Neo-Jesus according to Rush Limbaugh

Lawrence O'Donnell put Limbaugh in his  place after Limbaugh attempted to rewrite the Bible. Limbaugh's outburst was this: Those on the political left mangle the words of Jesus Christ. They improperly claim that Jesus was a liberal/socialist who would approve of tax increases on the rich. This is incorrect, says Rush. Jesus would not "take" taxes from the rich: At 5:30, O'Donnell gives Rush a homework assignment:  Find a bible passage where we find Jesus "sympathizing with rich people for having paid too much tax or having been too generous, or having been forced by anyone, by the state, by Caesar, by anyone . . . forced to be too generous. "

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Obama Signs Tax Package: What’s in it for me?

President Obama signed the 2010 tax package into law Friday, December 17, 2010. This is the Act that's been so much in the news lately. Check out the TaxProf Blog's compilation of both technical and opinion resources for answers to questions like: "What's in the Act?" and "How will this Act affect me personally?" If there's an acronym for the Act's title yet, then I don't know what it is. Here's the official title:

“TAX RELIEF, UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE REAUTHORIZATION, AND JOB CREATION ACT OF 2010”

It looks like a hard title to 'acronym-ize' into something memorable like COBRA, for example. COBRA (The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985), like the 2010 Act, changed parts of the Internal Revenue Code. COBRA denied employers tax deductions for health insurance premiums if the employer’s plan failed to provide for continuing coverage for separated employees. While I’ve heard many people speak of ‘COBRA coverage’ over the years, I’ll bet few of them knew their right to COBRA medical insurance came as a result of a change in the tax code. Check out the TaxProf Blog to find out what new, COBRA-like changes may be buried in the 2010 "TRUIRJCA". No! That will never do as an acronym for the

“TAX RELIEF, UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE REAUTHORIZATION, AND JOB CREATION ACT OF 2010”

Continue ReadingObama Signs Tax Package: What’s in it for me?

Dialog with a Republican.

My neighbor, B, is a progressive republican and a tax partner in a large CPA firm. We had a conversation... "Obama needs to go", said B. Why? He's doing pretty well considering the mess he inherited! "Because all he wants to do is raise taxes! If we don't get control [of congress and senate] my taxes will go up by almost 20%. I already pay almost half my income in taxes: income, property, FICA and the rest" What? How do you get a 20% increase? "FICA - is capped at about 100k. As a partner, I pay FICA at 15%. Lose that cap and my taxes go up immediately by 15%. The top rate of income tax is set to climb to 39%, which is an extra 3%. And there are a bunch of others, too" No -- that's just wrong. Even assuming that happens... an example, if you earned $200k your effective FICA rate would be 7.5% on that $200k, right? So even without a cap, your effective FICA rate will never be greater than 15%. If you earn $200k, that means an increase of 7.5%, not 15%! "OK! But that wouldn't be a 7.5% increase if I earned 300k or 400k or 500k. It would be much greater than 7.5%" B, Sure it would, but if you earn $500k and can't absorb that kind of increase I'd advise you to start looking for a new tax accountant! LOL "Well ok! But do you think it's fair that 60% of the people in this country don't pay any taxes?" Where did you get that number? Do you think it's right that the US has such a large population of poor people they fall under the threshold for federal taxes? "Most of those people aren't poor!" But all of them pay taxes. You included property taxes in your 50%. I assume you included sales taxes, 7% for most everything here in GA? Then those people who pay nothing are paying way more in effective taxes than you - for food and energy and shelter [More . . . ]

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Taxation is not stealing

It's amazing to me that we need to spend so much of our time dealing with arguments that have no factual or rational basis. These distractions lessen the time available for developing any positive agenda (trying to reduce human suffering, preserve the planet, systematically explore nature, including human animals). At Daylight Atheism, Ebonmuse spend some time attacking an idea commonly expressed at the FOX sponsored teabagger parties: that taxation is essentially the government stealing your money. As usual, Ebonmuse clearly sets out the argument, then demolishes it. Here's an excerpt, but I highly recommend visiting his site and reading the whole thing:

Libertarians say that taxation is like theft because it takes property from the unwilling. What they ignore, time and time again, is the crucial role of democratic consent. Taxes are not arbitrary impositions decreed by a faceless government. Rather, taxes are the dues we pay in exchange for membership in a society and access to all the services it offers.

The situation can be compared to a private club that charges a membership fee in exchange for providing benefits and amenities to its members. Obviously, the club is within its rights to charge whatever price it believes fair in exchange for this. If you believe the price is too high, you're free to renounce your membership and leave the club. What you're not free to do is to refuse to pay, but demand that you still be allowed to sit in the club and use its facilities.

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