[Daniel]

“Low & middle income earners actually paid a much higher share of overall taxes back then as they do now”.

Of course they did. They also earned a far higher share of overall income than they do now.

This argument is such a ridiculous red herring. Quite a lot of chutzpah, too (for the uninitiated, it literally means killing your parents and then pleading the judge for mercy because you’re an orphan). So, hey, my share of the pie is 10 times bigger than before, so I should pay tax rates 10 times lower than before so that we’re all even, right?

It’s not about “sticking it to the rich”, it’s about raising revenue. You go where the money is.

By the way, the same argument works for cuts, too. You go where the money is, and that’s mostly Medicare.

To be honest, I think all the Bush cuts should just expire and forget the whole episode. After all, Bush sold them to us as being temporary, right? Wink, wink. So as not to increase the deficit? Wink, wink…

I remember the doomsday predictions from Kudlow and other clowns about the 1993 Clinton tax hike. Yeah, really destroyed the economy. Also, the enthusiasm for the Bush cuts of 2001-2003. Wow, that really worked out well.

PS: Schiff qualifies as a clown, too, just so you know.

[Daniel]

PS: the rate I just quoted may sound a bit too good to be true, and it indeed is if one forgets a few things. There are, of course, various title, escrow, appraisal and other fees with a mortgage loan – I’d say about 0.5% of the size of the loan, give or take. So one needs about half a point rebate for a true no-cost loan.

[Daniel]

For no-frills loans (conforming, W2 income, less than 80% LTV, good credit, etc), I suggest http://www.provident.com. They may or may not have the best rates (I’ve found a little better elsewhere sometimes), but you can see their actual rates online in 5 seconds, updated throughout the day. They display multiple rate-point scenarios to choose from (the “rate sheet”). Really helpful. For example, right now (12/6, 9am) they show 3.25% with a half point rebate for a plain vanilla $417K loan. I refinanced twice with them, had no problems.

[Daniel]

The one positive thing I can say about Ron Paul is that he’s a very sincere candidate (I’m pretty sure the guy believes what he preaches). Romney, on the other hand, is at the other extreme: “I will say all the right things in the primaries, but… wink, wink, ya know, I’m not that crazy actually, and you’ll see that in the general election – a.k.a. Etch-a-Sketch”.

Hard to judge the man who lives inside Romney, while Paul is what-you-see-is-what-you-get.

That being said, what I see in Paul is a rather dangerous lunatic, and, no, thank you, I’d rather take anybody but him. Gold standard, Santa Claus, etc… The man is delusional.

PS: the fact that he’s a got a lot of followers doesn’t make it any better. Human history is full of charismatic lunatics. People have paid the price in the past.

[Daniel]

Your email, sdr?

Thx,
Daniel

[Daniel]

Your email, sdr?

Thx,
Daniel

[Daniel]

Your email, sdr?

Thx,
Daniel

[Daniel]

Your email, sdr?

Thx,
Daniel

[Daniel]

Your email, sdr?

Thx,
Daniel

[Daniel]

Interesting discussion :-)I don’t usually get into politics, but this thread reminds of the plight of… ummm.. shall I call him Jozef the highly skilled temporary worker? Jozef pays all the takes that Joe does (and then some, as some deductions are unavailable to him), and, if he doesn’t manage to get a green card before his visa is up, he has to leave the country. All those social security taxes he dutifully paid go down the drain. Talk about taxation without representation!

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that the Jozefs I know make very good money (hard to feel sorry for them), work for Qualcomm, Intel, Microsoft, etc, and usually end up staying as permanent residents and then citizens. But it’s never a sure thing. If the green card application is botched (and it does happen sometimes), Jozef needs to say bye-bye to all the taxes he paid.

[Daniel]

Interesting discussion :-)I don’t usually get into politics, but this thread reminds of the plight of… ummm.. shall I call him Jozef the highly skilled temporary worker? Jozef pays all the takes that Joe does (and then some, as some deductions are unavailable to him), and, if he doesn’t manage to get a green card before his visa is up, he has to leave the country. All those social security taxes he dutifully paid go down the drain. Talk about taxation without representation!

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that the Jozefs I know make very good money (hard to feel sorry for them), work for Qualcomm, Intel, Microsoft, etc, and usually end up staying as permanent residents and then citizens. But it’s never a sure thing. If the green card application is botched (and it does happen sometimes), Jozef needs to say bye-bye to all the taxes he paid.

[Daniel]

Interesting discussion :-)I don’t usually get into politics, but this thread reminds of the plight of… ummm.. shall I call him Jozef the highly skilled temporary worker? Jozef pays all the takes that Joe does (and then some, as some deductions are unavailable to him), and, if he doesn’t manage to get a green card before his visa is up, he has to leave the country. All those social security taxes he dutifully paid go down the drain. Talk about taxation without representation!

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that the Jozefs I know make very good money (hard to feel sorry for them), work for Qualcomm, Intel, Microsoft, etc, and usually end up staying as permanent residents and then citizens. But it’s never a sure thing. If the green card application is botched (and it does happen sometimes), Jozef needs to say bye-bye to all the taxes he paid.

[Daniel]

Interesting discussion :-)I don’t usually get into politics, but this thread reminds of the plight of… ummm.. shall I call him Jozef the highly skilled temporary worker? Jozef pays all the takes that Joe does (and then some, as some deductions are unavailable to him), and, if he doesn’t manage to get a green card before his visa is up, he has to leave the country. All those social security taxes he dutifully paid go down the drain. Talk about taxation without representation!

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that the Jozefs I know make very good money (hard to feel sorry for them), work for Qualcomm, Intel, Microsoft, etc, and usually end up staying as permanent residents and then citizens. But it’s never a sure thing. If the green card application is botched (and it does happen sometimes), Jozef needs to say bye-bye to all the taxes he paid.

[Daniel]

Interesting discussion :-)I don’t usually get into politics, but this thread reminds of the plight of… ummm.. shall I call him Jozef the highly skilled temporary worker? Jozef pays all the takes that Joe does (and then some, as some deductions are unavailable to him), and, if he doesn’t manage to get a green card before his visa is up, he has to leave the country. All those social security taxes he dutifully paid go down the drain. Talk about taxation without representation!

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that the Jozefs I know make very good money (hard to feel sorry for them), work for Qualcomm, Intel, Microsoft, etc, and usually end up staying as permanent residents and then citizens. But it’s never a sure thing. If the green card application is botched (and it does happen sometimes), Jozef needs to say bye-bye to all the taxes he paid.

[Daniel]

Sheldon,

I sent you an e-mail at HLSloans@yahoo.com earlier today.

Thanks for all your help,
Daniel

[Author]

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