Midday Open Thread

I don't know what to say…..lmho……..

This guy in the homeboy headdress is going to have his own reality show in 5,4,3…

I think the “guy” in the red bandanna is “straight” and to the point.

Good post! From the explosion, finding out several BP execs cashed out weeks prior and the lack of action by the administration it does not pass the truth test.
My heart goes out to loved ones lost and it is for them that the truth must be known.

On a different note…I'll post an open question here.

I know one of the biggest issues right now is the Bush Tax Cuts expiring. Lemme make sure that I'm not missing something or haven't been misinformed by the wrong sources.

From what I understand of these cuts, they applie only to the top 3% in the tax bracket. I hear that letting these expire will cause the recession to get worse, but who are the people who are particularly going to be affected. Can I get any specifics here because from what I understand, not everyone in the top 3% are necessarily job creators therefore they're just getting tax breaks solely because they're rich.

I'm open to some enlightenment here.

Product of you taxes at work. Public schools, Providing shelter, neutrition(sp) ,healthcare,alcohol and entertainment to free up a section of society so they can devote themselves to bettering America,our culture and the social order. Preparing for a career in liberal politics.

that was me not logged in…. but yeah, you win 250 internets! lol.

I like the idea of a flat tax. But if truth be told, I think that until we make a few changes (getting rid of the fed and getting rid of the IRS in favor of a national sales tax) any form of payroll tax increase right now would be devastating on any chance of recovery.

I really don't see ANYTHING helping until we get the government back under control. The laws that were passed this last year, by themselves, have put us on the fast track to insolvency. No amount of taxation is going to fix what they've done.

It's time the states regained their sovereignty and refused to pay a dime to the feds until the unconstitutional mandates that it keeps spewing are stopped.

First of all, if these successful small business owners actually have several employees and are still not incorporated… they need to seriously get a second opinion about their accountants' skills and expertise.

This actually sounds like classic double-talk, the juxtaposition of two separate groups so that they appear to be linked. Let me show you the divide:

1. “between 65 and 75% of the people affected by this will be successful small business owners that file individual tax returns instead of filing as a corporation. If these people get hit,”

3. “it's a direct hit to the people who hire a majority of the people in the U.S.”

The juxtaposition of these statements implies that the majority of people hired in the US are employed by small business people who file as individuals, not corporations. The fact is, especially if have employees, they form corporations and pay themselves a salary and have an expense account. If the business is enjoying great success, they can do things with the business to reduce the tax bite… like upgrading phones, computers and software, invest in new rolling stock, redecorating, increase the advertising budget, sponsor community activity and goodwill.

Second, if the taxes they pay affect their hiring practices, then the obvious question is, are they paying taxes on their business's gross revenue, or the net profit after they deduct expenses such as payroll?

The hiring practices of businesses that are struggling might be affected… if they want to hire extra salespeople, for example, they will have to pay more in payroll taxes. If a restaurateur opens a new location, it may put him over the 50-employee threshold and subject him to FMLA, but the obvious answer to that is to simply open the new location as a separate business.

http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/6800/memo…

Memo
TO,
FROM:
Alej andro N. Mayorkas, Director
Denise A.Venison. Polic}' and Strategy
Roxana Bacon, Office of the Chief Counsel
Debra A. Rogers. Field Operations
Donald Neufeld, Service Center Operations

u.s. Citizenship

This memorandum offers administrative relief opt ions to promote family un ity. fOSler economic
growth, ach ieve signi (jcant process improvements and reduce the threat of removal for certain
individuals present in the Un ited Slates without authorization. It includes recommendations
regarding implementation timeframes and required resources.

Sad, isn't it?