David Brooks Nails Mitt Romney To Shameful Statement About Non-Tax Payers
Just another reason The New York Times remains a must read.
David Brooks nailed it this morning in The New York Times. It might be noted for those unaware that Brooks is a Republican.
“Romney’s comments also reveal that he has lost any sense of the social compact. In 1987, during Ronald Reagan’s second term, 62 percent of Republicans believed that the government has a responsibility to help those who can’t help themselves. Now, according to the Pew Research Center, only 40 percent of Republicans believe that.The Republican Party, and apparently Mitt Romney, too, has shifted over toward a much more hyperindividualistic and atomistic social view – from the Reaganesque language of common citizenship to the libertarian language of makers and takers. There’s no way the country will trust the Republican Party to reform the welfare state if that party doesn’t have a basic commitment to provide a safety net for those who suffer for no fault of their own”.
Dear Mr. Ferrell Gummitt, address: Land of Make Believe. The reason many WORKING AND OTHERWISE TAX PAYING PEOPLE don’t pay federal income tax is a little scheme initiated by President Gerald Ford and renewed by Saint Ronald of Reagan (mere president is too lowly a title for conservatives who can’t get over it and have nightly wet-dreams about when Ronnie was president!). It is called the Earned Income Tax Credit – EITC. It encourages WORK! It means that people who work low wage jobs, sometimes multiple jobs CAN PROVIDE FOR THEIR FAMILIES! It’s a REPUBLICAN IDEA! It encourages work. Quaintly, passed in the days when BOTH PARTIES would/could vote for a law that was in the best interest of the people and the country. NO FILIBUSTERS! As Deke noted, they DO pay payroll taxes, most at a greater rate (15+%) than Mittens pays on his income (“at least 13%”). They also pay sales and property taxes. A large number of the people who don’t pay federal income taxes are retired and have paid in all of their lives. Some are retired military. Why do you, Ferrell, and the Republicans hate the elderly and the military? Are they leeches? Are they “victims?” There are plenty of ice flows now due to climate change, shall we utilize them to solve this problem? By the way, the working poor paying their payroll taxes from 2001 to 2009 enabled Shrub and Paul Ryan to pay for two wars, cut taxes for the rich, expand the Medicare entitlement for drugs by putting it on THE CREDIT CARD YOUR GRANDCHILDREN WILL PAY! Because Social Security is in SURPLUS and the federal gubment takes money from the fund and gives an I.O.U.
Ferrell,
There is a difference between calling them as one sees them, and the facts. No one is getting defensive, but there is a need for a response to Romney, and he is getting it this week–another week I might add where the story stems his attempts to move his campaign forward…the weeks are not endless.
Many lower-income working Americans aren’t paying income tax these days, while they continue to pay other taxes, largely due to the fact Republicans have repeatedly cut income taxes, and if you cut income taxes for rich and poor alike then the poor tend to fall off the scale at some point.
I would also add that of the 47% of Americans who paid no income tax last year, more than half (28% of all taxpayers) have jobs and pay payroll taxes. The rest comes in at 10% being, ly, and 7% earn less than $20,000 a year.
So your lefty entitlement argument falls flat when the facts are entered.
From Bill Kristol today—a neo-con conservative…..”It’s worth recalling that a good chunk of the 47 percent who don’t pay income taxes are Romney supporters—especially of course seniors (who might well “believe they are entitled to heath care,” a position Romney agrees with), as well as many lower-income Americans (including men and women serving in the military) who think conservative policies are better for the country even if they’re not getting a tax cut under the Romney plan. So Romney seems to have contempt not just for the Democrats who oppose him, but for tens of millions who intend to vote for him.”
Ronald Reagan called ‘em as he saw ‘em. That’s why the lefty entitlement mongers are dirtying their diapers and getting so defensive. One thing about truth, you can’t argue against it, though they definitely make the attempt to spin it or marginalize it. The more information you have about an issue/problem, the better you are able to reach decisions in responding and dealing with it. If one does not allow others to know the full extent to the problem, it is a form of control that always has a poorer-than-expected outcome. Living in the land of make-believe is not a way to go through life.