Taxes

[mjosparky 4]

Subject: Tax info


Every year an independent tax watchdog group analyzes the average tax

burden on Americans, and then calculates the "Tax Freedom Day". This is the

day after which the money you earn goes to you, not the government.



This year, tax freedom day was April 11th. That's the earliest it has been

since 1991. It's latest day ever was May 2nd, which occurred in 2000.

Notice anything special about those dates?



Today John Kerry gave a speech in which he claimed Americans are actually

paying more taxes under Bush, despite the tax cuts. He gave no explanation

and provided no data for this claim.



Another interesting fact: Both George Bush and John Kerry are wealthy men.

Bush owns only one home, his ranch in Texas.



Kerry owns 4 mansions, all worth several million dollars. (His ski resort

home in Idaho is an old barn brought over from Europe in pieces. Not your

average A-frame).



Bush paid $250,000 in taxes this year; Kerry paid $90,000. Does that sound

right? The man who wants to raise your taxes obviously has figured out a

way to avoid paying his own.

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[quade 4]

Quote

. . . an independent tax watchdog group . . .

And exactly who are they -- 'cause I'm thinkin' they aren't really all that independent.

Got URL?

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[mjosparky 4]

Quote

Quote

. . . an independent tax watchdog group . . .

And exactly who are they -- 'cause I'm thinkin' they aren't really all that independent.

Got URL?

Who they are doesn't change the fact Kerry only paid $90,000 in taxes.

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[billvon 3,120]

>Who they are doesn't change the fact Kerry only paid $90,000 in taxes.

Sounds like he's got a better accountant.

[quade 4]

Do you seriously think that someone who is running for office (any office) doesn't have a professional tax person go over his accounts with a fine tooth comb? That the taxes wouldn't be -exactly- in line with whatever the prevailing -laws- said?

If you compare what GWB paid vs. Kerry, I'm almost certain you'll find they -both- had tax reports that were -exactly- according to the letter of the law.

I'm just as certain that -yours- are almost as perfect.

What's the difference? I'll tell you . . . the tax laws are written in such a way that the wealthy of this country do not -pay- as high a percentage of their -gross- income as you or I. They (and we) pay on -taxable- income. It's just that their -taxable- income is far below what their -gross- income is.

If you think Kerry's tax bill is too low, then you really need to get GWB out of office. It's GWB that is the problem -- Kerry is just following the law.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[Push 0]

And his income was?...

-- Toggle Whippin' Yahoo
Skydiving is easy. All you have to do is relax while plummetting at 120 mph from 10,000' with nothing but some nylon and webbing to save you.

[Nightingale 0]

to compare Bush and Kerry's taxes, you'd have to compare income, assets, and charitable contributions of both the two gentlemen and their wives. Without more information, the numbers are meaningless.

[kelpdiver 2]

You do realize that people don't pay income taxes on the market value of property owned (real estate taxes vary state to state and depending upon purchase date) - they pay when said property is sold.

Your message would have been far more powerful sticking to just the freedom day stuff. That part is actually honestly presented, if ignoring notions of deficit spending. But saying that Kerry's wife inherited a bigger silver spoon than Shrub did detracts badly from that message.

[Clownburner 0]

I looked up their tax returns online. Gotta love the Internet. As you'd expect, they're both very simple and by-the-book. I'm not an accountant, but their taxes are pretty straightforward.

The Tax History Project

GWB, 2003:
Adj. Gross Income: $822,126
Deductions: $95,043
Taxes Paid: $227,490
(as percentage of gross): 27.7%

John Kerry, 2003:
Adj. Gross Income:$ 395,338
Deductions: $48,674
Taxes Paid: $90,575
(as percentage of gross): 22.9%


Honestly, this doesn't look like a very big disparity to me.

Another thing to keep in mind is that our lower taxes are coming at the price of a record deficit, because government spending has gone UP, not down, under Bush the younger. Personally, I think that's a bigger issue.

7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez
"I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

[kallend 2,151]

I thought Kerry's wife was the wealthy one.

Did they file jointly or separately?

Last time I heard, Federal tax wasn't due on residences, so ther number of "mansions" is hardly relevant.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.