Rick Perry: The Poor And Seniors Don’t Pay Enough In Taxes

Rick Perry: The Poor And Seniors Don’t Pay Enough In Taxes
By Pat Garofalo on Aug 15, 2011 at 9:35 am

Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) jumped into the GOP presidential primary on Saturday, touting the largely-mythical “Texas miracle” to boost his economic bona fides. “We have led Texas based on some just really pretty simple guiding principles. One is don’t spend all of the money. Two is keeping the taxes low and under control,” Perry said during his announcement speech.
In fact, tax cuts were a constant theme during the speech. “We need lower taxes,” Perry said, later adding that “it is time to limit and simplify the taxes in this country.” However, it seems that Perry wants to raise taxes on at least one population — the working poor, seniors, and students who currently have no federal income tax liability:
We’re dismayed at the injustice that nearly half of all Americans don’t even pay any income tax. And you know the liberals out there are saying that we need to pay more. We are indignant about leaders who do not listen and spend money faster than they can print it.
It’s certainly true that nearly half of Americans don’t have any federal income tax liability, but a large portion of that population pays federal payroll and excise taxes, as well as state and local taxes, which fall much harder on the middle-class and low-income individuals than those at the upper end of the income scale. The simple fact is that they don’t make enough money to have to qualify for even the lowest federal income tax bracket.
Overall, less than a quarter of the nation’s households don’t contribute to federal tax receipts — and the majority of the non-contributors are students, the elderly, or the unemployed. Does Perry believe that these people are really undertaxed?
At the same time that Perry is crying foul over the poor and the elderly paying too little in taxes, income inequality in the country has skyrocketed. Just the richest 400 Americans hold more wealth than the bottom 50 percent of Americans combined, and the richest 10 percent of Americans control two-thirds of the country’s net worth. But its low tax rates at the bottom of the income scale that have Perry all riled up.

 

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/08/15/295713/perry-tax-the-poor/

 

This motherfucker. :smt011

Rick Perry, I mean.

 

lippy enjoys seeing these conservative republicans sink themselves...they give clues early on in their campaigns on where the democrats will focus their "get registered and get to the polls strategy" you watch there will be a game plan put in place to rally all the seniors and poor people to vote...

bachmann needs someone to fact check everything that comes out of her mouth...actually better for the democrats if she keeps making up her own facts...unbelievable

 

I just have to SMH

 

You might want to rethink your thinking here. Here's a chart on it. In simple terms, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, which is a NON-PARTISAN government oriented institution greatly shows that the poor DOES pay taxes, if not MORE than those in the 1% wealth gap. Getting refunds from the government isn't tax-dodging. It means they've paid more than enough of their fair share and they should get some back.

Honestly, that myth that the poor don't pay enough taxes is a terrible myth and they know it all to well. That sort of dishonesty towards the helplessly ignorant public only reinforces that they don't read into those things before they listen to their politicians who's a good talker, but is quick to speak out of his/her ass before bringing up facts to back up their claims.

 

Go pump some more weights, man. We got this.

 

You're dodging the basic point. People still pay taxes when they purchase something, EVEN if they don't work. If they are collecting social security, retirement money or on other programs, they still pay taxes to their state, local, and federal governments. How can you ignore this fact at all?

 

Because he's a coward. One thing I notice about him and conservatives like him is they are bullies. Picking on the weak focusing on their inability to do what the strong can do is what bullies do. The amount they aren't paying is tremendously being dwarfed by what the job creators don't pay. Its sickening to see people choose the path of the spineless. Its like going out of your way to prosecute a car thief over a murder because the murder is harder to prosecute and hey the car thief committed a crime too.
Paniro good luck buddy because God help you if you fall on hard times. See who helps you and see who tells you to pull yourself by the bootsraps

 

Cognitive dissonance.

 

There's a war Trix and its not man vs women, not black vs white, not even rich vs poor. It's the fucking stupid vs the intelligent. They have us out numbered 1000 to 1 and they refuse to be reasoned with. They want their own way like a child throwing a temper tantrum without any thought of fairness or deceny. This article proves to me being conservative is just another way of saying heartless and selfish. They just aren't good people period.

 

It's hard to pull yourself up by your bootstraps when you don't have boots, which is what folk like paniro conveniently overlook.

They also seem to see wealth as an indicator of "goodness" and poverty as an indicator of moral failing, much like the Calvinist perspective.

There is also this underlying yet pervasive thought that "Hey, one day I
will be one of that wonderful 2% when my American Dream comes true, and I won't want to spend my money on the shiftless lazy 98% either!"

The American Dream, btw, if it *ever* existed, died before I was born.

 

Out the ballpark...going...going...she gone

 

You've got a good point. There are days I walk away from reading the news thinking "Either I'm a fucking genius, or the majority of people really are stupider than I give them credit for."

BTW, as much as we've been known to butt heads, DK, you are one of the people I look forward to reading, and I suspect we've got more in common than we have *not* in common from a world view perspective.

 

You can't tell them that, they are just unreasonable and never ever offer reasonable alternatives. I'm still waiting for just ONE so called conservative to offer a way to build revenue when you cut as much as they want to.

 

And it's spreading. Apparently Obama is planning a speech on the economy for next month and he was asked if he was going to create an Office of Jobs, to which he answered a firm no.

SO reassuring to see that moment of near competence negated by a need to cater to the idiots. :-(

 

If you have 0 income you are not required to file a tax return.

FACT.

So you wouldn't be getting anything back either. :smt105

 

:smt080


He can't possibly support making it more difficult on students?? That is counterproductive. If they don't get enough break to finish their education they won't contribute later with high paying jobs.

 

This is your problem. You think everything is simply about "belief" and disregard anything pertaining to factual information. A truly ignorant person will continue to hold onto their convictions even when factual information is presented to them counteracting their original statement. Not everything is an opinion. Facts are there and are presented.

Since you've never been poor in your life, it's probably easier to allow the Financial Boogeymen to scare you into a myth when in fact there are a lot of guys and girls on here who grew up poor and paid their taxes, even moreso than their rich counterparts. Secondly, the rich do pay taxes, but they often dodge a lot of them due to finding tax loopholes in the system. Too many tax breaks for them and not a lot or any for those who are poor.

This isn't merely a difference of opinion. It's simply you exercising cognitive dissonance. The facts are presented to you, but you cannot admit that you're wrong for once.