As thousands of Black Friday deal hunters filled the Oxford Valley Mall, members of PA Working Families suspended a 30-foot banner calling for an extension of middle-class tax cuts across the Woodbourne Road overpass in Middletown.
The banner hung above I-95 and read: “Tell Rep. Fitzpatrick: Extend the Middle Class Tax Cuts, 866-426-2631.”
In a release, the group said they are calling on Bucks County Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick to vote to extend tax cuts that help the middle class.
"Donald Trump doesn’t have to wake up at 4:00 a.m. to save money on a toaster, but the middle class do. We need the middle class tax cuts so that we can put people back to work and keep our economic recovery going,” Warminster resident Mary Downing is quoted as saying in a release.
President Obama recently called for an extention of the middle-class tax cuts. He also called for taxes to be increased for the raised on the wealthiest Americans, according to a story from McClatchy Newspapers.
The Fed’s latest Flow of Funds report showed that U.S. non financial companies held $1.7 trillion in liquid assets at the end of March. But newly released IRS figures show that in 2009 these companies held $4.8 trillion in liquid assets, which equals $5.1 trillion in today’s dollars, triple the Fed figure. From the companies’ point of view, it makes perfect sense these days to hoard cash. First, Congress lets overseas profits accumulate untaxed, so long as offshore subsidiaries own the cash. Second, companies have a hard time putting cash to work because fewer jobs and lower wages mean less demand for products and services. Third, a thick pile of cash gives risk-averse CEOs a nice cushion if the economy worsens. Given the enduring hard times, you might think that corporations have used up their cash since 2009. But real pretax corporate profits have soared, from less than $1.5 trillion in 2009 to $1.9 trillion in 2010 and almost $2 trillion in 2011, data from the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis shows. That is nearly $1 trillion of increased profits over two years, while actual taxes paid rose less than a tenth as much, BEA reports show.
50% of this country makes $40k or less and MOST of that 50% pays OVER 50% of there earnings in direct taxation (local, state, federal, matching, property, school, and sales taxes) I earn $26k a year and pay over 60% of my earnings in direct taxation. and you wonder why I am struggling? you want to FIX this countries middle class and lower income woes ? ie the problems the lower 50% of the entire nation are running into every day? TWO things need to change. #1 ZERO taxation on wages (wages are NOT income) and ZERO direct taxation on a person's existence. this means NO sales tax. NO matching tax. NO state tax NO local tax NO federal tax NO property tax and NO school tax. Period. Absolutely no direct tax on a persons existence AT ALL. there should be (not counting tariff's) exactly 2 taxes. #1 income tax (wages are not income) #2 tax businesses and corporations #2 is critical. you need to tax them DIRECTLY none of this "adding" the tax on as a sales tax or vat. businesses must BUILD the tax DIRECTLY in their products. (except necessitites such as food and basic clothing etc..) this is critical because taxing this way is ULTIMATELY fair. the reason is simple. it has a built in check and balance. its easy to over tax a person there is nothing they can do about it. you can't overtax a company because they just go out of business and then you get nothing.
tax too much and people simply stop buying. IE power to control the purse strings returns to the PEOPLE. now the power to tax is CORRECTLY linked to the HEALTH of the economy when WE do better they get more taxes when we do poorly they get LESS taxes which is PRECISELY as it should be. government now would have a VESTED interest in making sure WE DO WELL. this also removes the SLAVERY aspect of our tax system (and it is slavery) When you can tax individuals directly you get SLAVERY just like we have today. before you poo poo this GO FIGURE OUT YOUR ACTUAL TAX BURDEN. if you pay rent about 70% of your rent is taxes add to your numbers accordingly and add 7.75% for employee matching funds (you pay this you just don't know it they take it right out of your potential pay) I think you will be quite surprised how much your actually paying in taxes
I would not "poo poo" your analysis. I agree with much of it. I am 71+ in age and can remember back when I first started out..things were much easier..but people were poorer...we lived within our means but it was not deprivation...a washing machine was a luxury..and we did not buy stuff when the need arose...we saved for what we wanted...that way there was no instant gratification and great appreciation for what we did have. We saved our money in little brown envelopes called a budget saver. We paid cash for everything, including rent...the man came around once a month to collect and the metric for the cost of rent was a weeks pay..or maybe it was 2 but it did not require 2 paychecks to live and support kids. A person could get a decent job without a high school diploma so college was never an issue. My first job was in a 5 and 10 cent store on the west side of NYC...I made 75 cents an hour...I worked part time as I was still in school but the 20 bucks a week kept me in clothes and shoes and school supplies. If I could have one wish it would be to time travel back. I truly feel sorry for the younger generations today.
Property taxes are an oxymoron they are not taxes they are RENT. remember you do NOT own your home. the state owns your home. YOU only have right of usage under Fee Simple Title (actual ownership would be allodial title which your not allowed to have) You say the legislators won't find a solution but that is also a bit of a fiction. Saying the legislators need to find a solution is like saying YOU need to find a solution and the solution is for you to "give up" your income or at least a huge chunk of it. would you? the solution will NEVER come from legislators because you are asking them to cut their own revenue. the solution has to come from "US" enmass. my property/school taxes are 28.9% of my total earnings. over $7400 a year and I don't live in no mansion either. I live in Levittown PA in a over 30 year old home on less than 1/3 of an acre of land. the OTHER problem we have in our monetary system ENSLAVING us today is USURY in extreme. do you know what your interest rate is on your mortgage? not the fictional fairy tale abused APR but your REAL interest rate? most people are paying over 120% interest with MANY paying over 140% actual. do the math. take your monthly payment. subtract your taxes from it if they are via your payment. multiple by 12 x years on loan. subtract the principle. I think you will be shocked.
in our lifetime we will pay well over $448,000 in school taxes. (assuming 80 years) FIND ME ANY COLLEGE even that costs anywhere NEAR that much cash. where the HECK is all this money going. it sure is NOT going into our crappy schools of that I am certain.
Susan, the younger generation does for the most part live beyond their means. The immediate gratification concept I still don't understand. While I am at the tail end of the baby boomers but have always had a mindset much older than my age, I never understood the wants vs. the needs. Until people can understand the differences between the two, many will always live in debt although I know some in my age category and have always lived beyond their means and have nothing to show for it. It makes me feel sorry for those who just don't get it. Until our government wakes up and realizes they need to spend less, nothing is going to change. I also believe that the teachers union is responsnible for part of the hardships the average taxpayers faces. They certainly could use a reality check in my opinion. A choice was made several weeks ago and amazingly enough it proved my point - America is getting dumber.