I still think Election day here should be a holiday. :-(

Go Go Chinchilla!: Isn't that what welfare and Social Security are all about: bribing worthless poor people in order to keep worthless rich people in power?

Beat me to it.

"If you don't vote for ME, THAT GUY will take away your Social Security!!!"

Government programs are ultimately about power. I'd rather not give them the power over my health care too.

dgc360: I still think Election day here should be a holiday. :-(

Democrats will never let that happen. Never, never, never.

Do you ever think that a regimented election every four years with one full year of election bullshiat might make the public a little jaded about politics in general?

oldfarthenry: Do you ever think that a regimented election every four years with one full year of election bullshiat might make the public a little jaded about politics in general?


"Leave the apple
cart alone!"

The idea behind the stimulus effort is to pump money into the economy, not to pump some in and suction out the same amount elsewhere in order to not add to the budget deficit.

What could go wrong?

"Looks like more people aren't getting over the bar...time to lower it a bit more"

I feel bad for anyone collecting unemployment (I've done it before too!)... but expanding those programs will only foster the sense of entitlement and general shiftlessness for people out of work (again...personal experience...why pick up a part time job when I can get paid more doing nothing). Create jobs and fill those jobs.

I think Bush and Rove both gave up long ago on keeping a Republican in the White House for the next term. So they are more than happy to sacrifice that one term while ensuring the Democratic president will be saddled with Iraq and a shiatty economy - thus ensuring a GOP prez the following term. That's why Rove left. Nothing left for him to do.

Yes, I'm that cynical at this point.

mmm... pancake: dgc360: I still think Election day here should be a holiday. :-(

Democrats will never let that happen. Never, never, never.

You'd think that republicans would have used their 6 year majority to remedy that.

"Democrats controlling Congress are looking at tax rebates, extended unemployment benefits and more food stamps to stimulate the sagging economy"

well, if there's anyone who stimulates the economy more than the unemployed and very poor, I ain't met 'um!

/I'll take the tax rebate though.

Spanky_McFarksalot: "Democrats controlling Congress are looking at tax rebates, extended unemployment benefits and more food stamps to stimulate the sagging economy"

well, if there's anyone who stimulates the economy more than the unemployed and very poor, I ain't met 'um!

/I'll take the tax rebate though.

Give you a hint sparky, the poor and lower middle class spend nearly 100% of any income they recieve. On the other hand, contrary to Republican Dogma, increasing the income available to the wealthy has almost no effect on their spending and the excess is either sent overseas for additional tax advantages, or invested and held in anticipation of long term capital gains

Why is it when Democrats say 'tax cuts' it's for people making $150k a year? Can't we just give tax breaks to the middle, ya know, 75% of people?

I can has cheese?

Stimulus package...sigh...okay hold on...

[rant]
KEYNESIAN ECONOMICS DONT WORK
[end rant]

/That was directed at both congress and out president

Shaggy_C: Why is it when Democrats say 'tax cuts' it's for people making $150k a year? Can't we just give tax breaks to the middle, ya know, 75% of people?

WTF? Half my post just disappeared. I can fix this...I hope...anyways:

Why is it when Democrats say 'tax cuts' it's for people making less than $30k per year and when Republicans say the same it's for people making over $150k a year? Can't we just give tax breaks to the middle, ya know, 75% of people?

/that will teach me to use less than and greater than signs

This is true. Most of the sheeple voting for the left are bribed peons quietly and obediently following the trail in exchange for promises of a carrot at the end.

Shaggy_C

LOLZ, that sounds more like you.

I have one big question that has plagued this country for decades.

How do you give tax cuts to people who don't pay taxes? Really. A tax rebate to somebody who never paid in any in the first place. This has always bothered me. We are talking income tax when this is mentioned, and considering how the threshold has grown over 40 years for somebody actually PAYING taxes, it's amazing. If you're earning 40,000, you're pretty much getting a refund on any taxes you have deducted from your paycheck. You may not have any money left each month if you live in a high dollar, urban area, but you're not paying any INCOME tax in the long run. So how are you expected to get a bigger refund? If you're earning less than about 40k, you're pretty much not liable for any taxes to begin with.

It would be one thing if Congress eliminated sales taxes, but you couldn't limit that to persons of any specific income, it would benefit all individuals (though hurt local economies).

Our entire society is farked!

Shaggy_C: Why is it when DemocratsRepublicans say 'tax cuts' it's for people making $150k a year? Can't we just give tax breaks to the middle, ya know, 75% of people?

FTFY.

/I mean, really, when was the last time you seriously heard "tax cut" from a Dem's mouth?

cxjohn: If you're earning 40,000, you're pretty much getting a refund on any taxes you have deducted from your paycheck. You may not have any money left each month if you live in a high dollar, urban area, but you're not paying any INCOME tax in the long run. So how are you expected to get a bigger refund?

Bullshiat. In the last 6 months of last year, I made $39,096.50. I paid $9,866.65 in taxes. Are you telling me I'm going to get 100% of that back?

IlGreven: FTFY.

I aready FIFM; I'm just stupid and forgot about HTML tags.

Look how well it worked in New Orleans? The Liberal Utopia

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrats controlling Congress are looking at tax rebates, extended unemployment benefits and more food stamps to stimulate the sagging economy.


Food stamps??? No way.

/Used to work in a grocery store.
//Really annoyed when able-bodied people used them all the time.

Nemo's Brother: This is true. Most of the sheeple voting for the left are bribed peons quietly and obediently following the trail in exchange for promises of a carrot at the end.

as opposed to the sheeple feared into voting for the right where they are guaranteed to be herded into a single file line and receive a 8 inch spike in the brain.

The_Sponge: Food stamps??? No way.



Best bring me back my change, that's a $10 food stamp

yeah because people who are so poor that they are on food stamps and welfare are the strongest voting block in the country, you people are f*cking idiots.

Magorn
Give you a hint sparky, the poor and lower middle class spend nearly 100% of any income they recieve. On the other hand, contrary to Republican Dogma, increasing the income available to the wealthy has almost no effect on their spending and the excess is either sent overseas for additional tax advantages, or invested and held in anticipation of long term capital gains.

And I'll give you a hint, skippy, consumer spending is not what stimulated economic growth. Investment is. Didn't the 1930s teach us that this Keynesian BS is BS?

The $300 "rebate" was just a loan on your refund anyway. Doesn't anyone remember that you had to claim it at the end of the year? Now your $1200 refund is a $900 refund because you got $300 of it in July.

The "rebate" was just a big scam to stimulate consumer spending. Retailers nationwide were running "$299.99" sales for a couple of months.

Taking money away from some people just to give it to others is theft, unless the government is doing it.. with the very strong arm of the "law".

Shaggy_C: cxjohn: If you're earning 40,000, you're pretty much getting a refund on any taxes you have deducted from your paycheck. You may not have any money left each month if you live in a high dollar, urban area, but you're not paying any INCOME tax in the long run. So how are you expected to get a bigger refund?

Bullshiat. In the last 6 months of last year, I made $39,096.50. I paid $9,866.65 in taxes. Are you telling me I'm going to get 100% of that back?

He left out the part about if you are married, the single income earner, and have two kids.

I'll get most if not all my income tax back. The rest of the government take is long gone.

Clicked a little early. Anyway, the point is -- if you are making 40k combined and have 2 kids...yes, you will probably see most of your federal tax back (almost as if you never paid it). It's a bit staggering to see how much those thresholds jump when you add kids.

Damn, messed that up big time. Here's the thresholds for the Earned Income Tax Credit:

*
$37,783 ($39,783 married filing jointly) with two or more qualifying children;
*
$33,241 ($35,241 married filing jointly) with one qualifying child;
*
$12,590 ($14,590 married filing jointly) with no qualifying children.


So, congratulations everyone on having 2 kids and being married!

And it gets better. The numbers I posted were for 2007. Here's 2008:

Earned income and adjusted gross income (AGI) must each be less than:


*
$38,646 ($41,646 married filing jointly) with two or more qualifying children;
*
$33,995 ($36,995 married filing jointly) with one qualifying child;
*
$12,280 ($15,880 married filing jointly) with no qualifying children.

Notice any discrepancies?

meat0918: He left out the part about if you are married, the single income earner, and have two kids.

Sigh...why do I have to support the breeders?

GoodyearPimp: Notice any discrepancies?

Why is one kid worth 20 grand, but a second is only worth 5 grand?

If the dems can't bribe the poor for votes, then they'l raise the dead.

Why is one kid worth 20 grand, but a second is only worth 5 grand?

Good, but I was referring to the fact that while every other bracket's threshold rises this year -- the single, no kids... well, as much as I'd hate to only be making 12k a year...I think I'd hate it much more if I was told I either had to work *less* or start paying taxes.

Headso: yeah because people who are so poor that they are on food stamps and welfare are the strongest voting block in the country, you people are f*cking idiots.


Not on their own, but when the Rainbow Coalition sends their vans and school busses through the projects and ghettos for those 11th hour 'get out de vote' crushes, who do you think they be voting for?

TheGreyPiper: Headso: yeah because people who are so poor that they are on food stamps and welfare are the strongest voting block in the country, you people are f*cking idiots.


Not on their own, but when the Rainbow Coalition sends their vans and school busses through the projects and ghettos for those 11th hour 'get out de vote' crushes, handing out cartons of cigarettes, who do you think they be voting for?

/accuritized.