Republicans Raise Taxes on Poor, Again.

Rachel Maddow uncovered what should be front page news; state Republicans are do away with income taxes while instituting a very regressive value added sales tax only. Talk about stamping down demand. That's at the same time they reduced tax breaks for the poor and closed tax breaks that helped struggling families survive. Tax food? Why not?

But I say go for it Louisiana and Kansas, please show us all how well that works. Making the poor pay more sounds like the old days in merry old England when the king demanded higher and higher taxes from the peasants, or else. Boy, there's going to be a lot to fix when the political pendulum swing back to the Democrats.

O'Reilly trashes People who want Stuff...things.

Much has been made of the video clip below of Bill O'Reilly taking a shot of all those Americans adversely affected by the economy, and none of it good. It appears his bold faced racism is striking a sour angry note for everybody, not including those tea party members who are still putting together their bone through the nose signage. Watch the video and read along:

“It’s not a traditional America anymore. People want stuff. They want things. And who is going to give them things? President Obama. He knows it and he ran on it. Whereby twenty years ago President Obama would be roundly defeated by an establishment candidate like Mitt Romney. The white establishment is now the minority. The voters, many of them, feel like the economic system is stacked against them. And they want stuff. You’re going to see a tremendous Hispanic vote for President Obama. Overwhelming black vote for President Obama. And women will probably break President Obama’s way. People feel they are entitled to things. And which candidate between the two is going to give them things?“

Walker, the Liar.

I loved this moment, as much as Sly in the Morning does...from Walker's State of the State address:



Walker lied throughout his address, but the one claim that he didn't raise taxes, was one of the biggest. He raised taxes on the poor by reducing the Earned Income Tax Credit and Homestead Tax Credit. Why is that so hard for the news media to point out?

The No Tax Increase Republican Party in our state just increased taxes on the poor.

As we contemplate doing out taxes again, this quick reminder: The earned income tax credit has been reduced, thus increasing taxes on those receiving it. It's that simple. 

But Republicans have found a way to magically claim that it’s not a tax increase. To them, its welfare, since any money they receive is not money they have earned. So it’s nothing like a tax increase on actual wages. 

No, it doesn’t explain away increasing taxes on the poor, but it does justify the broken pledge in a way that hits all their hot buttons.

PostCrescent: Wisconsin (was) among only a handful of states that will effectively raise taxes on their poorest residents in 2012, according to a recent study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonprofit think tank. Since 1989, Wisconsin has offered low-income families with children a so-called earned income tax credit, which offsets Social Security taxes and lowers poor families' tax liability.

Here’s how it went up:

The 2011-2013 state budget reduces the percentages for families with two or more children, which the state Legislative Fiscal Bureau considers a net tax increase.

Starting next year, low-income families with two children will be capped at 11 percent of the maximum federal credit, or $562, down from $716.

Families with three or more children will be limited to 34 percent, or $1,955, down from $2,473.

The Wisconsin Council on Children and Families estimates a two-parent family of four that earns $32,500 a year would see an $81 cut in their tax credit next year.

It’s a tax increase. 

Every Wisconsin Republican Representative Voted to Increase Taxes!!! So much for no tax pledge!!

Those same conservative voters who are so dead set on lowering taxes during these difficult times, will happily re-elect their congressional representatives who increased their taxes. Huh?

REPUBLICANS WHO INCREASED TAXES: 

Sean Duffy
Reid Ribble
Tom Petri
James Sensenbrenner
Paul Ryan

These are the same people who have pledged to protect to their dying breath, tax cuts for the wealthy.

Republican Presidential Candidates Tax Cuts would Increase Deficit by $1 Trillion a Year!!

The following list shows the tax cut proposals by the Republican presidential candidates. The reason I’m posting this is to show how much the tax cuts cost the government, and aren’t paid for. Gingrich’s plan alone would increase the deficit by $1 trillion a year. That’s right, a year.

Here's Ezra Klein's analysis from his email alert:

The Tax Policy Center has, at this point, assessed the tax plans of Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich. Compared to the current tax rates -- that is to say, compared to a world in which the Bush tax cuts never expire --Perry's plan would give that same group a $281,000 tax break. Gingrich's plan would give them a $340,000 tax break.

As for the middle class, Perry's plan -- assuming the middle class opted into it -- would raise their taxes by $339. Only Gingrich gives them a tax break, and compared to what the rich get, it's a small one: $1,100. The only major Republican candidate who hasn't proposed a massive tax cut for the wealthy is Mitt Romney. His plan mostly just extends the Bush tax cuts, wipes out the estate tax, and makes some vague noises about tax reform. He does propose a new tax cut on income from capital gains and dividends -- but only for taxpayers making less than $200,000.

None of these plans are paid for.

Which brings up my point;

All of which leaves the Republican Party in an odd place: skeptical of a temporary tax cut for the middle class (that’s) fully paid for, but apparently enthused over permanent tax cuts for the rich that cost trillions of dollars and aren't paid for at all. That can't poll well.

Put another way:

Gingrich would reduce revenues in 2015 by nearly $1.3 trillion, or 35 percent of federal taxes that year. Talk about starving the beast! 

Tax cuts for wealthy Good! Tax cuts for everyone else Bad!

Rachel Maddow lays it out so well that even a tea party voter will understand how hypocritical they've been...

The Drum Beat Continues: Tax the Poor and Middle Class.

The Norquist no tax pledge doesn't apply to the elimination of tax credits for the middle class and poor. 

It's a tax increase if you do away with the Earned Income Tax Credit. But for some reason, Republicans have reasoned this "Earned" tax credit is welfare, a give-a-way, and therefore on the chopping block.

The Census Bureau has just release new numbers that deal with programs that prevent the poor and middle class from living in poverty:

The U.S. Census Bureau today released new data that provided a more detailed picture of poverty and hardship in the United States. For the first time, the Bureau released 2010 poverty statistics under a new Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). At the same time, the SPM factors in tax and transfer programs such as SNAP/food stamps, the earned income tax credit, and housing subsidizes in determining those who are poor.

Why tamper with success, especially in these post Great Recessionary times? But the facts and no tax pledge falls to the wayside for Tea Party losers like Michele Bachmann, who seem to relish the economic divide in this country:

Think Progress: Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), who is campaigning for the 2012 GOP presidential nod, has already made it quite clear that she intends to raise taxes on the poorest Americans if elected. Today, she rolled out a new plan to hike taxes on those at the bottom of the income scale: eliminating the Earned Income Tax Credit. 

This would be through the income tax system because the problem is, and this is where I deviate from Reagan, he instituted the Earned Income Tax Credit, it’s known as the EITC, and that effectively took many many Americans out of even having to pay any tax liability at all. I would do away with the EITC and if a person has $3 in income they would be subject to something. Obviously, no one has $3 in income. But they would have to pay something through that system.

More Tax Increases on the way for Poor by "No Tax" Pledge Republican Class Warriors.

Not only did Republicans recently raise taxes by reducing the Earned Income Tax Credit, all the while Congressional Republicans began pushing for a flat tax that would raise taxes on low income earners who don’t pay federal taxes, state legislators are now looking to raise taxes again for many by doing away with access to the Homestead Tax Credit. Last year some 250,000 claims cost the state about $120 million.

CapTimes: There is no age restriction on the Homestead program, which provides on average about $500 in savings for low-income tax filers.

"We hate poor people," an angry Rep. Tamara Grigsby, D-Milwaukee, protested at that time. "We kick them when they're down. They will never have the chance to thrive." The effort to reduce tax breaks for low-income people follows a report last week from the Institute for Wisconsin's Future showing that four of the largest companies in the state paid no corporate incomes taxes here since 2000.

This class warfare by the poor has got to stop.