Wow, what a well written post. Did you attend Harvard?

Hi Sicilian,

I respect other people's opinions, but I have read many of your end of the world posts and none have come true.

Thank you.

Although the tax increases listed in this item did come to pass, they took effect at the beginning of 2013 (not 2014 or 2015 or 2016), were completely unrelated to the Affordable Care Act, applied only to very high-income earners, and have been overstated in this list. These tax hikes were enacted through the passage of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, a compromise bill pushed through Congress as a partial resolution to the then-looming "fiscal cliff" crisis. Under the provisions of that bill:

• The top marginal federal income tax rate increased from 35% to 39.6%

• The top marginal tax rate on long-term capital gains increased from 15% to 20% (not 28%).

• The top marginal tax rate on dividends increased from 15% to 20% (not 39.6%).

• Estate taxes increased from 35% of an estate's value in excess of $5,120,000 (in 2012) to 40% of the value above $5,340,000 (in 2014).

It's important to note that the increase in marginal tax rates for federal income tax, capital gains, and dividends affected only those persons with taxable incomes over a $400,000 (single)/$450,000 (married) threshold. It's also important to note that the previous estate tax rate of 0% was a special rule that applied only to the estates of persons who died in 2010 (the estate tax has since been increased to 35% for those who died in 2011 and 40% for those who died in 2012 and thereafter), and even today an




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estate tax filing is required only for estates with gross assets in excess of $5 million (indexed for inflation).

The tax rate for dividends has also not increased from 15% to 39.6%: it appears someone has confused qualified dividends with nonqualified dividends. Qualified dividend earnings are tax-free for those in the 10% and 15% brackets, taxed at a 15% rate for those in the 25% up to 35% tax brackets, and taxed at a 20% rate for higher income taxpayers whose income surpasses the 35% tax bracket. Nonqualified dividends only are taxed as ordinary income. (Theoretically, a taxpayer with nonqualified dividend earnings who reached the top marginal federal income tax rate would be paying 39.6% tax on those earnings, but that's a condition that only applies to persons earning over several hundred thousand dollars per year.)

The list's reference to an "income payroll tax" increase from 37.4% to 52.2% is something of a mystery, as this is not a standard term for any type of government income- or payroll-related tax. The only adjustment to payroll-related taxes resulting from the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 was that a two-year old cut to payroll taxes which had previously reduced the rate from 6.2% to 4.2% for 2011 and 2012 was not extended.

Additionally, this item's coda claiming that "not one Republican v**ed to do these taxes" is completely false. The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 passed Congress by a margin of 89-8 in the Senate with 40 Republican v**es in favor, and a margin of 257-167 in the House with 85 Republican v**es in favor. (The original claim undoubtedly refers to the House or Representatives' v****g in 2010 to pass the health-care reform bill without a single Republican v**e in favor, but that association is moot because, as noted, the tax increases listed above had nothing to do with that bill.)

Why would anyone v**e Republican? Well, here are 10 reasons.

1. You are a bigot

It's true that not all Republicans are bigots. But if you ARE a bigot, the Republican party will be much more your group than the Democratic party. Remember that there are lots of ways to be a bigot: You could be a r****t, a homophobe, an Islamophobe, or lots of other things.

2. You like eating, drinking and breathing poison.

Many Republicans are calling for or v****g for shrinking or eliminating agencies that protect us against poison. They seem to think that the corporations will do the right thing, without any pressure from the government. Uh huh. Read The Jungle. Look at the way Monsanto is hiding facts about Round Up. Look at food safety and outbreaks of E. Coli.

Corporations exist to make money. They will do so any way they can. The government needs to stop them from doing so in ways that hurt people.

3. You think the rich don't have enough money

The idea that giving more money to rich people (via tax breaks) will help poor people is nonsensical and has been shown wrong time and again in history. Huge tax breaks for the rich (a la George Bush) don't work.

4. You don't support our veterans

The Iraq and Afghanistan Veteran's Association (IAVA) rates every member of congress on how well they support our veterans. In the Senate, 9 people got A or A+: All were Democrats. 30 got D or F: 29 Republicans and one Democrat. More on this

5. You like big deficits

Since the end of WW II the ratio of debt to GDP for the nation has gone down in 9 administrations (3 Republican and 6 Democratic) and up in 7 administrations (6 Republican and 1 Democratic). The largest increases by this measure were GW Bush's 2nd term; GHW Bush, and Reagan's first term. The largest decreases were the three terms right after the end of WWII (Truman and Eisenhower). The last decrease under a Republican was in Eisenhower's 2nd term

source

6. You don't believe in free speech.

The American Civil Liberties Union is the premier defender of our civil liberties, including the right to free speech. That's free speech for EVERYONE; from N**is to Marxists to Fred Phelps to anyone else. They rate politicians, including governors, senators and representatives. 12 people got a 100 rating: All were Democrats. 65 people got a score of less than 10: All were Republicans. Only 6 Democrats got a score under 50 (Joe Donnelly, Michael Ross, Collin Peterson, Joseph Shuler, Mark Critz and David Boren). Only 2 Republicans got scores over 50 (Olympia Snowe and Mark Kirk) Full list

7. You like big government

The Republicans like to claim they are against big government. It's a lie. They only object when government helps people. But they are supporters of the Patriot Act; they want the government to say who you can marry; they want the government to forbid a******n; they want the government to be able to spy on you without restraint. Unfortunately, many Democrats agree with them on some of these, but to find opposition to these big government ideas, you have to look to the Democrats.

8. You want government to hurt people, but not help them

This is really just a summation of some other points.

9. You are greedy, short sighted and rich

You really have to be all three for this to work.

If you're rich but not short-sighted, you know that, in the long run, when there is huge income ine******y, it leads to things like stock market crashes and revolution, and everyone loses. In a revolution, it is often the rich who lose most.

If you're rich but not greedy, you recognize that helping others is a good thing, and that the government assuring that people have a safety net is a good thing as well.

10. You like torture

The Democrats don't exactly shine here, but the Republicans are much worse. It was, after all, Dick Cheney who bragged in his memoir about being a war criminal. It was Don Rumsfeld who opined that a problem in Abu Ghraib was that they weren't torturing prisoners enough. And it is mostly Democrats who have objected to torture.

Torture is wrong. It's also stupid. It doesn't work. People who are tortured will say ANYTHING (true or not) that they thing their torturers want to hear.

Jeff Foxworthy never said this about Muslims.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/humor/foxworthy.asp

You seem oddly t***sfixed on other people's sexuality. Are you that insecure about your own sexuality that you throw daggers at others? As far as Frito Lay is concerned, they are snacks, and the makers of this food product are making a statement that is inclusive. Not a bad idea for marketing junk food to the public. This is not a gateway drug to homosexuality. However, we mock what we fear and you sound scared to death of a tortilla chip.

Workingman,

Are the Koch brothers mailing your check to your home, or is it electronically deposited into your account? If that is not the case, you are delusional. Good luck to you and Rush Limbaugh roasting in hell - or should I say the U.S.A. in about 25 years. Instead of stocking up on food for the soon to be end of the world, you should be storing water.

Bernie Sanders.

George W. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Rice should be on trial for mass murder of thousands of Americans. They should also face charges of many more thousands receiving physical and mental injuries. Maybe Bush should face lesser charges since he is mentally challenged. Colin Powell is in his own private hell, since he has a conscience and soul.

Wow - you are spewing the same rhetoric that drove this country into the ground until President Obama was elected. Although he met obstruction from the Republican Party since day 1, he tried to compromise with the other side. Now that the other side has proven to be unable to even pass a budget without shutting down the government, he has decided to use his authority and brain to outwit the pathetic politicians of the Republican Party. He will be remembered as one of the greatest Presidents in history.

George W. Bush took more vacation days than any other president.

During his eight-year presidency, Bush took 879 days of vacation, including 77 trips to his Texas ranch. So far, Obama has taken about 150 days off.

According to Snopes, this is false.