I love TEXAS

doesn't it make sense that if you are going to collect taxes, you do it from the people who have the money and enjoy the fruits of a country that let's them achieve their ambitions than from the poor who neither have the money nor enjoy the good life that most of us do?

And to name just one popular tax deduction, the morguage tax exemption, how does a poor person benefit from that?  They send in their rent check and that's it.  The landlord gets the exemption for the interest he pays to the bank, but the cost of interest is fully borne by the rent payer so that he, the landlord, can turn a profit.

You are just another snob who thinks that success means you make a certain income. Well, guess what. Most of the guys who are in the hobby don't make very high incomes and don't turn their noses up and begrudge anyone access to women who choose this life. And before you speak too soon, you are probably riddled with debt and only 2 or 3 pay checks from poverty yourself. Be thankful for what you have and above all be humble.

1. When the Income tax was initiated in 1913 it was to tax INCOME. Income had been defined by Congress as "A gain or profit" IE: dividends on stocks/bonds, interest on savings accounts and of course capital gains.(Simply put; money made from money) WAGES however were defined as a direct barter of time/labor for money and hence no actual profit or gain was enjoyed.

2. The Income Tax was "sold" to the people as a "tax the rich" scheme and in effect until WWII it did mostly tax only the top 5 or so percent of the public with the majority of the "employed" masses not even having legal(?) cause to file.

3. The Income Tax taxes "DOLLARS". A Dollar is a 'noun' it is a monetary denotation that by the U.S. coinage act contains 312 grains of U.S. standard silver OR 24 grains of gold. Up until the late 1950s you could exchange your 'Dollar' bills(now not even a legal 'note' by strict definition) for real SILVER or Gold Dollars.
By definition I have not earned a single “Dollar” in my entire adult life and humorously enough it states in the IRS codes that any tax liability is to be paid with ONLY legal U.S. Dollars.

4. Any and all information provided in an Income Tax filing can be used against the filer in a criminal prosecution against him. The U.S. Constitution/Bill of Rights clearly states that any law that is in contradiction to the liberties and laws provided in the Constitution is null and void at its inception. The IRS is notorious for charging citizens with "Willful failure to File" all the while stating that it is a "voluntary" income assessment.

I could go on and on and on however it is moot because the Gov't saw such a cash cow during the “2” year "Emergency"  WAR effort to raise money for the battle to win WWII that the temporary emergency practice of "Withholding tax" on "wages" some how never ended and a multi-billion dollar ancillary tax industry was built around the new practice to further insure it's continuation.


-- Modified on 2/13/2006 11:51:50 AM

I worked my butt off and had a great year last year.  A lot of the deductions cap out or are disallowed entirely if your income is above a certain level.  Why not allow me to take the same deductions everyone else does?  Next year I'll manage my income to pay lower taxes.  Doesn't this hurt the economy?

You think you have problems. I am doing my second dance with the "Alternative Minimum Tax" this year. What do I do? For one, I think about what would happen if my taxes did not fund school teachers, correction officers and police and the angry hoards were allowed to come to my doorstep with their pitchforks. With that thought firmly in mind, I put vaseline into delicate places and pay my taxes.

to the Income Tax codes. What besides the lobby of tax attorneys, CPAs and obnoxiously wealthy keeps thwarting the efforts for a simple "flat tax"? It would seem to me that 10% of each and every person's/business's income would fill the coffers of the treasury department quite adequately.

-- Modified on 2/13/2006 6:13:36 PM

I don't know if it is punishment, but I am sympathetic to your plight.

Two things bother me about taxes.  First I wouldn't mind paying them as much if I thought the money was being well spent.  I don't and I reject the notion of the California and US Congress that the solution to every problem is to throw more money at it.  How about we try to spend what we've got more wisely.  (California has the highest state income tax by the way... and we're still nearly bankrupt)

It kills me when politicians, generally the Democrats always say tax cuts are for the rich.  Well in 2003 the top 1% of tax payers, those with a taxable income over $296,000 paid 34.2% of all income tax.  Collectively those in the top 5% (taxable income $130,000 or higher) paid 54.36% of all income taxes.  So naturally the people who contribute the most are going to get more benefit from tax cuts than those who don't.  But it seems to me like I'm already paying more than my fair share.

If you want a peak at what more taxes and social commitments will get you just take a look at Europe right now.  Not a pretty picture or promising future.

That all said, I support responsible government spending (talk about an oxymoron) so I think Bush's prescription plan is a horrible idea and I would defer any more tax cuts until we see what we're in for with the Iraq war.

As for tax breaks for the poor... well you're free to divest yourself of all your worldly possessions and take adavantage of their great tax breaks, but I doubt if you will.

I made 24K, 24.5K, 26K my first three years of teaching. I am neither married nor have children. I rented at the time. I didn't qualify for a single tax break. NOT ONE. I stayed awake in class. I worked hard. I earned a master's degree. And yet, I was making 24,000 a year teaching our future.