"Generally, three types of taxes will show up on a worker's pay stub: federal income taxes, payroll taxes (Social Security and Medicare), and state income taxes" ....... State and local governments collect sales taxes on individual goods and services. Similarly, governments charge excise taxes on specific items, including gasoline and cigarettes. ..... Income taxes serve as the largest source of revenue for the federal government, accounting for over 40% of yearly tax revenue. ..... Counties, cities, and other local areas often levy taxes to raise money as well. Property taxes, Lundeen noted, "are generally charged at the local level in order to pay for services such as schools, police and fire departments, and parks." Similarly, localities often charge an additional sales tax. ...... The federal estate tax, often the subject of controversy, applies only after death and only if the estate is worth $5.34 million or more. Also, you may be able to avoid paying a number of excise taxes if you do not smoke, drink, or gamble. However, some excise taxes may be harder to avoid, including those levied on cell phone services, hotel stays, and gasoline purchases ...... the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) gives a tax credit to low and moderate earners. ..... Sales taxes are often considered to be regressive, meaning lower-income individuals and households spend a greater proportion of their earnings to pay the tax, compared to higher income residents. ...... Excise taxes are similar to broad sales taxes, except they are charged on specific goods. States typically tax certain purchases, including gas, cigarettes, beer and liquor. Excise taxes are frequently levied on so-called "sin products," and often are intended not only to help raise money, but also to deter unhealthy behaviors. ...... the Social Security tax, employees pay 6.2% of their wages, and employers match that for a total contribution of 12.4%. ..... Property taxes .... In many instances, these taxes are deductible. ..... Many homeowners also qualify for a mortgage interest deduction. ..... The highest estate tax rate charged at the federal level is 40%. ....... Some states have an inheritance tax, where the rate you pay depends on your relation to the deceased. ...... All gifts over $14,000 are taxable, with the tax to be paid by the recipient. The highest gift tax rate is 40% of the taxable gift amount. This tax applies not only to cash, but also to gifts like company shares or cars.
taxes on income, payroll, property, sales, capital gains, dividends, imports, estates and gifts, as well as various fees. In 2010 taxes collected by federal, state and municipal governments amounted to 24.8% of GDP. In the OECD, only Chile and Mexico taxed less as a share of GDP. The United States also has one of the most progressive tax systems in the industrialized world. ......... Taxes are imposed on net income of individuals and corporations by the federal, most state, and some local governments. Citizens and residents are taxed on worldwide income and allowed a credit for foreign taxes. Income subject to tax is determined under tax accounting rules, not financial accounting principles, and includes almost all income from whatever source. Most business expenses reduce taxable income ..... certain nonbusiness expenses, including home mortgage interest, state and local taxes, charitable contributions, and medical and certain other expenses incurred above certain percentages of income ..... Federal tax rates vary from 10% to 39.6% of taxable income.
The tax structure seems to be A-Okay to me, for the most part. There will be the usual pendulum swings. They will go up a little, or down a little, so politicians stay employed. So how do we tackle inequality?
How the taxed money gets used is a big one. The country spends too much on defense, and too little on education. But those who might vote for larger expenditures on education are too carried away by the hot social issues. Hot to them. Taking money out of politics, a work in progress, sometimes reverse progress, would help.
Financial sector reform. Or where big money goes to die.
Tax havens. Where money gets parked. This is money that could be making serious differences in building infrastructure in the Global South to bring it on par with the rest of the world, so there are more people to buy the goods and services. Instead trillions are put aside. They just sit there. How would you feel if the ocean currents stopped? You would get very cold very fast. Trillions sitting in tax havens are like stopped ocean currents. Money needs to move. Money needs to be put to use. America built infrastructure in Europe, and then it stopped. That was racism.
The biggest one though is massive rises in productivity and political innovation that will spread the goods. If 100 times more food is grown, does that mean food is 100 times as cheap? Should be. Right? At what point does it not make sense to ask people to buy food? There has got to be a price point. Internet access already qualifies. NYC stands to make 500 million bucks a year because it is going to offer free gigabit WiFi from its unused phone booths. Private companies are doing all the work. Why could that not go national? There is zero cost to the taxpayers. Better than zero. Negative cost.
Food and internet access are just two obvious examples. We are at the cusp of massive rises in productivity on many fronts. Food, shelter and internet access are top basics. Nanotech advances in material design should allow us to buy houses like we buy computers today. It is one simple business transaction, not a 30 year plan.
Answers to inequality: (1) Fourth industrial revolution (2) Political innovation on par with technological innovation -- we can now actually let everyone be heard, quite literally, thank you tech (3) Move the stopped ocean currents of global finance (4) World government and new institutions for the global economy (5) 100 to 200 billion less on defense and 100 billion more on education, pre-K, child care, public transportation.
One idea I have been toying with is this: what if the American people, through their government owned somewhere between 1 to 5% of every company in America? So when you incorporate a company, 1-5% is gone. So when Google hits a market cap of 500 billion, 300 million Americans collectively own 25 billion of it. Would that be a problem to Google? Probably not. Companies pay taxes. What if they also shared some ownership? 300 million Americans make the dollar valuable, for example. If 250 million were to withdraw their trust in the dollar, the dollar would fall. So, what is 1 to 5% for that trust? What do you think, Bernie?
A few days back Barack Obama came along with a refreshing list of tweaks he would apply to the tax code. He would simplify things. For most people who just hold a job and do the standard W2 form thing, the IRS will fill out your form for you. Now that is service. Not exactly most people's idea of a government service.
The clincher though was sending 22 million seniors who make less than 50,000 bucks a year to the tax Bahamas. No income tax for them. So April would mean good weather rather than taxes to them.
Hillary leads among people 60 and older by a rather wide margin. These are people who actually lived segregation. To them blacks going to the same beaches is progress. To me it is a boring detail. Who gives a f___!
Hillary is their choice by default. If it were between Obama and Edwards, they would have gone for the clean cut white boy Edwards. These are the same people who less than a decade back in surveys might have said, we elected Bill Clinton, why is that woman making policy?
But, like Bloomberg says, money talks. You can bribe them. You send them to the tax Bahamas.
Simplifying The Tax Code
It is long overdue. It is a prerequisite for the information age.
Edwards said in his recent Iowa debate that he took the lead on health care and everyone else is merely following. His ever handy wife goes one step further. She basically accused Hillary of having plagiarized the Edwards plan from months back.
The ideas for universal health care have preceded everyone running for president today. There are multiple good ideas out there. The question is not who has a plan, but who can actually execute it.
Barack Obama has the strength and the judgment to execute.
The Clintons have made so many millions over the past few years that they have lost touch with reality, or at least the reality of those in the lower income brackets. How else would Hillary come up with the idea of mandating health insurance?
Last of 'Jena 6' could be freed on Friday CNN Simpson Arrest Stirs Debate over Celebrity Justice NPR PROTEST | Obama's absence noted as no-trespassing signs ... Chicago Sun-Times Obama rallies supporters at Atlanta eventAtlanta Journal Constitution a U.S. Senate vote to condemn the MoveOn.org newspaper ad that attacked Gen. David Petraeus .... The Senate on Thursday approved the Republican-sponsored resolution, 72 to 25. ..... at a $25-a-head event at the Georgia World Congress Center that organizers said drew 2,200 supporters. A $1,000-per-person, private event followed. ...... six black teenagers initially charged with attempted murder in the beating of a white classmate. ..... Obama declared he was "puzzled at how on earth a schoolyard fight" could cause prosecutors to level murder charges. ....... Obama still enjoys a rock-star status among many who attended — and raised their cellphones to snap photos as soon as he stepped on-stage. ....... "He's a man of change, excitement. He's shown America if you make the right choices, you can be president," said Mary Soley of Atlanta. ..... In April, Obama drew an estimated 20,000 people when he spoke outdoors on the Georgia Tech campus. Poll: Clinton's lead grows, Thompson tops GiulianiOne-third (32%) of those who say they will vote in a Republican primary or caucus will vote for Thompson while 28 percent will vote for Giuliani. ...... (46%) of those who would vote in a Democratic primary or caucus would vote for the former First Lady while one-quarter (25%) would vote for Illinois Senator Barack Obama ........ Obama does better than Senator Clinton among Echo Boomers (those aged 18 to 29). While 42 percent of this youngest generation will vote for him, 37 percent will vote for her. ...... in the age group that is most likely to actually vote, Matures (those 61 and older), Senator Clinton leads Senator Obama by a very wide margin (56% versus 16%). In fact, one in five Matures (21%) will vote for John Edwards, so he is ahead of Senator Obama ....... Among Matures, the lead is greater - 44 percent will vote for Thompson and 16 percent will vote for Giuliani. ...... three-quarters of Democrats (76%) would consider Hillary Clinton while over half (58%) would consider Barack Obama and just under half (48%) would consider Al Gore. Among Independents, it's a tie as 35 percent would consider Hillary Clinton and 34 percent would consider Barack Obama. ...... 39 percent of Republicans would consider former Secretary of State Colin Powell and 34 percent would consider current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. ....... On the Democratic side, it appears that the race really is Hillary Clinton's to lose at this point as her ever expanding lead is now at 21 percent. The Dark Side of Hillary Clinton's Health Care Plan FOX News 2005, Hillary co-sponsored legislation in the United States Senate to offer free health insurance, under the State Child Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to the children of illegal immigrants who have lived in the United States for five years. ....... 50,000,000 uninsured Americans, more than one fifth of those are illegal immigrants. ........ her plan would turn "insurance" into "subsidy." ..... a cash transfer from the healthy to the sick ..... The bulk of the uninsured do not want to have to pay for insurance. They are healthy and don't want the added burden of health insurance. ..... leaves out any attempt at cost control. With health care absorbing 16 percent of our economy, Bill Clinton's warnings of economic disaster if its share of our national income passed 12 percent back in 1993 sound almost quaint today. ........ The current Congress is passing legislation to raise cigarette taxes 61 cents per pack to pay for a $35 billion expansion of the State Child Health Insurance Program. Why not raise them $2 per pack to raise the $110 billion Hillary says her health care proposal will need? ....... "I have a plan that is 100 percent my plan." ..... understanding of what it takes to get things done in our political system Clinton, Edwards Spar Over Lobbyists, Health Care at Debate Bloomberg ``Fifteen years ago, I was advocating for universal health care,'' Clinton, 59, said. ``It was kind of lonely back then. And I never gave up.'' ....... Obama, 46, didn't attend. .... Hedge funds ``essentially bought up these mortgages,'' Biden said. ``They're the ones going out and collecting on them. No one knew they owned all these things.'' ...... mortgage lenders ``are not regulated; they become loan sharks.'' ..... ``We have in all of our states a system whereby if someone takes someone into a foster home they get paid for it,'' Biden said. People who struggle financially to take care of their parents at home should be compensated in the same way, he said. ..... creating markets for selling lower-cost policies. ...... ``Six, seven months later, Senator Clinton came out with a plan that is very similar to mine,'' Edwards said. Gop Targets Clinton, Obama Over Ad VoteGuardian Unlimited Calif Poll Shows Clinton, Giuliani Ahead The Associated Press Hillary Clinton 41 percent Barack Obama 23 percent Democratic Candidates Play to an Older Crowd New York Times “This is a system that, unfortunately, makes a lot of money for a lot of people.” ..... improved preventive care, especially for diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. ....... similarities in the candidates’ health care plans. “It’s not the plan,” he said. “It’s the man or the woman pushing the plan.” ...... their own mothers live with them. .... Iowa Public Television and AARP, which says it represents nearly 39 million older Americans. ..... a “senior town hall” Friday afternoon in Ames Columbia Won't Cancel Ahmadinejad Speech The Associated Press Bloomberg Won’t Listen to AhmadinejadNew York Times Google's Stock Price Soars to New High The Associated Press as it introduces new ways for advertisers to reach its steadily expanding online audience. ...... market value of almost $175 billion, more than long-established technology bellwethers like Hewlett-Packard Co. and IBM Corp. ..... runs the largest advertising network on the world's hottest marketing medium, the Internet. ....... In August, Google handled 54 percent of all U.S. search requests, up 50 percent at the same time last year .... Yahoo lagged well behind at 20 percent followed by Microsoft at 13 percent. ....... video ads on its subsidiary, YouTube .... dramatically increased the number of ads distributed to mobile phones and unveiled a system for displaying ads on "widgets" — mini-applications that are embedded on Web pages. ...... Google's price-to-earnings multiple — a widely used yardstick for appraising publicly held companies — now stands at 37 times its estimated earnings for this year. ..... Google shares will soon surpass $600. Has Google actually read US v. MicrosoftCNET News.com So what is really going on in Google's collective mind? ..... First, Google and Microsoft are colliding as the tech world evolves, so disrupting Microsoft's plans is its own reward. ...... force Microsoft to do it in the name of "fostering competition." ..... as of 1985, two dozen alternatives to MS-DOS were offered by more than 20 vendors, many of them bigger than Microsoft. Microsoft won by being the best at meeting the needs of consumers and developers. ....... Navigator and Java were singled out as examples of middleware. ...... close enough for government work ..... Each new PC contains an average of 35 pre-installed non-Microsoft programs, and in four out of five middleware categories non-Microsoft products outstrip those from Microsoft. ...... The iPod has given Apple new pizzazz. ...... If Google were interested in promoting a competitive desktop operating system, it could create one or it could throw its weight behind Linux. ..... Perhaps antitrust fans can anticipate a U.S. v. Google Intel Says WiMax Is Coming Next Year — This Time for Sure Wired News If it's small and mobile, Intel wants to put a chip in it. The lumbering rectangular towers we so often refer to as PCs have become passé ..... are increasingly taking a back seat to a new breed of laptops, ultramobile PCs, mobile internet devices and cell phones. .... Montevina, which will become the company's next-generation Centrino mobile platform, is based on Intel's 45-nanometer fabrication technology. It will support things like DDR3 memory, Blu-ray and HD-DVD playback, as well as an integrated Wi-Fi/WiMax module the company calls Echo Peak. ...... the standard known as Mobile WiMax (IEEE 802.16e). ..... the same WiMax you've been hearing about -- but not seeing -- for close to five years now. ...... "150 million [people] will be covered [by WiMax] in 2008, 750 million in 2010 and 1.3 billion in 2012." ...... "We are on the cusp of a new global network, seamlessly integrated around the globe, to go into these ultramobile devices," Otellini said. ..... you'll have the same kind of broadband experience you're accustomed to at home (on your PC), but wherever you go, whatever you're doing, and without wires ..... "will change the paradigm for mobile devices." ..... (bandwidth) is going to inspire all kinds of new applications and architectures ... that will leverage all the information in the cloud ......... cultivate an ecosystem around the wireless technology, the company finally believes WiMax is ready to move into the public domain. Education 2.0: The College Student's Guide to File Sharing File Sharing 101. Intel WiMax/satellite combo could bring Internet to remote regions EETimes.com Intel notched a significant victory, this week, in the drive to bring connectivity to chronically underserved pockets of the world, when it announced it had successfully used a combination of WiMax and a geosynchronous satellite to beam wireless broadband to one of the most remote corners of Vietnam. ....... Ta Van, a village in mountainous northern Vietnam near the border with China. It set up a 3.3GHz WiMax base station that receives a spot beam from the IPSTAR satellite and distributes it throughout the village via an omni-directional antenna. ...... with 2Mbps downlink and a 512Kps uplink Internet access, paving the way for voice-over-Internet protocol and other data services. ...... "the combination of satellite and WiMax as a proven, reliable, cost-effective way" to help them tap into the knowledge economy. ...... Intel spokesman Nick Jacobs told EE Times it would "encourage governments in emerging markets . . . to look closely at this as a means to connect their people to opportunity." ...... The IPSTAR satellite, operated by Thailand's Shin Satellite, is the world's largest broadband satellite, which currently has a footprint covering 14 Asia-Pacific countries, including Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Australia and New Zealand. ..... $25 per end user connection per month, and could also bring in revenues by allowing communities to set up businesses, such as Internet cafes for tourists. Google files for EU OK to takeover ad tracker DoubleClick Malaysia Star New York-based DoubleClick helps its customers place and track online advertising, including search ads .... Google already has a 90 percent share of the German search market, with the same in Spain and slightly less in France and Britain I seriously want to do TV again: Amitabh Bachchan SantaBanta.com The bustle in his career just refuses to disperse. Amitabh Bachchan is to the entertainment business what the Rolls Royce is to the automobile indust. ....... he had the whole of Toronto ..... Barely 3 days later he rushed to Delhi to collect his National award—"before they change their mind," he joked ...... They say it's a big deal to be in the 'Master's Section', to be invited to the 'Gala' and the 'red carpet'. ..... the standing 15-min ovation. ..... An audience that was cynical and very un- complimentary till date. It's wonderful to see the scenario change. To find everyone conversant and appreciative of our films and our country. ...... To find the locals as awestruck with our stars as they are with a Brad Pitt-Angelina-George Clooney-Matt Damon. .... Its all happening. And bigger things will follow. ...... Shakespeare is a universal entity .... So just because William was British it doesn't mean we cannot study or appreciate or play parts from his plays. ...... Recognition in whatever form is so necessary and important for creative people and when it comes from the highest authority in the country it brings with it that added prestige and relevance. ....... I read intermittently the 25 scripts that lie with me for approval. .... I want to do it all ! But there is limited time. ..... Much above all this is the concern for my Mother's health. Its over a year and a half in hospital in that same critical condition for her. Nothing is of any value with her in this state. 'Playing only romantic leads limits you'Rediff his performance as an eccentric and often cantankerous retired Shakespearean stage actor ..... Bachchan, who plays an actor for the first time in his career .... the film was 'partially made to honour superstar Amitabh Bachchan -- incredible in his first primarily English-lingo pic.' ..... The Toronto Star ran an interview with Bachchan making it the lead in the arts section. .... "So far, my career has been very commercial escapist cinema. In my younger years, I was only playing romantic leads but it limits you. You have to be good-looking, have an interest in a good-looking girl, convince her father to let you marry her and beat the baddies, but that's about it. As you grow older, there's more variety in the roles that are offered and definitely, it becomes more challenging. I can only be grateful to the directors in India who at this stage, of my career still come up with challenging roles for me." ..... featuring Zinta as an actress who's jealous and insecure husband makes her life hell ..... You see him in flowing grey tresses and spectacles. You will also see him often in a foul mood. .... some really funny scenes ..... an emotional sequence when he goes down on his knees begging Siddharth to let him do a scene without using a double or a stuntman. ..... Bachchan, who is fully drunk in the scene, switches on for a few minutes to Bengali. ..... "So in a very crucial and vulnerable moment, he speaks in Bengali." ..... I lost sleep; there were butterflies in my stomach. And that is how it should be. ...... "And when I began working on the script, I could think only of Bachchan. It did not even occur to me he might say, 'no.' .... "In school, like many people I had come to appreciate Shakespeare deeply but I also felt he was a pain in the ass," he continues, smiling broadly. "My association with Shakespeare is not confined to my schooling in the English medium schools. Babuji (father Harivansh Bachchan) translated four of Shakespeare's tragedies including King Lear. So on many levels, working on this film was a precious experience." ..... tutors her to use her lung power to let her voice soar across a valley but without sounding like she was yelling. ..... He spent over a month shooting for the film in Kolkata where he had started working for shipping company before heading to Mumbai to look for acting jobs in the 1960s. .... Bachchan's presence in the city created near chaos as thousands of fans tried to get a glimpse of him. ..... his wife Jaya is from Kolkata." Tech tycoons dominate US rich list Sydney Morning Herald Gates is the richest person in America for the 14th year in a row. ..... Gates' fortune grew by $US6 billion in the past year to $US59 billion ..... Gates was one of 34 rich list members - all of them men - who made their money in a technology-related area. Five of them appear in the top ten. ..... was recently overtaken as the world's richest man by Mexican telecom billionaire Carlos Slim. ..... Software tycoon Larry Ellison ($US26b), chief executive of Oracle Corp, remains No 4 ..... Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page came in at No 5 with fortunes of $US18.5 billion. They are also jointly the second-youngest billionaires on the list. ....... five Google billionaires made the Forbes list. The others are Google CEO Eric Schmidt (No 48, $US6.5b), the head of sales and business development Omid Kordestani (No 204, $US2.2b) and Kavitark Shriram (No 271, $US1.8b), a board member who was an early investor in the company. ...... Michael Dell .... America's 8th richest, with a fortune of $US17.2 billion. .... Apple co-founder Steve Jobs (No 56, $US5.7b), eBay founder Pierre Omidyar (No 32, $US8.9b), Intel founder Gordon Moore (No 68, $US4.5b) and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (no 35, $US8.7b). Number of uninsured is rising Cincinnati Post The number of people without health insurance continues to rise in Ohio and Kentucky, costing both states billions of dollars a year ..... of all residents under the age of 65, 29 percent of Ohioans and 31 percent of Kentuckians went without health insurance for at least a month between 2006 and 2007. .... about 89 million people nationwide were uninsured for at least a month during the past two years, more than 1 in 3 Americans under the age of 65. ...... a combination of higher insurance premiums that have pushed many small businesses to no longer provide insurance for their employees, a labor market more skewed toward the service industry and under-funded programs like Medicaid that should serve as a safety net. ...... The dwindling of the local manufacturing and coal industries forced workers from secure jobs with better health care into service industry jobs that rarely provide benefits ...... "Nobody chooses to go without health insurance," she said. .... when people cannot visit a physician, minor medical problems can turn much worse, resulting in lengthy hospital stays and steep bills and cost the uninsured and the state upwards of $3.5 billion. It's estimated that businesses lost an additional $2 billion in productivity in 2006 from employees missing work for conditions that a visit to a doctor could have prevented. ..... it would be cheaper to just provide basic health insurance for Ohioans, in addition to Medicare, Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. ..... extend coverage to nearly all Americans, either through public-private partnerships, the creation of new tax breaks or establishment of a national public insurance program. Gulf Coast under tropical storm warningCNN NBC to Offer Free Episode Downloads The Associated Press The file will contain embedded advertising that cannot be skipped. .... Seven days after the episode's TV debut, the digital file will expire. ..... now, more than ever, viewers want to be in control of how, when and where they consumer their favorite entertainment ..... "Life," "Bionic Woman," "30 Rock," "Friday Night Lights," "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."
