Half the country thinks Donald Trump is a racist. HALF.

[Keith & Arileidi 437]

originality at its finest. (sarcasm) 

[The Nature Boy 7,659]

13 minutes ago, Keith & Arileidi said:

originality at its finest. (sarcasm) 

I love the smell of sarcasm in the Morning 

[Keith & Arileidi 437]

1 hour ago, Nature Boy Flair said:

I love the smell of sarcasm in the Morning 

Praise worthy content. *Slow clap*

[jb914 33]

On 7/7/2018 at 1:17 PM, Nature Boy Flair said:

oddly enough thats about the same percentage on the govt feeding slop trough 

We've Crossed The Tipping Point; Most Americans Now Receive Government Benefit

https://www.forbes.com/sites/merrillmatthews/2014/07/02/weve-crossed-the-tipping-point-most-americans-now-receive-government-benefits/#13bed6033e6c

Some of the largest government handouts are actually tax expenditures that go primarily to the upper middle class and wealthy- like the tax-free status of your health insurance and other employer benefits, your home mortgage interest deduction, preferential tax treatment of long term capital gains, preferential tax treatment of 401Ks and Roth IRAs, Federally guaranteed Stafford Student Loans, etc.

 

A few examples:

 

Exclusion of employers’ medical insurance premiums and medical care : $235 billion

Exclusion of net imputed rental income: $112 Billion

Exclusion of income from offshore companies: $112 Billion

Capital Gains Preferential Tax Rate: $108 Billion

Defined Benefit Employer Retirement plans: $71 Billion

Defined Contribution Employer Retirement plans: $69 Billion

Home Mortgage Interest Deduction: $68 Billion

Deductibility of Charitable Contributions: $51 Billion

 

Total government home ownership tax expenditures (again, which go primarily to the middle class and wealthy) exceed the entire budget of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Edited July 10, 2018 by jb914

[Merle 458]

2 hours ago, jb914 said:

Some of the largest government handouts are actually tax expenditures that go primarily to the upper middle class and wealthy- like the tax-free status of your health insurance and other employer benefits, your home mortgage interest deduction, preferential tax treatment of long term capital gains, preferential tax treatment of 401Ks and Roth IRAs, Federally guaranteed Stafford Student Loans, etc.

 

A few examples:

 

Exclusion of employers’ medical insurance premiums and medical care : $235 billion

Exclusion of net imputed rental income: $112 Billion

Exclusion of income from offshore companies: $112 Billion

Capital Gains Preferential Tax Rate: $108 Billion

Defined Benefit Employer Retirement plans: $71 Billion

Defined Contribution Employer Retirement plans: $69 Billion

Home Mortgage Interest Deduction: $68 Billion

Deductibility of Charitable Contributions: $51 Billion

 

Total government home ownership tax expenditures (again, which go primarily to the middle class and wealthy) exceed the entire budget of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Yep, only us wealthy folks own homes.

[Keith & Arileidi 437]

2 hours ago, Merle said:

Yep, only us wealthy folks own homes.

In today's economy you need a significant amount of resources to own a home. 

 

Evidence of this can be seen in high rent prices. 

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

12 minutes ago, Keith & Arileidi said:

In today's economy you need a significant amount of resources to own a home. 

 

Evidence of this can be seen in high rent prices. 

In today's economy? Try... for the last 100 years.  It's very easy to own a home.  If you can't come up with 20% down payment, join the military, the VA will cover that for you. (They don't pay it, they just guarantee that you will).

 

It's always been cheaper to own than to rent, minus maintenance.

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

@jb914... you forgot SS and Medicare, those are pre-tax, as well.  But I ask you... why should you be taxed on mandatory items, when you'll never "see" that income?

[jg121783 3,908]

15 minutes ago, Keith & Arileidi said:

In today's economy you need a significant amount of resources to own a home. 

 

Evidence of this can be seen in high rent prices. 

If you have a 50k a year income, a small down patment and a good credit history you can get a mortgage. Doesn't seem like a significant amount of resources to me.

[jb914 33]

8 hours ago, Merle said:

Yep, only us wealthy folks own homes.

These tax expenditures go primarily, as I said, to the upper middle class and wealthy, because the middle and lower middle class, and poor, usually use the standard deduction and don't itemize.

[Steeleballz 7,550]

5 hours ago, jg121783 said:

If you have a 50k a year income, a small down patment and a good credit history you can get a mortgage. Doesn't seem like a significant amount of resources to me.

Caveat, you might have to move away, which means leaving your family, friends and finding a new job. Many places where 50K a year wouldn't get you a mortgage or cover the rent.

[Boiler 43,733]

They send you a cheque? I thought this just reduced what they took?

[Merle 458]

24 minutes ago, jb914 said:

These tax expenditures go primarily, as I said, to the upper middle class and wealthy, because the middle and lower middle class, and poor, usually use the standard deduction and don't itemize.

I bought my first house in 1999 for $97,000 and was making around $35,000 a year at the time. I guess I was upper middle class and didn't even know it. Sure didn't  feel like it to me.

[The Nature Boy 7,659]

46 minutes ago, jb914 said:

These tax expenditures go primarily, as I said, to the upper middle class and wealthy, because the middle and lower middle class, and poor, usually use the standard deduction and don't itemize.

and usually pay very little taxes or get back way more than they paid in 

[Keith & Arileidi 437]

3 hours ago, Merle said:

I bought my first house in 1999 for $97,000 and was making around $35,000 a year at the time. I guess I was upper middle class and didn't even know it. Sure didn't  feel like it to me.

You mean back when they were giving away sub prime mortgages like candy?