MIAMI (AP) - President Barack Obama said Thursday he's amused by the anti-tax tea party protests that have been taking place around Tax Day.
Obama told a fundraiser in Miami that he's cut taxes, contrary to the claims of protesters.
"You would think they'd be saying thank you," he said.
At that, many in the crowd at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts stood and yelled, "Thank you!"
The fundraiser was one of two Obama held after a speech at Cape Canaveral on his administration's space policy. The other was hosted by Gloria and Emilio Estefan, a $30,400-per-couple fete that stirred some controversy in the traditionally Republican Cuban-American community. Together, the events raised $2.5 million for the Democratic National Committee.
In introducing Obama, Gloria Estefan said her father would have been proud to know that his daughter was hosting a president who had called for an end to repression in Cuba and the release of all political prisoners there.
Thank you Obama, sorry I voted for the other guy and I was wrong.
God bless ya!! Your's clearly was not a wasted vote. ACORN and the media made sure of that.
Are you saying that you approve of the direction this country is moving in?
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
What if these redistribution of wealth programs fail and the country suffers with huge tax increases because of what the administration failed to anticipate. The inflation rate rises drastically, interest rates hit double digits, we lose our AAA bond rating, and the government doesn't have enough money to fund Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Health-Care what will those who voted for Obama say then.
What if these redistribution of wealth programs fail and the country suffers with huge tax increases because of what the administration failed to anticipate. The inflation rate rises drastically, interest rates hit double digits, we lose our AAA bond rating, and the government doesn't have enough money to fund Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Health-Care what will those who voted for Obama say then.
What if a meteor hit earth...what then? Sorry I'll trust Obama's economic brain trust WAY more then Bush's. And you honestly sound like you are complaining about lowering of taxes because now there might not be enough money to go around. Really? Is that really what you are going to argue?
I strongly approve of the direction of this country. After voting McCain and seeing him lose, I decided to do what most can't in politics, back the winner. My ideas didn't change and I still wish Obama would look into nuclear power (McCain wanted it). But the McCain healthcare plan was for me (hardworking man with health benefits) to pay taxes on my benefits and take that money and then buy healthcare for the poor. No economist would ever say that was fiscally neutral either, it would have cost the government too. So Palin who ran on the platform of creating a NEW TAX on those with healthcare benefits is not the tea bagger spokesperson? WTF?
I'd like to know where Derek who wrote the article that 47% of people in the Tea Party don't pay taxes got his facts from. Being retired and living on a fixed income of $35,000 per year pay over $1000 Federal tax every year since I've retired. Only 7% of Obamas' administration have ever run a business and that fact isn't giving me much faith in their decisions. The Congress also voted for a health-care bill that forces them into the same health-care system as we will be in and now they want to change things so that they can keep their current plan. The company I worked for has notified all of it's retired employees that when the tax break that they currently have is removed they will cut out the retirees prescription drug plan that I worked 39 years to get as a benefit. You still didn't answer the question of what you will say if the government can't fund Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the new Health-Care plan because they calculated wrong.
Try reading the real article instead of the slanted ones. Nearly half of US households escape fed income tax Recession, new tax credits have nearly half of US households paying no federal income tax FILE - In this April 5, 2010 file photo, Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Douglas Shulman gestures while speaking at the National Press Club in Washington. Tax Day is a dreaded symbol of civic responsibility for millions of taxpayers, but for nearly half of all U.S. households, it's simply somebody else's problem. About 47 percent of U.S. households will pay no federal income taxes for 2009, either because their incomes were too low or because they qualified for enough credits and deductions to eliminate their tax liability, according to projections by a private research group. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press Writer, On Wednesday April 7, 2010, 5:38 pm EDT WASHINGTON (AP) -- Tax Day is a dreaded deadline for millions, but for nearly half of U.S. households it's simply somebody else's problem.
About 47 percent will pay no federal income taxes at all for 2009. Either their incomes were too low, or they qualified for enough credits, deductions and exemptions to eliminate their liability. That's according to projections by the Tax Policy Center, a Washington research organization.
Most people still are required to file returns by the April 15 deadline. The penalty for skipping it is limited to the amount of taxes owed, but it's still almost always better to file: That's the only way to get a refund of all the income taxes withheld by employers.
In recent years, credits for low- and middle-income families have grown so much that a family of four making as much as $50,000 will owe no federal income tax for 2009, as long as there are two children younger than 17, according to a separate analysis by the consulting firm Deloitte Tax.
Tax cuts enacted in the past decade have been generous to wealthy taxpayers, too, making them a target for President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress. Less noticed were tax cuts for low- and middle-income families, which were expanded when Obama signed the massive economic recovery package last year.
The result is a tax system that exempts almost half the country from paying for programs that benefit everyone, including national defense, public safety, infrastructure and education. It is a system in which the top 10 percent of earners -- households making an average of $366,400 in 2006 -- paid about 73 percent of the income taxes collected by the federal government.
The bottom 40 percent, on average, make a profit from the federal income tax, meaning they get more money in tax credits than they would otherwise owe in taxes. For those people, the government sends them a payment.
"We have 50 percent of people who are getting something for nothing," said Curtis Dubay, senior tax policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation.
The vast majority of people who escape federal income taxes still pay other taxes, including federal payroll taxes that fund Social Security and Medicare, and excise taxes on gasoline, aviation, alcohol and cigarettes. Many also pay state or local taxes on sales, income and property.
That helps explain the country's aversion to taxes, said Clint Stretch, a tax policy expert Deloitte Tax. He said many people simply look at the difference between their gross pay and their take-home pay and blame the government for the disparity.
"It's not uncommon for people to think that their Social Security taxes, their 401(k) contributions, their share of employer health premiums, all of that stuff in their mind gets lumped into income taxes," Stretch said.
The federal income tax is the government's largest source of revenue, raising more than $900 billion -- or a little less than half of all government receipts -- in the budget year that ended last Sept. 30. But with deductions and credits, especially for families with children, there have long been people who don't pay it, mainly lower-income families.
The number of households that don't pay federal income taxes increased substantially in 2008, when the poor economy reduced incomes and Congress cut taxes in an attempt to help recovery.
In 2007, about 38 percent of households paid no federal income tax, a figure that jumped to 49 percent in 2008, according to estimates by the Tax Policy Center.
In 2008, President George W. Bush signed a law providing most families with rebate checks of $300 to $1,200. Last year, Obama signed the economic recovery law that expanded some tax credits and created others. Most targeted low- and middle-income families.
Obama's Making Work Pay credit provides as much as $800 to couples and $400 to individuals. The expanded child tax credit provides $1,000 for each child under 17. The Earned Income Tax Credit provides up to $5,657 to low-income families with at least three children.
There are also tax credits for college expenses, buying a new home and upgrading an existing home with energy-efficient doors, windows, furnaces and other appliances. Many of the credits are refundable, meaning if the credits exceed the amount of income taxes owed, the taxpayer gets a payment from the government for the difference.
"All these things are ways the government says, if you do this, we'll reduce your tax bill by some amount," said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center.
The government could provide the same benefits through spending programs, with the same effect on the federal budget, Williams said. But it sounds better for politicians to say they cut taxes rather than they started a new spending program, he added.
Obama has pushed tax cuts for low- and middle-income families and tax increases for the wealthy, arguing that wealthier taxpayers fared well in the past decade, so it's time to pay up. The nation's wealthiest taxpayers did get big tax breaks under Bush, with the top marginal tax rate reduced from 39.6 percent to 35 percent, and the second-highest rate reduced from 36 percent to 33 percent.
But income tax rates were lowered at every income level. The changes made it relatively easy for families of four making $50,000 to eliminate their income tax liability.
Here's how they did it, according to Deloitte Tax:
The family was entitled to a standard deduction of $11,400 and four personal exemptions of $3,650 apiece, leaving a taxable income of $24,000. The federal income tax on $24,000 is $2,769.
With two children younger than 17, the family qualified for two $1,000 child tax credits. Its Making Work Pay credit was $800 because the parents were married filing jointly.
The $2,800 in credits exceeds the $2,769 in taxes, so the family makes a $31 profit from the federal income tax. That ought to take the sting out of April 15.
Shadow, my retired uncle just got notification his drug plan will be reduced or dropped and co-pays will go up due to the tax the government will be imposing on them to pay for obamacare.
Health insurance premiums are expected to go up by double digits to cover the mandates and the government imposed tax. Social security benefits are already being cut back while the seniors will be paying higher copays for services.
Obama had other choices. He could have raised the qualifications for medicaid to cover the next level of under-served. He could have open the state boarders for some lively competition. He could have capped tort reform. He has instead, taken the socialist route of blending all government health care into one huge socialist health care program. Eventually there will be no more medicaid or medicare.There will be just ONE government health care card. We will all be grouped together....socialist style. Medical personnel will be paid what the liberal socialists dictates. And our health care will also be dictated by the socialists.
And that folks will be the end of private insurance. Except of course, for our elected officials.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
I'd like to know where Derek who wrote the article that 47% of people in the Tea Party don't pay taxes got his facts from. Being retired and living on a fixed income of $35,000 per year pay over $1000 Federal tax every year since I've retired. Only 7% of Obamas' administration have ever run a business and that fact isn't giving me much faith in their decisions. The Congress also voted for a health-care bill that forces them into the same health-care system as we will be in and now they want to change things so that they can keep their current plan. The company I worked for has notified all of it's retired employees that when the tax break that they currently have is removed they will cut out the retirees prescription drug plan that I worked 39 years to get as a benefit. You still didn't answer the question of what you will say if the government can't fund Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the new Health-Care plan because they calculated wrong.
We will still say he did better then Bush and better then Palin would have. And then we will take a look at how the healthcare plan is saving retirees like you. Since your company is dropping your drug plan because its so expensive. Why is it so expensive? Because people with no insurance go to the ER, the hospital passes that cost to the insurances in the form of higher costs. Insurance companies pass that cost to you and employers in the form of increased co-pay and higher premiums. Without the current healthcare plan, MOST private insurance plans would be so expensive they wouldn't be worht the tax breaks companies get in buying them and would be too expensive to bother having. When your co-pay reachs $500-$1000 dollars or your annual deductible hits $50,000 and your lifetime maxium (which is eliminated as of 2014 thanks you Obama) gets hit and you have no insurance at all you will understand why "Obamacare" is such a great idea.
47% of the Tea Party doesn't pay income tax because 47% everyone doesn't pay. A Gallup poll indicated that there are tea-baggers at all economic levels.
Health insurance premiums are expected to go up by double digits to cover the mandates and the government imposed tax. Social security benefits are already being cut back while the seniors will be paying higher copays for services.
Funny that my RX copays went up 4.5 times in 5 years UNDER THE CURRENT SYSTEM. My ER-copay went from $50-200. Inpatient care went from $100-500.
The reason that companies are eliminating the prescription drug plan for retirees is the new Health-Care bill is eliminating the tax incentives that companies are getting for providing a drug plan and keeping the retirees off any government plans to lower the governments cost. The only place I can go when the plan is eliminated is Medicare Part D which is a terrible plan as it places too much of the cost on the people who have to use it. One of the conditions of my retirement benefits per union contract was the company would provide health-care to us as part of the agreement. I gave up raises in order to get my drug plan and retirement benefits and now the government comes in and voids a legal union contract and I fear more benefits will be lost in the future. The health-care bill was passed too fast, is too large, and I fear that there will be many unforeseen consequences as a result of it being done that way.
I understand there is a lot of fear, but a lot of those insurance packages were on the way out anyway because they were becoming too much for companies to pay for. It is also why I can't retire till 70
We will still say he did better then Bush and better then Palin would have. And then we will take a look at how the healthcare plan is saving retirees like you. Since your company is dropping your drug plan because its so expensive. Why is it so expensive? Because people with no insurance go to the ER, the hospital passes that cost to the insurances in the form of higher costs. Insurance companies pass that cost to you and employers in the form of increased co-pay and higher premiums. Without the current healthcare plan, MOST private insurance plans would be so expensive they wouldn't be worht the tax breaks companies get in buying them and would be too expensive to bother having. When your co-pay reachs $500-$1000 dollars or your annual deductible hits $50,000 and your lifetime maxium (which is eliminated as of 2014 thanks you Obama) gets hit and you have no insurance at all you will understand why "Obamacare" is such a great idea.
47% of the Tea Party doesn't pay income tax because 47% everyone doesn't pay. A Gallup poll indicated that there are tea-baggers at all economic levels.
Of course these private insurance companies aren't expensive because of the government mandates right? Ya know, paying for birth control pills that isn't a health care issue in 'most' cases. Paying for abortions. Paying for drug and alcoholic rehab because some liberal socialist named it a disease. Cover lazy kids until they are 26 years old. Viagra cause 'guys just wanna have sex' in 'most' cases. Cover 'quit smoking' sessions. Cover gym/work out plans.
On the flip side....people are living longer due to our state of the art medical care with medical equipment exclusive to this country. The best doctors that money can buy. The best and safest drugs and oversight in the world. The best medical colleges in the world. THE BEST MEDICAL SYSTEM IN THE WORLD.
As far as paying income tax....what about the created sub culture that won't get off their lazy a$$'s and get a job instead of feeding off the government teet? Ya know...the ones that supported obama and his FREE health care!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
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