Tax Whacks

Here is another good article, this time by Robert Reich, on paying taxes and the myths perpetuated by the Rightwing demagogues:

A Short Citizen's Guide to Kooks, Demagogues, and Right-Wingers On Tax Day

No one likes to pay taxes, so tax day typically attracts a range of right-wing Republicans, kooks, and demagogues, all of whom tell us how awful we have it. Herewith a short citizen's guide (that is, a citizen's guide that's short rather than a guide for short citizens) responding to the predictable charges:

Read it!

April 15th ... Happy Patriots' Day!

Paul Begala states the bitter truth about our taxes ... they actually do things for us!

Happy Patriots' Day. April 15 is the one day a year when our country asks something of us -- or at least the vast majority of us. For those who wear a military uniform, those who serve the rest of us as policemen and firefighters and teachers and other public servants, every day is patriots' day. They work hard for our country; many risk their lives -- and some lose their lives. But for the rest of us, the civilian majority, our government asks very little. Except for April 15. On this day, our government asks that we pay our fair share of taxes to keep our beloved country strong and safe.

This country has showered me with the blessings of liberty. So what do I owe my country in return? Paying my fair share of taxes, it seems, is the least I can do. Thanks to President Obama and the Democratic Congress, 95 percent of Americans will get a tax cut this year. No one -- not even the wealthiest 1 percent -- will have to pay higher income taxes until 2011.

If the whiners at Fox News want to advertise their selfishness, they are free to do so. But please don't dress it up as patriotism. Patriotism is putting your country ahead of yourself -- which is the precise opposite of what the tea party plutocrats are doing.

Damn straight!
I like my nice roads, trash service, public transportation, clean and safe water, electricity and so much more that my taxes pay for. I like my fire and police protection, I like my military, I like the FAA keeping the sky traffic flowing smoothly.
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Big Babies Throwing Tantrums

Fantastic insight by Andrew Sullivan into the TeaParty "movement" that is being orchestrated by Fox News and other conservative groups.

These are not tea-parties. They are tea-tantrums. And the adolescent, unserious hysteria is a function not of a movement regrouping and refinding itself. It's a function of a movement's intellectual collapse and a party's fast-accelerating nervous breakdown.

Here are the questions Sullivan asks:

I spent the better part of an hour earlier today scanning the various sites and blogs to try and understand what specifically the Fox-Pajamas tea parties are about. Having absorbed about as much of the literature as I can, I have to say I'm still befuddled.

Option 1: It's a protest of the bank bailouts orchestrated by Bush and now Obama. But surely these tea-partiers understand what would happen if we didn't bail the banks out. Are they advocating letting major banks fail? Or are they advocating a Krugman-style government take-over? No idea.

Option 2: It's a protest against tax hikes. But there have barely been any! Are they arguing that the planned return to Clinton era marginal rates is an outrage worthy of the colonists ... only months after an election in which the winning candidate ran on exactly that platform? Is that postponed future increase so radical that it demands a protest modeled on one in which people were taxed with no representation at all? Truly bizarre. And when you consider that we have gone through a very long period of relatively low taxation for the very successful, and a very long period in which their wealth has soared, and after an election where a majority of such people voted for Obama, the extremism seems unrelated to anything substantive underneath it.

Option 3: It's a protest against illegal immigration. Ok, so why the tea? Weren't all the original tea-partiers illegal immigrants?

Option 4: It's a protest against government debt. Yay! I will leave aside the somewhat awkward fact that Fox News and Pajamas Media barely covered the massive debt racked up by the Republicans during a period of economic growth. Instead, I'll proffer a simple point: If the tea-partiers are concerned about debt and concerned about taxes, one presumes they favor drastic spending cuts. But what are the tea-partiers proposing to do to Medicare, Medicaid, and social security?

UPDATE:
Well, well, well. As we dig a bit deeper we find our more about who is promoting and organizing these "spontaneous" protests of "average Americans." Are you familiar with the term "astroturfing"?
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A round of teabags for everyone!

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The war on taxes

A guest post tonight from a guest blogger we will call "Phil" who says he is "fed up with these two asses running for president and the blatant stupidity of people in this country":

Perhaps I’m the only one who feels this way. My perspective is often limited to what surrounds my tiny little world. But, if there’s anyone out there who feels like I do, then maybe there is hope for this country.

There is a vast conspiracy in this country to wage war against an intangible foe, and it is tearing this country apart. It’s not against terrorism. It’s not against drugs. It’s not against poverty, the achievement gap, or domestic abuse. It’s against taxes.

Could this possibly be the stupidest country on the f-ing planet? In what has been tabbed the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression (thank heavens for hyperbole), government officials, politicians, pundits, people in the know, and even “Joe Sixpack” are bemoaning the mistakes made by too many people on both sides of the desk at the loan office.

Why, oh why, were people so short-sighted? So greedy? This crisis will really teach us a lesson, right? Never again, right? Wrong.

Just listen to the two numbskulls vying to replace the last numbskull, and the morons flapping their hands together as they are pandered and lied to. $700 billion dollar bailout, the $200 billion dollar bailout, the billions being sent to bail out states (who, by the way, would still like to retain their independence in governing social issues like gay marriage), diplomatic wars in the Middle East that are draining more and more money everyday. And at the same time these two highfalutin morons (Obama and McCain) have the gall to say that the answer to this country’s problems in health care and education and military defense is to spend more money.

Granted, John McCain has suggested an overall spending freeze, which frankly, isn’t a bad idea. But he is as guilty as anyone else, perhaps more so, in the warmongering
of the people against taxes and the great stupidity that continues to permeate this country. Americans don’t like taxes, McCain says.

My friends, Americans are retarded.

Does any of this not ring a bell? Huge loans being taken out willy-nilly without the funds to pay it back? Borrow, borrow, borrow, spend, spend, spend, but still manage to cut taxes? I suppose that since math isn’t in the bible, it just doesn’t exist. Is anyone f-ing home? Apparently not.

Because Joe the Plumber wants his taxes lowered. And corporate CEOs want their taxes lowered. And businesses and states and everyone wants their taxes lowered. Even the two jackasses running for president out and out said they don’t want to pay taxes. What sort of example does that set for the American people?

So we are winning the war – the war on taxes, that is. We had to do it, because we’re losing the war against terrorism. They won. Look at what they’ve done to this country – our social, governmental, and economic fundamentals have proceeded to
come crashing down after those towers did. And now we’re shooting ourselves in the foot, chasing taxes (along with liberty, civil rights, and the rest of the constitution) into the corner.

Where might we plan on keeping the POWs that result from this financial war? Just make the rich people pay, right? They’re rich.

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Pay up, Sarah!

The Palin's may have received bad advice from their tax preparer, but it was bad advice, and they should pay their fair share. It's the patriotic thing to do!

Tax Profs Agree: Gov. Palin's Tax Returns Are Wrong

Jack Bogdanski (Lewis & Clark) & Bryan Camp (Texas Tech) have independently reviewed the tax issues raised by the release of Gov. Palin's 2006 and 2007 tax returns and financial disclosure form, as well as the remarkable opinion letter issued from Washington D.C. tax lawyer Roger M. Olsen. Jack and Bryan conclude that there are serious errors in Gov. Palin's returns as filed and that she and her husband owe tens of thousands of dollars in additional taxes.

Jack Bogdanski, There's No
Debate: Palins Owe Thousands in Back Taxes:
There is no serious debate (at least, none that has been brought to our attention) about the fact that at least the amounts paid for the children's travel -- $24,728.83 in 2007, according to the Washington Post -- are taxable. The campaign's tax lawyer has got at least that much of the law, and perhaps more, wrong. ... The Palins, who had their tax returns done by HR Block, simply got it wrong. And the fact that the state payroll office got it wrong, too, doesn't erase the Palins' unpaid tax liability.

Bryan Camp, A Brief Analysis of Governor Palin's Tax Returns for 2006 and 2007:
The release of an opinion letter by attorney Roger M. Olsen dated September 30, 2008, has stirred up the pot once again about the accuracy of Sarah and Todd Palin’s 2006 and 2007 tax returns. Not only that, but Mr. Olsen’s letter raises a couple
of new issues.

This paper focuses on five problems: three raised in the tax returns and two new ones raised by Mr. Olsen’s letter. Here’s a summary of the five problems and my conclusions, for those who want to cut to the chase. My analysis will follow.

The Palins did not report as income some $17,000 that Governor Palin’s employer (the State of Alaska) paid her as an “allowance” for her travel. Can they do that? Yes, most likely.

The Palins did not report as income some $43,000 that the State of Alaska paid the Governor as an “allowance” for her husband and children’s travel. Can they do that? No, most likely not.

The Palins deducted $9,000 on their 2007 return, claiming it was a loss from Mr. Palin’s snow machine racing activity. Can they do that? Most likely not, but more info could make the deduction o.k. If any of the above issues goes against the Palins they then risk getting hit with the section 6662 penalty for “negligence or disregard of rules or regulations.”

Can the Palins avoid the section 6662 negligence penalty by claiming that they reasonably relied either (a) on the W-2’s sent to them by their employer, which did not reflect either the $17,000 or the $43,000, or (b) on their tax return preparer H&R Block, or (c) on Mr. Olsen’s opinion letter dated September 30, 2008? The three reliance defenses are unlikely to succeed, but more info may make the (b) defense a good one.

Does Mr. Olsen have any exposure to sanctions by the IRS because of his letter? I believe Mr. Olsen’s letter probably violates 31 C.F.R. section 10.35.
If so, he would be exposed to possible sanctions from the IRS Office of
Professional Responsibility.

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Candidate Tax Plans Compared

The Chart

How Much Is Your Obama Tax Cut?

Here is another Andrew Sullivan tip:

How Much Is Your Obama Tax Cut?

(Here is) An interactive site that helps propagate the fact that Obama's tax plans will actually reduce income taxes on a lot of people.

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