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Originally Posted by robot_parade
Huh?
How has he raised taxes on lower income groups?
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Increasing the tobacco tax is an inequitable way to fund SCHIP, because a large portion of the burden would fall on poor and low-income families and the relatively young. Around half of smokers are in families earning less than 200 percent of the federal poverty line (FPL), so increasing the tobacco tax would burden the families in the income class that SCHIP and Medicaid are trying to help. Furthermore, smokers are more likely to be poor or low-income than wealthy. With an expanded tobacco tax, SCHIP expansion to higher income levels would largely be funded by lower income persons, those who can least afford it.
Policymakers will somehow need to recruit new smokers if they insist on using the tobacco tax revenue to support SCHIP at proposed funding levels over the long term. In just five years, Congress will need over 9 million new smokers. Reauthorizing the program for 2013 to 2017 would require almost 22.4 million new smokers by the end of that period.
22 Million New Smokers Needed: Funding SCHIP Expansion with a Tobacco Tax
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Originally Posted by robot_parade
Yes, Geithner and others have had tax problems - yes, someone in his position should be able to get his taxes right, but I haven't seen any credible evidence that would lead me to conclude he's a 'tax cheat'.
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I don't believe that someone with his knowledge and backround did not know he owed the taxes. As I understand it the I.M.F. does not withhold payroll taxes for SS and Medicare but gave him an amount equal to the employer's half with the expectation that honest people will use that to pay the I.R.S.. He not only did not pay his half but kept the amount they contributed toward his liability. I think he and his accountant figured they were too smart to get caught and when they were he only paid the taxes owed for 2003 and 2004 because 2001 and 2002 were past the statute of limitations. Only after being vetted for Treasury Secretary did he pay for 2001 and 2002. Now he is the head of the I.R.S., you can't make this stuff up.
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Originally Posted by robot_parade
Ok...so how is the stimulus package 'trickle down economics'. I could maybe see that term applied to the bank bailout...
Let me put it this way...if the stimulus package were trickle down economics, then Republicans would've voted for it. :-)
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Unless the money allocated in the bill comes directly to us it is trickling down from somewhere. Our polititians are good at trickling down to their contributors, friends and family but not so much the rest of us.