Tax the Poor to Feed the Rich

[dccrossman]

Gosh, I'm just so proud to live in Georgia where you can already depend on a family of 4 making less than $16,000 a year to pay their share of taxes. I guess we can still say we're not as bad as Alabama and Mississippi...

http://www.cbpp.org/10-29-08sfp.htm

Some states levy income tax on working families in severe poverty. Nine states — Alabama, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and West Virginia — tax the income of two-parent families of four earning less than three-quarters of the poverty line ($15,902). And six states — Alabama, Hawaii, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, and West Virginia —tax the income of one-parent families of three earning less than three-quarters of the poverty line ($12,398).

In some states, families living in poverty face income tax bills of several hundred dollars. A two-parent family of four in Alabama with income at the poverty line owes $423 in income tax, while such a family owes $409 in Hawaii, $325 in Oregon, and $258 in West Virginia. Such amounts can make a big difference to a family struggling to escape poverty. Other states levying tax of more than $200 on families with poverty-level incomes include Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Montana. At the other end of the spectrum, a growing number of states offer significant refunds to low-income working families, primarily through Earned Income Tax Credits.

Between 2006 and 2007, states’ tax treatment of poor families improved in a number of states, but worsened in others. Twelve states implemented measures to shield more low-income families from the income tax or to reduce the taxes they owe. Alabama, Arkansas, New Jersey, and West Virginia — which in 2006 levied some of the highest taxes on low-income families — made major improvements in 2007.

And this happens in our country, one of the richest in the world.

This report is released on the same day as we see Exxon breaking profit records AGAIN.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/30/news/companies/exxon_earnings/index.htm?cnn=yes

Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500), the leading U.S. oil company, said its third-quarter net profit was $14.83 billion, or $2.86 per share, up from $9.41 billion, or $1.70, a year earlier. That profit included $1.45 billion in special items.

Exxon's prior record was $11.68 billion in the second quarter of 2008.

The company said its revenue totaled $137.7 billion in the third quarter.

I think a little "sharing of the wealth" might be called for.

If you aren't angry, then you aren't paying attention.

[Crazy Dave]

1. It's sickening

And I'll bet they're not considered real Americans like "Joe The Plummer" who works so hard and they're trying to take away all his money and give it to them.

I'll never know what it's like to have a rich person's mentality. If I bring home $6 million a year and the government wants to tax me an additional $250k a year is my life going to really be that bad? Will I lose my cars, my home, or my yacht or will my kids have to go to a state university if I can only take home $5,750,000?

[Blue Meany]

2. Most of these are also "right to starve" states also - just goes

to show that unions make a big difference in framing political debates, which is why Republicans want to wipe them out

[SammyWinstonJack]

3. K&R