income taxes

The other day I covered how the 53%ers are apparently against the very policies they have advocated for years. The 47% of people not paying federal income tax do so in a large part because of the Bush tax cuts and we know the right has been a long time advocate of those tax cuts. Now let’s look at a chart of those 47% that don’t pay federal income tax and what composes that group, courtesy of the Brookings Institute:

Credit: Brookings Institute

Brookings explains the breakdown as such:

The fringe elements of America’s right continues to show it’s ugly head:

Georgia state Rep. Bobby Franklin (R) has made a name for himself by introducing far-right extremist bills. He has introduced legislation barring the state from requiring vaccinations, eliminating income taxes and replacing them with nothing, and requiring state taxpayers to only pay in gold or silver.

Now, he has introduced what may be his most offensive and extreme bill yet. Last week he unveiled HB 1, which would, as the parenting blog Babble explains, “require proof that a miscarriage occurred naturally.” If proof could not be provided, the mother could face “felony charges”:

State Rep. Bobby Franklin of Georgia introduced a bill in his state last week that, if enacted, would require proof that a miscarriage occurred naturally. If a woman can’t prove that her miscarriage–or spontaneous abortion–occurred without intervention, she could face felony charges.

Funny how the Republicans went after Obama cabinet nominees for tax problems, yet their own star has her own problems:

Gov. Sarah Palin must pay income taxes on thousands of dollars in expense money she received while living at her Wasilla home, under a new determination by state officials.

The governor's office wouldn't say this week how much she owes in back taxes for meal money, or whether she intends to continue to receive the per diem allowance. As of December, she was still charging the state for meals and incidentals.

"The amount of taxes owed is a private matter," Sharon Leighow, Palin's spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. "If the governor collects future per diem, those documents would be a matter of public record."

The revelation about Palin comes as U.S. senators, including Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, are under scrutiny over back taxes. A survey by the political newspaper and Web site Politico (www.politico.com) found that Begich was one of seven senators who acknowledged owing back taxes.

So it’s a “private” matter? Why didn’t Daschle and Geithner claim that! Oh – I guess it’s private since she is a Republican and we know they hate taxes so much.

Like I said during all the tax discussions – if we did an audit on all the politicians, people would be surprised out how bad the outcome would be.