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Kend - I checked with Forbes (a good Repub. rag) and here are how they explained the new tax code passed in Washington.
Rate Single Filers Married Joint Filers Head of Household Filers
10% $0 to $8,925 $0 to $17,850 $0 to $12,750
15% $8,925 to $36,250 $17,850 to $72,500 $12,750 to $48,600
25% $36,250 to $87,850 $72,500 to $146,400 $48,600 to $125,450
28% $87,850 to $183,250 $146,400 to $223,05 $125,450 to $203,150
33% $183,250 to $398,350 $223,050 to $398,350 $203,150 to $398,350
35% $398,350 to $400,000 $398,350 to $450,000 $398,350 to $425,000
39.6% $400,000 and up $450,000 and up $425,000 and up
Keep in mind that the tax rates listed in these tables are marginal rates. That means that you do not owe your rate on all of your income. For example, if you single, you earn $100,000 per year, you would not owe 28% on all of your income — you would not owe $28,000 to the federal government. You would owe 10% of $8,925, 15% of $27,325 (the difference between the top and the threshold of the second tax bracket), 25% of $51,600, and 28% of $12,150 (the difference between your income and the threshold of the third tax bracket).
That calculation results in $21,293, or an effective (not marginal) tax rate of 21.2%. That will be further reduced by any credits, assuming your taxable income is the same as your gross income. Your effective tax rate could be much lower if deductions have already reduced your taxable income to $100,000 from a larger gross income. For example, if a 401(k) contribution reduced your taxable income from $115,000 to $100,000, you would still use the same tax calculation I’ve described here, but your effective tax rate would be 18.5%.
We have one very screwed up tax code here. The more complex, the easier it is for the Wealthy to pay less then we actually think they pay. It appears you pay tax on your income as you go down the list and your % changes until you run up to the point your income ends, deducting income as you pass through each tax level.
Sorry for the tax rates being off centered for the bracket. This web page resized everything to fit.
Why didn't we let them go when they wanted to seccede? They're not American, don't want to be and never will..
MMmmNACHOS (#36) Sorry for any confusion.
I wasn't attacking your "call to action in the streets" -- I totally agree with that. I've long argued that radicals on the Right and Left (who both see themselves as Moderate), need to focus on the Core masses, to avoid open conflict and move this country forward.
Meanwhile there is the third point of the triangle "$$$" -- the moneyed power-elite. The 99%-ers -- Left, Right and Core(Moderates, Independents, Uninvolved) better make their peace; or they're gonna continue being manipulated with distractions that can become much-much worse (see the Mid-East).
My answer? Unfortunately I'm approaching my 2nd retirement. What I see don't look good. The People just can't seem to get it together enough to regain power themselves, as fast as the professionals hired by the moneyed power-elites can manipulate, retain and expand their hold on power.
So it don't look good -- despite some real powerful increasing awareness across political divides, in some of the upcoming generations. We'll see. It'll be what it will be -- despite what I want or can do.
Obama cares about his vested interests not ours. They all do after they are elected. For us no deal is better than a bad deal. For him a bad deal is better than no deal.
i'll really lose it when they out source the making of Pabst Blue Ribbon to China, it's the only red, white and blue i ever really get to enjoy anymore...
somewhere a tax preparer is toiling away working on some lucky rich persons tax return or some working class truckers. as april 15th looms near by that tax preparer is pondering. if that tax preparer has done some 50 to 60 multi schedule returns and 50% end with any given amount of capital gain not being taxed, say anything from $300-$22,000, just how much additional revenue could the government generate if all that cap gain was taxed like joe the truckers and his cute little stripper wifes W-2s. Even with all they could muster, 3 kids in college and basicaly worthless education credits all because of phase out ranges,and the wifes additional schedule C income (for shownig her stuff) they still paid $14,000 tax on $89,000 taxable income to some other cats $3,000 on $100,000 of taxable income...hmmm. i feel where that tax preparer is coming from. Me? i'm no rocket scientist but if it keeps going this way? America is not only doomed it will be dead, prisoners of a crooked banking system, un equal tax code and really bad government. Oh and by the way i am really sick of walking into my house and seeing that everything is made someplace else other then AMerica....
I heard on Randi today that Mitch M, the turtle, has asked the FBI to investigate David Corn of the Nation magazine.
The turtle's motivation was the publishing of an audio taping of one of turtle's secret meetings saying derogatory things about Ashley Judd.
Thom, Mike,
There have been RW callers stating that Social Security and Medicare pay out more than what they have taken in:
Response: It is an insurance program, that is the way they work. Many people will pay in and die before they collect.
They say "there is no trust fund - it is all worthless paper IOUs"
Response: please hand me all the worthless paper IOUs in your wallet. Also, please sign over your worthless paper IOU investment accounts to me.
The Wealthy want Austerity measures as a way to keep their taxes low. The Republicans, Democrats and Obama represent those who fund their political agenda's, the Corporations and the Wealthy. This is beginning to be stale news for Hartmann's blog. Can anyone tell me whether it is Thom or Louise Hartmann that writes this blog page? Obama is the one who created the Sequestration legislation, yet not one progressive or liberal makes any effort to state that. They instead keep calling out the Republicans for forcing Austerity on America. It is the President and the Congress, both Republican and Democrat politicians, which are allowing Austerity to be the law of the land. They could care less about the middleclass workers who will lose jobs and the poor who lose everything from food stamps to feed their children to housing because of cuts to H.U.D., not to mention any gains we will lose in the funding of our public schools. The wealthy will not lose any sleep over the Sequestration and cuts to the American social safety nets that are starting to happen. The wealthy will see their stocks go up while they send their kids to the best private schools money can buy. It is obvious this President is willing to sell out the people who put him in office if it helps to improve his legacy he will leave in 4 years. The 2014 elections will be interesting to watch and see if those affected bother to vote this election. More likely they will believe all the propaganda the politicians will send out in the ad's the wealthy will pay for through their political donations and nothing will change in the House or Senate. Americans will just sit and watch their boob tubes and not bother to vote because of the state of apathy most Americans are in concering the Federal Government. Does anyone really think we are not in a downward plunge and the middleclass will slowly be extinct over the next few decades? K.W.
DeAnneMarc - (from yesterday’s posts) I must express my comments poorly. I was not suggesting that your god should bless this nation. I was stating I do not believe your god exists and therefore calling upon any god was a means of not doing anything to change America, when one expects their god to bless their nation. Religion or faith as you seem to believe in is an opiate for the masses to escape their reality and an excuse to sit on ones ass and do nothing, while waiting for change. I respect your right to believe in your god, I simply do not share the same thought when it comes to your religion and god blessing someone. I was a Christian by faith until I was able to experience the real world (outside of America) and how things are in reality versus believing in a book of fairy tales and fiction. No offense intended, just giving my opinion of how I view religion and the faith shared by Christians, Jews and Muslims. This belief has created more wars and pain then any political action in our time as humans, walking on two legs. And, it is still going on today. And stating these people are not following what the bible states is another cop-out in an attempt to protect one's belief in their god. I think I stated this view very clearly in Fridays comments. Our fore fathers were smart enough to make sure religion was not mixed in with the politics when creating our Constitution. (freedom of religion is not the same as inserting religion into our politics, that came later.)
Kend - Most of the wealth the upper 2% receive comes from Capital Gains and our President said he would raise that tax back to the level it was previously at 38%. He caved in and the C.G. tax only went up 5%, raising it only to half of what he said he would do. I assume your figure on the taxes on salary earned income is correct. But since most C.E.O.'s and the wealthy receive a great deal of their income from stocks and stock options, they only pay about 20% and not the 38% Obama said he wanted it raised to. After the Republicans got what they wanted on Capital Gains they told the President go screw off and refused to talk about taxes or the Sequestration Bill that Obama had pushed through the Senate and House with the help of Reid and Pelosi in 2010, that is now hurting the middleclass and poor.
Palindromedary - Don't get your shorts in a bind, it was a joke about the Fed's coming after you and you sitting in a cell next to mine. But if you’re that nervous, perhaps you should not state you would like to see their heads chopped off with a guillotine! At this point in my life I am not willing to stop using my right to free speech, even if the bastards are listening in. You have to show intent and an effort to commit a crime against the Government, which is why the F.B.I. uses a sting operation to catch home grown terrorists. I am not recruiting people for an over throw of this Government, I am just stating that so far peaceful marches have changed nothing and perhaps at some point a more violent approach may be needed. If I can be arrested for saying that, then we are living in an era where America is equivalent to the old Soviet Union when it comes to our civil rights.
Senator Sanders, why has no one ever mentioned the "Grand Bargain" on social security that Tip O"Neill and Ronald Reagan crafted in the early 80s? It has had the boomer generation of workers making up for the shortfall for their parents generation as well as ensuring the program's viability well into the 21st century. And now we have to make the sacrifices?
Palindromedary ~ Thanks for the info. I too love stories of buried treasure. I guess it's the Pirate in me. RRRR!
Love2Fish ~ Your points are well taken. Mr. Jones certainly has instilled the same reactions in myself over time. However, I refuse to allow unbridled paranoia to run my life. I respect the Government; I don't fear it. I consider it a tool that serves me. I do not fear people. I only fear God. This gives me a unique perspective on things that Alex lacks.
You see, he looks at the facts and concludes the worst. He might be right, but he might also only be partially right. FEMA camps and thousands of body coffins could also be created to deal with national emergencies. After all, FEMA is the Federal Emergency Management Agency, right? If these resources were under the jurisdiction of the army, and were shrouded in secrecy instead of left out in the open and visible from Google Earth, I would be very concerned. But this is FEMA.
Remember, fear God not man.
Off the coast of Africa is an set of islands known as the Canary island. There is a huge mountain that is attached to a volcano by viscous and loose dirt. It is a known geological fact that a minimum jolt of energy, such as from the volcano trembler or eruption, is all it would take to send that mountain plunging into the sea and create a tsunami that would destroy the entire east coast of the United States. It is not a question as to if it will happen, but when it will happen.
The island of Japan is sitting on a overhang of its tectonic plate. This is why it is so prone to catastrophic earthquakes. Geologist have theorized, and Prophets (most notably Edgar Cayce) have prophesied that a major earthquake could cause the overhanging plate that Japan sits on to split in two resulting in a large portion of that island plunging into the sea. There is good reason to believe this will trigger a tsunami of Biblical proportions that will destroy the west coast of the United States. It is not a question as to if it will happen, but when it will happen.
Sitting in the heart of the United States is a Super Volcano called Yosemite. Geologists recently have monitored disturbing amounts of seismic activity near the caldera. The floor has swollen several feet and the local animals are dropping dead from released sulfuric gas. The scientific community isn't sounding any alarms yet, however this volcano is already overdue for a massive eruption. Such an event would destroy the United States. It is not a question as to if it will happen, but when it will happen.
As recently as two months ago three large asteroids simultaneously passed uncomfortably close to the Earth. Fortunately, only one of them, a smaller chunk took a dive into the atmosphere over Russia. Despite is small size it exploded in the atmosphere causing a concussion blast over a city that sent over 100 people to the hospital. NEO's (Near Earth Objects) are occurring far more frequently now than ever. (Of course, our ability to detect them is also better than ever.) However, it has been speculated by some astronomers that we may be currently passing through a rock rich area of space. According to un fulfilled Biblical prophecy we are due for several noteworthy asteroid impacts that will have catastrophic effects worldwide. Regardless of this significance, it is generally believed by the science community that clear evidence exists that major asteroid impacts have occurred in the past. It is also believed that they will occur in the future. It is not a question as to if it will happen, but when it will happen.
If any of these events were to occur, FEMA camps and body bags would be direly needed to help save the survivors from the ravages of the aftermath. That is why they do not concern me.
When you lift up your head and look at the world around you one sees a United States that sits surrounded by highly unstable geographic and natural weapons of mass distruction pointed directly at it. Despite all of its military, wealth, and technological might, the United States is quite helpless to defend itself from these dangers. Only God can sway the impending doom that we as a people actually face. Also, only God has the ability to pull the triggers of these natural weapons of mass destruction. No gun, no tank, no rocket and no bomb is going to help any of us if God decides, "You know what, I've had enough of this bunch of losers. Time to take this place to the cleaners."
Not to distract anyone from the seriousness of the problems at hand; but, seriously, lets keep them all in perspective. If we paralyze ourselves with fear, nothing is going to get done. Remember, everyday that is unfettered from disaster is a great day--for it is testimony that God still loves us. With God anything is possible! Never give up hope! ;-)
I suppose if the Japanese leaders had believed that Japan was really going to win the war, they would have continued to take the treasure back to Japan as they did in the beginning. But they realized that Japan would lose and the rats at the top tried to hide that treasure in secret places where they would have been able, after they lost the war, to return and recover it. The Japanese even had to disguise their ships, carrying the gold, as hospital ships to avoid the blockades. Some ships were even sunk in shallow spots in Manila Bay and near Japan so that the Japanese leaders would return to the spots later to recover the gold. The Japanese had initially built massive tunnel vaults of their own in Nagano where they started to amass the gold but had to find other solutions because of the naval blockades by the Allies.
http://www.fourwinds10.net/siterun_data/history/world/news.php?q=1215883651
I had also read this, along with the whole Golden Lily story, many years ago in Sterling and Peggy Seagrave's book "The Yamato Dynasty: The Secret History of Japan's Imperial Family"
Just bring back the tax structure of the 1950's. All problems are solved. In addition, we need to enforce the other laws currently on the books e.g. Anti-trust, Buy American etc.
I had to read your post twice - HALFONTS - since the first time made my blood boil. The second read was still aggravating but I was able to understand your point much more clearly.
I am not "wishing" for a blood bath between Left and Right political "belief systems". More so I am encouraging of ALL of us - Left and Right - to work together in regaining control of our government from the corporations.
I don't support political or social belief systems that take "sound ideas" and turn them into absolute belief system.
I see that both sides are to close to the elephant to realize it's an elephant. We all need to take a step back "together"; only then will we have a Eureka...That moment of Ah-Ha...like when we discovered the world was round - and look at each other and see that We are ALL in this together; when one side suffers we all suffer. As I have said before; 1% + 99% = 100% ACCOUNTABLE. We need each other...Just like a THRIVING bee hive, we all serve a valuable purpose; LIFE IS NOT CHEAP, no one as a human being is worthless.
Without a hive we suffer.
Without worker bees we suffer.
OR...As Danile Quin states in his book "Ishmael"; "With Man gone, will there be hope for Gorilla?" "With Gorilla gone, will there be hope for Man?"
Sooooo Halfonts, my question to you is; What is your answer?
Palindromedary wrote ~ "Yes, the US outspent the Russians in the cold war..after all..when the US got to Japan and the Philippines, beating out the Ruskies, they managed to get a lot of the Golden Lily treasure..billions of dollars (trillions today) in gold bullion and precious gems that the Japanese stole from Manchuria, China, and SE Asia and buried in tunnels in the Philippines."
Burying a fortune doesn't seem to be a particularly bright idea, is it? You would think that the descendants of the ones who pillaged that fortune would know better than to repeat that mistake. If you have a fortune, the best thing to do with it is to put in into motion, investing in society, the community, business, or anything else. Sitting on it like a mother hen is very irresponsible and has the effect of painting a huge target on the back of that hen.
Maybe that's why fried Chicken is so popular in this country.
I wonder who is going to pillage the fortunes that the one percenters stole from We the People. Strange thing about stealing money, if some other crook steals it from you, who are you going to call? We the People? We'll be applauding! Strange the way history repeats itself, isn't it? Maybe that's why so many Filipinos and Japanese welcomed us. Money truly is the root of all evil!
I agree that all hell should be raised in regards to the Presidents proposed budget cuts to social security and medicare.
However, I do not believe that republicans will even consider anything Obama offers as long as new revenue is included.
President Obama could offer to privatize the safety net along with new revenue and regressive republicans would turn it down. It is President Obama's gambit
In the lead up to 2014 the President must repeatedly expose the regressive, destructive (support the wealthy) intent of republicans to America.
President Obama has proven that there is a majority of sane Americans. It is that majority that rejected the utter insanity of the Iraq war and elected our first Black president.
Only by vividly exposing the racist, regressive 'anti American' nature of wealthy conservative republicans to America can the sane majority be motivated to act.
We can not allow this contemporary crop of republicans( neo cons, tea party and ignorant) to control our government on any level.
Obama has nothing to lose by standing up to big oil, but his love of "compromise" says he'll give in once again. Moving to clean energy is already happening at a grass roots level, and on some state levels. Like the auto replacing the horse and buggy, we can change the demand by embracing clean energy as much as possible on our own, and simply minimize the use of dirty energy until it's pretty much a thing of the past. The federal government isn't listening to the people and protests seem to fall on deaf ears. Our best alternative may be to just do these things on our own as much as we can, and perhaps create local groups that can help those who can't afford solar panels or electric cars, sort of like Habitat for Humanity on a broader scale.
That's for sure! They knew that capitalists would sell the hangman the noose to hang them with. Just a matter of time and the greedy maggots would control the government to serve their selfish ends. And the whole country would collapse. They knew how Wall Street and banksters would once again, and again, and again cause major financial debacles... antagonizing the masses. And they knew that it was only capitalist crazies who were loony enough to actually trigger a nuclear holocaust...having already done so on a small scale in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and threatening many, many times of doing it again in other places like Korea and elsewhere. After all, they already caused massive horror in firebombing all those civilians in Germany and Japan.
Yes, the US outspent the Russians in the cold war..after all..when the US got to Japan and the Philippines, beating out the Ruskies, they managed to get a lot of the Golden Lily treasure..billions of dollars (trillions today) in gold bullion and precious gems that the Japanese stole from Manchuria, China, and SE Asia and buried in tunnels in the Philippines.
I wouldn't be surprised if that was one of the big reasons why it was so important for the US to conquer Japan with nukes before the Russians could get there. I'm sure it was no secret what the Japanese were doing...confiscating all that wealth all those years. Even a sizable stash of gold was stolen from the British who had vaults in SE Asia.
The Japanese Operation Golden Lily (code named Kin No Yuri) spent 10 years before WW2, and during, pillaging all that wealth and used forced labor (Filipinos and captured US soldiers) to dig those 100+ tunnels. And the ruthless Japanese overseers murdered, in those very tunnels, the many who dug them, including their own men, to keep hidden the locations of those tunnels.
But MacArthur had hastily hanged General Yamashita after a Kangaroo court conviction to keep him from blabbing to the world about the treasures; and, they tortured Yamashita's driver to find the tunnels (many of them). And I wouldn't be surprised if one of the reasons why they let Emperor Hirohito live was because of some kind of a deal to keep the confiscated wealth under wraps where both countries would be able to use those Golden Lily funds in the struggle against Russia.
Marcos spent his whole Presidency trying to find other tunnels and found many..which is why he and his heirs were so wealthy. In fact, Marcos was just a lowly poor lawyer before he became President and he allegedly murdered one of his clients who had discovered one of the tunnels and sought legal advice from Marcos the lawyer. The sudden wealth Marcos attained put him right into the Presidency. That was an interesting story about the hollow 1-ton Golden Budha filled with precious gems and Rogelio Roxas who found it. Marcos had him beaten and took it away from Rogelio.
I agree with most of what you say, Ken, except that I am not "calling" for people to do anything. I'd kinda like to stay out of a cell. I am just saying what I think is necessary for real change...and that history has shown that things won't change when the game is rigged; and, that it was only when people raised up against the crooked system and scared the crooks, who rigged the game, that there was meaningful change. Yes, lots of brave or desperate people got hurt but they fought back and eventually won a change in the system.
Most of us have been very lucky because we have all lived in the good times. But now the times are eroding and we are all starting to see the same kind of suffering that some of our Grandfathers/mothers, or Great Grandfathers/mothers experienced. I believe that masses of people are on the verge of a very terrible hardship and when they reach that point of desperation they will react violently. We are already seeing a rise in violence...home invasions, shootings, bank robberies. It's too bad it is not all directed toward those who really deserve to be targeted rather than upon one another. But when things become so uncomfortable for the ruling elite, when they begin to fear the wrath of the people once more, change in favor of the people will eventually happen...as it has in the past.
We are looking at the taking over of America, plain and simple. The president is in on it, maybe even orchestrating it. And it is happening at a faster and faster pace now. This is an inside job. We have been lied to. We have been set up. They are laughing at us. Former USSR president Kruschev knew this, and said so back in the 60's, hence Russia didn't have to worry about taking over America, America would be taken over from the inside. Incredible that this could be happening to America but that is exactly what is going on. America as we know it, is going to be no longer and I suspect fairly soon. The talk about Social Security and Medicare is a distraction. They are going after that plus bank accounts and pension funds. They've already got many of our jobs, the middle class is being destroyed, FEMA camps have been set up. I believe they are expecting and preparing for a revolt. The militarization of our police. The flying over Southern California by drones. And our pres. signing an exec. order giving he and his family lifetime S.S. protection. When we finally wake up, all of us, IMHO, he will need it.
Here are some links that are really eye-openers!!
1. http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/King_World_News.html
2. http://www.amazon.com/Failure-Capitalism-Economic-Dissolution-ebook/dp/B...
3. inforwars.com (I first heard about this in 2005. I thought it was nonsense. Well, I now take this guy quite seriously. I have checked out a bunch of stuff he says and it turns out to be true.-this is truly a nightmare of mega proportions.)
4. Dr. Lorraine Day -The New World Order
Chained CPI? When everyone switches to chicken (or even cat food..eventually) the price of chicken (or cat food) will shoot up to the price of steak. An increase in demand will elicit an increase in price. We are all going to be "chained" right into our death beds. Soylent Green anyone?
It's not a good idea to eat steak anyway...I sure don't and haven't for about 10 years (no beef or pork..or road kill of any kind...just chicken, turkey, or fish and, of course fruits, nuts, and vegetables..lots and lots of garlic, onions, and lots and lots of Tabasco sauce). I just hope the FrankenFish doesn't cause me to mutate...or the cheaper non-range chicken cause me to get cancer. And I don't even want to know how they make Tabasco sauce.
I just heard that L-carnitine, found in red meats, causes heart diseases. It was the Mad Cow Disease that scared me away.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/08/l-carnitine-heart-disease-red-m...
HIgh yield, low risk. Isn't that called an imaginary fantasy?
Do you think it is just rhetoric when they say balance the budget and destroy the economy.
You do not want to balance the budget (except in boom times when you want to slow the economy down).
The other way to say it is that balancing the budget means you are no longer investing.
Ravi Batra pointed out that whenever the deficit gets small (AKA balancing the budget) the stock market crashes. That is not a theory; it is the actual data.