Number of illegal immigrants per state.

The Viking wrote:

archer wrote: I do wonder how much of our tax money goes just to collecting those taxes.

I read somewhere that it is almost $4000 per tax payer. That is why you are right and we need a simpler tax code.

ouch...I figured it was a lot, but that is obscene.

archer wrote:

The Viking wrote: OK, two things. First off, how much better off would Arizona be if they didn't have almost 300,000 illegal immigrants to take care of with housing and food stamps and healthcare and the cost for jailing them? Also how much more revenue would the state have if all the jobs they have would go to tax paying Americans? Wouldn't that state have more money to put towards healthcare for actual Americans and all costs go down?

And second. It is very noble to want to give free food and healthcare to everyone who needs it. Now would you feel the same way if instead of raising taxes on just the wealthy, they would raise everyones taxes from top to bottom 5%? Or raise everyones healthcare costs say $100 per month, not just the wealthy top 2% or whatever it is, to cover everyone who needs it. Or is it only OK to take care of the poor if you get the money from those who make the most?

Ok, I'll try to answer....first, I was talking about legal citizens needing healthcare and assistance, not illegals. Sure Arizona would be better off without the economic drain of the illegals, my use of AZ was just an example, as was my use of Alabama. Long before the illegal problem grew, the states have been unequal in their economies. That's a fact, and blaming one states financial woes on illegals doesn't change the fact that we will have rich states and poor states with some able to take care of their own, and some not.

Taxes? I think all taxes should go up.....whew, there's a true confession for you. We have always had a graduated tax, because it just makes economic sense. think in simple terms....if you take 25% from a person who makes $15,000/year, you are pushing that person so far out of the realm of a living wage that he/she becomes the working poor. You take 25% from a person making 2 million a year, or even $200,000/year and they still are well able to live a very decent life. Thus the graduated tax. But, I do believe that we all.....from rich to not so rich need to pony up more. Right now we have the lowest effective tax rate since the 50's, yet the cost of getting by is going up. I was against the tax cuts from Bush.....I am against any tax cuts from Obama.....it is short sighted and economically unsustainable.

I have pushed for a simpler tax code, the IRS has such a complicated mess on their hands, I do wonder how much of our tax money goes just to collecting those taxes. I am perfectly willing to put my tax money where my liberal sentiments are, I want all Anmericans to live dignified and healthy lives. And no....I don't mean welfare for everyone...healthcare without cost... or handouts without paybacks. I believe that this nation is perfectly capable of giving people the help and training, and the opportunity to find meaningful work that pays a decent wage. I don't think everyone deserves to live the same way, or deserves the same perks......but I do think there is a basic level of living and healthcare that should be a right of every citizen.

So now ya know, bleeding-heart is my middle name, but I also believe that you work hard, you live responsibly and there is a payoff....you get to live better than others, you get to do more for your kids, you get to experience greater prosperity, you have learned more....those are the rewards of living good and working hard.......but the guy next door, not so smart as you, not so healthy as you, not even so lucky as you, he may miss out on the really good stuff, but I believe a home, food for the kids and basic health care should be within his reach even if it means we have to give him a little help.

You should love this story. Tell me what you think of the 'Fair Tax'. This candidate is really pushing for it. I think it is a great idea. I gotta run but will be back tomorrow.

http://www.redcounty.com/bye-bye-irs-he ... rtax/40554

And if you divide his number of $300 billion cost for the IRS and all of it's costs for 67,500 pages of crap, and divided by 75 million tax payers that is $4000 per tax payer isn't it? So he agrees. This first paragraph says it all.

When the federal income tax was established in 1913, the tax return consisted of only one page and the entire tax code itself consisted of only 14 pages, with a minimum tax of one-percent and a maximum tax on the extremely wealthy tax of only seven-percent. Today, with more than 67,500 pages (over 22 feet high) of largely incomprehensible income tax regulations, burdensome, unproductive compliance costs of more than $300 billion annually, the top tax rates for both individuals and businesses are 35% and going as high as 39.6% next year for individuals. The 35% corporate rate is the second highest in the developed world. The federal tax system serves the selfish goals of lobbyists, politicians, and bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. and is a depressing, economic nightmare for the rest who foot the bill.

I would need to do some further checking, but this article poses some interesting and problematic issues in the fair tax

http://www.factcheck.org/taxes/unspinni ... irtax.html

For middle income families it could really cost them, and the figures used in the article appear to be deceptive. Hard to know who to believe on this. I'm no economist, But I have worked in tax preparation for quite some time......all I know is any system that the experts cannot understand or explain is probably a bad system.

A few years ago I called the IRS on an interesting question regarding an estate tax return problem.....I went from agent to agent looking for answers, but no one seemed to know the answer. I was finally passed to the IRS legal department, where a nice agent offered to do some research for me and call me back with an answer. he did....he asked if I had a way I wanted to handle the issue....I said i did, he told me "then go ahead and do it that way, no one here can find an answer to your question so handle it however you want". Yep....they sure got the tax code down don't they?

It's going to get A LOT worse before it gets better, archer.

Got this e-mail.
Like I said, archer...

According to the Border Patrol the public is being misled as to WHO is
coming into the U.S. from Mexico.

Watch these news reports from WSBTV in Atlanta.

Video 1 http://www.wsbtv.com/video/23438021/index.html
Video 2 http://www.wsbtv.com/video/23438712/index.html