Metal Reviews

State income tax
Payroll tax
Sales tax
Property tax
Tobacco/Gas/Liquor
etc.

These all ensure the 'rest of us' pay plenty to support the government and government services. Federally speaking payroll tax is actually a large chunk of revenue.

I guess I think it is pretty narrow to just frame the debate in terms of federal income taxes.

The "rich" pay those, as well, though.
Implying that they pay even more than "the rest of us", since their spending tends to be a little more extravagant than "the rest of ours".

Especially when it comes to property tax.

I think the term "rich" is way too ambiguous, though. Rich can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people, so for the sake of clarity and everyone conforming to the same arguments, I think that characterization of wealth should be kept to income bracket percentiles.

I'll concede that they may pay the majority of taxes but it is only due to the amount of wealth they have. The top 20% control 85% of the wealth in this country. The top 10% hold 70% of wealth. It doesn't seem as ridiculous for them to pay 70% of taxes if they control 70% of the wealth in this country. Like I've said before, relatively speaking they are the group which can afford to take larger cuts of taxes because 10% to them has much less of a drastic effect than 10% tf a single-parent home. That ten percent rather than being a Bentley is instead a few months' rent or a few months' worth of daycare.

And where does the money they make off of their wealth reside? Income taxes, I believe, not payroll tax so I think the majority of Americans payroll will make them much closer to what the rich pay in terms of income. Wealth usually doesn't result from payroll but capital gains.

Dude, if you took all of the highest brackets earnings, it would be a drop in the ocean compared to the deficit.
Raising taxes isn't going to solve the problem, and even if it would, why should one certain group be be singled out and be forced to pay for it?
It's not their fault the country is in the state it's in.


It's time to bite the bullet and do what needs to be done, and that means cutting spending.

Sorry if I came off as harsh earlier, BTW.

True, but my only point was income taxes don't tell the whole story, because they are the only part of the tax system which is truly progressive. The rest are essentially flat, and payroll taxes (the fastest growing percentage of federal revenue) are highly regressive.

And payroll taxes pay for those vaunted services like Medicare, Social Security and Unemployment Insurance.

Apparently Osama Bin Laden has been killed, everyone tune into the news. We have absolutely no reason to be in Afghanistan now

FUCK YEAH !

I'll believe it when I see his long-form death certificate.

I am quite surprised; I thought he died of natural causes years ago.

They brought him back to life to FUCKING KILL HIM.

He did. The former president of Pakistan admitted so before she was assassinated.

I didn't know what to think really, but I felt his influence had waned and he had not been a significant player in many years.

At any rate, martyrdom awaits, along with the inevitable revenge. I have the feeling he was less dangerous alive.

EDIT: US Military claims they have a body.

Love these quotes!

How they define the war on terror as an endless war makes a single individual not a pivotal part. So retaliation strikes will lead to a larger state?

They will use the "news" as justification to continue the stay because they will claim it is working and taking out a leader does not mean the organization is gone.

I am worried that another terrorist attack might have to happen to continue the public's acceptance of these wars, which will be billed as "retaliation," if a convincing argument can not be made that we have to stay (to profit from the heroin crops)

Nonsense, American public opinion of the wars are already at an alltine low. If anything its merely a logical completion of an objective of Afghanistan, they ha ve the body and its the end of Bin Laden.

I agree 100%, General.

Because the rich can afford to pay more, while many middle and lower income families are already struggling with unemployment, debt, health insurance, etc.? Plus, Ryan's budget proposal actually included more tax cuts for the wealthiest, which you have to admit is absolutely ridiculous if you're serious about balancing the budget.

But yeah, Bush-era tax cuts have cut something like 7 trillion in revenue over the past ten years. That's serious fucking money. If we could just get back to pre-Bush level tax rates, we would be better off, not to mention pre-Reagan...



I really think the criticism of Obama from the right is comparable to the criticism of Bush from the left. But also, as a frequent reader of liberal publications, I can definitely say that there HAS been a lot of criticism of Obama--namely for not pushing through legislation when the Dems had majorities in the Senate and the House, for making too many concessions on the recent budget bill, not doing enough to end the wars, etc.

Also: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/weeki ... iracy.html

Must-read article on conspiracy theories, given all that's cropped up around these parts recently.

From the NY Times? Are you serious?

Bottom line is that the media and government takes the position every single one is completely untrue, even when it is admitted after the fact. Despite this hardline stand, the government has prosecuted people for conspiracy...they sure as hell believe conspiracies can be true.

Let's not confuse the people that make up 90% of their theories on baseless evidence that fits the mold and people that have strong opinions because they did far more research than the NY Times would even consider doing.

Seriously, debating the reality of physical paperwork that has been published, known and verified as fact is is propaganda at best.