Opinion by John Liming

I am sometimes dumbfounded at how hard many Conservatives and Republicans work to find ways to undermine or eliminate anything that might offer some assistance to The Middle Class or those who are really in need of some kind of help from their government.

In recent years, I have heard a lot of conservatives and Republicans talking a lot of nonsense about how to “Reform” the United States Tax Code.

Whenever I hear this kind of bulls**t from them, I know in my heart they are after another way to give those who are already filthy rich another bunch of “Tax Breaks” to be paid for by Mr. and Mrs. Average (not rich) Main Street America.  It is disgusting sometimes how thorough some of these thieving liars can be in searching for that last little crumb of help that some so desperately need.

Recently I have heard some conservatives and Republicans referring to Income Tax Credits as “Handouts.” That would be typical language for some of these idiots.  That is the least I can expect from them.

The whole thing is that if they can be successful in eliminating “Tax Credits” for average families, they can have ever so much more money to stuff their own pockets with and to give to their rich friends and corporate CEOs in the form of “Tax Breaks.”  Actually, these “Tax Breaks” are nothing more than another form of “Handout.” (Handouts to the rich.) But I suspect it would never be within conservative character to come close to admitting that fact.

So what are the Tax Credits that the Far Right Wing Extremest greed hogs want to get rid of? As I understand it,  here are a few:

1.  Earned Income Tax Credit — This credit is designed to help low income households with children where the annual income is under $42,000. I hear that this credit can amount to as much as $5,000 or more for a family with three or more children.

The Right Wing Extremists would love to dump that Tax Credit! So if you are in the category that qualifies to receive this credit, you have one more reason never to vote Republican.

2.  The Child Tax Credit — This will reduce your tax bill by $1,000 for each dependent child in your family. This is a real benefit for low income families so again, it is a natural target for some conservatives and Republicans!

Some Republicans like to point out that since America already has nearly 100 welfare programs, there is little need to add to the expense on the national bottom line with these Tax Credits– especially Tax Credits which can be taken advantage of anyone who is not a millionaire or a billionaire.

That is where the conservative and Republican “Christian Family and Moral Values” malarkey falls flat on it’s face. They seem so desperately afraid that our Democracy might extend a compassionate hand to help someone who needs it if it might cost the billionaires and millionaires a few dollars that they can easily afford in their own taxes. (The ones who actually pay any taxes, that is.)

In my opinion, that is a heartless, cruel, greedy, selfish and evil position for someone who already has everything.

Some of the conservatives and Republicans in positions of power and influence are saying that The Earned Income Tax Credit and The Child Tax Credit are not tax Credits at all but are simply “Welfare Payments.” So, the greed mongers want these credits eliminated! If these credits were eliminated, think of the millions of extra dollars that would be freed up for grabbing by the elite.

When pressed about what alternative help could be offered to low income families if these credits were done away with, many conservatives and Republicans counter with the old tired argument that it is a “Free market” (The kind that sends all the good jobs to foreign markets) that is the silver bullet.  Of course, the ideal “Free Market” would make sure that no business ever paid a cent in taxes, never had to explain safety hazards to a regulator or could never be sued if their product or service killed someone.

Keep all this in mind next time you visit a voting booth.

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Opinion by John Liming

There is this crazy idea running through some of the conservative minds in Washington that America can grow and prosper if Her revenue stream is cut off entirely by giving tax cuts and breaks to the wealthiest of our citizens and to the giant corporate entities who are already over burdened with wealth earned at the expense of The Middle Class and others who are not millionaires and billionaires.

So, it seems to me, at least, that every single proposal the Republicans and conservatives present on the Floor of The Congress has some kind of tax cut for the rich built in or some kind of “Take Away” for the common, ordinary non-rich folks among us.  They seem to think they can cut their way to prosperity.

There is this argument among conservatives that 47% of American voters don’t pay any  income taxes at all.

 I am wondering if that 47% includes such eminent entities as General Electric Corporation who reportedly paid not a single cent in taxes during a recent tax cycle?

 I am wondering if that percent includes any of those crafty moneyed elites who manage to use all the loopholes in the tax code to avoid paying their fair share? There must be hundreds, perhaps even thousands of those who get a free ride on the system every year.

And while the Conservatives argue that we cannot create any more voters who don’t pay taxes, they keep on running toward the legislative mark of insuring that more and more of their moneyed friends pay less and less in taxes.   Once again they talk out of both sides of their mouth.

Some of the conservatives in high places are bragging about the fact that they have new proposals coming out that will make sure “Workers” get another big tax cut.  I wonder what they mean by “Another” and I also wonder what they mean by “Big Tax Cut?”

I wonder how a tax cut for a worker can ever have any similarity to a tax cut for someone who has millions of dollars?  In my mind, that would present no comparison at at all. What do the conservatives mean by “Workers are getting another big tax cut?”  I will be you one thing for sure!  If the “Workers” get any tax break at all under the conservatives, it won’t be log before those same conservative thieves find a way to take it back and get more in the process.

It seems to me like conservatives are always and forever worried about losing votes to the Democrats because the Democrat programs seem to offer the most benefits to the general population–particularly in those programs called “The Social Safety Net” such as Social Security, Medicare, Welfare, and Unemployment Compensation to name a few.

I wonder if that is the reason the conservatives seem so anxious to cut these programs to the bone or to eliminate  them altogether?  Would it make them look better when it is discovered that they have little or nothing to offer the voter?
Is that their strategy?  That is kind of lame in my book.

The biggest nightmare of the Republicans, the party of No, Nothing and Nonsense, seems sometimes to be that there might be a permanent Democrat majority in Congress.

Well, in my book that isn’t any different than my nightmare that Republicans might establish themselves as the permanent power in America. (Which I believe they are feverishly attempting to do at every opportunity.)

I think I can safely conjecture that if The American People ever wake up and see the damage that Conservatism in it’s present configuration is doing to this country, that conservative nightmare might become reality. If people ever become aware of the dangers of perpetual conservatism there could indeed be a permanent Democrat majority.

The inescapable fact is that all throughout the History of The United States, Democrats have been in power for far longer periods and for far many times than Republicans.  In my opinion, this represents the stark reality that Americans, overall, tend to prefer Democrats and their policies of Progress to Conservatives and their non-policies of regression and stagnation.

Conservatives are so afraid that America will become a European Style Socialist country.  They seem to equate the compassionate heart of the Social Safety Net Programs to some kind of totalitarianism.  I guess they must think that because they are required, at present, to make contributions from their great hordes of wealth to these programs through our tax code.

Oh, too bad!  They actually have an obligation to contribute to the country that has made them filthy rich in the first place!That must be too much to bear given the energy they seem to put into changing all that and switching the entire burden off themselves and onto The lower classes. (I should say the “Less-Wealthy” classes.)

The conservatives are preaching the doctrine in some circles that it is imperative to get more people in American to start paying their taxes.  I can bet they are not talking about other conservatives. Either that or they are total fools! If they keep on talking like that, they might just alienate some of their own supporters.

So what are they supporting as the ideal tax plan for their 2012 campaigns?

One source reports that many of them are leaning toward that now famous “9-9-9″ plan put forward by one of their leading contender for the Presidency.

They apparently haven’t done the math on that one. That involves nothing more than a tax increase on the Middle Class and a advantage to the richest Americans.

Anyway–this “9-9-9″ plan does originate from conservatism and if it comes from conservatism you can bet your bottom dollar that it holds no advantage for those who actually have to work some minimum wage job for a living or someone who punches a time clock in a factory somewhere.

 In my opinion, the 9-9-9 plan provides a great applause line for campaign speeches but, in actual practice, it would be a disaster—particular in later years when another administration decides to double it or triple it.

I am not a person who is prone to putting cheese out for rats or sugar out for ants.  I tried feeding a mouse once and in no time at all, I had a houseful and had to call an exterminator.  I do not believe in leaving food on my front porch for grizzly bears and I certainly don’t believe in voting someone into the highest office of this land who has publicly presented a tax plan that I know is going to rob me even blinder than I already have been robbed.

I have no doubt in my mind that if I run out and vote for a Republican in 2012, the rich are going to get richer off my efforts and my resources and I am going to get taken to the cleaners for a more thorough going over than I have already received.

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