Most Americans Don't Know They Got A Tax Cut

[babylonsister]

http://politics.theatlantic.com/2010/02/most_americans_dont_know_they_got_a_tax_cut.php

Most Americans Don't Know They Got A Tax Cut

About a third of the $787 billion stimulus was made up of tax cuts, but Americans evidently don't realize they got them: a CBS News/New York Times poll shows that only 12% of respondents knew that President Obama had lowered taxes during his time in office; 53% said Obama kept taxes the same; 24% said he raised taxes; and 11% said they didn't know.

Poll here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/02/12/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry6201911.shtml



snip//

Of people who support the grassroots, "Tea Party" movement, only 2 percent think taxes have been decreased, 46 percent say taxes are the same, and a whopping 44 percent say they believe taxes have gone up.

Those answers must frustrate the president who has highlighted its tax cuts for the middle class in almost every speech.

In his State of the Union address, President Obama said that as part of their economic recovery, his administration has passed 25 different tax cuts.

"Now, let me repeat: We cut taxes," he said. "We cut taxes for 95 percent of working families. We cut taxes for small businesses. We cut taxes for first-time homebuyers. We cut taxes for parents trying to care for their children. We cut taxes for 8 million Americans paying for college."

In his Super Bowl Sunday interview with Katie Couric, he touted the tax cuts in the stimulus package: "we put $300 billion worth of tax cuts into people's pockets so that there was demand and businesses had customers."

more...

[MadBadger]

1. Quick Unrecommend for Tax Cuts

Not me of course, just an observation

[Cha]

21. We have little

trolls around here whose only job is to go around and unrec postive White House threads.

[Stargleamer]

2. 24% said he raised taxes. . .

The deception that goes on in this country is incredible. So many gullible Americans believing whatever the plutocrats and their fans want them to believe.

[alsame]

13. Bet those 24% watch Fox and nothing else. nt

[ZombieHorde]

29. The tax on rolling tobacco has significantly increased.

My buddy who rolls his own cigarettes believes his taxes were increased (and he is pissed), and he is right.

[MannyGoldstein]

3. Median Tax Cut Is Something Like $10 A Week

So folks really don't see a difference.

[boppers]

4. Please send me $520 ASAP

After all, it's apparently not much to you, but it would help me out greatly.

[MannyGoldstein]

6. That's Exactly The Point

If it was a $520 check, people would notice. That's why Bush did it that way.

[boppers]

10. So, 77% of the population can't do basic math?

That's kind of shocking, but not surprising, given the anti-education, anti-science, anti-economic agenda of the right.

[MannyGoldstein]

11. Sort Of nt

[Milo_Bloom]

14. No

The reality is that the tax cut didn't have a major impact on their lives, especially when spread out $10/$20 per paycheck.

"Wow my life is so much different, I can get an extra happy meal!"

Even $520 at once will only have a small, limited impact on the vast majority of people.

You want impact, shift the payroll taxes... instead of taxing the first dollar, up to 100K, tax from 30K->200K, you will raise more money and create a tax cut that REALLY IMPACTS people's lives. I think up to an extra $50->100 per paycheck is something people will really see and those who will be impacted most by it (people making 100K->200K can afford the extra "burden").

[ananda]

5. I DO!!! I just did my taxes..

.. and it's fantastic!

Thank you, Mr. Obama!

[truedelphi]

9. Was there a special form that was needed? Someone here on DU

mentioned it, but except for a form M, I didn't notice anything new in my tax packet - and form M is about retirmement, I think.

Greatly appreciate it if you know and can tell me about new forms.

[PBS Poll-435]

26. Check into the "Making Work Pay" credit. Up to $800 in refundable deliciousness!

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204447,00.html

How will the Making Work Pay tax credit affect you?

Most wage earners will benefit from larger paychecks in 2009 and 2010 as a result of the changes made to the federal income tax withholding tables to implement the Making Work Pay tax credit. However, some people may find that the changes built into the withholding tables result in less tax being withheld than they prefer.

If you're not eligible for the Making Work Pay tax credit, withholding changes could mean a smaller refund next spring. A limited number of people, including those who usually receive very small refunds, could in some situations owe a small amount rather than receiving a refund. Those who should pay particular attention to their withholding include:

Pensioners (see more information under Pensioners, below)
Married couples with two incomes
Individuals with multiple jobs
Dependents
Some Social Security recipients who work
Workers without valid Social Security numbers
The Making Work Pay tax credit, normally a maximum of $400 for working individuals and $800 for working married couples, is reduced by the amount of any Economic Recovery Payment ($250 per eligible recipient of Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, Railroad Retirement or Veteran's benefits) or Special Credit for Certain Government Retirees ($250 per eligible federal or state retiree) that you receive. If you are affected by this reduction, you should review your withholding to ensure that sufficient funds have been withheld to meet your tax obligation.

[truedelphi]

33. Thank you for posting this information here.

It may very well be the help we need.

[quiller4]

28. No special form-tax brackets have changed. I used TurboTax

online. our refurn was over $700 compare to $30 last year.

[DJ13]

7. They see stories of hundreds of billions to banks, with those execs taking huge bonuses

And then they look at their paycheck (that likely shrunk due to underemployment) and the $5, $10, or even (gasp!) $15 more from the tax cut, and people seriously wonder why these ungrateful folks arent bowing down in appreciation?

[babylonsister]

8. Bowing down in appreciation wasn't the issue; ignorance is. nt

[DJ13]

12. So you want acknowledgement of a tax cut

But you dont want them to go so far they bow down in appreciation.

Got it.

Okay, how about this....its that the actual tax cuts were so small (by comparison to the numbers flouted daily by the wealthy receiving government welfare) that they got swallowed up by the reduced hours of employment many Americans that still have jobs have been coping with the last year.

The reason so many cant tell they received a tax cut is due to the reduced hours that negatively impacted their net pay, and also lowered the amount they got from that tax cut as a result.

[babylonsister]

15. 88% of the people polled didn't know a freaking thing about

tax cuts. That's pure ignorance, willful or not.

And you don't have a clue what the reason is. You just like to argue. :hi:

[DJ13]

17. You just like to argue.

Do not!

ooops

:blush:

[HughMoran]

16. My idiot coworker thought his taxes went up. When I told him he probably got a cut

...he checked online and said 'huh' as he noted that he indeed did get a tax cut.

His reason for thinking his taxes went up was

1) his withholding went down last year and when it returned to normal this year, he interpreted it as a tax increase :eyes:
2) he gets emails from a teabagger moron daily - which he apparently believes as I have had to laugh in his face at the moronic lies he's attempted to tell me.

Lessons?

1) People in this country are morons who believe anything they see in an email
2) Barack Obama needs to stop assuming that Americans are capable of being swayed by reality. No, they need to be told what to think.

[impik]

18. Well, mainstream media and Left blogosphere combined beautifully to destroy this presdient

[Hawkowl]

19. Obama's idiocy

And that's another reason why the tax were STUPID! Not only were they a complete waste of economic effectiveness, politically they were useless.

[justgamma]

20. I was at a meeting with a Republican business owner,

she was furious that Obama lowered the taxes on her employees. She was screaming that no way was she going to change her bookkeeping to give the workers their money. She was absolutely livid that they got a taxbreak. I never could figure out why it upset her so much. All I could think of was, after all the "he's going to raise your taxes" talk, he made liars out of them and she didn't like it one bit.

[cornermouse]

22. Tax cuts (and repeal via lapse of the estate tax)

when the government is having trouble making ends meet is irresponsible, stupid and yet another republican policy of greed being extended into infinity. I would be against this no matter who passed it. Unrec.

[Cha]

40. The governement is acting very responsibly and I'm

so grateful we have President Obama leading our country out of the 8 years of abuse by the bushcheney coup!

[Vinca]

23. Actually, as a self-employed person who hasn't gotten to taxes yet,

has the rate changed for those of us who don't get a weekly pay check? So far I've seen zip out of this.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

24. If you're self-employed, you haven't seen it.

The Making Work Pay Credit will appear on your 1040 - $400 if you're single and $800 if you're married.

People who get a paycheck have received all or part of this credit in advance (sort of) through lower withholding on their weekly paycheck. Since you're self-employed (obviously) you haven't seen it yet.

[Vinca]

27. Thanks for the info. I think we're going to owe some taxes, so $800 will help.

[madmom]

25. I got a tax cut, for all of about 2 months. My So is retired so we saw the tax cut in his

monthly pension check, but shortly after our insurance "changed" some how so now we not only lost the $25 extra we lost a bit more. Maybe that has something to do with why people don't/didn't see it.

[Peacetrain]

30. They don't.. why I do not know.. but stuck on stupid seems to be the operative

[annabanana]

31. Well I just got back from the taxman, and I'll tell you. .

There were a couple of things under "education" that bumped our return UP a healthy amount.

[4lbs]

32. My tax break/cut is offset by the $600 ($50 monthly) increase in my health insurance premium.

That could also be why most people didn't notice a tax cut. Their monthly expenses increased by the same amount.

[johnaries]

34. My return was almost double what it was last year.

A co-worker who initially supported Ron Paul but ended up voting for Obama sent out an email thanking everyone who voted for Obama, saying he got the highest tax return ever.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

39. I sheepishly must admit that I was totally shocked by the size of my rebate check

It wasn't until I added up all of the tax credits and looked at the result that I did a little jig.

[Mike 03]

35. THANK YOU for posting this, and I owe you a half dozen hearts.

You are one of the most amazing people here. Thank you for continuously bringing to our attention news that actually matters.

Thank you, Babylon Sister. Another critically important post from someone who cares and is relentless in bringing these stories to our attention here.

Thank you.

[Mike 03]

36. Biggest story of the week, IMO, sorry to blather on.

Americans have become so damned dumb they dont even know what President Obama is doing in office.

It is to be expected, sadly.

But this is a great post, and I want to kick it to the sky.

I wish Babylonsister's post could somehow be pinned to the top of every forum.

[DailyGrind51]

37. "Most Americans" are uninformed idiots!

[butterfly77]

38. Why would they these some of these...

stupid people think that Medicare isn't a government program but they want it..