AUGUSTA, Maine – Gov. Paul LePage said Tuesday that he wants to further overhaul Maine’s tax policy to include a flat 4 percent personal income tax and lower the corporate income tax rate.
“In the state of Maine that is exactly what we are trying to do, to go down to a 4 percent flat tax with no exemptions for anyone,” he told participants at the Bush Institute Conference on Taxes and Economic Growth in New York City.
“The problem I see is this: Until we as Americans decide whether we want to continue down the path of a welfare entitlement country, or we want to revive the American dream, we are not going to get there.”
LePage told the conference Maine started to reduce taxes in last year’s budget but that was only the beginning. He also told the group he wants to lower the top corporate income tax rate from nearly 8 percent to 4 percent.
“Hopefully, by the end of my first term, I would like to see it at 4 [percent],” he said.
Former President George W. Bush convened the conference which brought together four Republican governors and several conservative tax experts to discuss tax policy at the state and national level.
Rep. Seth Berry, D-Bowdoinham, the lead Democrat on the Legislature’s Taxation Committee, said both of the governor’s proposals would be bad tax policy which likely would increase overall taxes on middle-class Mainers while reducing taxes on upper-income taxpayers and out-of-state corporations that pay the largest share of the corporate income tax.
“You are essentially taking money from the middle class and giving it to the top,” he said. “Because there is no other way to pay for it than to shift it on to local property taxes, you cut the schools, you cut the aid to towns and cities and the middle class picks that up in higher property taxes.”
Berry said an analysis done recently by Maine Revenue Services indicates that for a 4 percent top tax rate the average Mainer would see their income taxes decrease by $241 a year. He said the top 1 percent would see their income tax decrease by $21,638.
But the Maine Revenue Services study is based on the top tax rate at 4 percent with the current provisions allowing exemptions, deductions and credits. LePage said he wants a flat tax.
The governor told the conference that Maine’s current top income tax rate affects nearly all taxpayers because it starts at $18,000. He said his proposal would benefit all taxpayers by lowering the top tax rate to a flat rate.
Rep. Gary Knight, R-Livermore Falls, House co-chairman of the Taxation Committee, said Tuesday afternoon he was hearing about the governor’s comments for the first time. He agrees with Berry’s assessment that lowering the corporate tax mostly would benefit large, out-of-state corporations.
“We should be lowering taxes for Mainers, not out-of-state corporations,” he said.
Knight supports the move to a flat 4 percent personal income tax. He said that would provide for a simpler tax structure and would stimulate economic growth.
“I really like the governor’s previous statement where he said he would like to eliminate the [personal] income [tax] entirely,” he said. “That would really boost the economy.”
LePage did not mention the elimination of the personal income tax at the New York conference.
Knight said he believes the only way to achieve tax reform is to balance the “big three” taxes — income, sales and property.
“We rely too much on income taxes and property taxes,” he said. “We need to take a broader look at this and not just focus on one tax.”
Knight said he does not believe a significant decrease in income tax rates can be achieved entirely by growth in other state revenues. He said Maine ranks 43rd in the nation for sales taxes as a portion of a state’s tax effort and said expanding the tax to cover more consumption items would be one way to find the cash to reduce the income tax rate.
With all the waste and fraud in government, only a fool would want to pay more taxes. Go LePage!
Amen why should we continue to fund Department Spending Abuses (MTA, MSHA) and Welfare Abuse. It is stupid to pay more taxes if we aren’t going to spend it on Infrastructure, lowering Taxes, Education and spuring job growth.
What about the bonds that weren’t passed for infrastructure?Construction can be done now at lower costs and the weather is cooperating.
With all the corruption in the corporate-government alliance, and the extremely unfair wealth distribution, only a fool with their head in the sand would keep feeding more money to the ultra-rich, who take jobs out of the US and put them in China (as Romney did through Bain).
You mean like Dale McCormick and Cathy Lee’s carbon credits?
Wealth is something that is earned. Distribution is when you take someone’s money and dole it out to other people.
The gap between rich and poor is growing, and one reason is because the tax laws are skewed toward the rich. I don’t think the hardworking folks of the middle class would agree that the money they earn is being “doled” out to them. Trickle down economics has been tried and doesn’t work. There is something trickling down, but it’s not cash and prosperity.
Just tell me this… who is more valuable to our society as a whole;
A good basketball player
An experienced nurse
A hedge fund manager
A fantastic teacher
Why is the pay for these folks not based on some type of reality? A reality based on the fact that a person could not become a good hedge fund manager, without at least one good teacher, An injured basketball player probably would not return to profitability without a good experienced nurse.
Pay people who DO work what they deserve, and I’m on board whit your thought. Currently good hard workers are being cheated.
Just to be the devil’s advocate, off all those professions mentioned, who is going to bring in the most money, thus deserving to be paid more money…
Bring in more money for the corporations that own them? Not to regular people.
That is exactly the point. If Micheal Jordan made the Chicago Bulls $100 million, he deserves his $10 million salary. At the same time when you look at it under the lens of “Who does more for society” Micheal doesn’t deserve it, the nurse or teacher does. Thing is, we are a society driven by economy. Who ever makes their bosses the most money gets the biggest salary. People hate the idea of increased salaries for teachers because it means increased taxes to pay. Here in Maine those people have a point, we pay to educate kids, the smart ones move away to find jobs that pay, and we get nothing for our investment. You can’t have good paying jobs when you don’t have educated people to work them, and educated people don’t stay where there are no good paying jobs. It is a catch 22 I know, and as time has gone on, we have allowed this state to become “The Vacationland” which is just another way of saying we survive off the graces of others.
You must either be an out-of-stater, or from southern Maine I know of no year round residents here in Washington County who think of this as “Vacationland.”
yea… um… “Vacationland” has been on our license plates for years now. Up here in The County tourism gets a lot of people through the year. Campgrounds, snowmobiling, fishing and hunting camps, guide services… all those businesses are based on the hope people will decide to come to Maine rather than vacation somewhere else. Much the same as Coastal Maine depends heavily on tourism.
Vacationland maybe for the people who do not buy the stupid license plates. Not for those of us who live and work here.
Sorry Dane. I don’t mean to be disrespectful but your question does not deserve my time.
>>>>
Wealth is something that is usually INHERITED. It is very rare for someone to rise above the socioeconomic status of their birth. You have bought into the MYTH that anyone can become anything they want in this country. You are very naive and know nothing about Sociology.
I love hearing people like you spout off about how the rich took jobs to China, overseas, etc…You want to stop that? You and your socialist friends could just stop shopping at Walmart. And we know the rich don’t shop there. Make your mind up-you want lower prices for consumers or jobs making consumer junk?
Shopped at Bergdorf Goodman, LL Bean’s Wanamaker’s Macy’s. or Neiman Marcus lately? All their stuff comes from overseas. China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Chile, The Philippines, All the names that once meant “Made in the USA” have been sold to, or used by foreign enterprise. Maytag, R.C.A. Whirlpool, Hotpoint, Frigidaire etc are made elsewhere. Ford, G.M., and Chrysler are largely a composite of foreign parts.
This was not due to “the poor shopping at Walmart. It is due to Democrat and Republican policies which made it easier and cheaper to have goods made by workers in countries without environmental restrictions, wage and hours laws, and child labor laws.
As for being “socialist” I’ll tell you what. being “capitalist” for the last forty years hasn’t helped this worker who has NEVER been on any type of “welfare.
Using Walmart was just an example. As a matter of fact I have been to most of the countries you mentioned and have shipped goods from most of them. I remember back in the late 80’s I was having a discussion with a group of union workers. I asked them how many of them drove american vehicles. Of course I already knew the answer as I knew what was in the parking lot. I, the only Republican there drove an american one. All the good democrats were driving foreign ones (before many were domestically made). My point is that it is hypocritical to critize one group if you can’t support your own, especially when it comes to buying American made.
There are NO American vehicles. There have been no (exclusively) US made cars since 1966 when the last Studebaker rolled off the line in South Bend Indiana.
….That being neither here nor there as my point is that it is government policies favoring export-import, outsourcing, and allowing a flood of cheap illegal labor.
We made sheets…. Good US cotton all American sheets. That was 40 years ago, and I still sleep on the pairs I’ve had since 1972. Forty year old sheets without a sign of wear. That’s what we gave up. That’s the kind of quality the younger folks will never see. I was proud to do what I did for $4.85 an hour. Show me a place where I can work like that again, and I’ll make you the best set of sheets you ever slept on.
Its kind of hard to shop anywhere else, when you have little to no money to spend after household bills are paid. It is a vicious cycle, for sure. But it also happens to be true.
What’s with the name-calling? What is a “socialist,” anyway, in your mind? If someone disagrees with you, do you automatically call them a “socialist” or some other word you consider insulting? So kindergarten.
People shop at WalMart because it’s full of cheap goods with lots of parking. Most people do not care that workers in China work 17 or more hours a day for 50 cents to $1 per hour or even per day.
Gee, theChinese – and many workers in this country, work so hard, yet they never get rich. How can that be? I thought all one had to do was work hard and one would rise up the ladder and be part of the 1%. Such a persistent and foolish myth.
Funny, I never thought the word “socialist” was insulting. I’ll use liberal next time.
My point was that many people are hypocritical in when they don’t support the working American. They want cheap and they buy it.
I may not be in the 1% but I pay many times the taxes most people pay in Maine. I did this by working hard AND making smart decisions to better my life. That includes 30 plus years of continuing education. I admit not all things work out but the last thing I am going to do is blame the top 1% for the cause of my problems. I take responsibilty for that. I have tried to help friends in tough economic situations but find the decsions they make pretty much keep them where they are in life. One thing I see is a sense of entitlement now that previous hard working generations would never have imagined.
If it will make you feel better you can go on believing it will make a big difference if people grow their own food in “little gardens” . Right.
Food shortages are on the rise world-wide. The World Health Organization now estimates that close to a billion people are short of food every, and famine reigns in certain parts of the world.
We are not immune to the tribulations of other places, although we seem to think we are.
Food gardens got millions of Americans through the Depression, and during WWII growing a Victory Garden was stressed by the government – and virtually everyone had a garden – because that allowed more food for our militaty. People can save thousands of dollars a year with a decent-sized garden in their own yard.
Not everyone can afford to go to school for 30 years, nor even go to local college anymore – especially not without going into debt.
And not everyone bases their “success” in life on how much money they make. A good life is productive and satisfying – which is why small farming, growing unsprayed food for local consumption, is such a good, purposeful life.
It may not be your path, but it’s a good and necessary livelihood which should not be denigrated by someone who feels superior because he has more “money.”
I don’t know about the “feels superior” thing as I am just being realistic. Work hard and make good decisions in life. Then live with them. Not too difficult to understand.
wow who is this guy?? must be rich!!
Easy to say “waste and fraud,” but better would be to say exactly, specifically where this “waste and fraud” is taking place. Inquiring minds want to know.
You do realize the majority of Maine did NOT vote for this governor, right???
Yeah!!! Go LePudge!!! Go give another of your relatives a creampuff job at taxpayer expense….Go and give taxbreaks we can’t afford to your rich buds who create no jobs! Go give health insurance companies and banks permission to rob citizens blind. Finally just go…….go away…..leave us alone. You are a national embarrassment.
Even the Republican co-chair of the taxation committee disagrees with at least half of LePage’s follies.
When you can’t get your own party to back you it’s time to admit you don’t have a clue.
We’ve been cutting taxes for decades, the latest was the Bush tax cuts. And we’ve been chopping away at welfare for decades (Clinton, in fact, annihilated welfare by eliminating AFDC).
The result is a wealth distribution in this country that is the same as in an African dictatorship. The result is that we are considered an incredibly cruel country by all other democratic countries. We let 45,000 people a year die from lack of health insurance, we have 2 million people in jail, and we let a huge number of our citizens languish in poverty.
Stop the lies of the politicians who serve their masters of greed!!
1/2 the people in Maine don’t pay income taxes. Flat tax gives everyone a chance to help feed the needy.
With the top 1% quadrupling their wealth in the last decade, while the rest of us suffer, it won’t hurt them to lose one of their ten mansions, or one of their two yachts, or their chateaux in France, or their beach resort with helicopter pad in the Bahamas.
It won’t hurt them to put some of their vast wealth back into circulation to help the country that made them powerful, instead of hoarding it in banks and overseas accounts where it does nothing but accumulate interest for them.
It is corrupt. It is unfair. We’ve all heard the propaganda and lies for decades now.
Wake up America!
A wealthy person should give up their yacht WHY? They should give away one of their mansions WHY? And who deserves the yacht? Who deserves the mansion? The less successful? The less hardworking? The drug abusers?
I suppose under your ideology, Barack Obama better hand over a big chunk of his BILLION dollar campaign fund.
They are using the Obama/Libby Mitchell mentality its shared prosperity and shared sacrifice that being successful is bad for america. That we should be supporting everyone who doesn’t work and pay taxes.
Oh, I know where they’re channeling it from. I simply enjoy hearing their own explanations. Always a good chuckle : )
Yes, more CONservative name calling to bolster their case. Isn’t it wonderful that their case has such substance that the only thing they can come up with is name calling. Doesn’t say much for their case, or for them.
Because someone earns more money does not necessarily reflect that they work harder. There are other assumptions that you make in your argument but often one recalls conclusions best when reached by oneself so I will allow you to identify them.
“There are other assumptions that you make in your argument but often one recalls conclusions best when reached by oneself so I will allow you to identify them. ” That’s quite a sentence! I’m not sure if I entirely understand it…
But simply put: I was using hypothetical descriptions, just as SpruceDweller did.
From each according to his ability to each according to his need.
People are dying because they can’t afford a doctor, that’s why.
No one’s dying because they can’t afford a doctor in this country. They just have to get to the emergency room and they cannot be turned away.
That’s a big reason why everyone else pays higher and higher insurance rates.
Long term care is often necessary to save a life, no?
http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/17/harvard-medical-study-links-lack-of-insurance-to-45000-us-deaths-a-year/
Or family.
Yes, they just have to get to the emergency room….like my brother-in-law did. He had no way to afford health insurance, so he lived with his health problem, not knowing what it was and not wanting to “burden” anyone with his problem, until the day came that he was so ill that he finally drove himself to the hospital, barely able to even stagger into the building, where he was diagnosed with cancer. He died two weeks later, at the age of 45.
Thank you for sharing this painful tragedy. Your words affected me greatly, and I am going to keep fighting to end this sort of cruelty.
Your empathy is much appreciated. I was almost afraid to post my experience for fear of the smart-alec comments it might reap.
Sorry about your brotherinlaw. There is still a difference between insurance and health care and the two are constantly being interchanged.
It is not necessary to have health insurance to keep healthy. There are things that everyone should do periodically, and people need to do them. One is having checkups and seeing a medical person about symptoms.
I was not suggesting going to the er for general care. Obviously, when your brotherinlaw was sick enough he went there. Unfortunately, it was not the right treatment at the right time, and, again, I am sorry for your loss.
We can all find ways to take care of regular medical treatment, but it takes effort. You are either very young or simply don’t remember, but the kind of health insurance we have now is only a couple decades old. Before hmo’s, people got insurance just for real emergencies: an accident or terrible illness that could not be planned. We went to the doctor usually yearly, and in the case of babies weekly for a while! And, it was paid outofpocket. You knew you were going to have those expenses.
In the years between leaving my parents’ home and getting married, I had a lowpaying job and was going to school. I didn’t buy insurance, but I did get a yearly physical and went to the dentist. And paid for each visit.
The kind of insurance that people expect now is much more than that and it drives up the costs. Still, it is cheaper to pay for each visit than to buy insurance, and when you are young and healthy, that is an option.
Since your brotherinlaw was old enough to be married and had a family, it seems that he was in the time of life that most of us do get insurance to take care of everyone. I am sorry he did not find a way to do that.
My father on the other hand retired from the Navy and was promised health care for the rest of his life. But, the government changed its mind, and he also died without the promised care. I would never trust the government with running my health care. I know if it is taken over all the elderly will be left to die, because there are too many at the time of life when they really need health care.
To be honest, the law says they have to stabilize you, that is all.
They don’t get the concept that “the one who does what others are unwilling to do, will eventually have what others can’t have.” They also don’t get that the money raised by the “buffet rule” won’t make even a small dent in our deficit spending. It is a feel good ploy that will hopefully get the vote of the 99%.
Did you get student loans?Did you go to a public school?You’ve already benefited from my taxes.
Well stated. And if he/she drives that is our tax dollars as well. Hard at work.
please stay in school – you have way too much to learn.
You have this false belief that if the top 1% did not quadruple their wealth then that wealth would have gone to someone else, perhaps someone who may need it more. This is however, not the case. Had they not quadrupled their wealth, that wealth would simply not exist.
And why do you believe that it is okay to take their WEALTH (not money) and “re-circulate it”? The government should have absolutely no right over anybodies wealth, in my opinion that is completely unacceptable and it a total violation of our liberties. Please keep in mind that we are talking about wealth here, not money, wealth and money are not the same thing.
Life is not fair, we don’t need the government to decide what is and is not fair and mandate accordingly. And yes, we have heard the propaganda for decades now, don’t you find it at least a little curious how when it comes to economics the left is on their own? All of the other political parties in this country more or less agree on economics, except the left. Strange.
You know what is strange? Your made up facts.
Funny the 1% under the 8.5% and the rest of the upper income brackets are those on middle and lower incomes as the bracket kicks in at $18,000 a year. That is when they can start to hit that bracket under Democrats policies. I haven’t heard from any Liberal on here why they should have to continue to pay that high of a tax to support those who aren’t paying taxes and are abusing Welfare Programs as well.
The mansions and the yachts and the beach resorts all take staff and goods to run. That is the money going into the economy. When it is ‘hoarded’ in banks, it is lent out to people and businesses and that is how the banks make money. If they are keeping it in a vault, it is not earning anything and neither is the bank.
SpruceDweller, perhaps you should leave your tree and get out in the real world. Try your hand at earning a living, running a business (you would have to create it, not just take it from someone successful) and after a few years you, too, could have a mansion and a yacht and maybe a little understanding of what it takes to succeed.
Or, you can just sit there and whine about how unfair it is that some people succeed and you can’t because it takes effort.
You are right about the staff, but lets be realistic, the bulk of that “staff” are illegal immigrants who are not putting their pay back into our economy as they send it back to Mexico to their families.
ya up the taxes on the rich so they move out of Maine and we only have the poor to contribute… That a great idea.
Yeah..That’s what this is all about! The Greedy feeding the Needy. What a concept.
Thanks ever so much for trotting out that tired, retread lie. The reason that, allegedly, half the people in don’t pay income taxes IS BECAUSE THEY DON’T HAVE THE INCOME. If LePage would spend time actually creating the jobs he promised during the election instead of trying to make trickle-down economics work (it NEVER has) or pandering to the Koch heads, then maybe more people would be paying taxes because they would have—-A JOB.
The government can’t just create job or everyone would work for the government. What LePage is trying to do is make Maine a place corporations want to be, then they will bring the jobs.
Firstly you are comparing federal tax rates with state tax rates. State income tax rates have not been cut for decades. Bush cut taxes, Reagan cut taxes, yet interestingly tax revenues stayed the same. So I don’t see your point.
Secondly, we have most certainly not been chopping away at welfare for decades. In fact, just the opposite has happened.
According to the CBO, raising tax rates on the wealthy does not and has never increased revenues. Lowering their rate since 1980 has increased the tax burden on the wealthy to the point where they are paying almost all of federal taxes. The wealthy are taxes more disproportionately than in any other country in the world. When we rely on the wealthy to foot the bill, what happens when we have a recession and half of the wealthy people are no longer wealthy? We lose a lot of tax revenues.
So knowing all of this, why do you want to increase taxes? Knowing that it will accomplish absolutely nothing.
Your statements of wealth say to me that you have very little, if any, understanding of what wealth is, what it represents, and where it comes from.
Your ideas of distribution are concerning. Take for example this, imagine you have two guys, they come from the same background, had the same opportunities, are both the same age, etc. One guy is an attractive guy, in good health, who makes $15,000 a year, can hardly pay his bills or feed himself and has no health insurance, but spends most of his time hanging out on the beach, does things he enjoys, and has a lot of “encounters” with his fair share of women. Now, let’s take the other guy, he is paraplegic, overweight, unattractive, and in general has poor health. He is in “upper management” and makes $500,000 a year, working 90 hours a week, he has no leisure time, has no family, has never so much as been on a date. Tell me, what do you distribute and to whom?
Your wrong proportionately, the effective tax rate is what we should be arguing here. Maine has had one of the highest effective tax rates nationwide for a long time now. Nationally we are ranked 9th highest for total taxes per person. We also take in more federal dollars then we pay out. So why do we need higher taxes. Seems to me we take in plenty. It just needs to be spent wisely.
Good God Almighty ! Common sense has been discovered alive and well in Maine. Please Sir, run for office. Reality in Government has been missing for far too long !
Just a thought but maybe if the democrats would deal with the tens of millions of illegal immigrants we have straining resources we could take care of our own. But that’s really not in their best interest to upset their voting block, now is it?
Illegal aliens can not vote.
True, but when you have families that have relatives that are here illegally or you upset a large voting block by defaming thier national heritage with talk of dealing with the illegal immigration problem, you have to be careful. I don’t think these are the voters republicans typically court, do you?
Ok. But now you are talking about something different entirely. Families of illegals are not any more or less of a burden than any other citizen. One would think that either party would want any and everyone to vote for them. So I guess it begs the question, are the families of people here illegally voting for something, or against people they don’t trust?
I would strongly disagree to illegals being “not any more or less of a burden than any other citizen” on our overtaxed system. Caring for our own is taxing enough. But hey-we are kind of off topic here. Its not that hard to understand why groups generally vote the way they do.
You should go re-read what I said. You brought their families into the discussion. My comment was about that. Its in the very first line.
If you increase the sales tax to compensate for a reduction in income taxes…….how are you cutting taxes??? How are you saving people money?
actually there will be an increase in revenue at 4% flat tax
If that’s true, then taxes will be raised on the poor.
You are saving RICH people money. Sales tax is regressive. The poor play a much larger percentage of their income for items that are subject to state sales tax — so collectively they would end up shouldering a larger portion of any increase in sales tax.
Pander to the rich. Sell the working man down the river. Same old story from Mr. LePage.
except they do not shop here
The tea party republicans are in fantasy land. They pass laws about what to do with a surplus when we haven’t had one in years and it doesn’t appear as if there will be one any time soon. The tea party Governor goes to NYC and continues the fantasy when he talks about reducing income taxes. If it was anyone but a politician talking this foolishness people would ask if they were crazy.
“LePage tells New York City audience about his goals to reduce Maine taxes…” because the people of Maine aren’t listening to him any more.
Wow . . . those people in New York City really must have been hard up for something to do . . . haha, go listen to the blow hard of Maine.
The only people not listening are the liberals losers that created the economic cesspool known as Maine
You people find your only genuine happiness in this life portraying yourselves as helpless victims and whining and spewing vitriol. Catching flys with vinegar may need a little work yet.
No you and your progeny created this mess
Don’t like it?Move.
Really? Is that why the Republican led (they hold a majority) appropriations committee just cut all the red meat out of LePage’s supplemental budget?
Lemme guess, it really wasn’t the Republicans, it was those dastardly Democrats that brainwashed them into not cutting off their nose to spite their face.
Lets just cut all the fat. Lets run the State of Maine like a business, heck, it can even be a Mardens. Run it with these 3 items.
1. Revenue is x
2. We CAN ONLY spend y
3. Our bottom line surplus is z
Many in the republican party just want the outrageous spending for nonsense to go away.
Good job Paul for standing up for your values.
Yes let’s run it like a business, because business has absolutely no influence over government does it?
““Hopefully, by the end of my first term, I would like to see it at 4 [percent],” he said.”
I think he meant to say, by the end of his only term.
Having a second term is LePage’s version of the American Dream. And how many of us can actually grasp at that dream these days?
There are a lot of us that aren’t “victims”
You just play one on news-site comment sections.
It’s called the “American Dream” because you’d have to be asleep to believe it.
that’s george carlins line give him credit
Is it his attempting to spend less than we take in on taxes what upsets you? Is it him trying to lower the income tax rates to be more in line with most other states that upsets you? I understand that you want everything to be free for everybody except those who work, but it cannot be done, has never been, and is only driving people out of this state.
he’s attempting to spend less.. but he’s pinching dollars to save pennies.. go for the big ones… “affordable healthcare”, reduce overhead, and nonsense spending.. once you’ve tamed those lions.. then you can pinch the other areas, and get the most you can out of the system.. also his “nepetism” is not helping the situation. his daughter gets a $43,000 a year secretary job? I’ve never seen a secretary get $43,000 a year starting pay EVER!!! and his brother in law getting that consulting job? $60,000 a year? come on!!!! are they even qualified? and were they the most qualified for the position? were others interviewed? I doubt it.
Actually his BIL is getting $68K.What’s Mayhew’s salary?She seems to be on top of things(cough)
You forgot to turn your head when you coughed, we are going to have to do it again. Oh and Gov. LePage will be in shortly to perform your prostate exam…
That should be “prostrate” as in how this state’s condition is and will be unless we do the work in 2012 and 2014.It’s amazing how much damage he’s done in such a short time.
Second term: repeal the income and sales taxes – build a new bridge over the Piscataqua River so the liberals can leave the state faster.
no, its the conservatives that can leave, they seem to want maine to becoame a red state like those in the deep south, of course they are at the bottom of everything but hey…….
lepage is a 1 term loser and watch to see how many republicans in the state legislature get reelected
Fact check-Maine is pretty much at the bottom economic wise with the highest taxes. Your liberal reps have pretty much put us in this positon over the decades. And you want more of the same?
Hey, don’t be so hard on the South. Even if some people are angling to make Maine the Mississippi of the North, they do have something going for them. They just placed first in teen preganancy! Go Mississippi!
Yeah, sure. Let’s become New Hampshire – the state of malcontents and misanthropes who like to spend most of their time complaining about their property taxes – it is their favorite pastime!
We could do worse – and have.
“Flat tax,” really is that how far we’ve fallen into stupidity? How many times will Americans have to tell rich people NO? Come November this silly talk will cool off considerably and Paul can go hibernate for the next two years.
and if you have your way Maine will be ranked 57th dead last in business friendless and income growth
Wow out of 50 states we’ll be 57
… He’s making a facetious reference to a very famous quote by President Obama …
LOL!!
Those super rich making $20,000 a year?
You realize that is where the top tax rate starts, right?
You are sadly mistaken, you need to check your facts before you spew what you heard on the internet.
Maine’s Individual Income Tax System Maine’s personal income tax system consists of two brackets with a top rate of 6.85%, kicking in at an income level of $250,000. Among states levying personal income taxes, Maine’s top rate ranks 17th highest nationally. Maine’s 2008 state-level individual income tax collections were $1,098 per person, which ranked 14th highest nationally.
AHHHHHHH!!! I Love it… 4% flat tax is the only way to tax fairly..
4% of 100,00 is 4,000
4% of 10,000 is 400
4% of 1,000 is 40
100% fair…
and revenues will go up with this system and more people will be able to be helped.
Once again Our Great Governor Paul LePage hits the nail on the head..
Sales tax is what?
Currently its at 5 cents/% it has been talked by Republicans about dropping it down to 2 or 3 cents/% . If it was to be passed as a way to increase spending on consumer goods to spur growth as well.
if you cut income tax and sales tax then property taxes are going to go through the roof. Watch out elderly!
sadly I bought a house… wish I was a renter……
your rent would go up as the owner would have to make up the tax increase for the building……. its a catch 22
Not if you cut the parasites from the state payroll and the welfare rolls.
Do you have a clue or are you spouting off Maine Heritage Policy Center talking points. Show me the math. How much would you reduce revenue and how much would your plan cut spending.
The truth is we should be cutting down on our welfare expenditures, however we should also be investing money in other areas. Education and transportation for example. Trade schools would be a good way to keep some people off welfare, and investment in UM and transportation projects are important for growing the economy.
Education and transportation are not investments. They are expenses.
Are you saying education is full of wasteful spending that should be cut out of the systems? Or, as an expense, it should be cut completely? Are you talking higher education, college level, K – 12, or the whole shebang?
I meant full of wasteful spending, overspending. I am a believer in education, but what the government means when it calls education an ‘investment’ is nothing to do with what happens inside the classroom. Throwing more and more money and allowing less and less parental involvement is not aimed at creating a population capable of thinking for themselves. It is something much different.
By “parental involvement” you mean what? Perhaps you should home-school your children.
Yes, clean earth! Most of what I see and hear of in the realm of “parental involvement” is some parent berating a teacher or administrator because little Johnny can do no wrong and the dog ate his homework!
Education is not an investment?! I guess if your aim is to create a permanent underclass that is too ignorant to question their lot in life, then I guess you’re right. However, most of us realize that education is the KEY investment a populace needs to make. Do you like Democracy? To sustain a democracy we need an educated populace. Do you like economic prosperity for ALL (not just the 1%), then education is the key. If we continue to cut education we will stop producing scientists, engineers, and other folks who create the innovations for which this country is known. We’d be left to buy our technology from countries who are not that friendly to our way of life and our way of government. If you don’t care what flag you salute, then keep cutting education. As for me, I’ve kind of grown fond of Old Glory.
We spend $2.40 on the elderly for every $1 on the young.
And, what have those “elderly” paid into the system over their lifetimes? Your comment borders on pathetic — or worse!
Far less than they get back.The wealthy elderly will get $1.1M in benefits.Let’s not forget all the estate planners and lawyers helping them hide everything so they can live off our dime.
say wishful1 – ever hear the expression, “you gotta spend money to make money?” perhaps you should look up the word “investment.”
There is no reason to raise property taxes. The thing to do is cut spending. We spend way too much at all levels.
The original post I replied to suggested cutting both income tax and sales tax. There is absolutely no way you could do that without raising property taxes unless you want your schools to be on par with Mississippi. The state would need to cut education funding (one of its largest expenses), and towns would need to raise property taxes to make up the difference.
I would be OK with cutting the income tax if it were balanced with an expanded sales/use tax (especially for prepared meals and lodging) and a moderate increase in property taxes. This shifts some of the costs to tourists and second home owners. There is absolutely no way we could afford to cut all taxes. I’m in favor of further consolidation of school districts (and even some town/city governments) to reduce administrative overhead. However, the cost savings should be focused towards improving education and economic development. I pay plenty in taxes, and I’m OK with that as long as the money is used wisely.
Unfortunatley it would also shift a heavier burden on the elderly who have to pay more in property taxes. Lepage makes it sound good by lowering taxes but the towns would pick up the burden and shift it on to homeowners. Only so much can be cut from budgets. Lepage talks about the importance of education, where is the money going to come from? Taking more and more from the middle class weakens them even more which is what ALECs agenda is all about. Gives the coporations more power over all
The elderly are already getting socked in The County with the new ins. rates.They voted for him in droves.Nice payback.Serves them right.
The top 1% have quadrupled their wealth, so even doubling their taxes wouldn’t slow them down any. They did it by subverting democracy by using lobbyists. It’s a legalized form of bribery.
In 2008 Wall Street stole massive amounts from the middle class, got bailed out, and is sitting pretty.
Keep ignoring how badly you are being fooled, and they might throw you a bone.
they did it by taking risking and begging the bank for loans and by working 7 days per week. why should they have to share it with those that don’t want to work hard and take risks? sounds like someone likes socialism
The bankers did it by keeping the profits during the profitable times and sticking the losses during the unprofitable to the taxpayers. They used the bailouts to maintaining their bonuses. And the profits during the good times was done by fraud and theft, which Obama refuses to pursue, which shows how powerful the bankers are.
Disqus generic email templatenot all the bankers are like that. I don’t disagree that the big wall street banks did that but the small home town banks which were forced by the feds to make loans to people that could not afford houses but obama told them make more fannie mae and freddie mac loans to balance their portfolios, took some bad hits.
Well OWS supported taking $$ out of BOA and putting it into local credit unions.Mac and Mae are culpable as are many across the board in both parties.
The small banks are not in the top 10% of earners and should not be included in generic statements about greedy bankers. They work hard – sometimes 7 days a week, they may be dedicated, fair and loyal to the USA people… but that’s exactly why they are small banks and not in the top 10% of earners.
Small banks operate just the same way big banks do. They just do it in smaller chunks. They need to abide by the same laws. They have the same accounts at the federal reserve and have the same audit system. Nothing different whatsoever.
Whether you want to believe it or not big banks really do operate differently from small banks… While it is true that they are expected to abide by the same laws, those at the top of the money chain in the big banks don’t have one/one millionth the morals, conscience or ethics as top administration of small community bank/s. The bigger the bank the more financial power, political power and corruption. Don’t you know they have a whole host of attorneys at their beck and call just waiting to point out the legal crevices they can crawl into.
No difference? Well, on a small scale let’s examine the difference between Bangor Savings Bank and Bank of America. If you don’t believe there is an operating difference between these two banks just ask their customers… The small banks don’t normally take advantage of the customer just because they can… Bigger banks, such as BOA, will find any kind of loophole that allows them to take advantage of the customer just to make more money for themselves. You can’t really be that naive can you? No difference?
Wake up Cheesecake 1955 and smell the coffee… it’s just like the difference between Walmart and small local businesses. They too operate under the same laws but there is a huge difference with regard to integrity, honesty, morals, ethics, customer service, human decency, patriotism, giving back to this country, etc… vs. operating under the bare minimum that meets legal standards while at the same time having attorneys looking for legal ways around even those laws and negotiating with politicians to present legislation favorable to the big banks and big corporations. FYI – Bangor Savings doesn’t have any political clout but I’d trust them to do right by me and my money long before I’d trust Bank of America. I see the difference even if you don’t.
You are right. Community bankers operate with a whole different set of ethics. The problems that our economy and financial markets face are caused by the “too big to fail” bankers, such as Citicorp, J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs.
Hello there topofmaine – what is with your Disquis obsession? Your version of History is distorted since Obama was not even elected in Oct. of 2008 when the “banking crisis” happened. Please get you facts straight.
Disqus generic email templateno it isn’t cranky patsy12, but he was running for office and preaching just what I said and then when he took office he kept pushing the banks. maybe you should go back a few years and check the record.
Obama won’t pursue it because he says no laws were broken.
Not all banks were bailed out! Obama is not pursuing anything because it is his friends.
Before you condemn capitalism, check out socialist societies and see how well the common people are doing there. You might be surprised.
No one is to blame for the bank bailouts except for the politicians who provided the loan bailouts. Don’t blame the banks for that. Also, you say bank profits during good times were done by fraud and theft. I’ll buy that theory when you can come up with telling figures. Right now you are simply conjecturing.
OMG, please tell me you are just joking. You cannot be that naive can you? Money is rarely made via old fashioned hard work anymore. Money is made these days by quicker, faster methods that involve a lot of questionable behaviors that have absolutely nothing to do with an honest day’s work. Cutting corners, buying favors, cheating, stealing, lying, lack of conscience, grappling, crawling, scratching, kissing butt and even sexual favors are what gets people to the top of the corporate world these days.
As for the hard honest worker… he/she is rarely in the top 10%. The reliable worker who works 7 days a week, demonstrates unwavering loyalty and dedication to the company they own or work for, the hard worker who takes pride in his/her work and provides high quality labor and/or merchandise is often trampled by others who are desperately trying to claw their way to the top via any means it takes. The honest, fair and hard workers are, without question, under-appreciated.
It’s a whole different world out there today than it was back in the day when hard work, loyalty and dedication was valued. There are no gold watch days anymore… just highly negotiated severance pay packages. Wake up and smell the coffee – it is 2012 and what should be appreciated and rewarded no longer is. Heck… Snooky the little drunk from the reality tv show, “Jersey Shore” gets higher pay than the President of the United States (and it doesn’t matter who is President). It’s not hard work that got her (and many others) to the top.
Think about it… the world is changing and not necessarily in a positive way. Greed, the ability to entertain, deceive or garner cash via any quick manner is valued much more than hard work. If labor is cheaper outside the country… corporate giants buy foreign labor even though it takes jobs away from hard working Americans and hurts the US economy. Why? Well because it’s the best bang for their buck and they don’t really care about the USA, they have no loyalty, no conscience… it’s all about greed aand getting more pocket money for tycoons – more than they could possibly spend in 10 lifetimes. Do you really believe the top 10% would pay a hard-working American a decent wage when they can buy cheap labor abroad? No sir, hard work, loyalty and dedication are not the money makers anymore.
Disqus generic email templateguess I am behind the times
DJBrown is so right. I lived in NYC for a number of years when the theme was “those with the most toys wins” . Just because one feels disgust for those whose greed blinds them doesn’t mean one is a socialist. I started and ran my own business in NYC and came to understand that it’s not so much hard work but money itself that makes money. The mega rich don’t need to work 12/7 a week like I did. And they pay a sinfully low tax rate for being so fortunate. My uncle was a potato farmer in the county and did quite well before the bottom fell out do to circumstance beyond his control. He eventually lost the farm he worked so hard to build and died in poverty. The big shot wall street boys knowingly led our economy down the tubes with phone calls and deals, not sweat from actually working in the field. They had enough control to keep the economy from crashing but their greed come first. When the bottom fell out for them my tax money bailed them out. They didn’t deserve the hand out and they certainly don’t appreciate it. And not only is there no punishment for all the destruction caused to our economy they are fighting hard against any laws that would hinder them from doing the same damn thing again. I don’t not resent those who, through hard work, brains and ethical means, have earned their wealth. But you don’t have to be a socialist to understand there is a down side to capitalism when the bad guys are at the controls.
Well said… very well said.
Well, a lot of wish we could still depend on our own hard work to do well. Used to happen; doesn’t anymore since our jobs have been shipped overseas, or the companies here use cheap, imported foreign labor.
Blueberries and wreathmaking, for example, use mostly foreign labor nowadays. They bus them in from Mexico, Honduras, Columbia, and so on. Local people have told me they have a hard job getting those jobs anymore, even though they’re hard, good workers.
But it’s all about the profits, no more loyalty to good workers. Sad.
“Money is rarely done the old fashion way anymore…” That’s a lot of malarkey with nothing to back it up. I think you are painting all banks with a very broad brush. Until you can come up with more details, your argument means nothing to me. Please, don’t misunderstand me, but there are a lot of posters here who support that point of view. However, such statements like, “You cannot be that naive can you?”, or ” OMG, please tell me you are joking.” does little to persuade me.
First of all… I’m not trying to convince you of anything. Secondly, what I said is that money is rarely MADE by old fashioned hard work anymore. It’s sad too because people who work hard are often at the bottom of pay scale. Corporate giant leaders… well, you want me to back up my view they used bail-out money for a weekend spa party after they ran this country into the financial toilet. I don’t call that hard work or deserving… that’s my point. You’re entitled to disagree.
It’s hard for me to believe that there are people as naive as you
Now THAT’S funny!
You are so steeped in Horatio Alger mythology that your comment is not even worthy of an appropriate response – good luck to you in your little, tiny world.
Disqus generic email templatemust have been since you responded 3 times to my same comment. boy are you defending the big o or what? get a life would you.
Why do you want to ‘slow down’ the wealth of anyone? The thing that has made the US what it is today is the ability of ANYONE to increase their wealth. That is why people emigrate to the United States. The Wall Street bailouts have nothing to do with the freedom to make your way; they were a way to get politicians’ friends out of a jam. That kind of corruption is beside the point.
And by anyone, I assume you mean the 400 families that have 90% of the wealth?
Obviously you havent read the reports that the American dream died sometime in 1999. Since then the divide between classes has raised considerably. The bar has been raised, success stories are few and far between. You want to do manufacturing, better have 20 million, open a restaurant, better have 2 million, open a sub shop better have 150,000. You cannot get a loan for your business from the bank reasonably now. Want to borrow a 100,000 to grow you business, you need to show a 100,000 in the bank and assets, the banks cannot lose this way. Since the bank is your partner how come they have no risk now?
In real purchasing power,the high water mark was 1973.Except for a couple of small upticks under Clinton,it has gone down every year since them.
That’s a MYTH – do you still believe in Santa Clause and the tooth fairy too?
good luck if you own a house… your property taxes are going to cover what the state will not cover.. yes it saves you $241 a year in state income tax.. but what about the home-owners, and local buisnesses that are assesed property taxes? they are going to be hit HARD to make up the difference.. since the state will cut funding to municipals.. like they already have.. I dunno about the rest of you but I was hoping my taxes would remain fairly consistant.. and for the 2 years I’ve owned my home, I’ve seen them go nothing but up.. my payments have gone from 1008.00 a month to over 1130.00.. I dunno about the rest of you but I can’t afford payments much higher than that.. especially on state employee income that I’ve been unable to get a raise for the last 4 years. I’ve been very tempted to just move out of this state all together.. I thought this was a great state to grow up in, and raise a family, but now I’m just confused as to why I stayed..
Many, perhaps most, towns have doubled their property tax revenues in real dollars over the last 10 years.
I hope you stay.We need more public servants.I hope you get a raise soon.The rich have already gotten theirs multiple times.
So stop your local government from all the spending! It is easier, although not easy, to do it at a more local level than through the federal government or even the state. Politicians like to spend money, and the people who receive tax dollars like to get it. Taxpayers are the ones who need to stand up and say NO loud and clear.
Are you planning to attend the Maine Taxpayers United event on Sunday? That is where you will meet a lot of people who do not want to see taxes rise or remain as high as they are.
Yea lets cut the funding at the local level, we dont need that fire truck, plow truck or that extra police officer even though we have numerous bath salt issues each week. Maybe the state should be paying to plow their own state aid roads and not requiring the towns to pick up that added expense. Last year the state looked into turning all maint on the state aid roads to the towns what do you think that will do to your property taxes.
Don’t forget Paulie gets extra police protection at your expense that was not needed before.Your and my tax dollars at work.TPers take out of the system and pay in little or nothing-the ultimate freeloaders.
it would be far better to get big corporations to actually PAY taxes. they complain about their “rate” all the while jumping (slithering) through their convenient loopholes and ending up with no or very little actual tax being paid. THIS is the real problem. Property taxes are a rough thing as we foolishly tie school budgets to this. SO up they go as school districts are forced to cut cut cut because state governments are not invested in our kids. What a scandal that is. Want your property taxes to go down? Unlink them to schools.
You’ve probably stayed because it isn’t better elsewhere, usually worse. At least you’re in Maine, not a slum in some big city. I feel that even though I’m low income, I’m still better off here in Maine than elsewhere.
Maybe the flat tax needs to be just a little higher to take care of our legitimate needs and give the property tax a break; but it is certainly fair to everyone. Now get rid of ALL our tax exempt properties and we may get in fiscal shape.
Tax the churches-problem solved.
ALL—–including churches, museums, hospitals. ALL. No loopholes is the only fair way for everyone.
Those other entities will just pass along their costs to the consumer anyway.Churches can only shake down the flock,not the taxpayer.
Our “Great Governor ” has already placed the burdon of uninsured healthcare on the hospitals by changing the Health Insurance rules. How much more do you expect them to carry? Hospitals close and we all suffer. I understand that the Repubs would just as soon have the poor die and go away, but that is not the way it is.
If a hostpital is not profit and actually working that way its one thing. Here in south berwick the closest is York and wentworth douglas. Wentworth has to file taxes in Rollinsford because they have property there. They had 1bilion in reserves. WTF?
A billion dollars in reserve? That would cover a lot of health care. Disgusting to just hold on to that money and still whine about not having enough.
Oh Ron, Ron, Ron… every department at York Hospital must cut 2.5% of their budget every year until infinity. One day you will go there and find the doors shut and locked – good luck to you in this brave new world.
Taxing churches would help a lot. It’s not fair we all pay for religions of which we are not a part. We can pay for our own beliefs voluntarily, but shouldn’t have to pay for others.
Some churches have rental properties which should be taxed, too.
I agree that all non-profits should be taxed the same way we are. Many non-profits use up their money in giving out large salaries, then they just keep begging for more money because they don’t have to pay taxes, and there’s no limit to how much a so-called non-profit can take in.
Hospitals charge an arm and a leg for even tiny services. If they had to show how much they took in versus how much they spend on big salaries, I’ll bet we’d get some eye-openers. Of course they should pay taxes, unless their fair expenses exceeded their income, just as it is with individuals.
True.Look at Komen and the salaries they were paying just for one example.And the excuse is always”We have to pay for the best or they’ll go elsewhere”Those of us who have no church(a large and growing number)are paying for everybody’ else religion.
A flat tax with no exemptions is the only FAIR way to tax.
Sure, but since the State in in the red, why not keep your flat tax at the 8.5% rate. Does that make too much sense to you or are you too concerned for all the squeaky wheel multimillionaires?
The Bush Institute of economics has brought us the worst economic
meltdown since the great depression, so as an Institute of economics any
policy should be scrutinized. The fact is that the failed economic
policies of the Republican party, also known as Voodoo economics should
not be followed.
Now Mr. Lapudge, get your butt back to Maine and start making good on
your campaign promises of bringing jobs to the state, we can’t afford
for you to be vacationing in New York City.
Is Paul leaving Maine and trying to be become Gov of New York? I think All us Mainers are driving Paul out of Business. Looking forward to be open for business again.
No, he was thiere pandering to his corporatist/ALEC/Heritage Foundation masters since he is their big mouthed blowhard puppet.
You mean the ALEC that huge corporations are dropping just in the last ten days?Where’s that news story?
Oh the story is out there. Pepsi and Coke AND Kraft foods?
Ouch.
Quick someone check Kittery and see if the “Open for Business” sign is still there.
Yes, then he and Gov. Christie of NJ can compare crib notes a lot easier, they’re already study buddies to ALEC.
Two fat pigs at the trough just like “Animal Farm”
When companies are looking at expanding or relocating to a state, one of the more important considerations is the tax rates of that state, not only for its lower level employees, but also for it’s management and executives who would be in the higher tax brackets.
Two other important considerations are is the state a “right to work” state (union membership not mandatory) and does its education system provide a continuing flow of graduates who have skills necessary for that company.
LePage is focusing on making Maine a better state in which to do business and is correct in making the tax rate be a priority. I hope the right to work and education will follow as well.
You union buster you! I’ve never understood why allowing people to decide to be in a union or not is a bad thing…..
I hate to stir this pot because so many here seem to hate the Katahdin Region but why don’t you talk to some people there (I think there’s still a few left) about how all these poor corporations need so many concessions or they’ll just die…..wha wha wha–all the way to the bank grabbing an astounding hydro system on their way out the door and leaving a trail of toxic dumps. If these opportunists see something easy to feed on, they’ll swallow it whole on their way to the next country they can rape. But don’t worry, they won’t stay long…..
Seems to me that’s why Unions started back in the time of USA sweat shops. The companies got to greedy & the pendulum swung too far, after a while maybe the Unions pulled the pendulum too far in the other direction but human nature requires there to be checks and balances
I work for a large international company with an aggressive growth & acquisition plan. Personal income taxes and “right to work” are not part of the acquisition assessment plan. Cost of operations and supply are key. Looking at the various companies I’m responsible for in the Northeast the three expenses that are significantly higher for our Maine operations are property taxes, utilities and transportation (distance from market & the transportation infrastructure). Property taxes are beyond our control, we’re working on conservation plans to mitigate the higher utility cost and we try to site any expansions along the interstate corridor to help minimize transportation costs. Maine’s greatest advantage is it’s labor force; we’re both less expensive as well as more productive than our peers to the south.
Aquisitions are different from starting a company or relocating a company in that aquisitions generally already have people and infrastructure in place whereas a new or relocating company has to attract people.
Furthermore, in aquisitions you have an existing bottom line to look at, which factors in the costs of doing business in a state. If that bottom line or projected bottom line are not of enough value the aquisition won’t happen.
And many aquisitions are made for the pieces of the company which end up being dismantled, absorbed, or sold off.
I was personally involved in the expansion of a major company to another state where we created thousands of jobs. Personal income tax and “right to work” were two of the key components of selection of where to expand.
Couple of points. One, another reason business does not flock to Maine, winter is 9mos long and it costs a small fortune to heat big facilities. Until LePage, or anyone else, can figure out how to lessen that burden, we are dead in the water, add to that the cost of shipping product from this area of the country, with these gas prices. Why do you think Barber foods is moving in the direction of havign all of its shipments move out from NJ?
Two, unions have to bargain for everyone, regardless of whether they are in the union or not, it is State law. To ask that a person pay their fair share is not unreasonable. Otherwise, people who go into a union job, knowing it is a union job, ought to give back all the benefits and rasies that they didn’t contribute fair share money for.
Well at least LePage was rubbing elbows with that pseudo cowboy from Texas who was proving to still be completely clueless years after his Imperium ended. Continuing to make stupid tasteless jokes about one legged vets. I hope LePage took notes on how he might enhance his own cluelessness.
Electing a successful businessman-not a professional politician-is sure to send the libs into spasms.
If a liberal is a lib, does that make a conservative a con? I like that.
Simply amazing that anyone would argue against reducing tax rates. Leveling out tax rates distributes the burden in the fairest way possible. The rich naturally pay the most and the lowest class naturally pays the least… yet everyone contributes. Considering only half contribute right now, how can anyone oppose adding more tax payers to the mix? And if you’re sooooo worried about revenue- who’s preventing you from writing a larger check to the IRS??
What a silly comment. If you’re so worried about revenue? You could say the same thing about anything. If you’re soooooooo worried about the middle east, who is preventing you from writing a check for the Defense budget or going over there and fighting yourself?
You are sooooo funny
Of course it’s silly! That’s the point! Who wants to pay more taxes? Not me. I’m simply responding to the typical absurd complaints that we aren’t paying “enough.” Well if paying taxes is such a charitable act, how come people write the check to the exact penny? And why do people get so excited about a refund? Because, deep down, even the biggest tax advocates want someone ELSE to foot the bill. Heck, even the U.S. Treasurer himself hates April 15th.
Responsible people realize what taxes pay for. It’s not asking for someone else to foot the bill, it’s asking everyone to pay their share. If you’re successful, it’s because there is a system in place allowing that to happen. You would be nothing without the schools, roads, courts, workers, etc.
No one really loves getting on their hands and knees and cleaning the floor, but most people love a clean house. Same thing. You have to do what you have to do.
Kindly wake up. Over the last few decades there has been a massive redistribution of wealth from the bottom and middle concentrated to the very top, many of whom hide it offshore. It is insane that someone like Flipper Romney can pay half the rate I do and hide his multi millions in secret offshore ventures and accounts and thus creating NO jobs here at home. A society can not long endure when 40% of the wealth in concentrated into the hands of just 1% of the population. A society WILL long endure with a growing jobs base and a thriving and growing middle class, and part of achieving that is through PROGRESSIVE taxation where those at the top pay at higher rates thus reducing the overall burden on the middle and working classes thus creating more consumers, more small businesses, etc. But the TeaPublican Party wants a corporatist plutocracy and a very small number of their masters to control everything while destroying the American middle class. Come November, Mainers will drop the TeaNuts like a bad nightmare and bring some reason and Maine values back to this state.
that long winded paragraph can be condensed into one word: socialism. why are you so afraid to say it?
Good word, socialism. I am all for it:
“a political and economic theory of social organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.”
“…by the community as a whole.”
As in functioning within a society.
How many of us live alone in the back woods off the grid, hunt/grow own food, don’t need anybody? If you are reading or commenting here, that is not you.
You are in society.
Let’s be functional, people.
Mainestudent, we were all in our 20’s and ideological once. Don’t worry, reality will knock all that “knowledge” out of you.
Lots of us would rather pay less in taxes. But if it means cutting art programs in schools, driving on increasingly potholed roads, and witnessing elderly neighbors slowly starving to death, some might be willing to reconsider that extra $5 – $10 per week,
Any change in tax structure has potential to shift wealth from one group to another. THERE IS NO TAX SYSTEM THAT EVERYONE WILL LOVE AND THAT IS 100% FAIR. That said, do you really think this is a good time to cut social programs and increase taxes on the poor?
People of all income brackets pay taxes. Income tax is not the only form of taxation. We all pay sales taxes, property taxes, excise taxes, and others. Everyone, repeat everyone, contributes.
This may be a little difficult to follow, but I’ll try. Say there is a certain level of income just to maintain a reasonable life style. That isn’t a variable cost. It’s fixed. Income beyond that amount is variable. A flat tax hits the fixed cost of maintaining a reasonable life style as much as it does the extra income, the income beyond what is necessary. Say everyone needs $50,000 for the necessities. Smith makes $50,000 and just covers the necessities. Jones makes $250,000. He has the $50,000 necessities covered and has another $200,000 to play with. How is it fair that the same tax rate, say $4% takes $2000 out of Smith whose income covers necessities and is now reduced to $48,000, but takes $10,000 out of Jones who still has his $50,000 to cover necessities plus $190,000 to play with?
A flat tax does not impact everyone equally. It isn’t really flat at all. It’s regressive.
Well stated. In a consumption based economy the most effective means to spur growth would be to address the sales tax. The first Bush stimulus had a greater effect because funds were provided to individuals with lower discretionary/disposable income who were more likely to spend rather than save. The second stimulus was not as effective as it provided funds to financial institutions, many of whom simply used the funds to acquire and eliminate competition or solidify their own financial position rather than utilize those monies for lending programs for which they had been intended. While the only thing anyone can do is speculate about the potential results, but it would have been interesting to see if subsequent stimulus efforts would have been required had these funds been given to human citizens.
There are other forms of taxation?! Did you misread my name as”mainekindergartener”? : )
Your argument is based entirely on your perception of fairness, which is exactly what I have a problem with. You suggest that if someone has extra disposable income, they should give more of it away. Rather than recognizing disposable income as an incentive to take education seriously and work hard, you belittle it as something to simply “play with”. Yet disposable income happens to FUEL our economy. It pays salaries, it buys product, it furthers education, it invests. The more of it we have in our pockets, the better! I suppose you believe policy makers are better equipped to spend our money for us?
As for the Keynesian 101 lesson- thanks, but no thanks.
Clearly you must be a student at an institution of higher education! As such, you must realize your argument could be utilized against your case supporting a flat tax. In a consumerism based economy, discretionary income is a higher octane FUEL than disposable income. The greater number of consumers with discretionary income, the more stable the economy. This is not a matter of fairness but rather fact (as a business, would you prefer 100 potential customers or 10,000?).
As cost of living expenses have increased, do you feel it is purely a coincidence that we have experienced negative and/or sluggish growth?
You are assuming that EVERYONE has the opportunity to go to college and there will just be a job waiting for them when they get done. Most people in America couldnt dream of sending their kids to school and so many are bankrupt with their student loans when they get out of school that they need to work THREE jobs just to meet the necessesities. What the rich and the 1% dont seem to understand is that we are NOT STUPID. We understand what they have been doing and we understand what they are continuing to try and do and the 99% are tired of starving to death, losing their homes, unable to afford decent healthcare, and unable to have a happy and humane life. The rich are IN-humane in the fact that they are blaming all of the problems of the country on the poor and diseased that dont work and they have to have programs for. I am guessing they would really rather see all of these people dropped off at an island somewhere and a food crate dropped once a week for them to fight over. We have seen over the past five years this country take on Bullying all around the country and to be totally honest….This is where the biggest Bullying takes place. Greece has an earthquake and the president asks us all to text 10.00 to help. You know who the ones that help fellow americans are? The poor and the middle class, the people that have a heart and caring for their fellow American. Class Warfare, you bet your sweet behind it is…..and come election day, i pray America will send a huge message to all of those politicians who continue to believe the way to fix this is to keep giving to the rich and taking from the rest of us.
Everyone DOES have the opportunity to go to college if that is what they want to do. They just need to be able to pay for the college as they go so they don’t come out in debt! It’s possible, thousands of people do it all the time. And if you just can’t think of working your way through college then don’t go! Where there’s a will, there’s a way!
My daughter is a good example. She is $60,000 in student loan debt but the flip side is she wouldn’t listen to her parents when we told her she had to work through high school and save the money, work during school, live at home and work in the summer. She wouldn’t listen to us about going to her local college either. “It wasn’t good enough”. So she’s paying for it now and it’s her own fault. She was 18 and an adult. Maybe we should change the law and make these kids adults at 25 instead. That would have saved a lot of student loan debt! Maybe we should also make a law saying who ever is paying for the bill should be able to see the grades and deal with the colleges.If parents could actually see grades and have imput many of these kids wouldn’t be in the place they are in.
And what generation could come out of college and immediately purchase a home? Not mine, not my parents, or their parents! The people losing their homes are people that couldn’t afford the homes to begin with and the banks that you are so mad at where “FORCED BY LAW” to give them the loans. You can blame that on Jimmy Carter, Barney Frank, and Chris Dodd who created the law!
While I am not rich by any means, I am not starving to death, losing my home, I have healthcare until Obamacare kicks in, I am happy, and I am not in humane to anyone.
And who the heck are these “1%” and 99% ” people anyway? What wealthy individual, other than your representatives, are forcing you to do anything? I don’t see anyone holding a gun to my head forcing me to get a loan, a house, a car, or anything else. Who are these “in humane rich people”? Who are THEY that you say “understand what they have been doing”? What rich person do you know who is inhumane? Whos is blaming the problems on the poor?
I blame all of our problems on individuals and on Congress and you should too because they pass the laws!!!
Regarding class warfare, Obama and his buddies are the ones starting that along with the bullying and it’s a shame you and the occupiers can’t see that. Instead you blame the Tea Party who were the first ones to point out that we taxpayers shouldn’t be bailing out business’s and banks. They aren’t ruining the Country, they are trying to improve it by working through the system. They were just three years ahead of the rest of you in knowing what shouldn’t be done! The Occupiers and the Tea Party have a lot of similar issues but the occupiers think big government should fix it and screw it to the rich while the Tea party thinks individual responsibility should fix it.
And that is what most Americans lack – Individual Responsibility! They want to blame everyone but themselves.
It is true that there is class warfare. I have never seen as much hatred thrown at people in need. The middle class is disappearing. Working one job is becoming a thing of the past. What ever happened to helping those in need instead of treating them like they should just go away? What happened to civility and compromise? Could it be the big money going into ALEC and other superpacs running vile and negative ads? It use to be that each state would run there own agenda but since the GOP has taken over, in each state look at the comparisons of what is going on. http://www.scribd.com/doc/85472333/Who-is-Writing-Maine-s-Laws#outer_page_4I
My husband and I are retired with a very modest home. Cutting the income tax rate will not offset what the increase in property taxes will probably be.
Right on, brother!
Well, no, not kindergartener. (That never occurred to me. Why did it occur to you?) But you said, “…considering only half contribute right now…” An obvious inference is that you think that half do not contribute right now, and that isn’t true. Go buy some cheap socks at Marden’s and see if your purchase contributes to the state’s revenue. Go register a 15-year old beater at the town office, and see if you are contributing to state and municipal revenue.
“For everyone to whom much is given, of him shall much be required.” — Luke 12:48
I wonder if John Maynard Keynes had this quotation from the Bible in mind as he was pondering how to fix an ailing economy.
It occurred to me because you attempted to explain sales tax to me. Anyone past kindergarten age knows that sales tax exists. Also, when I said only half contribute I was clearly referring to income tax- the SUBJECT of our discussion. Don’t try to belittle my argument, because I was simply pointing out the true distribution at the moment. Now, I’m no tax expert (never claimed to be) but neither are you it seems. There’s an obvious problem. We both recognize it. However, we believe the burden should be distributed differently. When 47% of Americans are exempt from paying income tax, there’s a fundamental problem whether you disagree or not. I’m open to many solutions, but I don’t buy Keynesian attempts to redistribute money from the top only.
As far as the verse in Luke, I’m all about charity! I don’t believe income tax is an example of that. Our crafty President twists the words of Jesus by adding government into the equation. Much shall be required from GOD, not the IRS.
The flat tax is nothing new.It has been proposed before and rejected many times.What one will see as a result of all this is costs being diverted too the towns.Taxes will rise much higher and municpal services will either get more money from its citizens or have to cut back drastically.Wealthy communities will suffer less that poor rural communities.Roads, schools and all those will still aave to be funded.If the idea is so great, how come no state is using it?You need to really study it and its total effects on the ecomony as a whole not just on how much one would save in state income tax.That saving will be eaten up and more in other areas.It does sound great, I agree, but, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
Maine’s economy is doing SO well lately-last in the nation.Nice job.
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You mean keep MORE of their income, right?? Reducing tax rates doesn’t make anyone richer.
To go forward with that,the Federal Poverty Level for one person is $10,890,adding $3,820 per person.The other thing that is never talked about is that SS taxes stop at $106,800.That is the craziest thing ever.If nothing else is changed,the cap needs to be dropped NOW.
Your statements are incredibly accurate and insightful; unfortunately, your logic goes over the heads of too many posters here. Give up on mainestudent – anyone who “knows it all” at a young age is pretty much a lost cause.
only half contribute??? have you ever heard of payroll taxes. Please stay in school for a very long time.
I say revive the American dream. Go Governor LePage!
Yeah, revive the “American Dream” with more insane tax giveaways to the rich and your corporatist masters. Your trickle down voodoo economics scheme is a major league failure. It does not work. It will not work. It has NEVER worked. LePage is a ridiculous incompetent joke of a buffoon, and come November your TeaNutWhacko party is TOAST. So enjoy the buffoonery while you can.
“I do not care about editorials, opinion polls or the next election. I have four years and a job to do. ”
-Paul LePage, Inaugural Address
“Hopefully, by the end of my first term, I would like to see it at 4 [percent].”
-Paul LePage, 10 April 2012
That only took 15 months to say out loud. Nice.
First statement was before he set up his second campaign fund. It would be nice to know how much was in it already.
He checks that in the Caymans on his annual “Jamaican Pilgrimmage”.
The USA built the greatest economy in the history of the world with a progressive tax system. Now the Republicans are trying to toss that successful economic model into the crapper.
Their first step is always to lower the top brackets and institute a flat tax system. They never really get around to closing those loopholes (that largely benefit the wealthy) they always talk about though.
Have you ever heard of earned income tax credit??????
In the early years EVERYONE paid taxes, no tax brakes, earned income tax credit, none of that. Now only the upper middle class, and the rich pay taxes. That is wrong, everyone should pay taxes, everyone!!
Everyone does pay taxes, pumpkin. Everyone. The income tax isn’t the entire tax burden, obviously.
I am talking about income tax, you have to WORK to pay income tax, and in the old days people actually worked.
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The repug/Tea Potty are doing their best to destroy the greatest economy, the greatest country the world has seen, all for the benefit of the 1%. Time to flush the Tea Potty down the crapper, and take the traitorous repugs with them.
I’d recommend you do the math before you jump on board with THIS baby, and it’s not hard to do. Take out your copy of your 2011 State income tax, find “Federal Adjusted Gross Income” (Line 10 on the short form) and multiply that number by .04. Then compare that to the tax you paid in 2011 (Line 23 on the Short Form). You might be VERY surprised.
Remember, this is based on going “down to a 4 percent flat tax with no exemptions for anyone”. The important part in that sentence is “NO EXEMPTIONS FOR ANYONE”. That means you lose your mortgage interest exemption, your Standard Deduction, and your Income Exemption.
According to the above article the top 1% will see their tax reduced by over $21,000 a year. Just who do you think is going to make this up? Or do you REALLY believe that the state will reduce the taxes on the top 1% without it affecting YOUR taxes?
“In the state of Maine that is exactly what we are trying to do, to go
down to a 4 percent flat tax with no exemptions for anyone,” LePage says in New York.
However, LePage is also trying to exempt the first $20,000 of pension income for retirees. How is that consistent with “no exemptions for anyone?”
He wants the retirees to stay in the State not move to Florida like I am going to do. You people can’t see it, but LePage will save this State if he gets another term.
I was merely pointing out an inconsistency. I don’t have a problem with
exempting the first $20k of pension income though I would say that ANY
retiree or person age 65 & older should have the first $20K exempted
from Maine income tax, regardless of the source of that income. Not
everyone has a pension per se.
Why wouldn’t you exempt the first $20,000.00 of pension income, we’ve already paid taxes on it at least once when we made the money to begin with.
Which brings up another problem. Are you people aware that you are being taxed 4 times or more on the same dollar? Aren’t you just a bit tired of it? I sure am.
I was merely pointing out an inconsistency. I don’t have a problem with exempting the first $20k of pension income though I would say that ANY retiree or person age 65 & older should have the first $20K exempted from Maine income tax, regardless of the source of that income. Not everyone has a pension per se.
He must be in the running for the Goldman Sacks financial savant award of greater New York. Somebody buy him a ticket to Borneo, a grass skirt, a free meal and toss him into a volcano. Maybe then the “true believers” will snap out of their fantasy land.
You see, here is how it is: if you want civilization, you have to pay—taxes!
Me, I am glad to pay for roads, police, DEP, health care, etc.
Should it be spent carefully? Absolutely!
Can we cut it down to the bone? No, this yields only false economies, the bills just come due a bit later: bridges not maintained fall down, kids not educated become criminals, etc.
“There is no money” is a lie. There is no money in OUR accounts (state, cities, towns, school boards, your pocket and mine) because a number of others have been manipulating the system for themselves. This has been going on since at least Bush the first.
There is LOTS of money, in the pocket of the military suppliers: two major wars (both continuing) and a third–insane one–planned for Iran. In the pockets of the poisoners: the pesticide companies that now sell us seeds (Monsanto), the manufacturers that pay NO taxes despite banner profits (GE), the energy companies that pollute with little recompense, and maximum financial gain (BP, Shell, Exxon, etc).
To try to get some back from them–increase taxes on the wealthiest–would be “class warfare”, wouldn’t it?
Of course, warfare is just what has been waged against us for a good long while. Dems and Repubs are both responsible. I am a fiscal conservative and a political radical. Do the right thing AND don’t waste money. Tax and Spend, but I am not a liberal. Tax fairly. Spend wisely.
———–
Record profits for corporations, with no reinvestment and minimal job growth
Lowest tax rates for the 1%
Lowest corporate tax rates ever
Not enough revenue being generated.
Politicians cry that their municipalities are broke
Must be the public workers’ fault! Gotta blame someboby…
If you can afford to pay a lobbyist on the hill, you have made to much money
I work for the government; “there is NO money!” Better change your name to “Wise_Up!”
You are missing my point–money does not disappear–there is still lot’s of money. This is a wealthy country, with many, many resources. Question is, where is the money? It certainly in not in the coffers of my local school board or the state governments, we know that.
But “follow the money.” Where did it go? Invested in Chinese factories? Deposited in Swiss or Cayman Island banks? And WHO has it? WHOSE wealth has gone up, while everyone else’s has gone down?
Start maybe, just for a wild idea, with two brothers: the Kochs. Google that name.
Then we will begin to know the answers.
I’d worry more about George Soros then the Koch Brothers.
Why ?
When LePage says that he hopes to have the top income tax rate at 4% by the end of his “first” term does that mean that another of his campaign promises ( 1-term governor) was a lie? Well, the people of Maine will make sure that promise is kept with their votes in 2014.
Why is it that every tax proposal that this doofus makes directly shifts the tax burden onto the middle and lower income tax payer amd away from corporations and the wealthy? Does this lame excuse for a governor not recognize middle and lower income taxpayers as real people? These are the ones his tax policies are shafting. When November rolls around, his wings will get clipped.
Simple answers to complicated problems always result in bad policy.
Governor LePage is very good at providing sounds-right-to-me solutions to people who have neither the time nor the inclination to think about (let alone research) the proposals he advocates.
“Lower My Taxes” is the universal mating call of those who refuse to think about what happens when government revenues decline below the point where essential services can be paid for.
Those who suffer will be those who can afford it least. These tax breaks are only meaningful to those who already have the most.
His is a song that is riddled with words that belittle. It’s played in the key of Greed.
Great post ….. I think the key is a half step (semi-tone) higher though in Greed#Major.
Labor built this country, Greed will destroy it.
“Hopefully, by the end of my first term, I would like to see it at 4 [percent],” he said.
You are assuming Mr. Lepage that you will get ANOTHER term…I wouldnt count on that if i were you!!!!
This clearly proves one thing. The Republicans are the party of the wealthy. God help us!
Vote them out, they’re ruining our society.
Governor, the GOP plan of trickle down economics did not, and will not, work.
Despite several people pointing it out, you seem to be assuming that the only tax being paid is income tax which is not true. There are also property taxes and sales taxes, both of which are regressive taxes and therefore represent a higher percentage of income the lower that income is.
Assume for a moment that you have 2 people, one with a modest income of say $40,000. That person pays your 4% income tax or $1600. Then, over the course of the year they pay sales tax on their purchases of another $1000 and they pay property taxes on their house (or rental property via their landlord) of approx. $1500. At the end of the year they’ve paid $4100 or slightly over 10% of their income to the state without giving any consideration to other taxes like excise on vehicle registrations etc.
The second person has a higher income, say $80,000. They pay 4% income tax or $3200. Their consumption is a little higher so they pay $1500 in sales tax ( which I think is high since they can afford to travel so some of their consumption is done out of state) and they can afford a more expensive home so their taxes are $2000. At the end of the year they’ve paid $6700 in taxes, or little over 8% of their taxes.
Do you still think your 4% tax is fair? In order to get to the same 10% + rate the higher income person has to pay in another $1500. As a percentage of income that’s 1.875% … of income, or 5.875%. In other words, in order to have a truly fair tax system where everyone pays their share, the higher income person has to pay a higher percentage of their income.
Then why don’t we get rid off all taxes and just have a flat tax on incomes where everyone pays the same rate? That would solve your tax inequality issues.
“Fool me once, shame on … shame on you. Fool me, you can’t get fooled again”
Funny isn’t how the extreme wing wheels out Bush on the night Romney for all intents and purposes becomes the heir to their clown circus. Meanwhile our governor follows like an obedient poodle looking for a bone and a pat on the head, proving that this group has learned nothing over the past 10 years. Even after Bush trashed the country they continue to insist that by doing the same things again it will somehow yield different results, totally insane.
I guess that makes Paulie less than half the man Herman Cain is : Four Four Four !
This will be devastating to the lower income home owners and retires who are struggling now!
LePage only cares about the rich and is going to over burden the lower income so they loose everything they worked for all their life! I am sorry but can no longer refrain from saying this, LePage you an A–hole!
That’s why the real estate industry supported him. By raising property taxes on the working families and the elderly they will get lots of new foreclosure properties to sell.
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Mention anything about cutting taxes, entitlements or any government handouts, the socialist, communists and layabouts come out in droves, swinging. “Not my welfare, unemployment, dislocated workers benefits, you’re not! You fascist pig! What do you expect me to do, work?”
I worked 41 years for the same company and during that time I suffered two heart attacks, one in 1992 and another in 2003 but kept working until I retired in 2009 and when I retired I retired with perfect attendance for most of those years! I have a small $150 a month pension and social security to live on because most of my savings went for medical bills! All I have is my small home and I don’t want to loose it!
Bravo, Bravo. I love it!! I paid the State of Maine over 18,000.00 last year, and all I got was plowed roads. I get angry when one red cent of my money goes to people who don’t work. I think the income tax should be 0% and sales tax 10%, then EVERYONE will pay. Bravo!!
Yeah, the police, courts, schools — they all did nothing for you.
Most of that is paid by property tax.
Actually FW they did NOTHING for me. The ONLY service the State, County or Town has provided to my family for the 46 years we have owned this property is the crew which plows the road in front of our house. That (because it is a State road) is covered exclusively by gas tax,
With tax cutters like Lepage who needs big spenders???
Lepage increased the state budget by 1/2 a billion dollars.
Lepage created a new tax on our Heath insurance.
Lepage illegally added a new 17 million dollar unfunded liability that he is hiding off the books. Cost shifting is not cutting taxes. Lepage is a fraud and a lair.
LePage a tax cutter? I didn’t read this story that way. LePage intends to continue State mandates on local governments, but he does not intend to pay for these mandates even at the low levels of Democrat and Independent governors of the recent past.
The outcome of this policy can only be to shift the burden of these expensive mandates (like special education) to property tax payers.
Property tax is the most unfair of all taxes, because it is collected unequally, and it demands people pay on a “perceived” value rather than a sales-tax like system where people pay a percentage of what the property actually cost.
Interestingly there is NO property tax on investments, or bond and stock equivalent to the tax on residential real estate.
Property taxes are the very essence of taxation without representation because the amount you will be taxed is determine by the real estate industry and not by your elected officials.
This effort to reduce taxes is a continuation of “starve the beast” the Republicans have been doing for years. Lower taxes, revenues go down, programs (public ed, for example0) get cut, tax revenues go down, the deficit increases, programs get cut more, revenues go down, deficit goes up, programs get cut, taxes get cut “to raise revenue”, ad nauseum.
The end will not happen until the rich have taken the very last dollar of the poor, and everyone else.
4% of my salary denies me more than 4% of a person who makes $100,000 per year.
Time to cut this blowhard off a the legs by voting out his Tea Potty, Alec drones that support this BS from the Legislature this year.
“At the end of my first term”
As if there will be a second.I’ve got a better chance of hitting Powerball than he does of fairly winning another term.
WHY Would NY need to know that? Just Askin
Probably it will be the last time this group gets together before we boot their keister’s out of office or make them lame ducks as in the case of our Gov. They need a pat on the back and an at-a-boy, this would be the only place that could happen?
This was a homecoming of sorts: Ralph Kramden returns to the Bronx to “brive a dus” just one last time!
http://www.hark.com/clips/vwwnxvdtdh-now-tell-me-sir-what-do-you-do-for-a-living
He will reduce taxes, cut services, education and road repair, and give the proceeds to his RICH friends…. What can you expect from a Snake in the grass, and Vietnam draft dodger…. By the way, the flat tax will make even the minimum wage earner pay MORE taxes…
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Yes someone on minimum wage has less money than a millionaire to live on..
That is why someone on minimum wage will pay an average of $240 in income taxes while a millionare will pay $40,000 + per year.. that is $39,9760 more per year than someone earning minimum wage… So I guess they are paying way more.
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Fixed income people aren’t paying the same as the rich.. “same amount” one pays $40,000 the other will pay $400 how is that the same amount?
I am guessing what you are trying to say is that, people on fixed income or lower wages should NOT pay ANY taxes. How is paying 4 cents for every dollar made unfair to anyone?
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“Those who earn more should pay more”
Only when it benefits you…LOL….
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Those who earn more already pay more. A flat tax would mean that if I earn 10 times what you eanr, I pay 10 times more tax than you. What is not fair about that?
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It doesn’t shift a thing and it is the wealthy who support most of the “working class”. How much more should the top earners pay? What is the “fair” tax rate for you?
or … you could live a number of states that have no income tax.
What right have you to tax anybody else at a higher rate than you are paying?
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If I am paying 10 times more than you, I am already paying more … pretty simple, see?
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Maybe we should focus on cutting Federal spending to match the revenues instead of taking people’s money to increase Federal spending
Life isnt fair, but the money a millionare earns is his money, not yours, not mine…
You are an example of class envy…..
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How is the higher income earner “robbing” the lower income earner?
I guess pensionerade likes entitlements……. These people kill me.
That is what it really comes down to. There are too many non-producers looking to take from those who produce. Boil all the dross away and they reveal themselves as just common thieves using the government as their getaway car.
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I preferred your original tirade …
It’s tiring to read the spiel written by people such as you and the other one accusing people of being non producers. Your constant attack on me is showing what you really are, nothing but a pathetic cyber bully trying to feel good about himself. You are what you hate. You are the non producer since all you can do is make these far fetched assumption about me.
>>>><<<<
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Do you know the difference between amount and percentage?
I’m confused about $39,9760.
Minimum wage comes out to $15,000 per year can you imagine trying to feed, clothe, house, and provide health care for a family of four on that kind of money ?Rent alone would cost $7,000 per year !
If somebody is only earning minimum wage with a family of four, they better take a second job to help make ends meet. They are not going to be saved or hurt by tax rates.
They won’t be saved for sure, but they may be hurt !
Wrong. A minimum wage earner would not pay the same tax as a “millionaire”. There is nothing regressive about it. If everybody pays the same percentage, it is neither regressive or “progressive”. It is by definition “fair”.
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Good job Gov!
Look at the positive side Santorum just surrendered at Gettysburg so we should consider this …. Custer’s Last Stand comes east.
The only fair tax is a flat tax, the same percentage for everyone. Note to the leftists who can’t add, this means the rich pay way, way more than the poor.
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Everyone should pay the same tax rate, why should someone making 100K pay a bigger % than someone making 30K????
That’s one way of looking at it, but we have used a progressive system of taxation for a century, and the USA built the greatest economy that the world has ever seen. So my question is why should someone who makes $100,000 a year not pay a bigger percentage than someone who makes $30,000 a year.
Fairness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.
“For everyone to whom much is given, of him shall much be required.” — Luke 12:48
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Tax rates require multiplication, John. You’re using percentages. Jeez!
Jeez …. If I make 10 times what you make, it is only fair I pay 10 times what you pay. That is what fair tax is all about. Why should I pay 20 times what you pay? Why should you pay nothing and I pay mine and yours?
It has become extremely obvious that LePage doesn’t give a hoot about you unless you have at least a seven figure net worth.
The story should read,
The generals of the Confederate States of Extremism meet to discuss how their next attack will commence upon the people who elected them into power, the enemy. These Generals are the puppets of a shadow government who are bent on strangling both state and US federal government.
So the Guv’nah is in NY talking to a bunch of right wingers…Does he spend any time in this state anymore? No? Good.
The top 1%ers have exemptions which eliminates their obligations. LePage is trying to stop this while the masses get a reduction. What is so hard about this to comprehend?
Why not just eliminate the exemptions? What do the exemptions have to do with the tax rate? I’ll answer that. Nothing. They are completely separate issues. Eliminating the exemptions or deductions is just a smokescreen for reducing tax rates and taxes paid by the wealthier people in our society. What is so hard about this to comprehend?
The wealthy are already paying the bulk of income taxes in this country. The top 1% pay 36.7% of Federal income taxes. The top 10% pay 70.4%. The bottom 50% pay only 2.5%. It is time for the moochers to start paying their fair share.
An article in the Christian Science Monitor had an interesting analysis of the tax burden in the USA from a group called Citizens for Tax Justice. This was a breakdown showing tax burden for all forms of taxation. The top 1% “earns” 20.3% of America’s income and pays 21.5% of the taxes. The middle 20% earns 11.6% and pays 10.3%, and the bottom 20% earns 3.5% and pays 2.0%. Sort of looks like a flat tax now when everything is taken into consideration.
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Get off your cloud. This is the real world and LePage is trying to make some commonsensical changes which will help the little guy and make the rich pay teir fair share. You limousine liberals cannot have it both ways.
What are the exemptions that you are referring to?
Exemptions which reduce the wealthy’s tax liability.
No …. you don’t get off that way … give me specific exemptions that only the wealthy receive.
Only the wealthy receive. I do not know how to respond to a question which presumes only the wealthy receive exemptions. They certainly can afford them and how to minimalize their tax liability.
In other words, you cannot think of a single tax exemption that only wealthy people receive. I think the real issue here is your wealth envy and an entitlement mentality. Are you suggesting that “wealthy people” should be denied the same exemptions that you might receive? What are these exemptions that you would deny to “wealthy people”?
Who said I want to deny anyone anything. I think you just want to argue. Goodbye.
The top 1%ers have exemptions which eliminates their obligations.
You need to cut and run since you cannot substantiate your claims.
I would say just eliminating the rights of those recieving State and Federal Medicaid to recieve EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT and let the hard working people get it instead (since they actually go out and EARN their income) would be a good start.
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I thought you had to work to get the tax credit ? Am I wrong ?
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Right to work for less.
Are you a union member? If not, how does “right to work” threaten your current earnings? If you are, you are probably over paid for what you do.
it is about time we make it fair for all..
Good deal!!!!!! Keep it up Mr. LePage!!!!!!!
With LePage and Dubbya present…. that must have been one heck of a “Conservative Think Tank” meeting ! Hey! isn’t that an oxymoron ?
The Bush Institute of economics has brought us the worst economic meltdown since the great depression, so as an Institute of economics any policy should be scrutinized. The fact is that the failed economic policies of the Republican party, also known as Voodoo economics should not be followed.
Now Mr. Lapudge, get your butt back to Maine and start making good on your campaign promises of bringing jobs to the state, we can’t afford for you to be vacationing in New York City.
Another foot in the mouth comment by LePage: “Hopefully, by the end of my first term, I would like to see it at 4 [percent],” he said.
He should have said “By the end of my only term…”
“Hopefully, by the end of my first term, I would like to see it at 4 [percent],” he said.
First term? Try ONLY term. Also I like this percentage: 61% of us DID NOT VOTE FOR PLP.
“Hopefully, by the end of my first term, I would like to see it at 4 [percent],” he said.First Term? Try ONLY term….. I also prefer this percentage: 61% of us DID NOT VOTE FOR PLP!
The same 61% of you most likely aren’t paying much in taxes to speak of.
With all the 1% ers there, I am surprised LePage didn’t discuss which Swiss Bank he and Romney use to avoid paying their taxes.
Most of the 1% are attending Obama fund raisers.
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Yes, by giving our taxpayers’ money to the corporations in grants, tax relief, and other corporate welfare schemes. Not too popular with us these days after several corporations have taken the money and ran.
If we need to bribe corporations to come here, they’ll do what several have done lately: take the bribes, stay a short time, then – oops! – go bankrupt and leave.
We need more self-sufficiency in Maine, which used to have it in spades. Years ago nearly every yard had a good-sized food garden, people fished and froze and canned food for winter, worked seasonal jobs, and had lots of time off to hang out at camp or go hunting for meat, etc.
Not that everyone can do that, but most people can at least grow some of their own food. If not in their own backyards, then lobby your town government to use some of local parks for community gardens so everyone who will work a garden plot can have one.
Better yet, instead of waiting for some corporation to come along with a “good-paying” job (not gonna happen, Bunky), become a farmer. Everyone has to eat, and good, clean (unsprayed with pesticide poisons) local food is in high demand.
It’s a good, satisfying life; you make your life decisions so you are independent of corporations which can lay you off at any time. You won’t get rich, but you will have your food and home right there, and it’s a great way to raise a family.
There’s a downside to everyone. I’m sure you’ve encountered many employees who don’t do their share of work and don’t lift a finger to help out their fellow employee. All I’m saying, which I think you will agree with, is that there is a lot of narcissism to go around. So let’s fix the problem without throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Keep in mind we need more smart regulatory reform, not necessarily more that will end up killing our industries.
The rich do not pay the most. Romney, for example, pays 15 percent, as opposed to 30 and more percent paid by millions of working people. And he has millions stashed in the Cayman Islans on which he pays no taxes at all.
That money was made by his Bain company buying out perfectly good, profitable companies which had many good workers, then Bain took out the wealth, then declared these companies bankrupt, took the money and ran, leaving these towns and workers with nothing.
There’s your hero, Chummy.
I missed the part where Romney comes in on this… The dems in congress wrote the laws that allow this along time ago… How come Obama hid who has secert banks accounts from the public?
I’m going out on a limb here. I’m going to guess that people with the wherewithal to have secret bank accounts in tiny little tax havens also have the power to keep secret bank accounts secret. Quite likely even President Obama would have difficulty in uncovering those secret accounts.
This isn’t D’s or R’s – why do people make everything into two parties? I find political parties get in the way of people working together on issues where we agree.
I don’t know what you mean by saying Obama hid who has secret bank accounts – – doubt he has access to that information any more than we do.
The bankers (Goldman, Sachs, et al) hide their big accounts from the public, and the secret accounts on the Cayman Islands, for example, aren’t even in the USA, so there’s no way we can find out – – unless a whistleblower tells us, which is how we know about Romney’s secret accounts on which he pays no taxes.
He then admitted to this publicly. Romney is a spoiled rich kid, not somebody who can relate to regular people’s lives. I don’t like Obama, either, so there we are – – no one who’s worth voting for. Think I’ll write in Ron Paul.
We have to semi-forgive the “Maine Student,” for his smart-alec comments. Almost all young people – especially those priveleged to attend higher education establishments – think they know everything. We all did at their age.
With some years and life experience on him, I predict he will see things a bit differently, as we all do.
The privilege of attending college seems to insert a “I’m better and smarter than other people who don’t have higher education” gene into their brains. It’s so common it has a name – elitism.
Understand this, our student – several billion people have greater knowledge of real life than you, and could survive real life emergencies better than you because they have “creative intelligence,” that is, the ability to come up with solutions to problems without having to consult a book.
Best is both life experience and book learning – as I discovered when I first began organic farming. One without the other is just not enough.
You’re just not fit yet to judge others, since you lack the life experience, especially the empathy for others we mature folk develop over time. You need it badly.
Try to be kinder and more specific in your remarks. Don’t just mouth old, worn-out theories that sound good to your immature mind.
Mention flat tax and the commentors here on welfare just about explode……
This Mr. Lepage seems to be getting it done for the great state of maine….