakers. This ain’t right. And I knew it was bound to come when I seen that picture of this Karen Handel and that awful swing on the front of the Neighbor newspaper a couple years ago. I just hope they don’t invade Billy Bob’s.
Chris
August 20th, 2012
11:46 am
‘The current irreversible shift in the country’s demographics, which favors the Democrats, can be completely attributed to the Repubicans.’
This has been said for years, but as people age, they tend to grow up and think like adults, and tend to start voting Republican.
F. Sinkwich
August 20th, 2012
11:47 am
“ohnoes!!!
3.8% on a quarter million!!!”
Usinuk took her ignorant pills this AM I see. May have OD’d.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
August 20th, 2012
11:49 am
…and tend to start voting Republican.
VOTE REPUBLICAN: It’s Easier Than Thinking!
USinUK - pro-gay-marriage thug and former Girl Scout
August 20th, 2012
11:49 am
“but that’s okay because they can afford it more”
even Adam Smith said that it was a moral imperative that the wealthy paid more
Erwin's cat
August 20th, 2012
11:51 am
USinUK – even Adam Smith said that it was a moral imperative that the wealthy paid more
and they do
No Artificial Flavors
August 20th, 2012
11:51 am
To My hard-core republican friends and family perception is reality when it comes to taxes. The problem is their perception is based on willful ignorance of the facts, such as the data presented. However, we don’t have a taxing problem, we have a spending problem. Government is trying to be all things to all people without letting people just be people in many instances of life.
Mama Says
August 20th, 2012
11:52 am
I forgot Sooth,
if cons dont agree with you we are wrong.
Granny, if you are truly worried about the poor, demand that the goverment be accountable for the money they do take from us instead of simply supporting more theft.
by the way its not funny that people are poor. its funny that you rich libs claim to represent them while you rake in the money for yourselves
USinUK - pro-gay-marriage thug and former Girl Scout
August 20th, 2012
11:52 am
Erwin – obviously, they don’t, given what we DO know about Mittens and his returns.
JohnnyReb
August 20th, 2012
11:53 am
Augusta National yields to PC. I hate to see this. A private club is pressured so much that it throws its traditions under the bus to shut up the Left. First group; a white and a black. Next it will be a Latino and Asian. Political correctness must be maintained.
Obama is over
August 20th, 2012
11:53 am
Gadem @ 10:28
The Aug. 6th cover of Newsweek featured a picture of Romney with the title “Romney the wimp” so your bias against liberal comment is false. Your comments attacking Niall Ferguson are sad because you can’t defend the text of the article and have to attack him personally. Ferguson essentially summarizes what everybody already knows- the Obama agenda has been a miserable failure. The challenge now is for Obama to actually release a plan to address the issues facing America: entitlement reform, tax reform, energy independence, national security, etc.The trustees of Social Security announced last month that Social Security disability insurance will be insolvent by 2016. Other than taxing the rich, does Obama have a plan? As far as Jay’s pretty chart goes, I would argue that the economic growth of the Clinton years was a result of the capital gains rate being lowered and not income tax rate increases. Of course Obama wants to raise both the capital gains rate and the dividend tax rate. These increases will not generate the revenue Obama thinks, will injure retirees looking to supplement income, and encourage investment overseas. The Obama administration is intellectually bankrupt, has no new ideas to solve anything, and has to go.
USinUK - pro-gay-marriage thug and former Girl Scout
August 20th, 2012
11:53 am
“its funny that you rich libs claim to represent them while you rake in the money for yourselves”
not NEARLY as funny as you people who claim to be Christians who don’t want to do anything about it
Erwin's cat
August 20th, 2012
11:54 am
USinUK – Erwin – obviously, they don’t, given what we DO know about Mittens and his returns.
Mitt paid $6-7M in 1 year
what did you pay?
Joe Hussein Mama
August 20th, 2012
11:56 am
Chris — “This has been said for years, but as people age, they tend to grow up and think like adults, and tend to start voting Republican.”
It was exactly the reverse for me; I grew up, started *thinking* and began to vote Democratic after 20 years of voting Republican.
And the same is true for a lot of other voters who have turned away from the GOP in recent years.
Chris
August 20th, 2012
11:57 am
I’ll tell you who I am a water carrier for: the people who don’t want to improve their lot in life; people who declare that things ‘just aren’t fair’ and so someone else should subsidize the standard of living of what they think they’re entitled to; the able bodied people who ask you for change outside gas stations who think they shouldn’t need to work; the people who say ‘my occupation is X’ and collect unemployment instead of taking a job that is not X or retraining for another job. And quite frankly, I’m tired of carrying the water for THOSE people.
Joe Hussein Mama
August 20th, 2012
11:58 am
Chris — “I’ll tell you who I am a water carrier for: the people who don’t want to improve their lot in life”
I do not think that phrase means what you think it means.
USinUK - pro-gay-marriage thug and former Girl Scout
August 20th, 2012
12:00 pm
“Mitt paid $6-7M in 1 year what did you pay?”
And that is WHAT %%% of his income??? and what %%% SHOULD he be paying???
sorry, but dollars don’t interest me – percentage does.
Jackie
August 20th, 2012
12:01 pm
I wonder if those folks with a degree above that of a Bachelor and experience of more than 20 years that can not get a job of any kind because “they are over qualified…”, or, “…have been unemployed for more than 6 months” are the ones who don’t deserve consideration?
USinUK - pro-gay-marriage thug and former Girl Scout
August 20th, 2012
12:02 pm
Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol said Monday that he thinks Mitt Romney should pay a higher tax rate, calling the rate he pays on his investments “weird.”
“I personally — if I were designing the tax code — would have a tax code in which Mitt Romney paid more than 13 percent, given what I know about the kind of investments he made money from,” Kristol said
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/20/bill-kristol-mitt-romney-tax-rate_n_1810512.html
I mean, criminey – when your own SIDE says you’re not paying your fair share, that speaks VOLUMES
RB from Gwinnett
August 20th, 2012
12:10 pm
USinUK, “not NEARLY as funny as you people who claim to be Christians who don’t want to do anything about it”
Tell me USinUK, how long does one need to be on welfare/section 8/food stamps/free lunches/etc before they stop being poor?
If you can’t give a definitive answer to that question, you aren’t doing anything about it either.
JamVet
August 20th, 2012
12:10 pm
JKL2, go cry to your mommy.
Though you can’t, times change…
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
August 20th, 2012
12:12 pm
Augusta National SHEETS!
Sagegirl
August 20th, 2012
12:13 pm
A bit off topic… I just saw a film on one of the movie channels called ‘INSIDE JOB’. It’s about the financial crisis that has led to us to where we sit today. It’s an eye opener with a lot of white collar bad guys in the middle of this mess. None of them lost a penny while hundreds of thousands lost everything. In fact they’re still making ridiculous amouts of money off the backs of the middle class and poor. Here’s a short storyline:
‘Inside Job’ provides a comprehensive analysis of the global financial crisis of 2008, which at a cost over $20 trillion, caused millions of people to lose their jobs and homes in the worst recession since the Great Depression, and nearly resulted in a global financial collapse. Through exhaustive research and extensive interviews with key financial insiders, politicians, journalists, and academics, the film traces the rise of a rogue industry which has corrupted politics, regulation, and academia.
Check it out if you can, but be warned… you’ll be mad as hell.
USinUK - pro-gay-marriage thug and former Girl Scout
August 20th, 2012
12:14 pm
“Tell me USinUK, how long does one need to be on welfare/section 8/food stamps/free lunches/etc before they stop being poor?”
woooooooooooohooooooooooo, BOY are those food stamp queens raking in the cash
http://www.nlchp.org/content/pubs/Food%20Stamp%20Basics1.pdf
yep. boy, howdy, they’re getting rich-rich-rich.
TaxPayer
August 20th, 2012
12:15 pm
Erwin don’t do percentages.
Jefferson
August 20th, 2012
12:19 pm
I bet the so callet 13% Romney paid was on taxable income, not income. No telling what taxes he evaded with deductions only a Arthur Anderson auditor would approve.
Show the returns, see what the real truth is. Otherwise, tax cheat.
RB from Gwinnett
August 20th, 2012
12:19 pm
USinUK, “sorry, but dollars don’t interest me – percentage does.”
I call BS!!! Most of you people whining about Mitt’s 13% are paying 0% and whining as if it’s not fair. And you’re comparing capital gains tax rates to income tax rates and you know thats apples and oranges.
AND, just so we’re clear, MITT ROMNEY DID NOT WRITE THE TAX CODE. He would have to be a complete idiot to pay more than he’s required to. Your favorite son Warren Buffet who thinks he should pay more is in court with the IRS trying to keep his company from paying what it does owe much less more.
Geez, the wealth envy from you liberals is just pathetic.
hiram
August 20th, 2012
12:28 pm
I’m neither a D, R or TP, because, if you pull back the curtain, they all suc. Honesty in government is apparently beyond the capability of humans.
For Democrats here, why hasn’t Obama’s DOJ prosecuted the Wall Street crooks who crashed the entire world’s economy?
Both parties are complicit to the monied interest(who stole most of it), but people are so predisposed to a herd mentality, that they refuse acknowledge it.
The country needs a legitimate third party, made up of mainstream people, who are capable of rationale thinking, but biology will prevent it from ever happening.
Mighty Righty
August 20th, 2012
12:32 pm
So the liberals have been lying all along that the rich are gettting richer while the poor are getting poorer and therr reasoning for this is tax cuts for the rich! Thank you Jay for bringing out the truth. I knew the left were lying therough their teeth just trying to stir up class warfare.
Liberal Hack
August 20th, 2012
12:44 pm
libs and their distain for the military spending is rather hypocritical sense they want to increase spending on just about everywhere else, well most of them, (there are reasonable libs on this blog who think otherwise)
lets’ compromise, we cut the national defense budget dollar for dollar what we pay planned parenthood, why do we need to give them another dollar since Obama care pay’s for contraception and other womens needs?
gadem
August 20th, 2012
12:49 pm
Mama says crocodiles are so ornery ’cause they have all them teeth and no toothbrush…Mama, you are wrong again.
Towncrier
August 20th, 2012
12:58 pm
“In other words, the image of an ever-gluttonous government that serves as the basis of modern conservatism is false.”
How does this claim follow from the fact that government spending, as a percentage of the GDP, has increased almost five times what it was in 1930 (where you chart begins)? Taxes are but one side of the equation. Conservatives feel government is bigger than it should be, period.
It Ain't A LIE If THEY Believe it
August 20th, 2012
1:27 pm
In this political climate dominated by false notions about taxation is that
the great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived
and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.
Reality
August 20th, 2012
1:30 pm
Jay, It doesn’t seem to make any difference whether we elect a Democrat or Republican. Its always the same results. The politicans in Washington spend more than they bring in every time. I’m for helping people but we can only do what the budget allows. And yes, I’m on So. Sec. and DON’T say its an entitlement. I’ve been putting money in that since I was 18 and am now in my 70’s. Politicians are going to satisfy their constituency. No matter the cost. I consider myself independant on politics. But both partys know how to swing votes their way. Pres. O’bama is a nice looking, clean cut man with a nice looking average American family. And he makes a great speech. But in my humble opinion thats where it ends. He just does’nt have the education, experience, and background to take America back to financial stability. I’m going to vote for the candidate that has those traits. Getting the country back on track financialy is going to be painful for everybody. But its gotta be done. God help us if we don’t.
Cons believe it Is easy to get people to believe a BIG lie...than a lot of SMALL lies
August 20th, 2012
1:33 pm
@Mighty Righty
August 20th, 2012
12:32 pm
So the liberals have been lying all along that the rich are gettting richer while the poor are getting poorer and therr reasoning for this is tax cuts for the rich! Thank you Jay for bringing out the truth. I knew the left were lying therough their teeth just trying to stir up class warfare.
_________________________________________________
LIBERALS LYING?
I don’t think so.
CONS have the market on lying.
Just listen to Myth Robme.
The truth ain’t in him
Welcome to the Occupation
August 20th, 2012
1:36 pm
Chris: “This has been said for years, but as people age, they tend to grow up and think like adults, and tend to start voting Republican.”
And little do they know that in doing so they’re digging a grave for their nation.
Welcome to the Occupation
August 20th, 2012
1:41 pm
There seems to be a predominance of Bubbathink on this blog.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
August 20th, 2012
1:44 pm
stands for decibels (SfBA) :
……….. and Obama should release his college records concerning how it was paid for and his student status.
independent thinker
August 20th, 2012
2:00 pm
When Mitt said he never paid less than 13% in taxes, was he referring to all taxes including property and sales tax or just income taxes??? there is only one way to find out.
Karl Rove
August 20th, 2012
2:05 pm
Republicans never deficit spend. We just never pay attention to where the funding comes from. Let the Democrats worry about that. That’s why my boy Paul is not a hypocrite in voting for unfunded Medicare Drugs to get George W reelected. Now he can blame the Democrats for both the Medicare deficit and Obama cutting Medicare- makes sense to me.
Welcome to the Occupation
August 20th, 2012
2:11 pm
Scout, you like this right-winger Romney, because he’s of the right. Right?
Cons believe it Is easy to get people to believe a BIG lie...than a lot of SMALL lies
August 20th, 2012
3:44 pm
@Welcome to the Occupation
August 20th, 2012
1:41 pm
There seems to be a predominance of Bubbathink on this blog.
___________________________________________________________
There is also a predominance of Honey Boo Boo’s on this blog to.
Jym Allyn
August 20th, 2012
6:28 pm
By definition, if the statement comes from a “Conservative” it is a lie. That is why I quit the Republican Party after 40 years.
Jym Allyn
August 20th, 2012
6:29 pm
Tragically, today’s “Conservatives” are like alcoholics in that they don’t know when they are lying. That is why Melodie Beattie’s book “Co-Dependent No More” needs to be required political reading.
MikeT
August 22nd, 2012
4:12 am
Wrong question. Give Washington more money, less money, whatever. The government cannot solve any problem. It is hopelessly broken. Why focus on the wrong thing. Cut spending to every foreign concern by 20%, now. Obviously this is not a long term solution.
Spending needs to be stated by its real cost. Cost + interest. Government needs to balance the budget based on those numbers.
It is ridiculous that we are made to think that the middle class should feel guilty by thinking that the government should make good on the promise of social security. We paid our money to a ponzie scheme. They made the promise and accepted our money. Cut money to other concerns. We need to insist that they make good on their promise.