Texas redistributes money from poor to rich

Something the Dog Said wrote:

PrintSmith wrote:

Something the Dog Said wrote: Why are you not drawing attention to the fact that a poor person is paying 12% of their income compared to a rich person only paying 3%? I realize this is your typical bait and switch to hide that you prefer being a tool for the rich and corporate elite, but even your professed savior saw the fallacy in your argument.

The way you framed the initial argument is proof positive that figures don't lie but liars figure. Of course those in the lowest income brackets pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than those in the highest bracket do. They not only pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes, they also pay a higher percentage of their income for food, clothing, shelter, transportation, entertainment and every other spending category. This does not establish, however, that the poor are paying an undue share of the tax burden in Texas since the amalgamated earnings of the lowest 20% likely do not represent anywhere near the amalgamated earnings of the top 1% - which is what the figure I have repeatedly asked you for, and you have declined to provide (either because it wasn't included in the email your talking point came from or you don't wish to provide evidence which refutes your premise), would demonstrate if you provided it.

Your attempted intrigue has been exposed for what it was Dog. Your best bet at this point is to lick your wounds, tuck your tail between your legs and retire from the field.

Nice try, but your BS is still BS. The facts are simple. The lower income residents in Texas pay a higher share of their income in state taxes than residents in any other state while the wealthiest residents pay a lower share of their income in state taxes than any other state. Again, my earlier post pointed out that lower income (including the middle class) pay 12% of their income in state taxes while the wealthiest pay only 3%. You can keep obfuscating with your BS, but the facts speak for themselves. Even Jesus Christ pointed out the fallacy of your argument alleging that it is the total amount paid rather than the percentage of income.

And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the multitude were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. And calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on." ( Mark 12:41-44)

If Texas is such an awful place tax wise for low income Americans, why are they adding population when the Dem dominated Rust Belt is losing population?

No, actually, Texas' average hourly wages rank 44th in the country...And that's not a "rumour"...It's a fact... Something which you are totally unfamiliar with.

LadyJazzer wrote: No, actually, Texas' average hourly wages rank 44th in the country...And that's not a "rumour"...It's a fact... Something which you are totally unfamiliar with.

Hourly wages versus total wages? I will take total pay as a better representative when comparing one state to another.

There are other issues to bash Texas on, like poor schools. But to bash a state for creating jobs and taking in so many unemployed from the rest of the nation is just idiotic.

Here's Rick Perry's handiwork:

How Texas Ranks Among the 50 States
Texas on the Brink

Workforce (50th = lowest, 1st = highest)

Unemployment Rate 10th

< Average Hourly Earnings 44th
< Workforce Education 43rd
< Income Gap Between Rich and Poor 8th
< Number of Job-Discrimination Lawsuits 3rd
< Percentage of Adults with Internet Access 39th


Cost of Living (50th = worst, 1st = best)

< Homeowners as Percentage of Population 45th
< Homeowners Insurance Affordability 50th
< Auto Insurance Affordability 39th


Public Safety (1st = most, 50th = least)

< Number of Executions 1st
< Number of Adults in the Criminal Justice System 1st
< Number of Adults Incarcerated 2nd
< Number of Firearm Deaths 2nd
< Number of Registered Machined Guns 1st
< Number of Traffic Fatalities 1st
< Number of Alcohol-Related Traffic Fatalities 1st
< Number of Road-Rage Traffic Fatalities 2nd
< Highway Expenditures, per Vehicle-Mile Traveled 44th
< Highway Expenditures, per Capita 45th



Welfare (50th = lowest, 1st = highest)

< Poverty Rate 6th
< Percentage of Population that goes Hungry 2nd
< Percentage of Population that is Malnourished 3rd
< Amount of Welfare and Food Stamp Benefits Paid 47th
< Teenage Birth Rate 2nd



State of the Child (50th=lowest, 1st=highest)

< Percentage of Uninsured Children 1st
< Percentage of Fully-Immunized Two-Year Olds 50th
< Percentage of Population Under Age 18 who are Living in Poverty 9th



Education (50th = lowest, 1st = highest)

< Percentage of Population Graduated from High School 46th
< High School Completion Rate 45th
< State Aid per Pupil 41st
< Secondary Teachers with Degrees in the Subjects they Teach 45th
< Average Teacher Salaries 30th
< Percent of Adults with at Least a Bachelor’s Degree 27th
< Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) Scores 47th

http://shapleigh.org/system/reporting_d ... ments3.pdf

Congratulations... Texas has given more jobs to burger-flippers and taco-stuffers... I hear they're still hiring... Can I help you pack?

And the Dem talking point about Texas taking stimulus money? Again according to the Economist this week, they are a net Federal taxpayer for the last 15 years, so they are just getting back a piece of what they paid in.

And LJ, you blame this on Rick Perry? I thought the Dem talking point was that Texas governor's have very little influence? So which is it? Is Texas Perry's mess? Or does he get all the credit and the blame? I still need to do more reading on how a Texas governor compares to our own.

But if you want to blame Perry for Texas's current woes, then you should blame Obama for America's current woes too. US Presidents have a lot more power than any state governor.

The highest number on Food Stamps ever, Obama.
The highest unemployment numbers, Obama
Involved in 3 wars, Obama.

So, if Texas is in great shape, then it's Perry's fine leadership, and if it's not, then it's Obama's fault?...Which is it? Or does he get all the credit and the blame?

Involved in 2 wars that were started by Bush, which were unnecessary, and unpaid-for; and the 3rd one we weren't "involved" in other than providing air-support...(and which is about to come to an end in the next few days).
Highest number of jobs lost in 2 months, 800,000/month left over from Bush's Recession while Bush was still president.
Highest number of food stamps because Bush's buddies passed tax incentives for companies to take their jobs off-shore...

Give me a break...

LadyJazzer wrote: Jesus was a liberal. He fed the multitudes for free... (and had the first FREE public health clinic!) It must drive you nuts.

No, it doesn't drive me nuts because I know and understand that Jesus didn't pay taxes to Caesar for those purposes - He did that work Himself. What part of this equation is so hard for regressives to wrap their minds around?

PrintSmith wrote: Jesus didn't pay taxes to Caesar for those purposes

We weren't talking about taxes, were we... He fed the multitudes without charging them for it... (I guess the concept of capitalism-as-religion hadn't caught on yet.) He healed the sick without payment... (again, I guess the concept of capitalism-as-religion hadn't caught on yet.) The only one who brought taxes into the conversation is you. Caesar didn't collect taxes for those purposes anyway, did he... Caesar collected taxes to support Caesar, and his armies, and his palaces...He certainly didn't collect them to help his people... (Hmmmm, sounds like the conservative ideal... Take taxpayer's money and build bigger and bigger armies, and make sure the politicians and fat-cats get the perks and the people be damned...)

Nice try.

Insert standard Sovereign Citizen / Federalist / Original Intent / Constitution-worship bullsh*t checklist here: ________________________________

Catholic Charities, as well as other charities, still feed the multitudes at no cost, they still heal the sick at no cost as well (ever hear of Shriners or St Judes?). The difference between private charity and government charity is that one is the product of free will and a sense of personal obligation espoused by the Teacher and the other is the product of force being used to compel your participation. Jesus didn't compel anyone to follow Him, to feed others, or to heal them LJ. He set a personal example for others to follow in their personal lives. He showed the path that the Father favors and desires you to follow, but He did not force His choice upon anyone.

There is much discussion regarding the loaves and the fishes miracle that you referenced earlier. There are many who believe that the miracle that happened that day was the change in those who were listening to His teachings. If they needed food, they took from the basket: if they had food, they added it to the basket instead of taking from it, which accounts for the leavings being greater than the quantity that was started with. The lesson is a clear one. Regardless of how little you think you have share it willingly with others and not only will there be enough for you, there will be more than enough for all. No one went through the crowd that day confiscating all the food and then redistributing it equally among all. No centurions were there to make certain at the point of their sword that no withheld and hoarded the food they had. Everyone was fed that day because those with food voluntarily chose to share what they had and those that were in need of food took no more than what they needed from what the others offered to share.

And so we are back to the earlier quote of the current Vicar of Christ on earth, "Wherever politics tries to be redemptive, it is promising too much. Where it wishes to do the work of God, it becomes not divine, but demonic." The work of God is personal and voluntary, not collective and compulsive.

As far as taxes go, it is there as a result of the original flawed premise contained in the OP that Texas redistributes the taxes of the poor to the rich and citing as proof the percentage of income each is compelled by law to pay to the state in taxes and then attempting to bolster their argument by distorting the Scripture (either through a lack of understanding or perhaps something more intentional in nature). Taxes are the main component of the original flawed argument and why they remain part of the debate to prove the total absurdity contained in the original Dog droppings that started this thread.

I've never heard such a load of self-serving bullsh*t in my life... "Everyone was fed that day because those with food voluntarily chose to share what they had and those that were in need of food took no more than what they needed from what the others offered to share. "...Really? Where is that? Source? (And the source is obviously not "The Bible" because it doesn't say that.)

Unbelievable... Maybe Jesus was a "founding father"?