Don't touch my tax breaks

[sangria]

Our wackadoo representatives in Washington are seriously looking at the tax deduction for interest paid on a mortgage and the tax deferral on 401k contributions.





There's gonna be trouble.

[kman]

MAN THE BOATS!!! WERE GOING IN!!!

[kman]

[/img]




Is it just me???

[Deleted]

And if those same wackadoos can take a knife to Medicare and Social Security, they might actually balance the budget AND reduce the deficit.

[Deleted]

I just pushed Kman to 200 ! Grrrrr Grizzly

[kman]

Lucky 7 TM

[Virgil Showlion]

Our wackadoo representatives in Washington are seriously looking at the tax deduction for interest paid on a mortgage and the tax deferral on 401k contributions.

Add this to the thirty other reasons the government has given you to not pay your mortgage. To wit (ZH) [bold by me]:

Several days ago, courtesy of an analysis by JPM's Michael Feroli, we quantified that the implied "rents" benefit to the US economy arising from squatters not paying mortgages is about $50 billion per year, or just about 0.4% of GDP. Today, thanks to 60 Minutes, this number is about to soar, because if anyone didn't know before that paying mortgages is for suckers, now virtually every single mortgage borrower, and there are about 48 million of them, will think long and hard before mailing out the next mortgage payment. And if not all, then certainly the 11.1 million underwater mortgages will be one step closer to throwing in the towel on feeding the mortgage monster. Considering that 4.6 million mortgages are currently delinquent for 30 days or more, look for this number to at least double as everyone who is underwater says no mas to a losing game. Which of course is precisely what the banks want: consider that the "rents" benefit is about to double to $100 billion per year, all of which will accrue to the banking system first, then one can see why a $20 billion settlement deal is not a bad investment for the bank to generate a 2.5x ROI in a few short months.

If the government would rather shut down completely than cut $30 billion out of the budget, they're going to have to do some pretty drastic things on the revenue end.

US taxpayer: your country needs you.

Somebody gotta make dat moh-nay.

[djrick]

GOP also wants to de-fund the yet-to-be-established Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

The House is incompetent.
The Senate is corrupt.


Political theater.


In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress.
--John Adams

[maui1]

here is an idea

no exemptions at all?

everyone pays a percentage of earned income..........EVERYONE.......individuals and companies.....everyone!

no benefits to anyone given unless they are earned, like unemployment (but with no 99 week extensions)

if you need help, see your family, church, or friends.

this last note, might help with the $hitty attitude we have with all those that take entitlements and act like they are entitled. with this change, and with the dependency of family, church, and friends, you had better be nice if you want or need help in the future.

[sangria]

I also saw that bit about the Michigan State legislature considering its own 4.25% tax on pensions or 401k's. If you retire, they will tax any money you collect from your pension or 401k. That's after you pay federal income tax and possibly a state income tax as well. That's how broke the State of Michigan is. If that comes to pass, everyone with a pulse will leave Michigan. The whole state will become one big farm.

Virgil is right. Everyone stop posting and get back to work. Work faster. Your government needs moh-nay.

This disconnect from reality is getting to be more than just scary. Unable to make the budget cuts, these are the same elected officials that voted in health care reform. Again, nobody ever asks the question - - How are we going to pay for this?

They all seem to like running outside every couple of hours and talking to the press. Boehner used the phrase "federal revenue." Lord. He was smart enough not to use the phrase "federal money" since there is no such thing. Just money the federal government collects as taxes. Perhaps that is what "federal revenue" is, unless Congress owns a couple of condos we don't know about.

We've talked about this before. Whatever our elected officials vote into law, when the results of that law and the costs of that law finally become clear (and whether that law accomplished anything or failed), those officials that voted are long gone from office. And I don't see any way of getting around that.

[verrip1]

The Tea Party is vastly underestimated by the Dems. They expect them to be a temporal fancy, soon to be passe, allowing the Dems to continue to manipulate the old school Republicans, as they have done for years.

That is the Dems fatal error; underestimating the opposition. The budget will be cut, revenue increases will not be obtained, and the Dems will lose the Senate. It won't happen today, but the die is cast.

[itstippy]

verrip1, that scenario could have dire consequences for equities.

Our economy is fueled by Government borrowing against the future to pay for today. Trillion-dollar annual deficits. Spending all surplus $ from SS payroll withholding. Massive "temporary" tax cuts (yes, cutting taxes without cutting spending is borrowing). Etc. Yet we still run short. So we print up a trillion dollars in QE1 & QE2 programs to buy our own debt. We're in a pickle: if we knock off the deficit spending we lose a huge artificial input to the economy; if we continue deficit spending, the carry costs of accumulated US debt and unfunded obligations (interest on US Treasuries; SS and Medicare obligations) will eat us alive.

What happens when Americans under 55 realize that SS and Medicare won't cover spit for their retirements? That they won't get the same deal their parents and grandparents got? Those that have 401K plans invested in equities will push for continued policies to support equities. Those without will scream like He**. Both sides will curtail spending to bulk up for self-funded retirements.

Meanwhile, the giant inflows of borrowed money fueling the domestic economy contract. US Corporations get hit with a double whammy. Sure, labor and capital costs will be low. But both the US Government and the American Consumer have been buying a whole lotta "stuff" with borrowed dollars. Both consumers reduce demand at the same time. Without that demand, sales and profits could take a beating. Production capacity outstrips demand, and corporations pay carry costs for mothballed facilities.

Overcoming our debt addiction will involve severe withdrawal pains. It won't be an immediate "fix," with great jobs popping up like green shoots in Springtime and an increased standard of living for the American Middle Class. Current Americans of all ages will get hit hard if we actually balance the Federal budget and start paying down debts accrued in years past. It will NOT make US Corporations more profitable. I haven't heard a politician of any stripe say that.

[lifewasgood]

Want a change? Treasury takes back monetary control and factional reserve banking outlawed forever.

Other than that, business as usual.

[verrip1]

Politicize monetary policy. Complete idiocy.

BTW, that boogieman you are talking about is fRactional reserve banking.

[lifewasgood]

Thanks for correcting my spelling error. Federal Reserve Act and Income Tax came to be in the same year. If we had no income tax we would need no tax breaks.