Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Um… That’s Not a Loan

It’s welfare.

Starting this week, anyone with a federal student loan can apply for a program, run by the Department of Education, that caps monthly payments based on income, and forgives remaining balances after 25 years. Those choosing to work in public service could have their loans forgiven after just 10 years.

Golly, I guess I shouldn’t have paid off my college loans so early.  I could have saved a few bucks.

(4) Comments
Posted by Owen at 1707 hrs
Politics + Politics - General

  1. Yeah, it’s welfare.  So is writing off the interest on a mortgage for a primary residence and taking a tax credit for procreation.  I’m guessing you might have taken advantage of those at one time or another.

    Face it, we’re all welfare recipients, and middle-class families are some of the biggest welfare recipients of all.

    Posted by Recess Supervisor on June 30, 2009 at 1844 hrs


  2. So a tax credit is welfare?  Wow.

    Unfortunately we’ve been hearing a lot more of this type of talk with Obama and Doyle in office.

    There is a fundamental difference between the gov’t not taking as much of my money and the gov’t handing out my money to other people.  Call me crazy…

    Posted by Smeety on June 30, 2009 at 1917 hrs


  3. Of course a tax credit is welfare.  It’s government spending on only those individuals that meet certain requirements set forth by the government.

    If Barack Obama came out tomorrow and announced a new 0% tax rate for African-Americans, you’d call it welfare in a heartbeat.  You wouldn’t be praising Obama for allowing some Americans to keep more of their hard-earned money.  You’d be talking about how you’d have to pay more to make up for what they’re not paying in.

    There’s no fungible difference between the government collecting $500 from you and then giving it back to you as a credit or the government taking $500 less from you.  So long as some people are getting the $500 and others aren’t, it’s welfare.

    The question isn’t decided solely by how you are treated.  It’s decided by how you are treated relative to everyone else.

    Tax credits and targeted tax cuts invariably cause tax shifting.  If A is no longer paying, then B will be asked to pay more to maintain service at level X.

    I’ll take a simple, progressive tax system with no deductions or credits any day of the week.  Imagine no accountants or tax lawyers or crappy tax prep software.  How heavenly would that be?

    Posted by Recess Supervisor on June 30, 2009 at 2143 hrs


  4. RS-

    Amen to a more simple tax system. How about total elimination of:


    - Federal Income Tax
    - Social Security tax
    - Medicare Tax
    - Business Income Tax
    - All itemized deductions except mtg interest & charity contributions

    and replace them all with a single flat tax. Imagine how simple to file your taxes. Of course we’d have to beef up unemployment for all the out of work tax accountants and tax attorneys.

    The surprising thing is the tax percentage rate needed to replace all the taxes above. What tax rate perecentage do you think we’d need to replace all the above taxes and still collect the same dollar amount of taxes?

    - 5%
    - 12%
    - 21%
    - 28%

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 01, 2009 at 0700 hrs


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