Palin's Kind of Patriotism

[Anonymous]

So now those of us who pay taxes are unpatriotic.


Criticizing Sarah Palin is truly shooting fish in a barrel. But given the huge attention she is getting, you can’t just ignore what she has to say. And there was one thing she said in the debate with Joe Biden that really sticks in my craw. It was when she turned to Biden and declared: “You said recently that higher taxes or asking for higher taxes or paying higher taxes is patriotic. In the middle class of America, which is where Todd and I have been all of our lives, that’s not patriotic.”

What an awful statement. Palin defended the government’s $700 billion rescue plan. She defended the surge in Iraq, where her own son is now serving. She defended sending more troops to Afghanistan. And yet, at the same time, she declared that Americans who pay their fair share of taxes to support all those government-led endeavors should not be considered patriotic.

I only wish she had been asked: “Governor Palin, if paying taxes is not considered patriotic in your neighborhood, who is going to pay for the body armor that will protect your son in Iraq? Who is going to pay for the bailout you endorsed? If it isn’t from tax revenues, there are only two ways to pay for those big projects — printing more money or borrowing more money. Do you think borrowing money from China is more patriotic than raising it in taxes from Americans?” That is not putting America first. That is selling America first.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/08/opinion/08friedman.html?em

[Anonymous]

Well, she did only pay something like $12k in taxes on over $120k. She was just being patriotic.

[Anonymous]

she was drawing attention to the fact that Joe Biden is an ass. Paying taxes is not patriotic but is a neccesity--what is not patriotic is forcing people who already pay 70 % of the taxes to take on more. I think it's funny that people think that people in the top 5% are just going to sit there and pay more. We aren't. We will not be investing in the stock market if he (Obama if he wins) will raises capital gains. We will also reclassify our business as a s corps and will be getting rid of employees and taking on contractors so no more ss taxes..good bye. Good job Obama since I know we aren't the only business owners who will be doing the same thing. We are tired of paying for everyone esp. for services beyond what taxes should go for i.e. tons of social programs and for idiots who took on more than they could afford in terms of morgages and then being told that we need to pay more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:she was drawing attention to the fact that Joe Biden is an ass. Paying taxes is not patriotic but is a neccesity--what is not patriotic is forcing people who already pay 70 % of the taxes to take on more. I think it's funny that people think that people in the top 5% are just going to sit there and pay more. We aren't. We will not be investing in the stock market if he (Obama if he wins) will raises capital gains. We will also reclassify our business as a s corps and will be getting rid of employees and taking on contractors so no more ss taxes..good bye. Good job Obama since I know we aren't the only business owners who will be doing the same thing. We are tired of paying for everyone esp. for services beyond what taxes should go for i.e. tons of social programs and for idiots who took on more than they could afford in terms of morgages and then being told that we need to pay more.

Business owners like the CEOs of health insurance companies that scam their "insured?" Business owners like the bank CEOs that throw million $ parties? Business owners that underpay the people that work for them? Aww I feel so sorry for the top 5% that screw the 95% and then complain they have to give up another fraction of their outrageous profits.

Or super small business owners like me that will not be affected by tax increases? I'm still happy to see my taxes go toward the public schools and roads that I use everyday. I even welcome a universal healthcare plan because the $300/month I pay to Aetna doesn't cover much, but they sure maintain the luxurious lifestyles of the Aetna CEOs up there in the top 5%.

I'd rather pay more taxes to benefit the rest of the country than to see these two over-privileged racist buffoons that have more money than they know what to do with follow Bush's road to hell.

Why do the McCains need 13 cars and 7 homes? Why is Sarah paid to live in her own damn house? I'm all for the American dream but not American greed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:she was drawing attention to the fact that Joe Biden is an ass. Paying taxes is not patriotic but is a neccesity--what is not patriotic is forcing people who already pay 70 % of the taxes to take on more. I think it's funny that people think that people in the top 5% are just going to sit there and pay more. We aren't. We will not be investing in the stock market if he (Obama if he wins) will raises capital gains. We will also reclassify our business as a s corps and will be getting rid of employees and taking on contractors so no more ss taxes..good bye. Good job Obama since I know we aren't the only business owners who will be doing the same thing. We are tired of paying for everyone esp. for services beyond what taxes should go for i.e. tons of social programs and for idiots who took on more than they could afford in terms of morgages and then being told that we need to pay more.

Business owners like the CEOs of health insurance companies that scam their "insured?" Business owners like the bank CEOs that throw million $ parties? Business owners that underpay the people that work for them? Aww I feel so sorry for the top 5% that screw the 95% and then complain they have to give up another fraction of their outrageous profits.

Or super small business owners like me that will not be affected by tax increases? I'm still happy to see my taxes go toward the public schools and roads that I use everyday. I even welcome a universal healthcare plan because the $300/month I pay to Aetna doesn't cover much, but they sure maintain the luxurious lifestyles of the Aetna CEOs up there in the top 5%.

I'd rather pay more taxes to benefit the rest of the country than to see these two over-privileged racist buffoons that have more money than they know what to do with follow Bush's road to hell.

Why do the McCains need 13 cars and 7 homes? Why is Sarah paid to live in her own damn house? I'm all for the American dream but not American greed.

Hey, pp, you're already blaming Obama for a program that he hasn't instituted for an office he hasn't yet been elected to. It seems Dubya has instituted a lot of tax cuts over the past 8 and I don't see anybody rolling around in the dough except for the uber affluent, like the hedge fund managers who only paid 15% for their profits and now the tax payer suckers who have been paying much higher rates are bailing out their asses. What gives?

BTW, Palin gets paid to live in her own house and doesn't even pay tax on it. But tell me. WHO should pay for the on going war that Palin does not want to lose? WHO will pay our way out of this deficit created by war and bailout that saved the asses of the already affluent? WHO will pay to take care of the veterans (for the rest of their lives) who come home disabled physically or psychologically?

Nobody wants to pay more taxes. The tax revenue needs to be better distributed, rather than according to lobbying interests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:she was drawing attention to the fact that Joe Biden is an ass. Paying taxes is not patriotic but is a neccesity--what is not patriotic is forcing people who already pay 70 % of the taxes to take on more. I think it's funny that people think that people in the top 5% are just going to sit there and pay more. We aren't. We will not be investing in the stock market if he (Obama if he wins) will raises capital gains. We will also reclassify our business as a s corps and will be getting rid of employees and taking on contractors so no more ss taxes..good bye. Good job Obama since I know we aren't the only business owners who will be doing the same thing. We are tired of paying for everyone esp. for services beyond what taxes should go for i.e. tons of social programs and for idiots who took on more than they could afford in terms of morgages and then being told that we need to pay more.

Warren Buffett agrees. He thinks it s wrong that as a percentage, he pays less taxes than his hired help. Does that make him an ass, too? Being patriotic is realizing that those who are most fortunate should contribute the most to supporting our nation. If you think you owe as much as a poor family struggling to make rent and you are a millionaire, you have a screw loose. Buffett thinks you have a screw loose, too. Before you mouth off, Google Buffett and taxes, because the following is by far his only statement on the duty of the wealthy to pay taxes:


Sample Quote:

"Warren Buffett, the third-richest man in the world, has criticised the US tax system for allowing him to pay a lower rate than his secretary and his cleaner.

Speaking at a $4,600-a-seat fundraiser in New York for Senator Hillary Clinton, Mr Buffett, who is worth an estimated $52 billion (£26 billion), said: “The 400 of us [here] pay a lower part of our income in taxes than our receptionists do, or our cleaning ladies, for that matter. If you’re in the luckiest 1 per cent of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99 per cent.”

Mr Buffett said that he was taxed at 17.7 per cent on the $46 million he made last year, without trying to avoid paying higher taxes, while his secretary, who earned $60,000, was taxed at 30 per cent. Mr Buffett told his audience, which included John Mack, the chairman of Morgan Stanley, and Alan Patricof, the founder of the US branch of Apax Partners, that US government policy had accentuated a disparity of wealth that hurt the economy by stifling opportunity and motivation.

The comments are among the most signficant yet in a debate raging on both sides of the Atlantic about growing income inequality and how the super-wealthy are taxed."

Sample Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/tax/article1996735.ece

[Anonymous]

Gosh - I LOVE Warren Buffett! If ONLY we had more people like him.

For those who don't get it - it costs you just as much to buy a gallon of milk whether you make $40K or $400K. The cost of gas for your car is the same. What is not the same is what is left over at the end of the month. I am familiar with all the arguments about taxing those who are "hard-working and successful" to pay the way for those who are not. (trust me, I grew up in a die-hard Republican household) However, you just can't turn a blind eye to the fact that at a certain level, people just can't afford to pay a higher tax - there is nothing left.