# ANOTHER tax cut? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 17, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-tax-cut/357157 "2006-05-17T20:32:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-tax-cut/357157/21 "2006-05-17T22:18:01Z")
I saw somewhere that the average tax savings for someone making $40,000 is $17, and the average savings for a millionaire is $42,000. The **Ukulele Ike** voting bloc is much larger than we’ve estimated. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-tax-cut/357157/22 "2006-05-17T22:18:18Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > However, I will forever be at a loss to understand why Congress can’t run the country the way most of us run our households. Actually, a fairly large number of American households are living well beyond their means, so they are apparently well-represented in the Federal government. IMO, Congress is like a lazy trophy wife, lounging around in a frilly housecoat eating bonbons and declaring that they will buy THIS that costs THIS much, THAT which will THAT much, and who knows what else. It is then left to someone else to run around like crazy and scrounge up all the cash to PAY for this lifestyle. Congress decides that such and such a program will recieve X dollars in funds, without necessarily having any idea where X dollars is going to come from. In the current state of affairs, i.e. Bush and his GOp congress, the husband is just as much a wastrel as the wife. As long as no one’s cut off the credit cards, he can spend, spend, spend. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-tax-cut/357157/23 "2006-05-17T22:20:58Z")
> [@Una Persson](#): > > And yet, I’d trade it all for a much, much simpler way to actually _do_ my taxes. 😕 You may want to give the [TurboTax](http://www.turbotax.com) software a try next year. It really doesn’t get any easier than that. ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-tax-cut/357157/24 "2006-05-17T22:24:03Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > They can, but what incentive is there for them to actually do so? Because people who would normally vote for them (like the OP), won’t if they feel they are being irresponsible and risking concequences down the line. > [@bup](#): > > You know what’s really haunting me? In retrospect, what a damned good idea Perot’s nutty $.50 tax on each gallon of gas would have been. We wouldn’t be nearly as dependent on furren oil now, Meh. Gas has gone up by more then 50 cents in the last few years with little slack in demand. And it’s hit the poor much harder then the rich. I’m not particularaly conviced that gas taxes work. I think something more tageted like CAFE, where companies (and indirectly their customers) are taxed for buying fuel inefficent cars, is a better solution. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-tax-cut/357157/25 "2006-05-17T22:57:49Z")
> [@scotandrsn](#): > > IMO, Congress is like a lazy trophy wife, lounging around in a frilly housecoat eating bonbons and declaring that they will buy THIS that costs THIS much, THAT which will THAT much, and who knows what else. It is then left to someone else to run around like crazy and scrounge up all the cash to PAY for this lifestyle. Congress decides that such and such a program will recieve X dollars in funds, without necessarily having any idea where X dollars is going to come from. > > In the current state of affairs, i.e. Bush and his GOp congress, the husband is just as much a wastrel as the wife. As long as no one’s cut off the credit cards, he can spend, spend, spend. I dunno, it reminds me of a college student witha whole wallet full of credit cards. Spend, spend, spend, and wind up with enough debt to need the rest of your life to pay it off. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Clam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@Happy\_Clam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Clam)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-tax-cut/357157/26 "2006-05-17T23:12:14Z")
Who was it who said that “In a democracy, people usually get the kind of government that they deserve?” Every time I think of that quote I weep with truthiness. Oh, and I’ve got to agree that raising the taxes on oil seems a bad idea- after all, indirect taxes hurt the poor far more than the rich. Go storm the Capitol and drag the gold-sacks from the bloated claws of its occupants! (Republican _and_ Democrat). Vive la revolution! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-tax-cut/357157/27 "2006-05-17T23:12:34Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > They’ve been worth a lot. Although the amount has been proportionally small compared to others, they have allowed me to keep my family afloat for the last few years while Robin has been in school. All the same, I think the time has come to get a grip on this. If that means that I have to suck it up and work harder, so be it. Total tax burden? Because around here, the taxes just get passed down the government chain. Bush hasn’t cut much government spending, but the state does get less than it did. Then the state wants to cut taxes too - losing revenue from both ends - and pays for it (ok tries) by cutting support to cities and schools. So now we have 40 4th graders in a class and a property tax bill that is $2000 higher than it was five years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-tax-cut/357157/28 "2006-05-17T23:58:56Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > They haven’t been worth that much. We’ve been very lucky because much of your Guard pay for deployments is either entirely or partially tax-free, all but a small amount of my income is tax-free and with all three of us in school now, we qualify for some nice tax credits. So I’m not complaining, and Bush is responsible for some of it, but let’s not get carried away. > > Robin I did say it was proportional, and you will note that you haven’t had to get a job while in school, and you’re now going for your Master’s degree and still don’t have a job, and yet somehow we haven’t gone bankrupt. Wonder why? It’s because we get a hella tax return every year. ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-tax-cut/357157/29 "2006-05-17T23:59:22Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Total tax burden? Because around here, the taxes just get passed down the government chain. Bush hasn’t cut much government spending, but the state does get less than it did. Then the state wants to cut taxes too - losing revenue from both ends - and pays for it (ok tries) by cutting support to cities and schools. So now we have 40 4th graders in a class and a property tax bill that is $2000 higher than it was five years ago. Preach it. The Feds love making grand gestures into law but then make face-saving claims of thriftiness by passing the costs right on down to state and local governments. I just got my tax bill for the county, city, schools and a few other things. It _tripled_ in one year. Part of it is for storm water handling; basically overhauling the sewer system, and with hefty financial penalties if not done. So they laid down the mandate but not the money to meet their requirements. But _they_ cut taxes. This is idiocy. I don’t love paying taxes either but cost-shuffing and overspending is a recipe for disaster. ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-tax-cut/357157/30 "2006-05-18T00:05:40Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > Let’s take these pandering, fiscally irresponible boobs and vote them out in November and let the Democrats try to put our money where their mouthes are. I’ll certainly be voting Democrat (futile as that may be in exurban Texas), but I doubt the Democrats will really change things. They may reverse some or all of the Bush tax cuts, but I don’t see them trimming back social security and medicare or raising taxes enough to make a substantial difference in our long-term fiscal health. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-tax-cut/357157/31 "2006-05-18T00:09:24Z")
> [@neutron star](#): > > You may want to give the [TurboTax](http://www.turbotax.com) software a try next year. It really doesn’t get any easier than that. I pay taxes in two different countries. Next year, three. There are…complications. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-tax-cut/357157/32 "2006-05-18T00:56:57Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > They’ve been worth a lot. Although the amount has been proportionally small compared to others, they have allowed me to keep my family afloat for the last few years while Robin has been in school. All the same, I think the time has come to get a grip on this. If that means that I have to suck it up and work harder, so be it. Did you look at these particular tax cuts? I don’t think any of them are worth a penny to you: This is from the analysis of the cut from your link: Investment Income - $20B. Maintains cuts on dividend income and capital gains. Doubt if it helps you a lot. AMT: $33B. This is actually necessary, but again I doubt you qualify. Small Business Investment: $7.3B. Nope. Roth IRAs: A tax increase in the short run. In the long run, a big revenue loss. Unearned Minor Income. Increases the age at where minors stop getting taxed at their parents rate from 14 - 18. My youngest is 18 already, so she doesn’t get screwed by this, but lots of older teenagers with after school jobs may pay more. Overseas Corp Income: Trivial. These are maintaining the cuts now, but they original cuts were advertised as expiring now. Not that anyone believed the liar-in-chief of course, but the revenue decreases were advertised as if they’d expire now. Bottom line, millionaires making their money from dividends win, hard working teenagers lose. ---
**Author:** ![SusanStoHelit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@SusanStoHelit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SusanStoHelit)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-tax-cut/357157/33 "2006-05-18T01:05:19Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > However, I will forever be at a loss to understand why Congress can’t run the country the way most of us run our households. If a household could walk into a store, take anything they wanted off the shelves, and charge it to some other random person, they’d spend spend spend too. Better still if they could charge it to some other random person _not even born yet_ The authors of [The Coming Generational Storm](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0262612089/sr=8-1/qid=1147914146/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-1022875-9212149?%5Fencoding=UTF8) call it “financial child abuse” That’s a very good book, btw. Very scary, but very good. ---
**Author:** ![SusanStoHelit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@SusanStoHelit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SusanStoHelit)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-tax-cut/357157/34 "2006-05-18T01:06:23Z")
ack! that link should be [The Coming Generational Storm](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0262612089/sr=8-1/qid=1147914146/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-1022875-9212149?%5Fencoding=UTF8) ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-tax-cut/357157/35 "2006-05-18T01:18:22Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Did you look at these particular tax cuts? I don’t think any of them are worth a penny to you: No kidding. I’m talking about the ones that came before. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-tax-cut/357157/36 "2006-05-18T01:23:37Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > No kidding. I’m talking about the ones that came before. When I was in grad school, my RA salary was tax free. Did Bush reinstate that (my daughter is starting this fall, so it would be good news to her.) ---
**Author:** ![ScoobyTX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@ScoobyTX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScoobyTX)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-tax-cut/357157/37 "2006-05-18T03:14:12Z")
> [@neutron star](#): > > You may want to give the [TurboTax](http://www.turbotax.com) software a try next year. It really doesn’t get any easier than that. I’ve used TurboTax ever since I started keeping my financial records and business books on Intuit products (Quicken, Quickbooks)- at least since the mid-90s. It helps, but when you have 3 businesses (1 sole proprietorship, 2 LLCs), investment property (some held in personal name, some in LLC name), 2 regular brokerage accounts, 5 different retirement accounts in 3 different flavors (Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, SEP IRA), self-employment tax, health savings account, etc., all TurboTax does is cut the tens of hours (if not hundreds) of tax prep and paperwork wrangling time down a bit. I still do my own books, so I do my own taxes. If I ever hire an accountant/ bookkeeper, I’ll pass on the tax prep bullshit to that poor soul. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-tax-cut/357157/38 "2006-05-18T03:31:24Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > However, the Congress cannot be trusted to cut spending. In fact, it has done nothing but increase. True. Of course, it should also be noted that Bush probably doesn’t know _how_ to veto a bill. He’s got no problem with this tax cut and spend business model either, and voters also deserve a kick in the ass for voting for anyone who promises them money. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-tax-cut/357157/39 "2006-05-18T03:56:37Z")
Hmm. Borrow-and-spend conservatives. Makes those tax-and-spend liberals seen not so bad, eh? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-tax-cut/357157/40 "2006-05-18T04:22:00Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > When I was in grad school, my RA salary was tax free. Did Bush reinstate that (my daughter is starting this fall, so it would be good news to her.) Dunno how long ago you were in school, but i’ve been in grad school these last few years and all my RA and TA income has been subject to tax. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-tax-cut/357157.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-tax-cut/357157.md?page=3)