Posted on 10/25/2007 7:20:43 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Senior Democrat proposes U.S. tax overhaul Thu Oct 25, 2007 9:51am EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. congressional tax writer proposed sweeping tax legislation on Thursday that would repeal a tax for the rich that has been hitting more middle-class Americans and replace it with a new tax on high-income earners.
The $1 trillion bill proposed by Rep. Charles Rangel, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, would also reduce taxes for millions of middle- and low-income taxpayers. Private equity fund managers who pay a 15 percent capital gains rate on earnings from their business deals would pay significantly higher taxes.
The bill would repeal the alternative minimum tax that was created to ensure the very wealthy did not take advantage of so many breaks they paid no federal taxes. Because of inflation, more middle-income earners have been hit by the tax. Congress has been enacting a series of temporary bills to shield most of these taxpayers from the AMT, but pressure is growing to permanently fix it.
Fixing the AMT would reduce federal revenues by almost $800 billion over 10 years. To offset that shortfall, Rangel proposed a new tax on high-income earners. People earning less than $200,000 a year would not be affected by the tax. Some individuals making between $200,000 and $250,000 could be subject to an additional 4 percent tax on income over $200,000. An additional 4.6 percent tax would be charged on earnings over $500,000 for couples, and $250,000 for individuals.
The bill would raise the standard deduction for middle- and low-income taxpayers and expand the earned income tax credit for low-wage earners. It would also increase the amount of the refundable child tax credit.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Hold on to your wallets.
Don’t make the pie bigger, just rearrange the slices..............
How about two birds with one stone?
Anyone earning under 200K qualifies for SCHIP.
Anyone earning over 200K pays for it.
Here we go again. The socialist libs BUYING VOTES with redistribution of wealth. Thanks again to the voters of 2006 who sank America’s ship and turned the helm over to a bunch of socialist, power-mad nutjobs who just want to steal from America’s producers and REAL taxpayers and give it to America’s “less-than-producers” who pay only a small percentage of America’s confiscatory tax burden.
*** WE BUY VOTES *** (the sign over DNC headquarters doorway)
anyone taking this idiot seriously? he’s a kook...from the lib party....
Why do all the new tax schemes punish achievement ? Its about time that the lower income levels start paying some taxes instead of putting it all on the individuals who REALLY earned their income ( except Hollywood of course )
But reduce spending to make up for it...don't soak the rich.
If you soak the rich, tax revenues decrease because production decreases. Get it,Rangel?
“anyone taking this idiot seriously? he’s a kook...from the lib party....”
This man is anything but an idiot! He is Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and as such, a very dangerous individual.
I wouldnt let Rangel overhaul a lemonade stand run by six year olds....
Wonder where the “fair-tax” folks sit on this issue.
I agree he's very dangerous, but that doesn't preclude the fact that he's an idiot. An idiot with a gun can be very dangerous. An idiot with a House chairmanship can be very dangerous.
Like everyone else, I'll just take my capital gains in 2008, and reduce my income in 2009 until the adults take back Congress. Let's see how much he collects.
“The $1 trillion bill proposed by Rep. Charles Rangel, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, would also reduce taxes for millions of middle- and low-income taxpayers.”
***
Yeah...riiiiiiiiiiiiight....
And even if that were true, what new tax (or fee or assessment) will take place of these “reduced taxes.”
“Its about time that the lower income levels start paying some taxes instead of putting it all on the individuals who REALLY earned their income ( except Hollywood of course )”
Plenty of ‘hign income’ folk didn’t “REALLY earn it”. Look at Theresa Heinz-Kerry, $5 million a year in dividend income. Note that none of these changes would affect that, though - it’s taxed at the 20% long term capital gains rate.
What we really need is the Fair Tax. Income tax is a joke, and a real nasty one if the IRS gets involved with you.
If we couldn’t reduce spending when the GOP had iron-fisted control of all branches of the government, we’ll never be able to reduce spending.
The only way to reduce spending is to increase taxes on everybody. As long as we run deficits, cook the books and assorted financial nonsense, we make the government spending look “cheap.”
And when something is cheap, people tend to use more of it. When we increase taxes to reflect the true cost of government, then and only then can we begin a serious reduction in the size of government.
“The top U.S. congressional tax writer proposed sweeping tax legislation on Thursday that would repeal a tax for the rich that has been hitting more middle-class Americans and replace it with a new tax on high-income earners. “
***
Socialism at its finest.
And as we all know, a “rich” person or ‘high income earner” is usually defined by the liberals as anyone making more than $2.00 per hour.
Hey, if rich folk are gettin richer off us po folk, they ought to damn well pay for it. (/s)
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