CinnamonGirl wrote: What a spin. Obama already put out a a half of americans ad. Spin, spin, spin.
The superficial similarities are, of course, obvious. Both involve presidential candidates getting caught on secret videos saying something politically embarrassing, while speaking behind closed doors to supporters.
But I think the parallels effectively end there. In fact, on a substantive level, the two secretly-recorded videos are actually opposites.
Romney's comments offer an entirely different perspective -- instead of defending those who may skeptical of him, the Republican is writing them off, chastising them for considering themselves "victims" and failing to "take personal responsibility." While Obama's comments show his desire to fight for every last vote, even in communities where he wouldn't expect to be popular, Romney said, "[M]y job is not to worry about those people."
I found this chart on Marketwatch and thought it was pretty cool. There really IS some truth to the "roughly" 47%. I had no idea the number was that high.
If you want to see what the world looks like when many of the people voting don't pay taxes you don't have to look any further than California. Governor Brown has a measure on the top of this fall's ballot to raise taxes again in a state that is already taxed to death. If the measure doesn't pass then, alllegedly, the Governor and legistlature will have to make draconian cuts to police, fire and education.
Much of California's middle class has either become lower class or left the state. The rich are finding ways NOT to pay taxes. The roads are a mess...as is much of the rest of the infrastructure. But the Governor will be spending money on a high speed rail system out in the middle of nowhere.
This could be the entire US in a few more years. I can hardly wait. :faint:
It's not "the number"...It's who the PEOPLE ARE... But then, conservatives don't really care who they are, as long as they can throw a number around in the right-wing echo chamber...
It's fun to watch, though...
Jus' keep doin' what yer doin'... The people who make up that 47% will Remember in November...
lionshead2010 wrote: I found this chart on Marketwatch and thought it was pretty cool. There really IS some truth to the "roughly" 47%. I had no idea the number was that high.
— 28.3 percent of households pay no federal income tax, but they do pay the payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare. That means they don’t need Mitt Romney to convince them to “take personal responsibility and care for their lives.” They already have jobs.
Most of the households in this group don’t pay any federal income tax because they qualify for enough deductions that their income tax liability has shrunk to zero. See this Tax Policy Center report for more, which gives an example of “a couple with two children earning less than $26,400. They get an $11,600 standard deduction and four exemptions of $3,700, and that takes their liability to zero.” Indeed, it’s worth noting that many of these deductions and credits were part of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts, which Romney wants to extend.
— 10.3 percent of households pay no federal income tax because they’re retired and elderly. Many retirees aren’t taxed on their Social Security benefits, which they earned by paying into the system over many years. If Mitt Romney secretly thinks that these households are all irresponsible freeloaders, he has a weird way of showing it, as he keeps insisting that he doesn’t want to cut Medicare or Social Security benefits for those over the age of 65.
— That leaves 6.9 percent of households which are non-elderly and have incomes less than $20,000 per year and aren’t paying the payroll tax. These poorer households pay neither income taxes nor payroll taxes. Perhaps Romney thinks that they should all pay more in federal taxes. It’s hard to say. But this is also a much smaller fraction of Americans.
lionshead2010 wrote: I found this chart on Marketwatch and thought it was pretty cool. There really IS some truth to the "roughly" 47%. I had no idea the number was that high.
If you want to see what the world looks like when many of the people voting don't pay taxes you don't have to look any further than California. Governor Brown has a measure on the top of this fall's ballot to raise taxes again in a state that is already taxed to death. If the measure doesn't pass then, alllegedly, the Governor and legistlature will have to make draconian cuts to police, fire and education.
Much of California's middle class has either become lower class or left the state. The rich are finding ways NOT to pay taxes. The roads are a mess...as is much of the rest of the infrastructure. But the Governor will be spending money on a high speed rail system out in the middle of nowhere.
This could be the entire US in a few more years. I can hardly wait. :faint:
If you look at the breakdown on those voting who don't pay FEDERAL INCOME taxes, the largest number are retirees. That number will be going up as individuals live longer and the baby boomers increasingly retire. How dare those 70 and 80 year old retirees shirk their personal responsibility and start paying FEDERAL INCOME taxes.
Your post is false in the sense that you keep referring to 47% not paying taxes. The actual percentage of individuals not paying taxes is closer to zero. If you work, you pay payroll or self employment taxes. If you buy something, you pay sales taxes. If you purchase gasoline, you pay a road tax. If you pay for a telephone, you pay taxes.
The 47% figure relates ONLY to FEDERAL INCOME taxes. As repeatedly stated above, there are many reasons for not paying FEDERAL INCOME taxes. Retirees who do not have income above a certain level do not. Military troops deployed in combat zones do not. Many Americans qualify for EIC and Child credits to reduce or eliminate their federal income taxes. Others simply do not make sufficient income to meet the minimum requirement for federal income taxes. This does not mean they are shirking their personal responsiblity as Romney claims.
It would be interesting to know how much Mitt paid in Federal Income taxes the past ten years.
"Remember to always be yourself. Unless you can be batman. Then always be batman." Unknown
Obama's moment was to explain he would fight for all of America... if you actually look at full context of the 'god, guns, religion' comment. rMoney has made it clear it will be just those who above a certain class...
In 2010, Robot Romney paid over 3 million dollars in taxes. He made 21.7 million and paid a rate of 13.9 percent.
If you add up all the income taxes paid by every liberal on this board, and added in 47% of America (146.5 million people) in with the liberals here...
Mitt Romney PAID MORE INCOME TAXES than all of um put together.
And that was just for 2010- he has stated that for most other years - his rate was closer to 15%.
