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Cognitive dissonance, anyone? This is what Reaganism and Romneyism produce. After 35 years of warnings, some inkling of the matter should have crept in here somewhere.
No cognitive dissonance here. The Reagan administration single handedly destroyed the American middle class.
There has not been a true middle class since the early 80s and it's been in decline ever since. It will take more than two centrist Democratic presidents - Clinton and Obama - to turn things around.
This is simply not true. Taxes have actually dropped for middle and low income earners. Wages, however, have been stagnant for the bottom 50-60%.
Much of that 50-60% issue is due to people not transitioning well to a knowledge-based economy.I suspect and see in my own family the younger gens are not experiencing that problem.
This is simply not true. Taxes have actually dropped for middle and low income earners. Wages, however, have been stagnant for the bottom 50-60%.
Really? Prior to 1965, I paid no state income tax in Michigan and the state sales tax was only 3%. My social security taxes were lower as were my property tax rates. And we all know gas taxes were lower. I had far more income tax deductions 40+ years ago.
So tell me which middle class taxes are lower today than they were in 1960.
I watched the documentary today and I thought that it was well crafted and heart wrenching.
A few things deserve a closer look. After the first 20-25 minutes, I had a very good idea of which family was going to lose their home, and which would not.
One family pulled together in crisis, the other pulled apart.
I realize that this is a psychological observation and not an economic one, but it speaks to how people will fare when times are hard.
Another observation, right now, as the right wing attempts to raise interest rates on student loans, and appears to be telling people that a college education is "worthless" ( while sending their own children to college) it is obvious which children did the best out of the two families.
The one who did the best was the one with a four year college education - the eldest son of the Stanley family.
He was, if I remember correctly; the only one to obtain a Bachelor's degree.
At the bottom, in terms of outcome; are the Newman sons. One dropped out of high school, and the other graduated. What neither boy did was prevent unplanned pregnancies. Their responsibilities as fathers held them back in terms of finances and education.
One of the son's was suckered into attending a proprietary trade school.
The absolute worst and most sickening aspect of the program, was the avariciousness of the banks who were unwilling to work with the families.
I can remember my father saying once that "banks are not in the Real Estate business - they don't want a man's house, they want his money."
Perhaps that was true in his day - the 60s and 70s. Today that does not seem to hold true at all.
I watched the documentary today and I thought that it was well crafted and heart wrenching.
A few things deserve a closer look. After the first 20-25 minutes, I had a very good idea of which family was going to lose their home, and which would not.
One family pulled together in crisis, the other pulled apart.
I realize that this is a psychological observation and not an economic one, but it speaks to how people will fare when times are hard.
Another observation, right now, as the right wing attempts to raise interest rates on student loans, and appears to be telling people that a college education is "worthless" ( while sending their own children to college) it is obvious which children did the best out of the two families.
The one who did the best was the one with a four year college education - the eldest son of the Stanley family.
He was, if I remember correctly; the only one to obtain a Bachelor's degree.
At the bottom, in terms of outcome; are the Newman sons. One dropped out of high school, and the other graduated. What neither boy did was prevent unplanned pregnancies. Their responsibilities as fathers held them back in terms of finances and education.
One of the son's was suckered into attending a proprietary trade school.
The absolute worst and most sickening aspect of the program, was the avariciousness of the banks who were unwilling to work with the families.
I can remember my father saying once that "banks are not in the Real Estate business - they don't want a man's house, they want his money."
Perhaps that was true in his day - the 60s and 70s. Today that does not seem to hold true at all.
A sad state of affairs.
The documentary was very sad and moving. One thing I noticed is that there are two options from watching this film. The black family some what sticked together while the white family all split. Right now Im at that very crossroads on rather staying or spliting.
However, if they want to pay for benefits and entitlements, which they will never receive, this is the country to sneak into.
Fixed that for ya.
"Taxes contributed
Most arguments against illegal immigration begin with the premise that the illegal don't pay income taxes, and that they therefore take more in services than they contribute. However, IRS estimates that about 6 million unauthorized immigrants file individual income tax returns each year.[22] Research reviewed by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office indicates that between 50 percent and 75 percent of unauthorized immigrants pay federal, state, and local taxes.[22] illegal immigrants are estimated to pay in about $7 billion per year into Social Security.[27] In addition, they spend millions of dollars per year, which supports the US economy and helps to create new jobs. The Texas State Comptroller reported in 2006 that the 1.4 million illegal immigrants in Texas alone added almost $18 billion to the state's budget, and paid $1.2 billion in state services they used.[28]
The Social Security and Medicare contributions of illegal immigrants directly support older Americans, as illegal immigrants are not eligible to receive these services.[29] The Internal Revenue Service issues an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) regardless of immigration status because both resident and nonresident aliens may have Federal tax return and payment responsibilities under the Internal Revenue Code. Federal tax law prohibits the IRS from sharing data with other government agencies including the INS. In 2006 1.4 million people used ITIN when filing taxes, of which more than half were illegal immigrants.[30] Social Security subsidization
illegal immigrants pay social security payroll taxes but are not eligible for benefits. During 2006, Standard & Poor's analysts wrote: "Each year, for example, the U.S. Social Security Administration maintains roughly $6 billion to $7 billion of Social Security contributions in an "earnings suspense file"—an account for W-2 tax forms that cannot be matched to the correct Social Security number. The vast majority of these numbers are attributable to illegal workers who will never claim their benefits."[31]
The Social Security Administration has stated that it believes unauthorized work by non-citizens is a major cause of wage items being posted as erroneous wage reports instead of on an individual's earnings record.[32] When Social Security numbers are already in use; names do not match the numbers or the numbers are fake, or the person of record is too old, young, dead etc., the earnings reported to the Social Security Agency are put in an Earnings Suspense file [ESF]. The Social Security spends about $100 million a year and corrects all but about 2% of these. From tax years 1937 through 2003 the ESF had accumulated about 255 million mismatched wage reports, representing $520 billion in wages and about $75 billion in employment taxes paid into the over $1.5 trillion in the Social Security Trust funds. As of October 2005, approximately 8.8 million wage reports, representing $57.8 billion in wages remained unresolved in the suspense file for tax year 2003."
I have to admit I was rather impressed with the African-American father in this show. I really admired not only his strong work ethic, but also his attitude. He seemed like he was a happy person despite the struggles he had been through (and continued to face). There are people who are able to do that and I admire them because I am not that way so much. As a side-note, he was also very handsome and had a great smile. I thought he and his wife were a very attractive couple.
Originally Posted by andywire
"Here in many parts of Chicago, the illegals live 12 to an apartment and each contributes to paying the rent."
Even though they have taken all the "good jobs" and are swimming in government subsidies and entitlements? If only they'd go home and give those jobs to honest citizens, they too could enjoy that high standard of living.
it doesn't exist. It's a figment of a deluded imagination. At the bottom line, us corporate taxes are modest to non-existent across many key industries and heaviest for those who can most easily afford them. And these regulations that you lament merely deliver producers from the evil of an array of anti-social, anti-human practices. this is a good thing to all non-villains.
lol
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