April 15 Tax Day Tea Parties

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Permalink Reply by WirelessMike on April 14, 2009 at 1:18pm

I'm bookmarking that site, myself, Munky. I used to reference urbandictionary.com to look up some of the more obscure new pop culture terminology, but it can be a little raunchy sometimes and actually have conflicting definitions, too.

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Permalink Reply by Yvonne Oxford Dougherty on April 14, 2009 at 6:46pm

FROM: http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/

April 14, 2009, 3:30 pm
Hold the Tea: Americans Fine With Taxes
By Robert Mackey

Gallup Poll

For only the second time in more than 40 years, more Americans said in the latest Gallup Poll on taxes that their tax burden was about right than said it was too high.

In news that will be bad for activists hoping to start another American Revolution with a series of protests modeled on the Boston Tea Party, a new Gallup Poll finds that a solid majority of American say the income tax they pay is “fair,” and that slightly more than half classify their own tax burden as either “about right” or “too low.”

According to Gallup, their annual April poll on taxes found this year that 48 percent of Americans said the amount of federal income tax they pay is “about right,” 3 percent say it is “too low,” and 46 percent say it is “too high.” (Goldilocks could not be reached for comment.) Gallup notes that this level of support for current tax levels is “one of the most positive assessments Gallup has measured since 1956.” In nearly all past polls, Gallup adds, a majority said their taxes were too high.

This year’s poll also found 61 percent of Americans saying that “they regard the income taxes they have to pay this year as fair.”

Looking at the implications of their findings, Gallup concludes:

As the remaining U.S. tax filers prepare to send their income-tax returns before the April 15 deadline, Gallup finds Americans’ views of their federal income taxes about as positive as at any point in the last 60 years. This may reflect the income-tax cut that was part of the $787 billion economic stimulus plan, as well as a continuing sense of patriotism with the country fighting two wars.

Gallup’s results are based on telephone interviews with 1,027 adults, and have a sampling error or plus or minus three percentage points.

Update | 4:32 p.m. Since a reader raised the question, we should point out that Gallup does break the results down by party identification and by income level, here. In general, this year’s poll finds that “slim majorities of both lower- and middle-income Americans say they pay about the right amount of taxes, while upper-income Americans tend to think they pay too much.” Gallup adds: “As is usually the case, there are partisan differences in views of taxes — most Democrats think the taxes they pay are about right, while most Republicans say their taxes are too high.”

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Permalink Reply by Certain Person on April 14, 2009 at 8:27pm

Dear Munky; I didn't mean YOU were smirky and smarmy, I meant Mr. Maddow. Teabagging seems to be a raunchy sort of term by the way she alluded to not smirking when she used the term. I don't think I could find the definition she was referring to in my dictionary. I've also seen teabagging referred to by some juveniles planning on crashing tea parties and asking conservatives how long they've been teabagging, then posting the clueless answers on youtube for other juveniles to yock it up with. Gotta be more than a little packet of lipton at the end of a string, to cause such hilarity.

Munky said:

Dear Dee: Here's a genteel online encyclopedia that explains it in technical terms:
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/teabag?rdfrom=Teabag
Please note that I did not tell you to "stuff yourself". That is your emotional reaction to my stepping aside an awkward situation. You might considering adding wictionary to your list of favorites, so that you could look up words occasionally. For instance smarm means to be fawning and unctuous. Your statements were not smarm-worthy.

Yes. I do smirk. I consider myself to have a sense of humor.
Munky
Dee said:

So you've answered my question with many other questions and then tell me to stuff myself, by researching my question myself? Lotta help, Munky. If I were to research the term 'teabagging', what I would probably come up with is XXXXXX rated sites complete with large photos of the explanation. I once researched a term, used by the gay/lesbian folks, and up came, unbidden, a page of well muscled young men in bed and other places, with amazingly large, realistic 'toys'. Now, anything I think might have anything to do with that group of people, I look for answers in a more genteel way. Easily distracted? Dunno but I'm easily over smarmed and smirked.

>Munky said:

Easily distracted, eh?
I suggest that you forward the video to 4:00 of 5:25 and watch it from that point forward.
The salient points are:
1. Why are they protesting NOW? The biggest middle class tax cut in American history has just been passed.
2. Are they upset that tax rates for those making over $250K will go back to where they were during the Clinton Administration? We all know how much the rich suffered under Clinton. (That was sarcasm: the rich did well during the 90's.)
3. If they are upset about the deficit, why didn't they protest during the 8 years of the Bush administration when a surplus was turned into a progessively larger deficit.

Regarding that pop culture thing: you can research that yourself.

Dee said:

Okay, I get the impression that 'teabagging' means something other than the use of tea bags, in the gay/lesbian community, judging from the half of the youtube clip I could bear to watch. Somebody want to enlighten me, since I seem to be out of the loop in 'pop culture' slang?

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Permalink Reply by WirelessMike on April 14, 2009 at 11:02pm

Excellent research, Yvonne, and I, too, am not upset with the amount I'm being taxed.

But then, that's not what the original Boston Tea Party was about, either. Like the colonists of old, I have other related problems.

From wikipedia:
"The protest movement that culminated with the Boston Tea Party was not a dispute about high taxes. The price of legally imported tea was actually reduced by the Tea Act of 1773. Protestors were instead concerned with a variety of other issues. The familiar "no taxation without representation" argument, along with the question of the extent of Parliament's authority in the colonies, remained prominent."

Similar to the original protesters, I'm concerned about my representation for my taxation. Namely, how much of our taxes are being spent, and especially what our taxes are being spent on.

Most importantly, though, I want you to know that I not only appreciate your opinion, as well as the findings of the poll you cite, but my own opinion is reflected in those findings.

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Permalink Reply by Yvonne Oxford Dougherty on April 15, 2009 at 7:08am

Mike:
I applaud Americans involved with the Tea Party today for exercising their right to free speech and peaceable assembly.
I found a website that helped me understand taxes and spending and, ironically, it is at the IRS website:
http://www.irs.gov/app/understandingTaxes/student/links.jsp
There is a whole page devoted to Lesson Plan links for Teachers on taxes and the free economy. I found it enlightening.
On the above link there is a Citizen's Guide to the Federal Budget. In 2008, our tax dollars were spent on the following:

20.8% on Social Security
20.5% on Defense
20.1% on Medicare/Medicaid
17.9% on Non Defense Discretionary
12.8% on Mandatory
7.9% on Interest on the National Debt

It seems that 41% of our tax dollar is spent on programs for the elderly (that is derived from the amount that we and our employer pay in on Social Security and Medicare.) I saw another breakdown (which, I suppose, comes under the columns "Mandatory" and "Non Discretionary Defense") and about 3% is spent on police officers, and a small percentage spent on education, etc.

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Permalink Reply by WirelessMike on April 15, 2009 at 7:39am

I wonder what those percentages become once the bailout is factored in (I don't see AIG in there anywhere, but I think they got some of our tax money, too). Moreover, I wonder what the percentages for 2009 become once the stimulus package is factored in...

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Permalink Reply by Yvonne Oxford Dougherty on April 15, 2009 at 8:28am

Mike:
That is a good question. I will be interested to see the breakdown, as well.
Von

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Permalink Reply by Certain Person on April 15, 2009 at 11:21am

Oh Dear GOD!! I just read the definition of teabagging. Now, please excuse me while I vomit. How disgusting can people get, anyway? Yeah, I'm a prude.

Shelli Russell said:

Not to be confused with having a pretty mouth, right? To add to the reference sources, note that you can double-click any word on MySaline and get a pop-up definition. I'm just saying!

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Permalink Reply by Certain Person on April 15, 2009 at 11:30am

I think it's outrageous that so little of the budget goes for the elderly. In a rich country like this, our elderly should not have to worry about anything. Their total health care should be priority, with lesiure being high on the list, due to the service the elderly have rendered to the country. The elderly should have comfy shoes that are fashionable, nice cars with solitious drivers, cooks that care about taste as well as well-being. The elderly should be exempt from all taxes, including sales of any sort. And gasoline should be free (for the elderly).

Where's the line in that budged for education? Is that included in the 12% manditory?

Yvonne Dougherty said:

Mike:
I applaud Americans involved with the Tea Party today for exercising their right to free speech and peaceable assembly.
I found a website that helped me understand taxes and spending and, ironically, it is at the IRS website:
http://www.irs.gov/app/understandingTaxes/student/links.jsp
There is a whole page devoted to Lesson Plan links for Teachers on taxes and the free economy. I found it enlightening.
On the above link there is a Citizen's Guide to the Federal Budget. In 2008, our tax dollars were spent on the following:

20.8% on Social Security
20.5% on Defense
20.1% on Medicare/Medicaid
17.9% on Non Defense Discretionary
12.8% on Mandatory
7.9% on Interest on the National Debt

It seems that 41% of our tax dollar is spent on programs for the elderly (that is derived from the amount that we and our employer pay in on Social Security and Medicare.) I saw another breakdown (which, I suppose, comes under the columns "Mandatory" and "Non Discretionary Defense") and about 3% is spent on police officers, and a small percentage spent on education, etc.

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Permalink Reply by Yvonne Oxford Dougherty on April 15, 2009 at 11:39am

Dee:
I think that I read that somewhere that between 4% - 6% of the federal budget is spent on education. I imagine that Homeland Security and police departments are included in non-defense discretionary, but I do not know.
I can't say enough for my orthopedic shoes. They are comfy.
Von

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Permalink Reply by Munky on April 15, 2009 at 11:56am

This is in response to: "I think it's outrageous that so little of the budget goes for the elderly. In a rich country like this, our elderly should not have to worry about anything. Their total health care should be priority, with lesiure being high on the list, due to the service the elderly have rendered to the country. The elderly should have comfy shoes that are fashionable, nice cars with solitious drivers, cooks that care about taste as well as well-being. The elderly should be exempt from all taxes, including sales of any sort. And gasoline should be free (for the elderly)."

Based on that statement, one might conclude that you consider yourself to be among the elderly. Since the 20.8% spent on social security and 20.1% spent on medicare/medicaid totals 40.9%, the elderly are already getting a big share of the Federal budget. On the other hand, the elderly have had a lifetime to accumulate, and many of them were privileged to work at a time when our nation still had industrial and manufacturing jobs that paid a living wage and had fringe benefits, such as health insurance and defined benefit pension plans. Also, they had the opportunity to buy real estate before decades of price inflation made home ownership so difficult.

The folks that I feel sorry for are the young people that don't have good job opportunities. The big boxes that sell mainly Chinese imports (Lowes, Walmart, Freds, Home Depot, JCPenney, etc.) don't pay a living wage, yet employees are expected to contribute to defined contribution pension plans (e.g. 401Ks) to save for their future retirement. It's hard to save for the future when you can't make ends meet in the present.

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Permalink Reply by WirelessMike on April 15, 2009 at 12:53pm

I don't know about free gas for the elderly... I nearly got shoved completely off I-30 by a BHD (blue-haired driver) just a couple weeks ago and just barely avoided a head-on collision with one in the parking lot of Wal Mart back in March. I'm not for giving those two any extra incentive to spend more time behind the wheel. ;-)

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