Romney's Taxes

[Acanthus]

A progressive tax scheme is the only one that is a wealth distribution.

Tell me why the rich should pay more, as a percentage, then the 99% (of which I'm included)?

because a free and stable society is what enables them to attain and maintain their wealth / status?

I don't see the Kennedy's doing as well in North Vietnam as they have done in the US.

 

[Fern]

You can dictate to them to NOT take a deduction though and by doing so there would be absolutely no laws broken and well within reason in this scenario.

Edit: And to NOT think that PWC said "Mr. Romney, we can lower your taxes by taking this extra deduction" is absurd. They are professionals and probably have a team of people that would have seen, noticed and informed him of that fact.

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here, but yes, you can legally refuse to take an otherwise valid deduction. Some years ago I worked for PWC in the World HQ in Manhattan. My job was overseeing (tax) legal advice to clients and US tax professionals around the world. I was once actually tasked with this very question: Can I decline to take a valid deduction? The answer is yes, you can, and it is perfectly legal. (Although IMO rather irrational.)

And yes, PWC certainly made Romney aware of how much higher his taxes would be without claiming all of his charitable contributions. I would think it all but certain that the reduction of his charitable contributions was the very last adjustment/change to finishing his tax return.

Fern

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

Name one first world industrialized nation is prospering that has "small government". They don't exist and it's a Republican myth and fantasy that we will ever go there.

The countries right now that are doing the best are those in which private industry and government work together in a cooperative way. Germany is a great example of this.

 

[MixMasterTang]

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here, but yes, you can legally refuse to take an otherwise valid deduction. Some years ago I worked for PWC in the World HQ in Manhattan. My job was overseeing (tax) legal advice to clients and US tax professionals around the world. I was once actually tasked with this very question: Can I decline to take a valid deduction? The answer is yes, you can, and it is perfectly legal. (Although IMO rather irrational.)

And yes, PWC certainly made Romney aware of how much higher his taxes would be without claiming all of his charitable contributions. I would think it all but certain that the reduction of his charitable contributions was the very last adjustment/change to finishing his tax return.

Fern

What logical scenario's would he not take all of the deductions to reduce his tax liability down to 9% instead of the 13%? What I am getting at is what others have said, he has contradicted himself saying that he will only pay the lowest amount of taxes by law, but also said he paid 13%. So they "skipped" a deduction (possibly only for now) so his tax return would show he paid 13%.

 

[Fern]

What logical scenario's would he not take all of the deductions to reduce his tax liability down to 9% instead of the 13%? What I am getting at is what others have said, he has contradicted himself saying that he will only pay the lowest amount of taxes by law, but also said he paid 13%. So they "skipped" a deduction (possibly only for now) so his tax return would show he paid 13%.

Yes, it certainly appears that way. IMO, it is stupid to have done so. Romney is such a 'goody two shoes' that he paid he paid extra taxes just so his "13%" would also be true for 2011. If it were me I'd take all the deductions and just say my tax advisors erred when doing the estimate. Screw it, I ain't paying extra taxes for any reason.

Fern

 

[davmat787]

Interesting point, giving money to the useless LDS or just have more going to the fed. Seems like the fed needs it more.

Since 1985, LDS Charities (aka Humanitarian Services) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has provided aid regardless of cultural or religious boundaries. Emergency assistance is provided through the Humanitarian Aid Fund, and long-term aid is provided through major initiatives such as clean water, wheelchairs, neonatal resuscitation training, vision care, immunization, food production, and a variety of local area initiatives.

Two tenets of humanitarian aid define LDS Charities: 1) One hundred percent of every dollar donated is used to help those in need without regard to race, religion, or ethnic origin, and 2) LDS Charities helps people attain self-sufficiency so they can be self-reliant long after LDS Charities departs.

In 2011, help was provided to more than 2 million people in 132 countries. Currently we are receiving donations for:

Humanitarian Aid Fund
Clean Water
Wheelchairs
Neonatal Resuscitation Training
Vision Care
Food Production & Nutrition

Sounds worthwhile to me. For the record, I am not a Mormon or religious by any means.

http://www.ldsphilanthropies.org/humanitarian-services/#.UGDWy0XA9JE

 

[rudder]

Interesting point, giving money to the useless LDS or just have more going to the fed. Seems like the fed needs it more.

This. We need more studies on why drunk prostitutes are at more risk of contracting HIV.

 

[BoberFett]

I don't see the Kennedy's doing as well in North Vietnam as they have done in the US.

Well if they wanted to do better in Vietnam, they probably shouldn't have invaded... :whiste:

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

LOL, perhaps you need to understand what it means to be a politician. The bolded seems to be the definition. But go ahead and keep pretending your guy's shit doesn't stink or that your team isn't guilty.

Really, there are worse things to hammer the guy on, more harmful lies. The left continues to dwell on this overpayment lie as if it damaged or hurt anyone. Politicians are going to lie, that seems to be an undisputed fact. When those lies start hurting or changing other people's lies, let me know, then I will actually give a shit.

LOL, the GOP was the one that started the flip-flopping meme, so know you are upset that it is applied to someone you like? Oookay.

Politicians lie for sure. But the sheer amount of lies, contradictory lies, and outright stupid lies are the problem for Romney.

I mean, everyone expects politicians to lie and say "lower taxes", but Romney has directly lied back and forth on just about everything, every policy point, every question he has answered. How many times has he lied and then contradicted his won lie in under a day? Several at least.

Do you even know what he stands for? Because no one really does, he has contradicted himself on everything. He is for abortion, then against, then for, then against again.

It's ironic because one of the alleged reasons why W won re-election was because Kerry was portrayed as a flip-flopper, and that W, even if he was wrong, had his own beliefs, and people like someone who has strong beliefs, even if they are wrong sometimes. So now the GOP is running in the exact image of Kerry, and guess what is happening? What a shock.

 

[nehalem256]

Name one first world industrialized nation is prospering that has "small government". They don't exist and it's a Republican myth and fantasy that we will ever go there.

The countries right now that are doing the best are those in which private industry and government work together in a cooperative way. Germany is a great example of this.

Actually I think Germany is prospering by creating a currency union and then loaning money to countries in the union to buy German goods.

 

[xBiffx]

LOL, the GOP was the one that started the flip-flopping meme, so know you are upset that it is applied to someone you like? Oookay.

Politicians lie for sure. But the sheer amount of lies, contradictory lies, and outright stupid lies are the problem for Romney.

I mean, everyone expects politicians to lie and say "lower taxes", but Romney has directly lied back and forth on just about everything, every policy point, every question he has answered. How many times has he lied and then contradicted his won lie in under a day? Several at least.

Do you even know what he stands for? Because no one really does, he has contradicted himself on everything. He is for abortion, then against, then for, then against again.

It's ironic because one of the alleged reasons why W won re-election was because Kerry was portrayed as a flip-flopper, and that W, even if he was wrong, had his own beliefs, and people like someone who has strong beliefs, even if they are wrong sometimes. So now the GOP is running in the exact image of Kerry, and guess what is happening? What a shock.

That post is filled with some of the most partisan garbage I have seen.

Romney is not my guy and I'm not voting for him so you can put that in your pipe and smoke it. I'd like to see where, I have said I am voting for Romeny. ASSume some more. I just don't see the point of making hay over something that really doesn't make a damn bit of difference. There are many, many other things to hammer a candidate on. But lying about something so trivial that has zero effect on anyone else....really?

By the way, trying to change the evil from lying to flip flopping doesn't make you look like anything but a partisan hack, yet again. As soon as you figure out that politicians, on both sides, are dishonest please let me know. Also, let me know when you want to talk about a topic that a politician lied about that actually matters cause I got news for you, this isn't one of them.

 

[dank69]

That post is filled with some of the most partisan garbage I have seen.

Romney is not my guy and I'm not voting for him so you can put that in your pipe and smoke it. I'd like to see where, I have said I am voting for Romeny. ASSume some more. I just don't see the point of making hay over something that really doesn't make a damn bit of difference. There are many, many other things to hammer a candidate on. But lying about something so trivial that has zero effect on anyone else....really?

By the way, trying to change the evil from lying to flip flopping doesn't make you look like anything but a partisan hack, yet again. As soon as you figure out that politicians, on both sides, are dishonest please let me know. Also, let me know when you want to talk about a topic that a politician lied about that actually matters cause I got news for you, this isn't one of them.

It will all make sense to you once you realize that there is a huge difference between not doing what you say you want to do and not doing what you say you did.

 

[xBiffx]

It will all make sense to you once you realize that there is a huge difference between not doing what you say you want to do and not doing what you say you did.

Tell me, what perfect person have you come along that actually meets that standard, always? Furthermore, how many of them were politicians?

 

[Mursilis]

Well, Obama was not much for making any kind of charitable donations.

You have to admire the man's philosophical consistency - don't Dems believe it's the gov't's job to distribute charity?

 

[dank69]

Tell me, what perfect person have you come along that actually meets that standard, always? Furthermore, how many of them were politicians?

I'm not searching for a perfect person, much less a perfect politician. If you are, you will be sorely disappointed. All we can do is look at the magnitude and quantity of the missteps and try to pick the better of the two.

 

[dank69]

You have to admire the man's philosophical consistency - don't Dems believe it's the gov't's job to distribute charity?

You got us. That's exactly what Dems believe.

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

That post is filled with some of the most partisan garbage I have seen.

Romney is not my guy and I'm not voting for him so you can put that in your pipe and smoke it. I'd like to see where, I have said I am voting for Romeny. ASSume some more. I just don't see the point of making hay over something that really doesn't make a damn bit of difference. There are many, many other things to hammer a candidate on. But lying about something so trivial that has zero effect on anyone else....really?

By the way, trying to change the evil from lying to flip flopping doesn't make you look like anything but a partisan hack, yet again. As soon as you figure out that politicians, on both sides, are dishonest please let me know. Also, let me know when you want to talk about a topic that a politician lied about that actually matters cause I got news for you, this isn't one of them.

Hey, here's another of Romney's flip-flop lies. These aren't just little ones, it's 180 degree turnabout lies:

Link

So he was against ER care before he was for it I guess? Tomorrow he probably will be back against it again, LOL.

Again, it isn't that he lied, it's the constant total 180deg changes that accompany the lies that are his problem. You trying to trivialize his lies isn't very honest, given these aren't "little" lies, these are lies that show he can't even consistently express his viewpoints on important subjects. Or that he doesn't even have viewpoints on these important subjects, and just says whatever people tell him to say. Which isn't good either.

 

[xBiffx]

I'm not searching for a perfect person, much less a perfect politician. If you are, you will be sorely disappointed. All we can do is look at the magnitude and quantity of the missteps and try to pick the better of the two.

I'm not the one pinning lies on one side of the aisle claiming that makes them evil and somehow worse than if it happens on the other side. Sorry, I think I have said many times already that I could care less when a politician lies most of the time.

I would somewhat agree with the last statement. Only you people seem to dwell on the petty and irrelevant ones. Like I said, much more to hammer a candidate on, but to focus on this, is partisan hackery. It appears you are ok with looking like one, fine.

 

[xBiffx]

Hey, here's another of Romney's flip-flop lies. These aren't just little ones, it's 180 degree turnabout lies:

Link

So he was against ER care before he was for it I guess? Tomorrow he probably will be back against it again, LOL.

Again, it isn't that he lied, it's the constant total 180deg changes that accompany the lies that are his problem. You trying to trivialize his lies isn't very honest, given these aren't "little" lies, these are lies that show he can't even consistently express his viewpoints on important subjects. Or that he doesn't even have viewpoints on these important subjects, and just says whatever people tell him to say. Which isn't good either.

Besides derailing the shit out of this thread, I am not sure what you point is or what you are trying to prove. I have already said, multiple times, politicians lie.

Stay on topic, or make another thread. But what would be the point of that, you are regurgitating garbage, as always.

 

[dank69]

I'm not the one pinning lies on one side of the aisle claiming that makes them evil and somehow worse than if it happens on the other side. Sorry, I think I have said many times already that I could care less when a politician lies most of the time.

I would somewhat agree with the last statement. Only you people seem to dwell on the petty and irrelevant ones. Like I said, much more to hammer a candidate on, but to focus on this, is partisan hackery. It appears you are ok with looking like one, fine.

So you want me to believe that the tax returns of a man who is running on a major platform of tax reform are not relevant? Good luck with that. :thumbsup:

 

[Blackjack200]

So you want me to believe that the tax returns of a man who is running on a major platform of tax reform are not relevant? Good luck with that. :thumbsup:

Exactly. A candidate takes the position that taxes on the rich are too high, then has to artificially inflate his tax bill so it's not obscenely low.

 

[xBiffx]

So you want me to believe that the tax returns of a man who is running on a major platform of tax reform are not relevant? Good luck with that. :thumbsup:

Please let me know where I said this.

Yeah, didn't think so.

 

[dank69]

Please let me know where I said this.

Yeah, didn't think so.

That post is filled with some of the most partisan garbage I have seen.

Romney is not my guy and I'm not voting for him so you can put that in your pipe and smoke it. I'd like to see where, I have said I am voting for Romeny. ASSume some more. I just don't see the point of making hay over something that really doesn't make a damn bit of difference. There are many, many other things to hammer a candidate on. But lying about something so trivial that has zero effect on anyone else....really?

By the way, trying to change the evil from lying to flip flopping doesn't make you look like anything but a partisan hack, yet again. As soon as you figure out that politicians, on both sides, are dishonest please let me know. Also, let me know when you want to talk about a topic that a politician lied about that actually matters cause I got news for you, this isn't one of them.

I'm not the one pinning lies on one side of the aisle claiming that makes them evil and somehow worse than if it happens on the other side. Sorry, I think I have said many times already that I could care less when a politician lies most of the time.

I would somewhat agree with the last statement. Only you people seem to dwell on the petty and irrelevant ones. Like I said, much more to hammer a candidate on, but to focus on this, is partisan hackery. It appears you are ok with looking like one, fine.

 

[nehalem256]

Exactly. A candidate takes the position that taxes on the rich are too high, then has to artificially inflate his tax bill so it's not obscenely low.

He has to inflate it because he is so charitable.

Are you suggesting charitable donations should not be tax deductible?

 

[xBiffx]

Thanks for proving my point. I never said his tax forms were irrelevant. I said his lies and flip flops that were brought up were. Sorry you can't tell the difference. Sorry if you think that a politician lying about his personal finances is newsworthy. This may have been interesting if he were trying to dodge taxes given his message on reform but that simply isn't the case.

Thanks again for making it clear.