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Originally Posted by flstf
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.  |
Well, that's certainly a possibility, and I don't have any evidence to prove my interpretation over yours...so I'm willing to call this one a draw. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, and you aren't. Furthermore, I don't find his tax issues to be that big a negative influence on my opinion of O'Bama, while you do. Just a difference of opinion. No problem. :-)
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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.
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Ok, but that's not what the term 'trickle down economics' means in common parlance. If you make up your own definitions for words, you're going to be misunderstood.
Quite a lot of the bill is in the form of tax cuts, which I guess fits your definition of coming directly to 'us'. Other parts of the bill go directly towards things that benefit those who are most in financial need, like funding for state unemployment insurance programs. Other parts go to encouraging 'green' technologies, which help directly by stimulating those businesses and thus providing jobs, improving the long term environmental outlook, and helping the US maintain it's technological edge.