President Obama Is Not Going To Tax Olympian's Medals

That is our fault as since 1950, the rich has paid very little tax. It is because the IRS has found it easier to tax the middle class with deductions from their payrolln checks. Ask me, did you know that the rich get a tax refund at the end of the year??

Top 1% includes income earners making $343,927 and more, they pay as a group 36.73% of all federal income taxes while earning 19% of the income.

Top 5% includes income earners making $154,643 and more, they pay as a group 58.66% of all federal income taxes while earning about 35% of the income.

So how is it that you believe they are paying so little?

Dan,

My income, in fact my family income, is no where near $343,927 per year. I don't use the roads and bridges much. I have virtually no capital gains income. I don't fly across the country. I don't use any of the infrastructure in my business activities because I am retired. Now you explain to me why the top one percent which does have all that income (and more besides which they hide off shore and in other tax dodges) should not be paying at least 36.7% of the federal income taxes. They are making huge profits off that federal infrastructure. They use it in their personal lives. Why shouldn't they pay?

The distortion, half-truths put out by the propaganda media machine of the GOP and flip-flop Romney are merely a distraction to make the American public forget Romney still refuses to allow access to his tax returns.

Exactly. Mitt Romney is hiding the fact that he hid most of his hundreds of millions of dollars of income from taxation. That is why he had a secret Swiss bank account. That is why he had a secret tax evasion haven in the Cayman Islands. That is why he had a shady front corporation in Bermuda. All to hide his income from taxation.

Then he goes ahead and offers a plan that would raise taxes on the middle class and working poor while giving even more tax breaks to himself and to his handful of super-rich friends.

That is what the tea party ideologues are trying to hide. Mitt Romney avoids paying taxes.

"My income,"

Yah Larry and that has to with what? And now you tell me why the should be paying more that that?

With the tax records that Romney released from last year, it shows that his income was $20 million and he paid 14% in taxes...You will always hear that he paid only 14% in taxes...You will not hear anyone actually speak that the 14% represents that he paid $2.8 million in taxes. So when you hear that someone's secretary paid 17% as opposed to their boss's 14%, they are trying to suggest that the secretary is paying more in taxes than her boss. I despise deception being used to make a point.

Romney's income, his personal finances, or how he chooses to spend his money is none of yours or my business, unless he is violating valid laws. You are not his responsibility, and his wealth does not concern you. I don't need Romney to take care of me; do you?

I don't get why people care? So what if he has money? Why is success so bad?

They care because they are COVETOUS, ENVIOUS, and JEALOUS, all horrible traits for anyone to have.

Usually, but not always, they are simply too LAZY to put in the work which would make them a success, too.

The standard is for a presidential candidate to release 2 years of tax returns, their educational transcripts Along with any other records necessary for proper vetting. Romney has already released more records then Obama did prior to his election. whether he releases the records or not, I would venture a pretty safe bet that he will not have your vote so he owes you nothing more then what Obama released in 2008. And that would be 2 years tax returns.

"he wants my vote" ...he doesn't want, need, or will ever get, YOUR vote.
Romney's money is HIS money, not mine, not yours. If he's broken some law, tell us what it is.

You will always hear that he paid only 14% in taxes...You will not hear anyone actually speak that the 14% represents that he paid $2.8 million in taxes. So when you hear that someone's secretary paid 17% as opposed to their boss's 14%, they are trying to suggest that the secretary is paying more in taxes than her boss.

You're kidding, right?

You're suggesting that it is okay that someone should be able to pay a tinier percentage of their income in taxes just because they make so much money that even that tiny tax rate means the total is more than someone who works hard for a living?

That's irrational.

The secretary makes enough to cover basic necessities like food, clothing, shelter, and hopefully has enough left over for "discretionary spending" (e.g., a TV, an occasional vacation, college). The secretary got this by working hard every day. And likely that still isn't enough and those basic costs are met by having a second (or third) income in the family. Virtually every cent the secretary makes is taxed at the base rate for that income level, and virtually every cent that the secretary makes goes right back into the local economy, thus creating jobs.

In contrast, Mitt Romney made $20 million dollars in a year that he famously declared he was "unemployed." His income provides for basic necessities such as 3 houses, a half-dozen cars, Olympic dressage horses, private jets, easy access to education, etc. Further, his income is mostly hidden from taxation and taken out of the economy by using the myriad of tax loopholes available to people like himself; tax loopholes that were lobbied into the tax code by people like himself. He made his money originally by being "smart enough" to be born to a CEO of an automobile manufacturer/Governor of Michigan, and then by leading a corporate bailout firm whose primary goal was to make quick millions for Romney. He now makes his money by trading in financial vehicles that allow huge upside returns with little downside risk (something not available to 99% of us), then hiding that money in Swiss bank accounts, Cayman Island tax havens, and front corporations in Bermuda, all to avoid having to pay taxes. What income he can't hide from taxation he pays only a 15% rate.

So the secretary pays taxes on all of his/her hard-earned income at somewhere close to the base rate, and then puts most of that income right back into the local economy.

Romney pays a tiny rate on only a small portion of his non-work income that he can't hide, and then puts most of his income overseas to avoid taxes and gain obscene returns.

I despise deception being used to make a point.

Yeah, me too.

Romney gave John McCain 23 years of tax returns in 2008. The American people deserve the same.

The standard is for a presidential candidate to release 2 years of tax returns,

Bull. Romney cites John McCain as setting the "standard," but McCain was the only candidate in the last 30 years that only released two years of tax returns (probably because he too, like Romney, is a megamillionaire).

Romney has already released more records then Obama did prior to his election.

Bull. Another bald-faced lie. Obama released 7 years of tax returns when he was a candidate. And has released every year since he took office.

Romney is lying about 2 years being the "standard"

Why is it that everything the tea party says is a lie?

"it shows that his income was $20 million and he paid 14% in taxes"

Romney's worth $1/4 bil~it really doesn't matter wtf he pays in taxes, but it does matter how much he hides. I don't know wth some of you defend these insanely rich people who, when the economy was on the verge of collapse, did friggin' nothing to curtail it. Keep widening the gap between the haves & have-nots, then watch the guns come out!

I'm amused by the use of the gross amount of taxes paid by the wealthy. Unless you put it in the context of income it's just a large number. In 2010 the top 20% in income earned 53% of the money and paid 69% of the taxes. The middle 20% earned 14% of the total and paid 10% of the taxes. We have a progressive tax system, at least in income tax, and it's designed to tax higher income people at a higher rate.

While you can argue the merits of a progressive tax system, it's silly to throw up numbers completely out of context.

Romney should release only the records that he is legally obligate to.

Not just NO! But Hell NO!

LOL Heck Yes! Even his father had the stones and backbone to show his tax returns.

NOT back bone Juan,
You progressive propagandists want Romney to release his tax records so you can ridicule and chastise and scrutinize what you find.

Not just NO! but Hell NO!

Romney has secrets to hide. It's pretty obvious that his tax forms would reveal things of which he is ashamed. If that were not the case he would already have made them public. He has done everything else to gain political advantage and making his tax reports public would gain him political advantage if they were innocent.

B.S. Larry that's nothing more than speculation. It's nothing more than a political ploy by the white house.

Obama did not release the amount of tax returns or anything else that the libs are demanding of Romney. He should agree to release only what is legal and if he so chooses, to release more,only if Obama releases all his records especially his Columbia transcripts and satisfactorly explains how he legally got someone elses social security number from a state he has NEVER lived or worked in.

You are right Dan, the White House and the dems want to cast success as evil, wealth as stolen money, and Romney as some greedy bastard. Forget the fact that he has paid his legal taxes, they'll try to convict him through the press when he's guilty of NOTHING.

Romney's not legally obligated to release any income tax information to the public. Romney has made the mistake of releasing considerably less income tax information than just about any recent presidential candidate. Whether or not he's trying to conceal something, he gives the appearance of trying to conceal something. He has difficulty understanding how to be a political candidate.

There is something to hide. He is terrified to bring to the light of day.