Originally
posted by
tellarion:
Do you think Romney is donating to charity out of the goodness of his heart? He is doing so because he can only secret so much of his massive fortune away, and the rest is still liable to be taxed. So good on him for donating to charity, if only to avoid paying any taxes. As for Obama, you realize he makes several orders of magnitude less than Romney does? He doesn't face the dilemma of 'Do I donate it, or pay more to the government' because he isn't exactly rich.
As far as your 47% interpretation, as others have said, you apparently don't see why people are upset about that. Everyone understands that he was pandering to his crowd at a fundraising dinner. Doesn't make what he said any less disgusting. He said the entire Democratic base doesn't pay taxes and relies on government handouts and doesn't work hard. How fluffed up is that? Not to mention the fact that many people on BOTH sides either don't pay taxes or rely on government safety net programs. Hell, I didn't pay taxes until just a few years ago because I was a student and made barely enough to support myself. I guess Romney doesn't give a fluff about me.
I DON'T KNOW ROMNEY'S REASONS FOR GIVING TO CHARITY. I'M NOT ABLE TO SEE INSIDE HIS BRAIN. I GUESS YOU ARE ABLE TO DO THAT? CAN YOU TEACH ME? I WOULD LIKE TO BE ABLE TO SEE INSIDE MR TITANIUM'S BRAIN.
WERE ANY OF THOSE COLLEGE COURSES YOU TOOK ACCOUNTING CLASSES? IF SO, AND IF I'M UNDERSTANDING YOUR ASSERTION CORRECTLY - THAT ROMNEY SAVED HIMSELF MONEY BY DONATING - THEN YOU MIGHT WANT TO ASK FOR A REFUND ON THOSE CREDITS. IF THAT IS NOT YOUR ASSERTION, THEN I APOLOGIZE FOR AND DISAVOW THE NEXT SEVERAL PARAGRAPHS OF THIS POST.
HERE'S A LINK TO A WIKI EXPLANATION OF CAPITAL GAINS TAXES:
http://en.wikipedia.org/..._tax_in_the_United_States
PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT THAT CHART, AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO DO A LTTLE MATH. UGGH! MATH. THE MIGHTY CLAN [DANGER] HATES MATH. THERE ARE NOT NEARLY ENOUGH EXPLOSIONS INVOLVED IN SOLVING MATH PROBLEMS. BE THAT AS IT MAY, LET'S GET ON WITH IT!
NOW, AS WE ALREADY KNOW, THE VAST MAJORITY OF ROMNEY'S INCOME IS DERIVED FROM CAPITAL GAINS. FOR THIS EXAMPLE, WE ARE GOING TO ASSUME THOSE ARE LONG TERM CAPITAL GAINS, SINCE HE'S BEEN FOCUSING ON POLITICS FOR SO LONG.
WE NEED A FEW STARTING FIGURES HERE. I'M NOT GOING TO GO LOOK THEM UP AGAIN, BECAUSE IT DOESN'T REALLY MATTER WHAT NUMBERS WE PICK, AS LONG AS THEY'RE HIGH.
LET'S SAY ROMNEY MADE 16 TRILLION DOLLARS IN 2011. HOLY SMOKES, THAT'S A LOT OF MONEY! HELL, WITH THAT AMOUNT, THE GREEDY BASTARD COULD GIVE EVERY SINGLE AMERICAN $50,000.00!! NOT FAIR! NOT FAIR! ONE PERCENT! NOT FA.. OOPS, I'M GETTING SIDE TRACKED.
WE'LL ALSO GO AHEAD AND ASSUME THE LOWER FIGURE THAT I FOUND OF 20% GIVEN TO CHARITY. THIS NUMBER DOESN'T REALLY MATTER FOR OUR PURPOSES EITHER, AS WE'LL SOON SEE.
NOW, FROM THE CHART, WE SEE THAT ROMNEY'S TAX RATE ON LONG TERM CAPITAL GAINS IS 15% HERE COMES THE MATH! UGGH! READY?
IF ROMNEY DONATED 20% OF HIS INCOME TO CHARITY, THAT WOULD BE 3.2 TRILLION. SUBTRACT THAT FROM 16 TRILLION, AND YOU GET 12.8 TRILLION TAXABLE INCOME. A TAX RATE OF 15% ON 12.8 TRILLION GIVES US 3.05 TRILLION IN TAXES PAID. 16 TRILLION, MINUS 3.2 TRILLION, MINUS 3.05 TRILLION EQUALS 9.75 TRILLION. ROMNEY KEPT 9.75 TRILLION IN HIS BEDROOM SAFE IN 2011. WAIT A MINUTE.. THAT NUMBER SOUNDS FAMILIAR. ISN'T THAT ABOUT HOW MUCH DEBT PRESIDENT BUSH LEFT US WITH?? ILLUMINATI! BILDERBERGS! LIZARD MEN!
OK, SO BACK ON TRACK, ROMNEY KEPT 9.75 TRILLION FOR HIS EVIL GREEDY SELF. NOW, IF HE HAD GIVEN ZERO TO CHARITY, HOW MUCH COULD HE HAVE KEPT? 16 TRLLION TIMES 85%.... WHAT?.. OH YEAH, I SKIPPED A FEW STEPS THERE, BUT TRUST ME. IT'S LESS CUMBERSOME THAN TAKING 16 TRILLION TIMES 15% AND THEN SUBTRACTING... ANYWAY.. HE WOULD HAVE IN HIS BEDROOM SAFE, 13.6 TRILLION. HA! HIS GREEDY SCHEME BACKFIRED!! HE COST HIMSELF ALMOST 4 TRILLION DOLLARS BY GIVING TO CHARITY!
YOU CAN GO THROUGH THE SAME PROCESS, SUBSTITUTING ANY PERCENTAGE YOU WANT FOR CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS, AND THE RESULT WILL BE THE SAME. THE MORE HE GIVES TO CHARITY, THE LESS HE KEEPS FOR HIMSELF. WEIRD. NO MATTER WHAT HIS TAX RATE IS, IF IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO GET HIMSELF INTO A LOWER TAX BRACKET, THEN GIVING AWAY MONEY ACTUALLY COSTS HIM MONEY.
NOW ON THE 47% THING, I GIVE UP. I'VE ALREADY STATED THAT HIS COMMENT WAS STUPID AND WILDLY INACCRUATE. IT'S ABUNDANTLY CLEAR TO ME THAT HE WAS SPEAKING ABOUT NOT WORRYING ABOUT WINNING THOSE PEOPLE'S VOTES. IT'S ALSO SAD TO ME THAT IT IS SO EASY FOR DEMOCRAT PUNDITS TO TAKE SUCH A CLEAR (EVEN IF IT IS STUPID) COMMENT OUT OF CONTEXT AND RILE UP SO MANY PEOPLE WITH IT. IT'S EQUALLY SAD THAT REPUBLICAN PUNDITS ARE SO EASILY ABLE TO TAKE PRESIDENT OBAMA'S COMMENTS - "YOU DIDN'T BUILD THAT [BRIDGE]" -OUT OF CONTEXT AND USE THEM TO RILE UP SO MANY PEOPLE.
AND JUST IN CASE ANYBODY MISSED IT THE FIRST FEW TIMES I SAID IT, I DISLIKE BOTH ROMNEY AND PRESIDENT OBAMA, AND WILL NOT BE VOTING FOR EITHER OF THEM.
HA!
SAM