Highlights
Features
Class WarfareDanger on Kaua'i
Income Inequality
Insane Cannabis Policy
Iran & ISIS Clarified
Israel: Please Stop
March Madness and Love
Media Manipulation
Political Issues
Stoked on Surfing
Symptoms of Inner Peace
The Theft of Hawai'i
Tribute to Cary Colaianni
HoopCamp
Dividing Those Who Love the Islands
Next Surf Safari
HI
August 27, 2010 :: Permalink
Aloha ~
Each week Mr. Kalapa posts an article hoping to distract you from the biggest problem with our current tax code: it truly is UNFAIR - to hard working middle class families.
As written into law, the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 are scheduled to expire at the end of the year. These tax cuts favored our MOST RICH and added trillions of dollars to our national debt.
Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee are currently counting down to "Democratic" tax hikes. The Fox Business clock is ticking toward "the largest tax hike ever." Neither claim is true. You are being lied to! Kalapa is part of this deception.
Republicans in the House, Senate and White House passed both tax plans and included the sunset provisions. Now that the tax cuts are about to expire as THEY planned, they blame Democrats.
The loss of revenue due in part to these massive tax cuts forced the federal government to cut payments to states and municipalities; local governments suffered significant drops in revenue and were forced to find alternative means to pay for needed services.
Kalapa details many of these tax and fee increases. This has been the conservative/Republican plan - to push public revenue generation to the backs of middle class families while protecting America's MOST RICH. Now, Kalapa tries to poison you against ALL taxation - hoping you will continue to be duped into protecting the MOST RICH, who are his clients.
The solution is to raise taxes on the MOST RICH. Freedom isn't free; democracy comes at a price. Our MOST RICH today do not have it bad. During the Great Depression and post-WWII period, the Top Marginal Federal Tax Rate paid by the MOST RICH exceeded 90 percent.
For example, of people taking home over $400,000 per year in 1951, the federal government took $0.91 of every extra dollar they made. This policy continued until 1964, when the top rate dropped -- to 77 percent.
Today, our MOST RICH pay a Top Marginal Federal Tax Rate of 35 percent. If the Bush tax cuts expire as scheduled for these high earners (about 3% of the population), the rate will increase to 39 percent, which was the rate under President Clinton. This was the only period since the 1980s that our government ran a surplus and began paying down national debt.
A high earner today such a Warren Buffet, one of America's MOST RICH billionaires, pays about 16 percent in federal taxes, while you pay closer to 25 percent. Billionaires pay less by percent than do you!
When tax rates on the MOST RICH were FAIR, prosperity for the U.S. middle class rose faster than at any time not only in America but the entire HISTORY of the WORLD!
Since tax rates on the MOST RICH were slashed dramatically under Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush and George W Bush, our national debt exploded and the middle class has collapsed.
The fees and "nickel and dime" taxes Kalapa details are a result of the low taxes on our MOST RICH.
If you want FAIR taxation, demand the Bush 2001 and 2003 tax cuts be allowed to expire for the MOST RICH as scheduled. Demand Hawai'i to reinstate proper and fair taxation on our MOST RICH as well.
This is a basic question of fairness. When you can't afford to pay your mortgage or send your keiki to college and our MOST RICH can afford a dozen homes and the best private schools for their children, our system is clearly unfair.
A*L*O*H*A
Aloha ~
Each week Mr. Kalapa posts an article hoping to distract you from the biggest problem with our current tax code: it truly is UNFAIR - to hard working middle class families.
As written into law, the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 are scheduled to expire at the end of the year. These tax cuts favored our MOST RICH and added trillions of dollars to our national debt.
Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee are currently counting down to "Democratic" tax hikes. The Fox Business clock is ticking toward "the largest tax hike ever." Neither claim is true. You are being lied to! Kalapa is part of this deception.
Republicans in the House, Senate and White House passed both tax plans and included the sunset provisions. Now that the tax cuts are about to expire as THEY planned, they blame Democrats.
The loss of revenue due in part to these massive tax cuts forced the federal government to cut payments to states and municipalities; local governments suffered significant drops in revenue and were forced to find alternative means to pay for needed services.
Kalapa details many of these tax and fee increases. This has been the conservative/Republican plan - to push public revenue generation to the backs of middle class families while protecting America's MOST RICH. Now, Kalapa tries to poison you against ALL taxation - hoping you will continue to be duped into protecting the MOST RICH, who are his clients.
The solution is to raise taxes on the MOST RICH. Freedom isn't free; democracy comes at a price. Our MOST RICH today do not have it bad. During the Great Depression and post-WWII period, the Top Marginal Federal Tax Rate paid by the MOST RICH exceeded 90 percent.
For example, of people taking home over $400,000 per year in 1951, the federal government took $0.91 of every extra dollar they made. This policy continued until 1964, when the top rate dropped -- to 77 percent.
Today, our MOST RICH pay a Top Marginal Federal Tax Rate of 35 percent. If the Bush tax cuts expire as scheduled for these high earners (about 3% of the population), the rate will increase to 39 percent, which was the rate under President Clinton. This was the only period since the 1980s that our government ran a surplus and began paying down national debt.
A high earner today such a Warren Buffet, one of America's MOST RICH billionaires, pays about 16 percent in federal taxes, while you pay closer to 25 percent. Billionaires pay less by percent than do you!
When tax rates on the MOST RICH were FAIR, prosperity for the U.S. middle class rose faster than at any time not only in America but the entire HISTORY of the WORLD!
Since tax rates on the MOST RICH were slashed dramatically under Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush and George W Bush, our national debt exploded and the middle class has collapsed.
The fees and "nickel and dime" taxes Kalapa details are a result of the low taxes on our MOST RICH.
If you want FAIR taxation, demand the Bush 2001 and 2003 tax cuts be allowed to expire for the MOST RICH as scheduled. Demand Hawai'i to reinstate proper and fair taxation on our MOST RICH as well.
This is a basic question of fairness. When you can't afford to pay your mortgage or send your keiki to college and our MOST RICH can afford a dozen homes and the best private schools for their children, our system is clearly unfair.
A*L*O*H*A
