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Yes, being poor sucks. Those years I made under $15K were spent sharing apartments, renting rooms, going without health insurance. I was still working for $9.50 an hour part-time, as recently as 2002 picking up lab samples as a courier. I went 11 years without seeing a dentist.
I would have liked to have kept as much of my income as I could in those days, but I still had witholding taken from my paychecks. A tax rate of zero would have been nice, but I didn't have that option because government knows best what to do with my income.
Yes, the Tea Partiers think these things through very carefully ... not only how to rip off the middle class and the working poor, but how to distort the facts when presenting them to the public to make us believe they are somehow magically doing us all some kind of "favor" ... and far too many of us really do believe these lying predatory thieves.
"There is something drastically wrong when the Walton family is worth more than 30% of the American public."[quote from Suze Orman, interviewed on Larry King Now, Oct. 22 and 23, 2012]
The truth is, wealth NEVER "trickles down." And flat taxes only benefit the rich. Those lies were fabricated during the Reagan administration, and almost destroyed America's economy then, as the super-rich got dramatically richer by draining the lifeblood from America's middle class. And the Tea Party's death grip on our finances has only gotten tighter.
However, there is some self-help protection available, starting here:
First, Suze Orman provides many good tips on managing your own financial future. The next two links contain the complete video of Suze's interview with Larry King, broadcast on two consecutive days in late October, just before the 2012 Elections. If you missed this previously, it is well worth watching.
Next, I will be posting in this thread a link to a 1-hour documentary that discusses two of the richest men in the world, their racist right-wing leanings, and how they have taken control of much of America's economy over the past 30 years. The documentary also discusses how they have been funding Tea Party candidates all around the US, and how last year they tried to engineer the gerrymandering of school districts in Raleigh NC in attempt to RE-SEGREGATE Raleigh's schools. "Divide and conquer" is the name of their vicious game.
Next posting coming right up, along with details of what you will see in the documentary.
Yes, being poor sucks. Those years I made under $15K were spent sharing apartments, renting rooms, going without health insurance. I was still working for $9.50 an hour part-time, as recently as 2002 picking up lab samples as a courier. I went 11 years without seeing a dentist.
I would have liked to have kept as much of my income as I could in those days, but I still had witholding taken from my paychecks. A tax rate of zero would have been nice, but I didn't have that option because government knows best what to do with my income.
I don't know how to convey to you the concept that people making $9.50 are going to have a higher tax rate under an all-consumption tax system. You would have kept less under the system you're proposing. You would have been even poorer. You're complaining about taxes and yet here you are, arguing for higher taxes. It's disconcerting.
As for what government does with that money... well I don't know. Roads? Police? Firefighters? Education? National Parks? Scientific Research? National Defense? I'm just throwing a few ideas out there. Not to mention monetary policies that keep the country from turning into Mad Max whenever there's a stock market crash.
If you want a tax rate of zero, move to Somalia. See how that one is working out for them.
Yes I know taxes pay for services. When Mecklenburg county held a referendum on building LYNX on a half cent sales tax, I voted for it. And I pay them plenty in property taxes, to operate schools, and repair streets, build greenways (that I walk on) and as well as fund the police, jails, and fire fighters.
If North Carolina had a 4.6% flat tax like Colorado, and TABOR (which keeps tax increases in the hands of the tax payers who must approve any increase via referendum) I think that would be a decent system. But I don't like the progressive taxation, and it was especially egregious a few years ago when I entered the "surcharge" zone. That was when I seriously began considering moving out.
I think the "surcharge" was removed by the legislature recently, but it can always come back when they decide to make things "fairer".
And I'm not buying your argument that I would have had a higher tax burden under a sales tax.
2003 was the last year that I made a living as a "temp". I worked 35 hours a week (could have worked 40 but I really disliked my placement) for $12 an hour for about 8 months. Then got a better job in mid december at a white collar wage.
My Social Security statement for 2003 is $10,007. I did earn a little cash on the side, my total AGI that year was $11,308 on my tax forms. (Just dug them out and looked.)
I shopped for food at ALDI and Big Lots, bought only basics like gasoline and clothes at Wal*Mart, etc. There's no way I spent more than $5000 on "things" that year since my apartment rent was $760 and I had phone, electricity, water and apartment "trash fees" to pay for.
Even at a 10% sales tax rate that would be $500 tops on purchases for the whole year. Mecklenburg county already has a sales tax of around 8% so it's not that much more than I'd been paying anyway.
One can legally buy unpasteurized milk in South Carolina, but not in North Carolina. The sale of raw milk for human consumption has been illegal in North Carolina since 1983, and in 2004, the state outlawed cow-shares, which allowed people to purchase joint ownership in a cow and share its milk. Former Rep. Glen Bradley, R-Franklin, proposed state legislation last year legalizing raw milk, but it died in committee. There's also a federal law banning the transportation of unpasteurized milk across state borders.
We did have a representative (Glen Bradley in Franklin county) who tried to change the unpasteurized milk regulation last year. Unfortunately he was redistricted out of office by Thom Tillis and Nelson Dollar.
I've heard that North Carolina has a vehicle property tax much like its neighbors to the north (CT, MA, MD, RI, VA, etc.). In some states, having to pay vehicle property taxes is like having to pay a second car payment, especially if you're vehicle is new, expensive, and is assessed at 100% of market value by your tax jurisdiction. Even if you paid cash for your car and don't have a car note, you're still going to need to fork over a tax payment on a monthly or quarterly basis to the tax jurisdiction.
I vowed that I would never again live in a state that has a state income tax or taxes vehicles as personal property.
North Carolina has a surprisingly reasonable state fee for plates. I think it's around $30 a year.
The title, registration and tag renewal fees are about the same as I was used to elsewhere.
NC discounts their high sales (excise) tax at purchase...
but then gigs you EVERY year after to **more than** make up for that.
What I really detest though is the farce of the annual "safety" inspection.
We did have a representative (Glen Bradley in Franklin county) who tried to change the unpasteurized milk regulation last year. Unfortunately he was redistricted out of office by Thom Tillis and Nelson Dollar.
Glen Bradley, the Tea Bagger who wanted NC to print its own currency?
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