Santorum's tax plan (no estate tax, halve corporate tax rate, triple per-child deduction ....)

[MH1]

http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/05/news/economy/santorum_taxes/?hpt=hp_t2

Some lowlights (each following bullet point is a direct quote from the article text):

* triple what his campaign identifies as the personal deduction that parents can claim for their children.

* eliminate both the Alternative Minimum Tax and the estate tax.

* he would reduce the capital gains rate from 15% to 12%.

* cut the corporate income tax rate in half to 17.5% and eliminate it entirely for manufacturers.

But at the same time he proposes to keep on the books many of the largest and most popular deductions, such as those for health insurance, retirement savings and mortgage interest.

.....

Santorum also emphasizes his desire to use the tax code to support the family -- which he calls the "first economy."

There's been no formal third-party analysis of Santorum's plan so far. But his proposal to boost tax breaks for families may run counter to at least one oft-stated Republican beef: the number of households that end up having no federal income tax liability because of all the tax breaks they're entitled to.

"Interestingly, by using tax expenditures to support these families, Santorum would likely add significantly to the number of households that pay no income tax," wrote Urban Institute resident fellow Howard Gleckman in the blog TaxVox.

What's more, Gleckman noted, "because [Santorum's plan] cuts rates significantly but does not eliminate tax preferences -- and even expands a few -- it would very likely add trillions of dollars to the federal deficit."

Has Santorum had anything to say about the federal debt? Because his tax plan would make it skyrocket.

[Scuba]

1. Here's mine. Eliminate corporate taxes entirely. Tax capital gains at the same rate as payroll. nt

[warrior1]

2. never gonna be president

not gonna worry about some froth

[MH1]

6. I post stuff like this for those who might get dragged into conversations with wingers

just so people have some facts to throw back at the dumbasses that might think they support this loser.

[TayTay]

12. You are entirely right to do so

We arm ourselves with education on the issues Santorum espouses because those issues have a habit of creeping back into the political discussion at later dates. Santorum will probably get a speaking platform at the GOP convention where he will accuse the fictional "liberal media" of killing his campaign because they feared the truthiness of his issues.

Santorum is a creepy, lying, corrupt SOB who will do or say anything to come back into power. This is a man who is currently trying to make political hay by decrying the bank bailouts of 2008. Santorum never mentions that he took money from the AIG, Goldman Sachs, Citbank/Travelers, Bear Stearns and Lehman Bros. Political Action Committees during his Senate campaigns from at least 1999 onward. (This information is onfile at the www.fec.com site and the money amounts to tens of thousands of dollars of contributions.)

MH1 is totally right to try and inform the DU community on just how filthy and corrupt Santorum is. This is why forum like DU exist; to spread the truth so that it can be used against the Big Lie being spread by Republicans. Santorum may not make it to Feb. as a presidential candidate, but you can be sure that he will be a part of the 2012 Repub campaign. Arm yourselves accordingly with information.

Santorum is going around New Hampshire telling voters that the poor make bad choices on their healthcare and should expect to receive poor health care benefits because of this. Remember the next you hear this that Santorum was a lobbyist for health care companies that paid huge fines for defrauding the government on Medicare fraud. See this amazing Reuters article on the sleazy Mr. Santorum: http://us.mobile.reuters.com/article/Deals/idUSTRE8032A020120105?irpc=932

In addition, Santorum served on the board of a for-profit hospital chain, Universal Health Services (UHS), where he received $341,000 in compensation from 2007 to 2010.

During Santorum's four years on the board, UHS's McAllen, Texas, hospital group was sued for defrauding Medicare through "illegal compensation to doctors in order to induce them to refer patients to hospitals within the group," according to a Justice Department press release in 2009. The McAllen group agreed to settle the lawsuit by paying $27.5 million.

The next year, the Justice Department sued a Virginia UHS facility that caters to boys ages 11 to 17 alleging that the facility "billed Medicaid for inpatient psychiatric care that was not provided, in violation of federal and state Medicaid requirements, and falsified records to cover up their serious violations."

When asked about the Virginia case. Santorum told Yahoo News, "Any investigation, you obviously engage and fully cooperate with it, and that's what we did.. that's part of the responsibility of directors."

He resigned from the UHS board in June 2011. During the third quarter of 2011, UHS reached a tentative financial settlement of the Virginia case. Allen Miller, president and CEO of UHS, is a longtime supporter of Santorum, who has contributed $6,850 to his campaigns and $11,000 to his leadership PAC since 1999.

That is Rick Santorum. Oh, and his teary-eyed story about his poor Grandfather having to work until age 72 in the coal mines to give Rick Santorum "freedom" is reprehensible. Santorum took money from several different coal companies and energy concerns to protect coal companies who exploit workers just like his Granddad and deny them health, union and workers benefits. This guy is a real piece of work. And that message of his is going to come back in the fall and at the GOP convention in Tampa. Be armed.

[Ikonoklast]

13. This needs to be an OP.

[Ikonoklast]

3. Great. I will further subsidize the fucking Duggars, while I go broke.

Awesome.


Santorum will be a memory in three weeks.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

4. I thought

That conservatives hate government "paying" people to have more children?

[BOHICA12]

7. No, they hate paying for people not to have children and ...

they really don't like individuals paying for anything in order not to have children.

[MH1]

5. That was exactly my thought about that one. nt

[TayTay]

14. Santorum will be resurrected

to give commentary at the Repub convention and as a surrogate speaker in the fall. (And he could still make the short list for VP depending on how quickly he is knocked out of the Presidential run.)

We have not heard the last of Rick Santorum. I wrote this on him on Facebook: "Santorum is, in some ways, a real tribute to the power of Mother Nature. It's hard to think that nature could cram that much BS into one human body. Yet, it was done. Amazing."

That BS-filled swamp of walking political corruption will return, zombie-like, in the fall. Republican candidates never entirely go away; they simply sleep in their lobbyist-funded crypts until it is time to feed again.

PS: I really don't like him.

[DCKit]

8. Those "Quiverfull" morans are seeing $$$$$.

Their movement would explode under a Frothy pResidency.

[MH1]

9. Yep.

Basically paying people to breed.

Like the planet isn't already way over-capacity.

[julian09]

10. He has seven children, so that would help him.

He is simply pandering for votes; I would like to see the deficit this creates, unbelievable. Congress will pass tax laws, he can promise
all kinds of things to get elected but can't deliver. Irresponsible proposal and insulting to voter intelligence.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

11. my reaction too. Ughhh.

and

[customerserviceguy]

15. Ah, yes, the breeder bonus

Me, I'd eliminate (or at least gradually reduce) personal exemptions over the first two, with exceptions for multiple births and adopted children.