Far East Cynic

The story behind the story…….

One of the most popular mantra’s of current conservative thought is the theme that I call, “Freddie the Freeloader”. Namely that part of teabag orthodoxy that holds that the nation is literally full to brim with people more than content to live off of “welfare” and do nothing for themselves or society.

It frequently manifests itself every few months or so, as the Lucky Ducky statistic. Lucky duckies is a term that was used in Wall Street Journal editorials starting on 20 November 2002 to refer to Americans who pay no federal income tax because they are at an income level that is below the tax line (after deductions and credits).

It does not tell the whole story, and if anything it should not serve, as it is so often done, as an indictment of the worth and character of the individuals who fall in that 43%-than as an example of the law of unintended consequences- of well meaning tax law provisions balanced against wages that have been essentially flat lined for the past ten years.  If the number of “non income tax payers” has gone up in the past two years ( which it has) it highlights a statistic I’m not so sure the connessiurs of Lipton really want to be highlighting. Wages are not growing in the US-they are flat for all but a very few. Second-unemployment is twice what it was when the Wall Street Journal first coined the term. Prices for everything-have gone up though.

 The federal income tax is only one of several taxes Americans pay. Other taxes, like excise taxes, sales taxes, and especially the payroll tax (a.k.a. FICA),  are not refunded or zeroed out. They get paid regardless of ones standing on the income graph.  If you include payroll taxes in that total number of tax units computation I mentioned earlier, the percentage of people with zero income tax or payroll tax drops to 11.6%.

And that does not include state taxes-or sales tax.

Furthermore, the tax protestors have neglected to tell you an important piece of economic demography: 90% of those with zero tax liability made less than 25,000 dollars cash income last year.  In a family of four, factoring in both the poverty threshold of 21, 800 and the income tax entry level of 26,000 ( before taking the earned income tax credit), I’m not so sure they have a lot to brag about. The popular number of a person making 44,900 paying no income taxes is only valid for a filer who can take Child Tax credits on two children and an earned income tax credit. A single filer, has already jumped on board the taxpayer train a long time ago.

Ask your self this, what would happen to the number if the home mortage exemption went away? It would probably drop significantly-to the detriment of a lot of people-including people who do pay taxes and complain about it.

Consider this example: A man makes 50,000 per year salary, he has three kids, a job, a wife who takes care of said kids and two cars. Lets just sat for arguments sake he has a relatively small house. (Say between 175000 and 200000).  At 50,000 a year, that man is starting off making 4166 a month before taxes. Throw in say 6% into a 401K means that he is starting out before anything else comes out of his check at about 3850. The guy is going to start his tax return at about 9,862 in taxes. Subtract deductions for his family, his mortage, and his state taxes-he’s probably getting money back. But he’s working hard just to stay afloat-is this really the person you want to make fun of?  He’s supposed to be the core Republican demographic.

And lets not even ask the question of what percentage of corporations pay no taxes shall we?

The simple truth of the matter is that a lot of lower income Americans are paying taxes and not getting ahead in the process. If there is to be any type of tax reform-it has to start from the facts, not simply the fictions people want to believe.

  1. For better or worse the Tea Bagger group (AKA Republican) does nto regard truth as an obstacle in their campaign to regain America from any and all minority groups that threaten the white nation they represent.

  2. And either way the fact that we live in a world where Sarah Palin is paid 12 million dollars-instead of living in a trailer park, is a sad commentary on the country. And that she is considered a LEADER in the Republican party, that’s just amazing.

  3. Skippy, I’m no big fan of Palin, but I thought that was the American Dream, to somehow better yourself by working hard along the way. I could say the same about the President. What if it was revealed that he got into his schools not so much by his abilities, but by the color of his skin. I seem to ahve seen a few postings by you Skippy saying how Affirmative Action is wrong in the Navy. So,Palin made good, so what. If you don’t like what she has to say, then don’t listen. Remember, Obama won the election by gaining the majority of the votes. So, if he and his kind are so good, and really know what is going on, then they shold have no problems winning again. However, if the rest of us “mouth breathers” just happen to actually pay attention and ask questions and maybe decide not to vote for him next time, can you blame the poplulace for knowing the real story. Or is it just too complicated for the rest of us to understand?

  4. Maurice,

    What you are really highlighting is how stupid the American voter really is. If the world were as it should be Palin would not be making money. Both parties are given to going for the worst people-not the best in their parties.

    Is Obama the best they could do? No, but that is what we got-because of the recklessness of John McCain. He could have been President-but he felt that he had to appease the damn tea baggers.

  5. Skippy,
    If the American voter is stupid, then I guess we got what we deserve in Obama. You can’t blame it on McCain. I remember that Obama had a hard fight in the Dem primary between himself and Hillary. McCain had nothing to do with that. So we got Obama, as you say, because the American people were “stupid enough” to believe all of the “Rock star Hype” and not really looking behind the curtains to see what or who was running the machine. I think Romney or Hillary would have been better choices, but I was outvoted.

  6. Read the book game changer and one gets a good sense that McCain’s choice of Palin was ver reckless. That is what cost him the election.

    And yes, most voters are stupid-especially teabaggers.

  7. There is no doubt in my mind that Palin gave the election to McCain. A very poor reckless choice that sealed his defeat. Maybe he was toast anyway but but groveling at the crotch of the tea bagger crowd he caved in to the baser instincts of the right wing of the Republican Party. Here the intelligence of the electorate took over and the changing demographics prevailed. A lesson it seems has not been absorbed by the Republican party- yet.

  8. Skippy,
    I read the book Game Changer and I agree it was a reckless choice on McCain’s part. But I can’t knock her for making a buck if the people want to see her. I have been reading about her contract that was found about her speaking engagement in CA. So she asks for perks. It goes with the territory. First rule in salary negotiation, ask for it and if they pay it, you are ahead. It is no different that Pelosi having USAF jets ferry her children and grandchildren around because of her status, or Gore flying around on privae jets while saying that we need to be more eco friendly.

    Game changer also goes into how the Hillary campaign imploded also. The end result, we got a President that was was good at public relations and spin.

  9. My recollection is that the “Tea Party” formed in Feb. 09 to protest TARP. But don’t let that fact get in your way.

  10. The tea parties were formed in Feb 09 to capitalize on the manufactured outrage at the end of the campaign. It has been revealed through several sources that they were the creation of a particular PAC-far from being a grass roots movement.

    Palin may love her perks, but allthat shows me is that my gut instincts about her were right from the start . All she really cares about is money. And money is the ultimate way to destroy her.

  11. Skippy, Palin is no worse than Edwards. Referring to the Game Change book, you did read how they demaned just as many “perks” from their campaign staff as Palin is doing now. Never mind that the personal demands they wanted could have been paid for out of their own wealth, just as Pelosi’s use of Government aircraft to ferry her kids and grandkids. You know how hard it is to get a regular NALO lift for operational commitments, now some person who’s family has the means to pay for it demands that they get the service, not for herself but for her kids and grandkids? You are a lot smarter than to go down the road that Palin is making money. Let it go, after all, if she would have stayed in the trailer park, the first thing out of your mouth would be people like her should learn to better themselves. I guess you really mean better yourself only up to a certain point, and not become better than you.

  12. ” No worse than Edwards” is not exactly a stellar defense. There are some subtle differences between Palin siutation and Pelosi’s-if for no other reason than their are laws to govern the things Pelosi does and there are legal remedies if exceeded.

    I don’t bedgrudge Palin making money-I begrudge that people are stupid enough to give it to her-when there is better talent out there. And since Palin has become a demagogue, well then for the good of the nation-she has to go down. I still would like someone to sue her for libel and win.

  13. ‘I begrudge that people….”‘
    THATS the problem…You remind me of the wife/girlfriend who is cheated on and blames the woman NOT the man for HIS inability to keep it in his pants…
    Blame the “stupid voters” not Sarah..
    As in an old Heart song lyric..”I can’t sell you what you don’t want to buy”
    Sarah a demagogue.???.obviously your standards are pretty low…..Now Hitler (I speak a tad of German) HE was a demagogue..as well as Huey Long even father Coughlin or Churchill.. those folks really moved people to action.
    “good of the nation” again you are overstating her importance..a 20% approval rating…shes a blip on the radar.

  14. Never underestimate her-too many people have already done that. She has to be recognized as the potential danger that she is.

    Andrew Sullivan summed it up well: “The first is the psychological appeal of the beautiful female warrior. Palin is not appealing to the Republican super-ego (in so far as one has survived the last ten years); she is directly, umbilically connected to the Republican id (and some other male organs). Her appeal is visceral not rational. And if modern post-Nixon Republicanism has always had a thread of class resentment sustaining it, Palin concentrates it into a heady brew. If Nixon was cocaine for the resentful psyche, Palin is meth.

    Secondly, she fuses both Tea-Party anti-government sentiment with neocon conviction about the necessity for American empire.

    Of course, none of this makes any sense, but Palin, unlike some of her rivals who feel some kind of lingering need to relate their policies to fiscal and global reality, is a thoroughly post-modern creature. She creates her own reality, and that is an incredibly important talent for a party base that desperately wants to live in another reality (a kind of souped-up version of 1950s culture and late nineteenth century economy). Her book – a fictional account of an imagined life – sold well with the GOP base because they too want a fictional account of America’s current standing in the world and an imagined set of viable policy positions. She so lives and breathes this magical-realist culture she doesn’t need to channel it. She knows we can keep social security and Medicare and global power for ever and balance the budget without any taxes – because that is what she wants to know. And she has never let reality get in her way. Reality is one of those doors she keeps crashing through. “