Category: taxes

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Mitt Romney Politics taxes

President Obama Hits Romney Again On Bain – Show Your Papers!

By now you have to wonder if Romney and his advisors are singing, Bain Bain go away, come again some other day, as President Obama joined in the chorus of Democrats, some Republicans and Americans in general, all demanding that Mitt Flip Romney release his tax returns.

The longer Romney holds on to this information, the more suspicious the American people becomes. Think about it… if Romney has nothing to hide, if his hands are clean in all his business dealings, if he had nothing to do with the financial empire he created and all his money came from the investments of “a blind trust,” then he should put a stop to all this inquiry. He should just show his papers and prove them all wrong! Instead, Romney has decided that calling President Obama a liar is his only defense.

“You can never satisfy the opposition research team of the Obama organization,” Romney told CBS on Friday while defending his  role at Bain Capital. He also demanded an apology from the president for Stephanie Cutter’s suggestion that he, Romney, may be a criminal for lying to the SEC.

“This is simply beneath the dignity of the presidency of the United States,” Romney said.

“There is no whining in politics,” said John Weaver, a Republican strategist. “Stop demanding an apology, release your tax returns.”

This is a campaign for the President of the United States of America –  the most powerful job on earth. Over the last few weeks, President Obama has slowly gained in the polls because Romney won’t come clean on his papers. There would be nothing better for Romney if he can prove to the American people that the President’s campaign is lying. If he could prove that, he would see a substantial jump in the polls and the President would lose ground with independent voters.

But there is no evidence to suggest the President’s campaign is lying because Romney cannot supply any. Romney is hiding something and until he demonstrate otherwise, we will all continue believing that whatever he is hiding is more important keep it a secret than for him winning the presidency in November.

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Mitt Romney Politics taxes

President Obama Hits Pretender Romney On Financial Secrecy

President Obama himself has jumped into the flap over Mitt Romney’s tax returns, saying voters are entitled to more information on the Republican’s offshore bank accounts.

“What’s important is if you are running for president is that the American people know who you are and what you’ve done and that you’re an open book,” Obama told WMUR-TV of Manchester, N.H., in an interview on Monday.

“And that’s been true of every presidential candidate dating all the way back to Mitt Romney’s father,” Obama added.

Obama’s campaign has also released a new video on Romney’s finances.

George Romney, then the governor of Michigan, released 12 years of tax returns when he sought the presidency in 1968.

Mitt Romney has released only his most recent tax returns; Obama’s camp is demanding more as they raise questions about Romney’s overseas accounts, and whether he has used them to avoid paying U.S. taxes.

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Politics taxes

America – Used, Abused and Abandoned By The Wealthy

If America was a woman, right about now she will have every right to feel used, unwanted and abused. A new report is projecting that wealthy Americans – those who received the most financial benefits from the tax laws and tax loopholes that allowed them to become wealthy – these people are projected to abandon America at a record pace this year.

Startling new data from Uncle Sam show that defections by Americans are expected to double this year, largely to avoid any stiff tax bills resulting from the proposed 55 percent hike on the rich — as well as the likely expiration on Dec. 31 of the Bush era tax cuts.

As many as 8,000 US citizens are projected by immigration officials to renounce in 2012, or about 154 a week, versus 3,805 in 2011, or about 73 per week.

“High-net-worth individuals are making decisions that having a US passport just isn’t worth the cost anymore,” said Jim Duggan, a lawyer at Duggan Bertsch, which specializes in protecting assets of the wealthy.

“They’re able to do what they do from any place in the world, and they’re choosing to do it from places with much lower tax rates,” he said.

If this is not a slap in the face of a nation that, in many cases, made these people rich, then I don’t know what is.

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Politics taxes

The Romney’s Horse Was A $77,000 Tax Write-Off

We are beginning to see glimpses of why Mitt Romney was hesitant to show his Tax returns. Besides the fact that he is storing his money in offshore bank accounts, we are now seeing that Mitt Romney wrote off $77,000.00 in 2010 as a business expense. That is okay. Mitt Romney is a multi-millionaire and that kind of money being written off as a business is expected. What raises eyebrows is what the business expense was.

According to The New York Times, Romney’s horse Rafalca was the business expense. The Romney’s tax returns showed they lost $77,000 for the care and feeding of their horse. The Times reports:

As millions tune in to the Olympics in prime time this summer, just before Mr. Romney will be reintroducing himself to the nation at the Republican convention, viewers are likely to see “up close and personal” segments on NBC about the Romneys and dressage, a sport of six-figure horses and $1,000 saddles. The Romneys declared a loss of $77,000 on their 2010 tax returns for the share in the care and feeding of Rafalca, which Mrs. Romney owns with Mr. Ebeling’s wife, Amy, and a family friend, Beth Meyers.

If we are to take the Romney’s lead, can we write off the care and feeding of our dogs or cats or even our horses at tax time? Can we label Rover as a dependent and ask Uncle Sam to give us a bigger refund because we spent money to feed and take care of Fluffy? Try it next year. After your audit, please tell me about the experience.

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Politics taxes

Grover Norquist Is Okay With Allowing The Bush Tax Cuts To Expire

WITH A HANDFUL of exceptions, every Republican member of Congress has signed a pledge against increasing taxes. Would allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire as scheduled in 2012 violate this vow? We posed this question to Grover Norquist, its author and enforcer,and his answer was both surprising and encouraging: No.

In other words, according to Mr. Norquist’s interpretation of the Americans for Tax Reform pledge, lawmakers have the technical leeway to bring in as much as $4 trillion in new tax revenue — the cost of extending President George W. Bush’s tax cuts for another decade — without being accused of breaking their promise. “Not continuing a tax cut is not technically a tax increase,” Mr. Norquist told us. So it doesn’t violate the pledge? “We wouldn’t hold it that way,” he said.

 Of course, letting the tax cuts expire is decidedly not Mr. Norquist’s preference. Indeed, as a matter of policy, he is passionately opposed to a single dime in new tax revenue. But the fact that Mr. Norquist interprets his own pledge to permit such conduct suggests that Republican lawmakers who have been browbeaten into abjuring any tax increase, at any time, for any reason, may not be as boxed in as they believe. The official Republican line has been that allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire, even for those earning more than $250,000, would be a job-killing tax increase. The fact that the godfather of the pledge does not interpret the lapse as an increase is significant.

[The Washington Post]
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Politics taxes

Stephen King: Tax Me, for F@%&’s Sake!

There are some people in the top 1% who are more than willing to pay their fair share of taxes. We all know about Warren Buffett and his personal push to get tax laws changed that will require the rich to pay taxes more appropriate to their income. We’ve also documented others like Russell Simmons, Mark Cuban and Nick Hanauer among others, all members of the 1% who have made their feelings about paying their fair share known.

Now it’s Stephen King’s turn and based on his passion in this article, I’ll venture to say he’s had enough! Be warned, he is very very passionate.

The Koch brothers are right-wing creepazoids, but they’re giving right-wing creepazoids. Here’s an example: 68 million fine American dollars to Deerfield Academy. Which is great for Deerfield Academy. But it won’t do squat for cleaning up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, where food fish are now showing up with black lesions. It won’t pay for stronger regulations to keep BP (or some other bunch of dipshit oil drillers) from doing it again. It won’t repair the levees surrounding New Orleans. It won’t improve education in Mississippi or Alabama. But what the hell—them li’l crackers ain’t never going to go to Deerfield Academy anyway. Fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke.

Here’s another crock of fresh bullshit delivered by the right wing of the Republican Party (which has become, so far as I can see, the only wing of the Republican Party): the richer rich people get, the more jobs they create. Really? I have a total payroll of about 60 people, most of them working for the two radio stations I own in Bangor, Maine. If I hit the movie jackpot—as I have, from time to time—and own a piece of a film that grosses $200 million, what am I going to do with it? Buy another radio station? I don’t think so, since I’m losing my shirt on the ones I own already. But suppose I did, and hired on an additional dozen folks. Good for them. Whoopee-ding for the rest of the economy.

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Mitt Romney Politics taxes

What’s Mitt Romney Hiding? Demand To See His Tax Returns

Its tax time again, for everyone it seems, except Mitt Romney.

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Politics taxes

No Problem Here – President Reveals His 2011 Taxes

CNN is reporting that “the Obama family, in tax returns released Friday by the White House, reported an adjusted gross income of $789,674 for 2011, down from$1,728,096 in the previous year. The family income topped $5.5 million in 2009.

The president earns a salary of $400,000 for his day job. His total earnings are much higher because his books — “Dreams From My Father,” and “The Audacity of Hope” continue to attract buyers.

The Obamas reported paying $162,074 in federal taxes. They donated $172,130, or 22% of their income, to 39 different charities.”

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Mitt Romney Politics Republican Tax taxes United States

Mitt Romney Admits His Tax Rate Is Probably 15 Percent

Ever wonder why Mitt Romney is so hesitant to do the right thing and release his tax returns? Well maybe the reason has something to do with his tax rate – a rate the Republican frontrunner admits is “probably” less than 15%.

Meanwhile, middle class America pays a rate of 38%.

GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney on Tuesday said he probably pays a tax rate of about 15 percent.

Romney, who has come under pressure from Republicans and Democrats alike to release his tax forms, said most of his income is in long-term capital gains, which is hit with a 15 percent rate.

“It’s probably closer to the 15 percent rate than anything, because my last 10 years, I’ve — my income comes overwhelmingly from investments made in the past, rather than ordinary income, or rather than earned annual income,” Romney said during a press conference in Florence, S.C. “I get a little bit of income from my book but I gave that all away. And then I get speakers’ fees from time to time but not very much.”

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Mitt Romney Politics taxes

Mitt Romney avoids U.S Tax by using Offshore bank accounts

The man who will be the eventual Republican presidential nomine is apparently defrauding the United States government. ABC News reports on offshore bank accounts that Mitt Romney uses to avoid paying taxes on his income.

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Elections Mitt Romney Politics Tax taxes

Mitt Romney’s Plan Will Raise Your Taxes

Unless you’re earning over $1 million a year that is, then you will see your taxes cut by as much as $146,000 a year. But for the middle class Americans struggling to make ends meet, prepare to pay more in taxes if Mitt Romney becomes your president.

The non-partisan Tax Policy Center analyzed Mitt Romney’s tax proposals and, according to the Wall Street Journal, “concluded that Mr. Romney’s plan would reduce taxes significantly for high-income earners (by 6.9% or $146,000 for households making more than $1 million), and increase federal deficits by $180 billion in 2015 compared to current tax levels.”

And despite Romney’s claims, his plan would also raise taxes slightly for low-income families.

Associated Press: “Households making between $50,000 and $75,000 would get small tax cuts, averaging 2.2 percent, or about $250, the study said. People making more than $1 million would get tax cuts averaging 15 percent, or about $146,000.”

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Politics Ronald Reagan taxes

Yesterday’s Ronald Reagan Would Have Been A Blazin’ Liberal Today

You hear it all the time, Ronald Reagan would have done this and Ronald Reagan would have done that. And as you listen to today’s Republicans, you can’t help but wonder if they remember the same Reagan the rest of us do, the guy who actually raised taxes on the American people 11 times during his presidency.

Like the video below, where Ronald Reagan had the audacity to suggest that the rich should pay more in taxes. Statements like this would have been enough to cause today’s Republicans to round up the ‘posse,’ track down the ex president with hound dogs and nail him to a cross with a copy of Grover Norquist’s pledge glued to his forhead.

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