Should Mitt release his tax returns?

[margodydek]

so you support the rich paying lower tax rates, and doing everything they can to pay the lowest rate possible, and having their friends write the tax code so as to make sure they have lots of loopholes and shelters to enable them to do this.

all government spending is bad and should be reduced.

I truly am a novice when it comes to the tax code and how the rich are taxed, but as far as the capital gains tax goes, I'm perfectly fine with it being quite a bit lower than the ordinary income rates.

 

[northeast]

pkm, you like to make things up , much easier than talking about facts or logic.

 

[NAOS]

Great post, spazz.

just realize that you are complimenting a purely ideological post/"rant". There are some willfully blind spots in that perspective.

 

[northeast]

I don't have a huge problem with capital gains rates being lower than ordinary income rates.
Bringing these rates closer is something to consider, but not high on the list of modifications that could be made to make a fairer and simpler system.

 

[SaltyDawg]

Equally hilarious to see some of the same people who defended Obama against the birth certificate "issue" now calling for Mitt's tax records.

For what it's worth, I thought the people demanding birth certificates were stupid, and I think the people demanding the tax records are also stupid.

I would say it's equally hilarious to see most of the people saying, "His tax returns are legal, and he's not legally obligated to release them, so leave him alone," were also saying "The ground zero mosque is totally legal but should not be allowed."

 

[Dr. Jones]

just realize that you are complimenting a purely ideological post/"rant". There are some willfully blind spots in that perspective.

I didn't read it, just saw it was long and assumed it must be good.

 

[Dr. Jones]

pkm, you like to make things up , much easier than talking about facts or logic.

What I 'like' is creating jobs and revenue for myself and others .. and I'll gladly take any thank you the government will pass my way.

 

[northeast]

but you seem obsessed with helping rich people get away with paying lower taxes

 

[margodydek]

I don't have a huge problem with capital gains rates being lower than ordinary income rates.
Bringing these rates closer is something to consider, but not high on the list of modifications that could be made to make a fairer and simpler system.

I agree. Reading through this thread I feel way out of my league. My opinions are as long as there are egregious loopholes in the code that the rich are really exploiting, then I'm fine with them getting certain cuts as they're basically floating the country in the first place. I'm sure there are certain tweaks that need to be fixed to make things more "fair", but I'm of the opinion that our country needs to start addressing the behaviors of its citizens if it truly wants to make things "better". Enough of these programs.

 

[Revolution 9]

but you seem obsessed with helping rich people get away with cheating on their taxes

duh. It's common knowledge that if the rich are happy, that happiness will trickle down to the common man.

 

[Dr. Jones]

but you seem obsessed with helping rich people get away with cheating on their taxes

Obsessed huh? Show me ONE post (just one) where I said I support rich people cheating on their taxes. Do it .. or stfu.

 

[Dr. Jones]

I have articulated my point well, whether I am correct or not is debatable, my point is clear. Some people have the ability to create more with money than does the government. THAT is my stance.

 

[Revolution 9]

I have articulated my point well, whether I am correct or not is debatable, my point is clear. Some people have the ability to create more with money than does the government. THAT is my stance.

Are those people stopped from making that money depending on which type of man is in the white house? Does it really matter?
Besides health care it seems like Obama has continued much of Bush's policies.

 

[margodydek]

What I 'like' is creating jobs and revenue for myself and others .. and I'll gladly take any thank you the government will pass my way.

I feel for you guys who who start companies - as your main objective is to collect taxes for someone who typically does little to no research for your company, has taken on zero risk, and ultimately has no interest in whether you succeed or not, and then second you can worry about making a profit for yourself.

I know a guy who used to run a gas station and the amount of taxes he "collected" and would subsequently send off per quarter to the gov't was about equal to his take home for the year.

 

[Dr. Jones]

Are those people stopped from making that money depending on which type of man is in the white house? Does it really matter?
Besides health care it seems like Obama has continued much of Bush's policies.

Doesn't bother me too much one way or the other, honestly.

EDIT: The bail-out stuff and how it was handled really bugged me .. however, I feel if Obama had to do it over again he'd do things differently. For example, NO bail-out money can be used for executive bonuses, cannot 'sit' on the money, etc.

I have a couple real-life examples of the stupidity and egregious mis-use of funds by a UTAH company that EVERYONE on this forum is familiar with.

 

[northeast]

again, I am all for having the government be smarter in how it spends money....

but gasoline sales taxes really don't effect a gas stations profitability...
competition would drive the owners cost of good's and price of goods sold to yield a similar profit margin regardless of the sales taxes.
If there were no roads, however, there would probably be a lot less gas stations, and government subsidizes the building and maintenance of roads. (not that I am arguing for that, that is just the way it is. )

 

[Stoked]

What I 'like' is creating jobs and revenue for myself and others .. and I'll gladly take any thank you the government will pass my way.

Ignore Northeast. He would like to recreate the French Revolution right here at home and send the rich to the guillotine. He is mad that you made it and he didn't. Therefore in his mind it is logical that you somehow cheated. He has not idea how but you cheated damnit!

 

[northeast]

PKM starting new businesses and hiring people is pretty much the opposite of what a private equity firm like Bain Capital does.

 

[margodydek]

again, I am all for having the government be smarter in how it spends money....

but gasoline sales taxes really don't effect a gas stations profitability...
competition would drive the owners cost of good's and price of goods sold to yield a similar profit margin regardless of the sales taxes.
If there were no roads, however, there would probably be a lot less gas stations, and government subsidizes the building and maintenance of roads. (not that I am arguing for that, that is just the way it is. )

I wasn't necessarily refering to profit margins in my example, but the fact that this guy needed to use a lot of resources (which he had to purchase himself) and time to calculate and pay the amount of tax owed. It should be noted that this was years and years ago, and I'm sure technology has made it easier to do this. But talking to this guy you would think his main job was a tax collecter, which he basically had to do for free, and his second job was running a gas station.

 

[Jazz Spazz]

Here, you pair a naive understanding of the true costs of production inherent to a capitalist economy with an idealistic view of charitable giving. Both are out of touch.

Have there been bloated and unnecessary state programs in the past? Yes. But this doesn't mean that the State doesn't have an obligation to robustly fund certain programs (in fact, doing so is in its benefit).

everyone deserves a rant from time to time, but try authoring something that isn't so out of touch.

What we have here is someone that thinks they know it all and anyone that thinks differently than they do must be naive an out of touch. Yes the charitable giving part would be nice and is not likely to happen in today's world. As to your naive comment, that is a bunch of crap. I am spot on with it, and you are foolish and blind to think otherwise, but it was a nice effort on your part to try to discredit that part of my post.

It is not about bloated and unnecessary national (not state) programs in the past only. There have been in the past, and there are now. The state does not have as much of an obligation as you seem to imply. It should not be a government burden to support members of society that cannot support themselves. It should not come from tax dollars. There are less programs that the government must take care of than are currently being handled. The bottom line is, if you do not have the money, you do not spend the money... no matter the situation. To do so is what leads us to our current debt situation, and an undue burden being placed on the citizens.

I expect the lame undercutting comments from you NAOS, I get it... we disagree and you want to look smart. Go ahead, but I will continue to call you out on your stupid comments where you try to look smart at the expense of someone else.

If I find myself out of touch with you, I think I'm fine with that and should find myself in good company.