Thursday, March 26, 2009

This'n'That; March 29th[1960s;TaxFreedom;Payers;SmallBusiness]

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A Time, Long Ago
Anybody old enough to remember when department stores had a lunch counter? Some even had several booths for families. I grew up in a little burg in New York's southern tier where most families had to drive several miles just to go grocery shopping. In 1960 when I was fourteen years old, an event was made of this weekly/bi-weekly chore.
With the exceptions of supermarkets and drug stores, most small towns' business districts were populated with "Mom'n'Pop" shops selling all manner of stuff. Those I fondly remember sold food!! Practically every "five and dime" had their own lunch counter-W.T. Grant's and F.W. Woolworth are particularly fond memories for me.
At a time when McDonalds [1954] and Burger King [1954] were in their relative infancy and Wendy's wasn't even thought of yet, the local lunch counter provided some of the tastiest food on the planet!! Although on some trips our meal took the last of my mom's paycheck, prices seem cheap in comparison with todays. Here are some prices from a 1960 F.W. Woolworth menu:
***Chicken Salad Sandwich [toasted, triple decker].......................65cents
***Baked Ham and Cheese Sandwich [toasted, triple decker].......60cents
***Bacon and Tomato Sandwich [toasted, triple decker]................50cents
***Ham Salad, Egg Salad, American Cheese and Pressed Ham Sandwiches:30cents
***Tulip Sundae [2 dips topped with crushed fruit]........................25cents
***Banana Split [1 banana-halved,3 dips topped with crushed fruit]39cents
***Malted Milk [popular flavors-2 dips].........................................25cents
***Milk Shake [popular flavors-2 dips]...........................................25cents ***Fresh Orange Juice [squeezed to order]...............................20/30cents
***Apple Pie [per slice]....................................................................15cents ***Layer Cake [per slice].................................................................15cents
Tax "Freedom" Day
Tax Freedom Day is the first day of the year in which a nation as a whole has theoretically earned enough income to fund its annual tax burden. It is annually calculated in the United States by the Tax Foundation-a Washington, D.C., based tax research organization. Every dollar that is officially considered income by the U.S. government is counted, and every payment to the U.S. government that is officially considered a tax is counted. Taxes at all levels of government—local, state and federal—are included. The concept of Tax Freedom Day was developed in 1948 by Florida businessman Dallas Hostetler, who trademarked the phrase "Tax Freedom Day" and calculated it each year for the next two decades. In 1971, Hostetler retired and transferred the trademark to the Tax Foundation. The Tax Foundation has calculated Tax Freedom Day for the United States ever since, using it as a tool for illustrating the proportion of national income diverted to fund the annual cost of government programs. In 1990, the Tax Foundation began calculating the specific Tax Freedom Day for each individual state. Tax Freedom Day varies among the 50 U.S. states, as incomes and state & local taxes differ from state to state. In 2008, Alaska had the lowest total tax burden, earning enough to pay all their tax obligations by March 29. Connecticut had the heaviest tax burden—Tax Freedom Day there arrived May 8. New Jersey had the second heaviest tax burden, having to work until May 7, to pay their total taxes. For the nation as a whole, on average, Tax Freedom Day this year, came on April 23rd!! This means that, again-on average; 30.8% of everything you earned annually, GOES TO THE GOVERNMENT, on some level; nearly 31 cents of EVERY DOLLAR!! Some historic figures on tax freedom:
***In 1900, Tax Freedom Day arrived on January 22nd, with the average being under six cents of every dollar.
***In 1930, Tax Freedom Day arrived on February 12th, averaging just under 12 cents.
***In 1940, March 7th; nearly 18 cents.
***In 2000-statistically the longest period and the highest rate; May 3rd at over 33.5 cents of EVERY DOLLAR EARNED!!
***The latest year analyzed is 2008, when Tax Freedom Day arrived on April 23rd. Last year, government at all levels confiscated over 30.5 cents on every dollar earned.
A Look At The Payers
The tax-year of 2006 is the latest IRS collection data available, which is too early to reflect any part of the recession America's in now.
***There were a total of 135,719,000[Mln] tax returns filed.
***Those returns indicated an adjusted gross income [AGI] of $8,122,040,000,000 [Trln].
***Of that $8Trln in earnings, over $1,023,739,000,000[Trln] were paid to the federal government.
With everyone whining about how much "the rich" have and how they're getting a free ride in society today, let's have a look at the top one percent of tax filers. In comparison it would do no good to look at the bottom one percent of tax filers-They're primarily "welfare-rats" that only filed to get on the "porkulus list" to receive a pork check!!
The Top One-Percent of Tax Filers:
In 2006 there were 1,357,000 who had an adjusted gross income [AGI] of $1,791,866,000,000 [Trln] and they paid $408,369, 000,000[Bln] in federal taxes. While this group's percentage share of the TOTAL AGI was 22%-they paid almost 40% of ALL FEDERAL TAXES COLLECTED!!
A 50-50 Comparison:
While the top one percent of tax filers pay a disproportionate tax; there is a great disparity when the top 50% are compared to the bottom 50%.
***Both groups are composed of 67,860,000 tax filers. The top group has an AGI of $7,105,599,000,000[Trln] compared to just $1,016,441,000,000 for the bottom group.
***Those awful, rich folks earned 87 and-a-half percent of the total AGI-while the whiners earned just 12 and-a-half percent. Although not a whiner, I, too am a member of the bottom 50% [I'm sure with hard work, drive and determination I {and ANYONE else} could be a member of the upper group!!].
***The top 50% paid over 97% of the total IRS receipts while the bottom 50% [and I] paid a paltry less-than 3%.
In The Aggregate...'Sup?!
I'd say it depends on two definitions-"rich" and "hard work."
I define "rich" as the accumulation of assets, both monetary and non-monetary that will sustain an individual or family in a desired lifestyle throughout their lifetimes.
"Hard work" can be defined two ways. The first might be physically demanding manual labor; the second might be mentally demanding thought, reasoning and logical applications.
Henry Ford, Walter P. Chrysler and William C. Durant, founder of General Motors. These folks worked in their respective businesses, doing the grunt work that everyone else did.
Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and Tom Galisano, founder of Paychex are illustrations of the second definition. Theirs was primarily "brain" work, with little "back-breaking" labor as we know it.
All the whiners, like the ACLU and the agitators, like ACORN-see are statistics published in some business magazine or publically available government information. They see the big numbers, in both men's cases, in the billions of dollars. What the street thugs don't-or chose not to-realize that those big numbers are comprized mostly of accumulated common stock in their respective companies. I seriously doubt if either man could come up with a million dollars tomorrow morning without selling some of their shares. It's the guys much smaller than Gates or Galisano who really make this country tick, make it prosperous and keep the economy growning.
The U.S. Congress through The Small Business Administration has defined the "small business" both in the following maximums: the number of employees and gross income. For this little venture we'll just consider "number of employees." Depending upon the industry and segment, the maximums range from 100 workers to 1,000 workers to be considered a "small business." Industries and segments like:
These folks who can have no more than 100 employees: ***Flower, Nursery Stock, and Florists’ Supplies Merchant Wholesalers;
***Beer and Ale Merchant Wholesalers;
***Fish and Seafood Merchant Wholesalers;
***Stationary and Office Supplies Merchant Wholesalers;
***Industrial Supplies Merchant Wholesalers;
***Office Equipment Merchant Wholesalers;
***Tire and Tube Merchant Wholesalers.
Or these folks who can have no more than 500 employees:
***Burial Casket Manufacturing;
***Sporting and Athletic Goods Manufacturing; ***Dental Laboratories;
***Blind and Shade Manufacturing;
***Metal Household Furniture Manufacturing;
***Motorcycle, Bicycle and Parts Manufacturing;
***Storage Battery Manufacturing.
Or these folks who can have no more than 1,000 employees:
***Fiber Optic Cable Manufacturing;
***Motor and Generator Manufacturing;
***Household Refrigerator and Home Freezer Manufacturing;
***Telephone Apparatus Manufacturing;
***Computer Storage Device Manufacturing;
***Office Machinery Manufacturing;
***Small Arms Manufacturing.
If the whiners and the community agitators could shut-up long enough to look at the entire list, they'd realize that there's far more "small business" employees than there ever will be in the world's largest corporations!! Where do the complainers think the money comes from to start and sustain each and every one of these small businesses? From the "rich" guys that started them!! Every dime that's taken from an entrepreneur in taxes is a dime that won't be invested in new buildings, equipment, more employees and more research and development; just to name a few. Essentially, the more money removed from the economy in taxes; the less money there is to self-stimulate the economy-resulting in recession, or depression, or deflation, or stagflation; all harmful to the overall economy; all harmful to "the little guy and gal."
Til Nex'Time....

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