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By David Edwards
Friday, February 3, 2012 9:06 EST
A day after insisting that the media had taken his comments about not being concerned for the poor out of context, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney shifted positions on Thursday, claiming he simply “misspoke.”
On Monday, Romney had told CNN’s Soledad O’Brien that he wasn’t running for president to help the most impoverished Americans.
“I’m not concerned about the very poor, we have a safety net there, if we need to repair, I’ll fix it,” he said. “The challenge right now — we will hear from the Democrat party the plight of the poor. And there’s no question it’s not good being poor. And we have a safety net to help those that are very poor, but my campaign is focused is on middle-income Americans.”
A day later aboard his campaign charter plane, the candidate blamed reporters for not putting his comment in context.
“No, no, no, no,” the former Massachusetts governor said. “You’ve got to take the whole sentence, all right, as opposed to saying, and then change it just a little bit, because then it sounds very different. I’ve said throughout the campaign my focus, my concern, my energy is gonna be devoted to helping middle income people, all right?”
Speaking to KSNV’s John Ralston later that afternoon, Romney finally began to take responsibility for his remarks.
“John, it was a misstatement,” the candidate asserted. “I misspoke.”
“I’ve said something that is similar to that but quite acceptable for a long time. And you know when you do I don’t know how many thousands of interviews, now and then you may get it wrong. And I misspoke, plain and simple.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/03/romney-i-misspoke-about-the-poor/
Watch this video from KSNV, Face to Face, broadcast Feb. 2, 2012.
"Please Define Middle Income, many folks do not get Married because they have to pay Higher Taxes, and speaking of marriage, why are you against Same Sex Marriage???"By David Edwards
Friday, February 3, 2012 9:06 EST
A day after insisting that the... more
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By David Edwards
Thursday, February 2, 2012 13:36 EST
President Barack Obama proved on Thursday that conservatives don’t have a monopoly on using religion to advocate for specific public policies.
Speaking to a group of mostly-conservative politicians at the annual National Prayer Breakfast, the president quoted scripture in a effort to get Republicans to support a fairer tax code and caring for the poor.
“When I talk about our financial institutions playing by the same rules as folks on main street, when I talk about making sure insurance companies aren’t discriminating against those who are already sick or making sure that unscrupulous lenders aren’t taking advantage of the most vulnerable among us, I do so because I genuinely believe it will make the economy stronger for everybody,” Obama explained. “But I also do it because I know far too many neighbors in our country have been hurt and treated unfairly over the last few years. And I believe in God’s command to love thy neighbor as thyself.”
“And when I talk about shared responsibility, it’s because I genuinely believe at a time when folks are struggling, at a time when we have enormous deficits, it’s hard for me to ask seniors on a fixed income or young people with student loans or middle class families who can barely pay the bills to shoulder the burden alone. And I think to myself, if I am willing to give something up as someone who has been extraordinarily blessed, give up some of the tax breaks that I enjoy — I actually think that’s going to make economic sense.”
He added: “But for me as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus’s teaching that for unto whom much is given, much shall be required.”
“Treating others as you want to be treated, requiring much from those who have been given so much, living by the principle that we are our brother’s keeper, caring for the poor and those in need, these values are old and they can be found in many denominations and many faiths and among many believers and among many non-believers. They’re values that have always made this country great when we live up to them, when we just don’t just give lip service to them, and we just don’t talk about them one day a year.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/02/obama-gets-biblical-on-republican-tax-critics/
Watch this video from CNN, broadcast Feb. 1, 2012.
"Excellent job BO, beat the Bastard Bible Thumpers with their own Bible, BRAVO!!!!"By David Edwards
Thursday, February 2, 2012 13:36 EST
President Barack Obama... more
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But tax experts tell ABC News there are other reasons Romney may not want the public viewing his returns. As one of the wealthiest candidates to run for president in recent times, Romney has used a variety of techniques to help minimize the taxes on his estimated $250 million fortune. In addition to paying the lower tax rate on his investment income, Romney has as much as $8 million invested in at least 12 funds listed on a Cayman Islands registry. Another investment, which Romney reports as being worth between $5 million and $25 million, shows up on securities records as having been domiciled in the Caymans.
Official documents reviewed by ABC News show that Bain Capital, the private equity partnership Romney once ran, has set up some 138 secretive offshore funds in the Caymans.
....but "people are really losing patience with the idea that a lot of multinational corporations have and a lot of wealthy people have that while they benefit from everything this country has to offer … they don't seem to be willing to pay their fair share," she said.
http://tinyurl.com/6tqz9azBut tax experts tell ABC News there are other reasons Romney may not want the public... more
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By Andrew Jones
Monday, January 2, 2012
Appearing on the CBS News program 60 Minutes on Sunday night, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) experienced an awkward moment when he was challenged to admit that his hero, President Ronald Reagan, did in fact raise taxes.
Cantor was speaking with interviewer Lesley Stahl, who asked if he was ready to start compromising with Democrats on taxes. Cantor said he was indeed “ready to cooperate,” but then hedged his response.
“But what’s the difference between compromise and cooperate?” Stahl asked.
“I would say cooperate is ‘Let’s look to where we can move things forward to where we agree,” Cantor said. “Compromising principles, you don’t want to ask anybody to do that. That’s who they are as their core being.”
Stahl then mentioned to Cantor how his “idol” Reagan compromised his principles by raising taxes during his presidency. Cantor tried to deflect the focus by mentioning that Reagan cut taxes, but Stahl reiterated her point.
Upset at the reporter, Cantor’s press secretary yelled off camera, “That’s not true, and I don’t want to let that stand.”
No matter if Cantor, his staff or conservatives at-large want to deny that Reagan raised taxes, what Stahl said is completely true.
After his huge tax cut in 1981 slashed all tax rates to 23 percent, sparking a budget crisis, Reagan realized he’d also have to raise taxes in the years that followed. He raised taxes four times between 1982 to 1984, increasing the payroll tax, broadening the base of Social Security payees, applying the income tax to higher earners and rolling back corporate and individual tax breaks.
Reagan’s historic tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, whose rate went from 70 percent to 28 percent during his administration, ultimately forced the president to raise taxes on more people than any other U.S. president during a time of peace, according to New York Times columnist Paul Krugman.
In total, Reagan raised taxes 12 times during his two terms in office.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/02/cantor-refuses-to-admit-reagan-raised-taxes/
WATCH: Video from CBS, which was broadcast on January 1, 2012. (Selected mark starts at 10:27.)
"Something about the Eleventh Commandment I take it???"By Andrew Jones
Monday, January 2, 2012
Appearing on the CBS News program 60... more
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Washington -- Still stinging from the lowly 10% approval rating it received from the American public, Congress has taken revenge, bestowing a measly four percent approval rating on taxpaying citizens.
“Taxpayers are doing a terrible job of providing the House and the Senate with the resources we need to run America correctly,” said one prominent Senator who asked to remain anonymous. “You ask us: ‘where are the jobs?’ We’re asking you: ‘where is the cash?’ ”
The Senator went on to deny the public’s charge that Congress can’t get together to accomplish anything worthwhile. “Right here is an issue 96% of all Senators and Representatives agree upon. Only 4% of my colleagues believe American taxpayers are holding up their end of the bargain.”
A long-term Representative, who asked to remain anonymous, said that American taxpayers are not working as hard as they should because they are being “distracted by the details of democracy.
“They need to let their Congressmen and Senators take care of such things as liberty, justice and freedom. Most of us are lawyers so we know how to work around those issues. Just send us the money and we will make everything okey-dokey.”
Another Representative, who asked to remain anonymous, began weeping when questioned about the record low approval rating Congress received this month.
“Sticks and stones can break my bones, but those low approval numbers give me a bad case of the blues. So I’m glad my colleagues had the courage to turn the tables. You suck, taxpayers.”
Building on the anti-taxpayer momentum, one Senate leader, who asked to remain anonymous, has drafted a bill “that would make corporations more like people, so they can make up for the increasing number of taxpaying slackers.
“My bill proposes that we give all corporations friendly nicknames, like Fred and Bob. Buy them a cake on their birthdays. Take them out for lunch, even when there’s no special occasion. And if some insider stock information is discussed, there’s nothing wrong with good friends shooting the breeze.”
Also included in the proposed law is a motion that would sell the naming rights to several Washington landmarks. Reportedly, a deal already has been cut with a major bank, renaming Congress’ home “The Capital One Capitol.”
“What’s in your Constitution?“ the Senator asked.Washington -- Still stinging from the lowly 10% approval rating it received from the... more
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Republicans find themselves in a dilemma. They claim to be the party of tax cuts, and they don’t want you to know that the only tax cuts they really care about are for millionaires, billionaires and corporate criminals. They have already earned some very bad PR trying to block the payroll tax cut extension. With the need to renew it fast approaching, they can either keep holding workers hostage trying to blackmail Democrats for something they want, or they can give a tax cut to working people, without getting welfare for the super-rich in return, an anathema to Republicans. It appears that their early attempts at economic terrorism through blackmail are not working.Republicans find themselves in a dilemma. They claim to be the party of tax cuts, and... more
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"Total corporate federal taxes paid fell to 12.1% of profits earned from activities within the U.S. in fiscal 2011, which ended Sept. 30, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That’s the lowest level since at least 1972. And well below the 25.6% companies paid on average from 1987 to 2008."
So not only is Mittens paying less in taxes than those struggling to survive, but corporations are paying even less. When trillions of dollars in profits are made every year by corporations, you would think that they would be paying a fair rate. The myth is that we have the highest corporate tax rate in the world. The true is that we have the largest set of loop holes that allow our corporations to pay one of the lowest tax rates in the industrial world.
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/02/03/418171/corporate-taxes-40-year-low/?mobile=nc"Total corporate federal taxes paid fell to 12.1% of profits earned from... more
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Two of the finest whines Republicans have with their cheese are that corporate taxes are too high and that Obama has raised corporate taxes. The more Republicans whine about these things, the more uninformed people believe them. However, these are Republican politicians and pundits, so whenever there are whining, they are also doing something else. They are lying.Two of the finest whines Republicans have with their cheese are that corporate taxes... more
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By Stephen C. Webster
Thursday, February 2, 2012 15:20 EST
Comedian Chris Rock told The Associated Press this week that he would gladly pay more in taxes if it meant more Americans have jobs.
Speaking to reporters at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Rock commented that he was “gonna lose the money,” suggesting that he would rather see his tax dollars being used by the government to support jobs than having his children’s teacher ask him for a loan.
“I look at it this way: I can pay higher taxes and people can have jobs, or I can pay lower taxes and have my kids’ teacher asking me for a loan because she’s gonna lose her house, which is true,” he said. “Stuff like that happens. So, I’m gonna lose the money no matter what.”
Rock, an Emmy and Grammy award winner who’s written films and starred in several of his own HBO specials, reportedly has a net worth of over $70 million.
He’s only the latest in a string of wealthy individuals, like billionaire investor Warren Buffett and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, to come out in favor of higher taxes on America’s wealthy. Because of their immense wealth, Rock, Buffett, Gates and other rich Americans would fall under a plan proposed by President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies that would raise the tax rate on millionaires to 30 percent.
The top 400 earners in America paid an average effective tax rate of just 18.2 percent in 2008. Approximately 94,500 millionaires pay a lower effective tax rate than millions of families earning less than $100,000, according to the Congressional Research Service (PDF). Tax rates on the highest earners are at historic lows thanks to a massive tax break for the wealthy passed during the Bush administration, which if revoked could close the country’s budget deficit.
Facing a $15 trillion national debt, President Obama has called the need for more government revenues a moral imperative, and even quoted scripture to his Republican rivals, who accuse the president of engaging in “class warfare” for his efforts to make tax rates for the rich and poor more equitable.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/02/chris-rock-id-gladly-pay-more-in-taxes/
This video was published by The Associated Press on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012.
"Right on Chris, good for you, a real, thinking American!!!!" =)By Stephen C. Webster
Thursday, February 2, 2012 15:20 EST
Comedian Chris Rock... more
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I don’t need to tell you that Republicans govern exclusively for the benefit of millionaires, billionaires and corporate criminals. They always have excuse for why they should raise YOUR taxes to cut them even more for the one percent. This one is a whopper. They say that the rich should pay less because, otherwise, they will cheat more on their taxes. Really! I’m not kidding! However, like their claims on virtually everything else, Republicans are lying about this too...I don’t need to tell you that Republicans govern exclusively for the benefit of... more
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Nothing could be more simple or more obvious. It is a grave injustice when people making a million dollars or more pay taxes at a lesser rate than the people in their secretarial pools. Newt “13.9%” Romney is a perfect example. In his State of the Union Address, Barack Obama proposed a Buffet Rule to address this. Republicans booed him. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) is about to introduce a bill to implement the Buffet Rule.Nothing could be more simple or more obvious. It is a grave injustice when people... more
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Republicans often provide us with a sense of déjà vu, as they resort to draconian practices in ways that we have seen before. Whatever Bill Clinton’s shortcomings, he did nothing worthy of impeachment, such as starting lengthily wars of aggression, torture, or using the federal bureaucracy in an attempt to attain a permanent Republican regime at taxpayer expense. Nevertheless, they did impeach Clinton, just to gridlock the government and prevent him from achieving more of his objectives. That time may well come again.Republicans often provide us with a sense of déjà vu, as they resort to... more
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As Obama demands rich Americans pay more in taxes, the IRS reveals 36 White House staff are far behind in their own taxes. That's an average of $23,138 per staff member!
How embarrassing this must be for President Obama, whose major speech theme so far this campaign season has been that every single American, no matter how rich, should pay their "fair share" of taxes.
Because how unfair -- indeed, un-American -- it is for an office worker like, say, Warren Buffet's secretary to dutifully pay her taxes, while some well-to-do people with better educations and higher incomes end up paying a much smaller tax rate.
Or, worse, skipping their taxes altogether.
A new report just out from the Internal Revenue Service reveals that 36 of President Obama's executive office staff owe the country $833,970 in back taxes. These people working for Mr. Fair Share apparently haven't paid any share, let alone their fair share.
Previous reports have shown how well-paid Obama's White House staff is, with 457 aides pulling down more than $37 million last year. That's up seven workers and nearly $4 million from the Bush administration's last year.
Nearly one-third of Obama's aides make more than $100,000 with 21 being paid the top White House salary of $172,200, each.
The IRS' 2010 delinquent tax revelations come as part of a required annual agency report on federal employees' tax compliance. Turns out, an awful lot of folks being paid by taxpayers are not paying their own income taxes.
The report finds that thousands of federal employees owe the country more than $3.4 billion in back taxes. That's up 3% in the past year.
That scale of delinquency could annoy voters, hard-pressed by their own costs, fears and stubbornly high unemployment despite Joe Biden's many promises.
The tax offenders include employees of the U.S. Senate who help write the laws imposed on everyone else. They owe $2.1 million. Workers in the House of Representatives owe $8.5 million, Department of Education employees owe $4.3 million and over at Homeland Security, 4,697 workers owe about $37 million. Active duty military members owe more than $100 million.
The Treasury Department, where Obama nominee Tim Geithner had to pay up $42,000 in his own back taxes before being confirmed as secretary, has 1,181 other employees with delinquent taxes totaling $9.3 million.
As usual, the Postal Service, with more than 600,000 workers, has the most offenders (25,640), who also owe the most -- almost $270 million. Veterans Affairs has 11,659 workers owing the IRS $151 million while the Energy Department that was so quick to dish out more than $500 million to the Solyndra folks has 322 employees owing $5 million.
The country's chief law enforcement agency, the Department of Justice, has 2,069 employees who are nearly $17 million behind in taxes. Like Operation Fast and Furious, Attorney General Eric Holder has apparently missed them too.
As with ordinary people, the IRS attempts to negotiate back-tax payment plans with all delinquents, whose names cannot be released. But according to current federal law, the only federal employees who can be fired for not paying taxes are IRS workers.As Obama demands rich Americans pay more in taxes, the IRS reveals 36 White House... more
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As much as Barack Obama for an America is fair to all, Mitt Romney stands equally for the scions of privilege, the 1%. It is not that anyone objects to the rich having money. In Romney’s case we object to his history of enriching himself by screwing American workers and outsourcing American jobs. W also object to Romney insisting that the neediest Americans should have less, so he can have more. It that light, Mr. 13.9% is almost as good a nickname for Romney as Rmoney is.As much as Barack Obama for an America is fair to all, Mitt Romney stands equally for... more
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By Eric W. Dolan
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 19:38 PM EST
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Wednesday rebutted Republicans who accused President Barack Obama of engaging in class warfare.
“They talk about class warfare — the fact of the matter is there has been class warfare for the last thirty years,” he said on MSNBC’s Politics Nation. “It’s a handful of billionaires taking on the entire middle-class and working-class of this country.”
“And the result is you now have in America the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country on Earth and the worst inequality in America since 1928. How could anybody defend the top 400 richest people in this country owning more wealth than the bottom half of America, 150 million people?”
Sanders said he was mostly pleased with Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night. But he was concerned that Obama signaled he was willing to compromise with Republicans on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
“Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are life and death for tens of millions of our people, we’ve got to defend those programs.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/25/sen-bernie-sanders-blasts-u-s-wealth-gap/
Watch video, uploaded to YouTube by Sander’s office...
"Have at it Bernie, folks need to hear what you have to share...."By Eric W. Dolan
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 19:38 PM EST
Sen. Bernie Sanders... more
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Mitt Romney has never hidden the fact that he has a promised tithe to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but according to his tax returns released today, he gives back more to the Mormons than he pays to the federal government. Since 2010, the Romneys have given $7 million to charity, but over $4 million of that went directly to the Mormon Church, while they paid only $3 million to the IRS last year.
The Mormon Church is notoriously anti-gay, having raised an estimated $22 million in support of California’s Proposition 8 in 2008, in addition to providing close to 90 percent of the early door-to-door volunteers advocating for the discriminatory measure. Because of blowback from this effort, LDS has been less aggressive in anti-gay campaigns, although just last week church leaders endorsed Minnesota’s marriage discrimination amendment. Some have questioned whether its involvement in ballot measures should compromise the church’s tax-exempt status and there is an on-going petition calling on the IRS to revoke it.
http://tinyurl.com/7oc3e4kMitt Romney has never hidden the fact that he has a promised tithe to the Church of... more
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He makes his money the same way I make my money. He makes money by moving around big bucks, not by straining his back and going to work cleaning the toilets or whatever it may be. He makes it shoving around money. I make it shoving around money. If you look at the 400 highest incomes in the United States, they average $220 million. Something like 90 of them are effectively unemployed. They have no earned income, and that number has gone up over the years.
It’s the wrong policy to have. Nothing wrong about Romney doing that. He will not pay more than the law requires. I don’t fault him for that in the least, but I do fault the law that allows him and me, earning enormous sums to pay over all federal taxes at a rate that is about half what the average person in my office pays.
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/01/23/409332/buffett-romney-money-shoving/
"Well Now!!! I find it hard to disagree with Mr. Buffett, what do you Folks think???"He makes his money the same way I make my money. He makes money by moving around big... more
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By David Edwards
Sunday, January 22, 2012
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said on Sunday that he may block an extension of the payroll tax holiday if President Barack Obama does not approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
“We’re going to do everything we can to make sure that this Keystone pipeline is in fact approved,” the Speaker told Fox News host Chris Wallace.
“Are you saying you may link the Keystone pipeline to extending the payroll tax holiday?” Wallace asked.
“We may,” Boehner admitted. “As I say, all options are on the table.”
“Why not demand that if he wants the payroll tax cut, he has to approve it?” Wallace urged. “In other words, it comes with it. You want the payroll tax cut, the pipeline goes with it.”
“All options are on the table,” Boehner repeated.
Wallace also noted that during his upcoming annual State of the Union speech, Obama would ask for more help for the middle class, propose that the wealth pay more taxes and suggest a “grand bargain” to cut the deficit and raise the nation’s debt limit.
“It sounds to me like the same old policies that we’ve seen,” Boehner complained. “And if that’s what the president’s going to talk about Tuesday night, I think it’s pathetic.”
Last week, the Obama administration rejected TransCanada Corp.’s plan to pipe Canadian oil sands through sensitive environmental areas to Gulf Coast refineries. The 2 percentage point payroll tax cut for 160 million workers expires in February.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/22/boehner-may-hold-payroll-tax-cut-hostage-over-keystone-pipeline/
Watch this video from Fox News’ Fox News Sunday, broadcast Jan. 22, 2012.
"Ain't nobody who has tried Harder than Mr Boehner, LMFAO!!!!"By David Edwards
Sunday, January 22, 2012
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said... more
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