Rethugs don't cut taxes, they SHIFT the burden of taxation to the middle class and poor.

[Union Yes]

Since the 2003 Bush tax cuts for the super-wealthy, Bush slashed federal aid money to states.

Bush claimed that he had to slash aid to states to pay for his 2003 tax cuts. Each and every year after, Bush slashed state aid more and more. Leaving states with gaping budget deficit holes.

Bush also claimed that to build up funding for the Iraq War chest, that America needed to slash funding to states to pay for the Iraq War.

Annually, Bush slashed federal funds that went to states to pay for roads, streets, bridges, sewer/water, schools and other infrastructure.

Raise your hand if you've seen property tax increases in your area since 2003. Most local governments(LG) have been wracked with annual budget crisis year after year since 2003. As a result LG's in most places all across America have been forced to raise any and all taxes and fees to plug these budget holes.

Most places have seen double-digit annual property tax increases as a result. Perhaps your area hasn't been so badly affected. But I know many DU'ers have seen their local taxes increase. In many cases, increase by 10% or more annually.

Renters are not immune. Renters will see these increases through increased rents. Landlords often pass their increased property tax bill on to their renters with higher rents.

I could do an entire OP in the regressiveness of state sales taxes.

Examples of state, county, municipal, local government taxation and fees..

State income tax.
Property tax.
Sales tax.
Auto license fees.
Other license and permit fees. Zoning, building etc.
Cigarette/tobacco tax.
Booze tax.
Depending on state, there may be many other types of taxes and fees.

Point is..

When a state or LG raises any one of the above taxes/fees on the middle class or poor, it is REGRESSIVE TAXATION. Property taxes are a wonderful way for the GOP to shift the burden of taxation from the rich to the poor. Cut taxes at the federal level, and make states plug their own budget gaps through property tax, income tax, sales tax, and other taxes/fees.

And raise these local taxes and fees on the middle class and poor so that the wealthy don't have to pay their fair share of federal income tax.

If viewed from this perspective, it's quite easy to see the regressive, negative, trickle-down effect of Bushco's 2003 income tax cuts that benefited only the super-wealthy.

To anyone who reads this, have your local taxes gone up since 2003?

Asking the dieing middle class and poor to pay more taxes so that Warren Buffet can have a tax break - is a fucking disgusting violation of the middle class and poor's human rights. Driving us into poverty.

Warren Buffet apparently can't afford to own his 29th Lamborghini, in red, if he has to pay his fair share of taxes. The travesty. The injustice. What audacity I must possess, to imply the wealthy should pay their fair share.

I hope this OP helps explain that when the GOP talks about cutting "our" taxes, just what a fucking lie they are telling us.

When the GOP talks about cutting taxes, they are really asking the middle class and poor to SHOULDER THE BURDEN OF TAXATION.

Regressive state and local taxation has helped the GOP pull it off.

Regressive GOP taxation is hastening the death of the middle class and creating an impoverished nation. It's becoming more difficult to buy and own a home because of high property taxes in many areas.

Dem candidates need to counter GOP campaign tv ads. The GOP will campaign on cutting 'our' taxes. Dems need to run ads that counter and expose this lie.

When the GOP talks 'tax cuts', they are really telling us that the middle class and poor need to pay more taxes so that the wealthy don't have to pay their fair share.

Further proof that if a person is poor or middle class and votes Rethug, they are shooting themselves in the foot.

The Dem party needs to expose this GOP lie.

[FiveGoodMen]

1. Exactly.

[daleanime]

2. It's already exposed...

the problem is getting certain idiots to believe it.:banghead:

[Union Yes]

17. Agree. That is a large problem too.

The GOP will run ads claiming they will cut taxes for everyone. These ads attempt to target and lure swing voter support.

I hope the Dems can wage an effective ad campaign to counter these blatant lies from the GOP.

Hope is about all I got left.

Peace

[naaman fletcher]

3. They all shift taxes from the present to the future. nt.

[Union Yes]

8. Yup, great way to describe it.

:fistbump:

[Joe the Liberal]

4. And.......

it's not just taxes, almost ANYTHING the GOP does has some sort of negative affect on the poor and middle class.

[Union Yes]

13. Word, their goal is total destruction of the middle class.

:fistbump:

[geckosfeet]

5. Real estate taxes have doubled since 2004.

[Yurovsky]

6. You may want to get re-assessed...

if you got dinged by an assessment made during the peak of the real estate bubble. I have no problem with average people trying to get the government to take another look at what their charging property owners, as long as taxes remain paid regardless of the outcome. Problem is too many fat cats don't pay a dime in taxes due to loopholes and loses from bogus shell corporations, etc.

And don't get me started on the tax-exempt status of churches....

[geckosfeet]

15. Yes. They want me to find three similar properties that sold in the area

during the previous tax year, determine the selling prices and submit my paperwork between Dec. 1 and Jan. 1.

I have a few months to prepare. Maybe I will do it.

[Union Yes]

16. Yup real estate tax is another bad tax for the middle class and poor. It's already hard enough...

to afford to buy a home nowadays. Taxes like these just make it more difficult.

Thanks for adding.

[Yurovsky]

21. Agree 100%...

in Florida we have a homestead exemption, but it's only for the first $50,000 of assessed value. Great news if you live in a mobile home, but if you live in an average site-built 3/2 home in virtually any Florida market, you're assessed value is probably 4-6X that (much more if you bought or built during the peak of the boom).

I have no problem raising the exemption high enough to cover most average working family homes, and then raising it significantly on the McMansions & winter/vacation homes that so many wealthy people own in the Sunshine state.

Of course, this will never happen, especially with a state government dominated by corrupt corporate repuglicans... just keep sticking it to the little guy...

[Union Yes]

25. I wonder if the little guy will ever learn to stop voting Rethug. It's frustrating to ..

see people continually shoot themselves in the foot.

At some point I'd think they'd learn. But it is Florida we're talking about.

[Yurovsky]

29. To win in Florida you need to do a couple things...

1. Convince the seniors that your opponent is going to cut their SS, Medicare, or take away their driver's licenses

2. If you're in Miami, paint your opponent as a commie Fidel-lover...

Facts? Who needs 'em? Just scare people... no wonder our government is such a basket case.

[Yurovsky]

20. Good news and bad news...

Bad news first... depending on where you're at, you may have a hard time finding 3 properties that have sold in the past year.

The good news is that if something has sold, it's probably been at a fire sale price.

Good luck!

[geckosfeet]

23. Thanks. I have 10 months.

[Union Yes]

28. What stink about this is it sounds like a lot of work for you to do just to get a so-so..

tax benefit from re-assessment. It's frustrating for the middle class to have to go through all that just to try recoup some tax money.

By design, no doubt. And that's sad.

Peace.

[FreakinDJ]

7. Just more of the Same Trickle Down Bull Shit

[Union Yes]

14. Trickle-down is nothing but an attempt to kill the middle class. It's the legs the GOP stand on.

It's all they got.

:fistbump:

[applegrove]

9. Oh the rich have been waging class warfare for 30 years.

[Union Yes]

10. Shhh, The GOP wants us to keep that a secret...

:fistbump:

:hi:

[nashville_brook]

11. woot...i love the smell of truth after dinner.

[Union Yes]

12. LOL, nice!

:fistbump:

[Foo Fighter]

18. My property taxes have skyrocketed.

24-26% was not uncommon and that was before the big real estate boom. IOW, it wasn't due to an increase in RE value but rather, skyrocketing property tax rates. (And I don't live in a McMansion by ANY stretch of the imagination. Not even remotely close.)

Property taxes are among the most regressive taxes of all. For example, the couple that takes home, say, $75,000/yr might buy a house in the $125,000-150.000 range. Another couple that takes home $250,000/yr might buy a house in the neighborhood of $450,000 -$500,000. Compare that to the couple that takes home, say, $20,000,000/yr. They would most likely buy a house that runs maybe $2-3 mil but let's give them the benefit of the doubt and say they splurged and bought a house for $6 mil. Note how those at the lower end of the spectrum buy houses that are valued at maybe twice their take-home yet the rich couple has a house that is substantially less than their take-home.

And that, my friends, is a short lesson on how property taxes are regressive. The average Joe, regardless of income level, buys a house that is way more than their annual salary, regardless of what that salary is because that's the only way they can get into a house. The rich, OTOH, buy houses that are substantially less than their take-home. Ditch the property taxes and base all taxes on income (including ALL forms of income, such as capital gains) and that would make for a more equitable system. IOW, that's something we will never see here.

[Union Yes]

19. That's a great explanation of the problem. Thanks for adding.

:fistbump:

You're spot on correct about property tax being among the most regressive forms of taxation.

[Foo Fighter]

30. No problem!

It's amazing how putting a few numbers to the whole property tax issue reveals what a scam it is. And while the numbers I posted were admittedly pretty much pulled from a hat, I don't feel they're that far off the mark. They serve to demonstrate a point: how many people do you know that bought houses whose price was above (or several times above) their income? Probably about 99% of the population do that. It's the top 1% that buy a house that's less than their income and thus, really benefit from the property tax scam.

Nix the property tax and fold it into income tax. Unfortunately that will never happen because it would adversely impact those making the laws which, by pure chance (ha!), happen to be the multi-millionaires.

To add to the fun of our increased property taxes, our asshole of a governor cut LGA substantially, thereby putting even more of a burden on the property owners in the form of increased taxes because hey, the city council members still had their pet projects they wanted done. In my area, we got things like $100,000 worth of self-watering planters (which serve better as trash collectors than planters) on a 1/2mile stretch of road in front of the local businesses. (I still wonder who got the kickbacks on those and/or whose buddy got the contract to install about 6 or 8 truly horrendously ugly cement planters to the tune of $100.000. Even the local business were against the project and with good reason.) So after all that, last year, for the first month or so after the first big snow, the city didn't salt the streets and rarely plowed them because, in their words, they were "cutting back on expenses." The whole city was truly a mess. Ditch the damn planters that everyone considers a huge joke and all the other favors you're handing out to your buddies and give us back our salting and plowing so we can get to our damn jobs! Yeah, all politics is local. Except when your local politicians are as bought-and-paid-for as the national ones are.

[old mark]

22. Rec.

[pleah]

24. K&R

[vssmith]

26. They want to cut SS benefits rather than raise the cap

[Union Yes]

27. Another example of regressive GOP policy. nt