Taxes

Every year an independent tax watchdog group analyzes the averages tax burden
on Americans. and then calculates the "Tax Freedom Day." This is the day after
which the money you earn goes to you, not the government.

* The latest day had been May 2nd., which occurred in 2000.

* This year, tax freedom day was April 11th.

* That's the earliest it has been since 1991.

The other day John Kerry gave a speech in which he claimed Americans are actually
paying more taxes under Bush, despite the tax cuts. He gave no explanation and
provided no data for this claim.(??)

Other interesting facts:
Both George Bush and John Kerry are considered wealthy men.

* Bush owns only one home, his ranch in Texas.

* Kerry owns 4 mansions, all worth several million dollars. (His ski resort home in Idaho is an old barn brought over from Europe in pieces. Not your average A-frame.)

* Bush paid $250,000 in taxes this year. Kerry paid $90,000. Does that sound right?

* John Kerry wants to raise your taxes -obviously he has figured out a way to avoid paying his own.

Pass this on. Only 130 days unitl lthe election.

All I'm gonna say is that Mortgage rates are the lowest they have been in years. CD and Annuity rates are at a five year high. Unemployment (though still a problem) has been dropping steadily. Consumer confidence is being restored. The rate of new businesses opening is growing.

Economy on the rebound!


[img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]cool.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img]

I've said it a million times. Raise the taxes on the wealthy and they gear up their tax aversion strategies. The more they have to lose, the more incentive they have to put their money elsewhere.

Raising the tax rate doesn't mean more tax revenues.

Are all those homes in Kerry's name? Didn't he become wealthy via the wives? I'm just wondering where the wealth is...Kerry or the wife?

I got this factoid off a JPMorgan research piece I read today:

75% of the Bush tax breaks benefited the wealthiest 20% of the population.

The factoid isn't so much interesting as is the source from where I got it.

Sounds like a pretty good scam: raise taxes on the wealthy, they kick in the fancy international tax aversion schemes to avoid paying taxes, then we give them a huge tax break on the taxes that they have avoided paying.

Uhm, Gae.

You seem to have forgotten to cite the references for your "facts".

I tried to find a reputable source but the best I found was something called the Whatever page.

I don't want anyone to think that I would question the veracity of your "facts" . . . aw hell, who am I kidding these are just some more made up BS, aren't they?

<font color="#000002" size="1">[ July 14, 2004 08:43 PM: Message edited by: Pi?a ]</font>

Quote:

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Originally posted by LanDroid:
Sounds like a pretty good scam: raise taxes on the wealthy, they kick in the fancy international tax aversion schemes to avoid paying taxes, then we give them a huge tax break on the taxes that they have avoided paying.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">A couple thoughts.

Those that make the laws are wealthy themselves.

While sending money outside the country is certainly an option for the wealthy, there are other means by which one can avoid taxes.

I'm no tax expert, and I am *not* wealthy (despite what gae may think), but I'm sure we can come up with some domestic tax aversion strategies used by the wealthy.

And finally, I really think accusing the wealthy of taking advantage of tax avoidance strategies is just a bit hypocritical, don't you, LanDroid? I mean, I don't care who you are, when you are filling out your tax forms or creating money strategies you do your best to minimize the tax payment.

I don't know anyone who tries to pay *more* taxes.

<font color="#000002" size="1">[ July 15, 2004 07:59 AM: Message edited by: reason ]</font>