Thursday, April 15, 2010

Tax Day Fact Check: Most Americans Got A Tax Cut This Year

Sam Stein at HuffPo.

On Tuesday, a wave of protesters, upset with overly-burdensome taxation by the federal government, are set to descend on the nation's capital to express their displeasure.

But does their anger reflect the truth about today's tax rates?

After all, neutral economists insist that, under the Obama administration, the overwhelming likelihood is that your tax burden has gone down, not up. Even conservative economic analysts acknowledge that there really is no basis for middle- and working-class Americans to believe that they're suddenly paying more.

"The only tax I think that has been put in place so far is an increase in the federal cigarette tax. I can't think of another Obama tax that has gone in place so far," said Chris Edwards, Director of Tax Policy Studies at the conservative Cato Institute. "I would say that people are angry because big taxes are coming down the road because of the gigantic deficit built up under Bush and continued under Obama."

The bill for the 'borrow and give to the rich' Bush years and the aftermath that Obama may or may not be trying to deal with will eventually come due. Taxes? We ain't seen nothin' yet.

That's no shit about the 'cigarette tax', actually a tax on tobacco. I roll my own smokes and the price of a 6oz can of tobacco went from about $10 to $23+. I know they're trying to make folks quit smoking for health reasons, so I've got no problem with it.

"Belief is triumphing over reality," (my em) explained Bob McIntyre, director of Citizens for Tax Justice. "Part of it is they watch the wrong television shows and believe it. Part of it is the tax cut that went to almost everybody, the making work pay credit, was dribbled out... people didn't get a check. They paid lower taxes and might not have noticed it.

"It is like arguing whether Jesus rose from the dead," McIntyre concluded. "If you believe it, you believe it."

Belief in something that sounds crazy and has no facts to support it is called "faith". The teabaggers and wingnuts have put their faith in F**Noise, Moosebreath, and Miss Becky. Crazy, and no facts to support it.

The biggest part of our income has no withholding taken out of it, and we're still getting money back from Mrs. G's part-time job. There have been years when I had to pay extra, but not this year. Thank you Barry. And TurboTax.

There are other taxes, of course, ask any homeowner who just coughed up property tax. I don't begrudge taxes, we all gotta chip in, but I do resent some of the things my tax money is used for that do nothing for the people who actually need help, such as going into the pockets of all the wrong people who don't need it. I think I need not go into details.

All I really want from the government is for the Fire Department to show up if I need them. And my rocking chair money, of course.

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