Posted on 01/18/2012 6:30:28 AM PST by governsleastgovernsbest
We'll leave it to others to assess the political fallout from Mitt Romney's statement yesterday that he paid about 15% in federal income taxes. But let's at least get some facts straight.
On Morning Joe today, Joe Scarborough claimed that the revelations about Mitt Romney's taxes might be his Dukakis-in-the-tank moment. Scarborough repeated the shibboleth Warren Buffett put into circulation that at 15%, the super-rich like Romney pay a lower tax rate than secretaries. But is that so? Running the numbers suggest otherwise.
See video and analysis here.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsbusters.org ...
Any secretary paying more than 15% effective rate needs to see an accountant ASAP.
Mittens pays a lower tax rate than his secretary. Oh the horror! Maybe Mittens should fire his secretary, then her tax rate will drop to 0% and all the talking heads will be happy. (which goes to show that tax rate means nothing)
Ping to Today show list.
15% flat tax for all. Includes the social security tax. Don’t have enough of our money big brother? Cut the Federal government by 80%. We won’t even notice.
It depends, did he wear a snoopy hat while making the announcement?
apillar:"It depends, did he wear a snoopy hat ....?
Talk about Romney's magic underwear and hat are so last century.
So is Romney-the-Ineligible.
He may pay at a lower rate, but dollars to doughnuts he donates more to charity and has a huge tax bill. When is enough enough?
Same as Bufett. Capital gains is 15%.
What’s a secretary?
Ordinary income is currently taxed at rates up to 35 percent. However, net capital gains (the excess of a net long-term capital gain over any net short-term capital loss) and qualified dividends are currently taxed at a maximum rate of 15 percent.
You might observe that Romney's effective rate will be compared to the secretary's marginal rate and the comparison will be based on different categories of income. Anything to promote the narrative.
For you freepers from Yorba Linda or Port St. Lucie: "effective" tax rate is not your bracket but rather what you pay as a percentage of your total taxable income. So if you pay zero for the first $20,000 and 10 percent for your next $20,000 (10 percent of 20K is $2,000), you are paying a 5 percent effective rate ($2,000 out of $40,000). These numbers are just for illustration. No secretary, except for one with a very high income for the field, is going to pay a 15 percent effective rate. I'm checking our joint return right now and there can't be more than a few secretaries in the country (without significant stock options and such) who make that kind of money. Our effective federal rate is 11.84 percent; the state plus local effective rate is 8.90 percent.
“What’s a secretary?”
Good one. Nowadays they are called Wordpad and Voicemail.
“He may pay at a lower rate, but dollars to doughnuts he donates more to charity and has a huge tax bill. When is enough enough?”
Yes, I read that Romney has donated 5 million to the LDS church over the past 5 years. I wonder how much his secretary donated.
A “tithe” by the biblical definition is 10%. Plus, the LDS have other “offerings” that they use for the poor and humanitarian needs. It wouldn’t surprise me if Mitt is giving more than 10 percent to the Mormon Church, and I have no problem with it.
I would, however be interested in seeing what other charities he is giving to.
But you are right... when is enough enough?
Frankly, the whole business is still part of the politics of envy and class division. We Conservatives should know better.
That way, we save hundreds of billions of dollars per year now spent on tax compliance, encourage more savings and capital investment in the USA (e.g, banks are fully funded and jobs return to the USA), and with no more tax loopholes, kick out most of the corrupting tax lobbyists out of Washington, DC the rich will actually pay their fair share for a change.
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