Tax rates and the draft

928ram · 10-11-2004, 02:56 PM

Been busy lately and have caught anywhere near as much news as I like, but I did come across a couple tidbits on tonite's broadcast:

Tax rates: 12.8% on an income of nearly $7mil - J & T Kerry.
That's a lower % than most middle class pay.
The Bush families rate was listed as 30%, income not given.

The draft: some Democrats in this county are determined to re-instate a draft, they practically promise that they will if they can.
Somehow this is going to get the youth in this country to vote for them so they can avoid the draft; exactly how ignorant are the youth in this county???

island911 · 10-11-2004, 03:05 PM

Well yeah .. .Kerry & THK own a large MULTI-NATIONAL BIG BUSINESS. Of course they are hidding their money and ripping-off the little guy.

(read: I would think that John-757-Kerry would give the tree-hugging, WTO-protesting, liberal extremists a bad case of cognitive dissonance.

island911 · 10-11-2004, 03:10 PM

Maybe Kerrys $1000 haircuts make everything cool with them.

Or maybe it was all those war crimes he lays claim to.

bryanthompson · bryanthompson's Garage

How about Kerry's personal buttler, Marvin Nicholson.

"When he wants that peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I'm ready," Nicholson told the Times.

Among the items Nicholson carries at all times:

* Loose change - apparently in case the husband of millionairess Teresa Heinz wants to leave one of his notoriously meager tips.

* Tylenol, Advil, Advil Liquid Gels and Advil Sinus pills - lest continuing questions about his Vietnam War record give him a migraine.

* Swedish hand cream - because good old American-made Vaseline Intensive Care just isn't good enough.

* Halls cough drops - in case the silver spoon in Kerry's begins to irritate.

* A Ziplock bag with Kerry's favorite PB & J sandwich wrapped in aluminum foil.

* Scope mouthwash, Handiwipes, two packs of Band-Aids, a sewing kit, a can of diet milkshake [Kerry prefers strawberry], a tube of Blistex and a myriad of other accouterments that the hoi poloi who can't afford a butler must provide for themselves.

And for catering to the candidate's every whim, the fabulously wealthy Heinz-Kerrys pay Nicholson a wildly generous (by Kerry's standards) $45,000 annually.

cegerer · cegerer's Garage

Isn't it bad enough that they only pay 12% in taxes - now you want them to report all their income too??? Give the poor couple a friggin' break, they're just trying to help us.

CamB · CamB's Garage

You're mistaking a problem with your tax code as a problem with Kerry.

The problem could, of course, be fixed by taxing people in the Heinz-Kerry's situation more.

ubiquity0 · 10-11-2004, 03:49 PM

Have they released their IRS filings?

I wonder how many other 'investors' in the top tax bracket are able to calculate such a small tax rate? If the tax laws are changed to get people like him to pay a fairer share then that would be bad because it constitutes raising taxes

ubiquity0 · 10-11-2004, 03:49 PM

Have they released their IRS filings?

I wonder how many other 'investors' in the top tax bracket are able to calculate such a small tax rate? If the tax laws are changed to get people like him to pay a fairer share then that would be bad because it constitutes raising taxes

He might even need to lay off his butler if that happened.

jyl · jyl's Garage

Well, if most of their income is long-term capital gains and dividend income, which seems likely, then they'd legitimately have a low tax rate. Especially after the tax rate on dividends was cut (by Bush) and considering that even in 2003 many investors had long-term capital losses to offset their gains. The tax system treats investment gains and investment income much more favorably than ordinary wage income.

jyl · jyl's Garage

Okay, since everyone has their shorts in a twist about this (and since I am sitting in an airport, time on my hands) I did some looking.

For 2003, John Kerry had $395,000 in taxable income. His income includes $96,000 from a book and $175,000 in capital gains; I assume the rest is his Senate salary which is around $140,000, I think. He donated $44K to charity. He paid a 24% effective tax rate. I'm no tax accountant, but considering that his capital gains could have received a 15% rate, and the charitable donation, 24% doesn't sound strange.

For 2003, Teresa Kerry had over $5 million in taxable income and an appx 12% effective tax rate. I would think most or all of her income comes from investments, either dividends or capital gains. Since dividends and long-term capital gains are taxed at a low rate, a low effective tax rate wouldn't be surprising.

No question, Mrs. Kerry is wealthy. But, frankly, a lot of politicians are wealthy. In 1997 George Bush reported income of $18 million. I don't even want to know the Governor of California's income . . .

Again, investment income gets taxed at a much more favorable rate than wage income. That's one way the wealthy . . . stay wealthy. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I'd like to be there too.

bryanthompson · bryanthompson's Garage

Is his allowance from Teresa included in there?

And... Schwarzenegger rejected his salary for being Governator, FYI.

jyl · jyl's Garage

Are you kidding - Ahnold wouldn't even notice his salary for being Governor. Its. oh, about 1.5 of his custom Hummers.