taxes

The IRS owns me…

rmiles7721March 28, 20084Site News

I worked out again for the fifth day in a row. Although it burned a bit I am starting to have a much easier time of it than I was the first day or two. In a few more days I am going to add the elliptical or treadmill to it as well, at least for 20 minutes or so.

I also checked out the tanning bed as well. That was just weird. I’ve never used a tanning bed and for the most part have considered it pretty stupid. If you want a tan go hang in the sun. I tan very easily but the problem is that I get the one-armed tan from driving so much, or the farmer’s tan when I am working in the yard. It’s not as if I am going to cut the yard in my speedos, although I wouldn’t mind checking out some of my neighbors cutting grass in their lingerie. SOME of them, mind you. The others just need to keep their pants on. Anyhow, I lay in the tanning bed for seven minutes. The dude didn’t want me to stay in any longer since I had never used one. I felt like I was getting in an oven and except for the loud buzzing I probably could have taken a nap. I guess you get used to the sound because at least once or twice a year one of my waitresses comes in burned to a crisp because they fell asleep. The ones at the gym I go to are on a timer, I guess that maybe all of them aren’t or something.

Anyhow, a couple of the guys up there use the tanning bed after they work out, so I didn’t feel so self-conscious about it anymore. Besides, with quitting smoking and working out I have to have something to kill me. Skin cancer is as good as anything 🙂

Speaking of smoking, I’ve now gone about 26 hours without one. I know I have been working on it for a couple of months now, but this is the first time I have gone over an entire day without a cigarette. Darn hard too. I an a bit snappy tonight, so am just keeping to myself. I have a bunch of stuff to write about anyway and if I finish that I need to work on taxes.

I am not looking forward to filing this year. I don’t know how much but I will end up owing probably several thousand. I though about filing an extension, but the only people that are going to be receiving the rebates are the ones that file. If anything I can file and then work out a payment plan with the IRS. I took about a $20k increase in pay myself this year, not counting the $10k I made online, and none of it taxed. Hopefully with working out of the house more some of my office expenses will cover a bit of it. I think maybe I should move my office back down into the basement. The back room is a MUCH larger area than I have set up right now, and thus the percentage that I can claim of the utilities and mortgage is more. I hate taxes. The IRS is going to own my last month’s pay for this year on top of what they already keep. I wish that our politicians would take things seriously and fix the darned tax system.

Bush to Rob Government Coffers One More Time…

rmiles7721January 18, 2008Politics

…prior to leaving office next January.

President George Bush has proposed a temporary tax package designed to spur the nation’s slowing economy. During a White House press conference President Bush and his economic advisers said that the U.S. economy is at risk for a downturn and Congress must act to head off trouble.

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This growth package must be big enough to make a difference in an economy as large and dynamic as ours.

By passing a growth package quickly, we can provide a shot in the arm to keep a fundamentally strong economy healthy, and it will help keep economic sectors that are going through adjustments, such as the housing market, from adversely affecting other parts of our economy.

The president did not offer any kind of specific details of the proposed package but did insist that it include tax incentives for business.

Two Democratic leadership aides made it clear that the growth package wouldn’t win support from the Democrats unless it includes relief for low and middle income earners.

I am all for tax cuts and spurring the economy but personally think that we should all just suck it up right now and pitch in to do our share. Cutting taxes is a great thing, I would just as soon get rid of the federal income tax entirely but it has to be replaced by something else, preferably a sales tax.

The Wall Street Journal interviewed folks in New York, Chicago and San Francisco to see how people would spend their rebate. These are some of the interviews.

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Now There’s A Point…

rmiles7721November 20, 2007Politics

In theory I would love to see a Libertarian elected. With exception to the last couple of elections in which I voted mostly Republican I have always voted Libertarian straight down the board (with one guilty exception, I voted for Clinton the 1st time around). Ron Paul, no matter that he is running as a Republican is and always will be a Libertarian. Some of his ideas are pretty far-fetched but in general they are good.

Facts are facts. He won’t get nominated, nor will he get elected, but like Ross Perot many of his ideas will find fruition later on. Although it seems like our politicians don’t listen, they do, it just takes a while and the losers in the 2008 election (most likely the Republicans) will be listening and scratching their heads wondering what the fuck happened. THAT is the point at which they might start listening and asking questions.

The below are some of Dr. Paul’s responses from one of the republican debates that aired. I agree with him 100% that we need to cut spending on the Federal Government level but I also believe that some of the stuff we fund should remain. Completely doing away with the Federal Income Tax is a great idea in principle, but we cannot cut spending enough to completely get rid of it without some other way to bring in income, which is one of the reasons I am behind the Fairtax.

There is a pretty interesting discussion going on at the Fact Checker blog at the Washington Post blogs, which is where I found the link to the above video.

I was very interested in listening to what Mike Huckabee had to say about scrapping the tax cod. I can’t imbed it but you can find a link to the video here.

One of the other big issues of the election will be immigration reform. Here’s what Dr. Paul has to say about Immigration:

  • Physically secure our borders and coastlines. We must do whatever it takes to control entry into our country before we undertake complicated immigration reform proposals.
  • Enforce visa rules.  Immigration officials must track visa holders and deport anyone who overstays their visa or otherwise violates U.S. law.  This is especially important when we recall that a number of 9/11 terrorists had expired visas.
  • No amnesty.  Estimates suggest that 10 to 20 million people are in our country illegally. That’s a lot of people to reward for breaking our laws.
  • No welfare for illegal aliens.  Americans have welcomed immigrants who seek opportunity, work hard, and play by the rules.  But taxpayers should not pay for illegal immigrants who use hospitals, clinics, schools, roads, and social services.
  • End birthright citizenship.  As long as illegal immigrants know their children born here will be citizens, the incentive to enter the U.S. illegally will remain strong. 
  • Pass true immigration reform.  The current system is incoherent and unfair.  But current reform proposals would allow up to 60 million more immigrants into our country, according to the Heritage Foundation.  This is insanity.  Legal immigrants from all countries should face the same rules and waiting periods.

This certainly isn’t meant to be an ad for Dr. Paul and I am still undecided as to whom I will vote for but both taxes and immigration are two of the important topics that are going to have to be addressed sooner or later.

I don’t guess I have a huge point to make here, I have been up far too long and am not even making much sense to myself.

Rudy Giuliani Supports Drug Dealers…

rmiles7721October 7, 20073Politics

We already know from his record as Mayor of New York that he supports illegal aliens, why should I be surprised at that?

I don’t get to RedState very often. Like the seriously left wing sites such as KOS 90% of the stuff there is bullshit and extremely one-sided. I can judge the issues for myself without having it spoon fed to me like most of the extremely political sites like to do. Just watch. 90% of the people that hang out on a regular basis at Daily KOS, Redstate or Michelle Malkin‘s site for instance will just regurgitate verbatim what they have read and hear without bothering to listen to opposing arguments. That’s cool, but arguing with those people is useless and pointless.

Anyway, the article I came across wasn’t even about Rudy Giuliani. It was really just a short blurb stating the fact that the Flat Tax has four sponsors in congress, whereas the Fairtax has 57. That makes sense to me because the Fairtax taxes everyone including illegal income generated by drug dealers, criminals, and illegal aliens. The Flat Tax only taxes those that are already paying taxes which includes none of the above.

What I found more interesting that the article itself is the comments. They are very polarized on the issue but there are some really good points made. Go check them out and if you are sick of paying taxes visit Fairtax.org as well.

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Taxes

rmiles7721September 9, 2007Site News

Taxes are a bitch. I haven’t ranted about them recently so it’s due for one. That last post about being in the two got me to thinking about it. Did you know that the top 5% of wage earners in the United States pays 55% of the federal income tax? The top 5% earns 31% of the income in the U.S. but pays over half the taxes. That ain’t right. Now I am not particularly for increasing anyone’s tax burden, least of all the people that can ill afford it but I am for doing away with the federal income tax completely and putting in a consumption tax such as the Fairtax. It wouldn’t apply to the purchase of used property, cars, clothing from consignment stores, etc…which is where most of the folks that work for me do their shopping for autos and clothing so it wouldn’t hurt them as bad as opponents of the bill like to mouth off. Not only that but everyone in the U.S. would get a prebate check to cover the amount of sales tax they would be paying up to the poverty level, so people in the bottom 5-10% would actually be making MORE money than they are now.

Think about it. If you make $40-60k a year right now you are bringing home considerably less than that. Wouldn’t it be nice to bring it ALL home and do with it what you want rather than having the federal government make those choices for you?