“What the Trump tax plan is a plan to give tiny little tax cuts to most Americans, raise taxes on perhaps one in five families and shower benefits on people who earn millions of dollars a year. And this fits with a fundamental principle the Republicans have been pursuing for a long time. The rich aren't investing and creating jobs, because they don't have nearly enough money, and so we need to get them money. And the way the Republicans want to get it to them is tax cuts first, and then to take away help for children, the disabled, the elderly and the poor.” PeopleGivingChildrenLongEnoughHelpingPoorRichCuttingFitRepublicanTaxes Author:David Cay Johnston
“Donald Trump is a master salesman. And he creates his own reality. So if he tells you, "This is a middle-class tax cut, and I, Donald Trump, won't benefit," he expects you to believe that. It doesn't matter that it's not true. It's he said it, you're supposed to believe it. And that's how he's run his entire administration. If he says it, that makes it true.” BelieveRealityRunningCuttingTaxesSalesman Author:David Cay Johnston
“Donald Trump ran for office complaining that at $19 trillion, the US debt was completely out of control, and yet what he's planning to do is throw trillions of dollars more onto that debt. If the proposed tax plan cuts upon the wealthiest Americans is enacted, 10 years from now America's debt will be over $30 trillion. And so, he's contradicting, his own stated positions. And that's because, to Donald, none of this is about policy. It's not about sound economics. It's about greed and the glorification of the great leader.” LeaderCuttingPolicyTaxesOfficeGreedComplainingPlanningRanGreat LeaderContradicting Author:David Cay Johnston
“The Bush Republicans' policies are, the antithesis of patriotic. And so we urge Democrats to reclaim patriotism - to call on all Americans to pull together. And, yes, to sacrifice. Rich people will have to do with fewer tax cuts. Middle class people will need to drive less and switch to more fuel efficient cars . And poor folks - especially young ones - will have to reduce out-of-wedlock pregnancies and other indicia of social pathology.” PeopleTogetherPoorRichCuttingSacrificeCarPolicyTaxesDemocratMiddle ClassPatrioticPregnancyRich PeopleAntithesisYoung Ones Author:Paul Begala
“A tobacco industry has been a fairly linear and predictable industry. You know what's going to happen every year. You know from time to time you are going to have a tax increase, you are going to have regulatory restriction, but, as it applies to everybody, I think we are doing very well. But now it's much more technology-driven. Competitors other than our traditional competitors can come in, whether legitimate or fly-by-night ones, and you have to anticipate all those things. The whole organization has to gear up to this new reality and these new competitive rules around it.” ThinkingRealityTaxesPredictableTobacco Author:Andre Calantzopoulos
“I understand gas prices are like a hidden tax - not a hidden tax; it's taking money out of people's pockets. I know that.” TaxesGasGas Prices Author:George W. Bush
“We passed law that encouraged consumption through different purchasing habits like, you know, hybrid vehicles. You buy hybrid, you get a tax credit. We've encouraged the spread of ethanol as an alternative to crude oil. We have asked for Congress to pass regulatory relief so we can build more refineries to increase the supply of gasoline, hopefully taking the pressure off of price. And so the strategy is to recognize that dependency upon crude oil, in a global market, affects us economically here at home. And, therefore, we need to diversify away as quickly as possible.” DifferentHomeLike YouHabitTaxesStrategySpreadHopefullyVehicleCrudeHybrid Author:George W. Bush
“If I were a candidate for running, I'd say, "Look at what the economy has done." It's strong. We've created a lot of jobs. I'd be telling people that the Democrats will raise your taxes. I'd be reminding people that tax cuts have worked in terms of stimulating the economy. I'd be reminding people there's a philosophical difference between those who want to raise taxes and have the government spend the money, and those of us who say, "You get to spend the money the way you want to see fit. It's your money."” PeopleDoneRunningStrongTermEconomyCuttingFitTaxesPhilosophicalDemocrat Author:George W. Bush
“There's a separation of church and state. If you want the perks that churches have traditionally received, then abide by the rules. If you're going to be involved in the political process, even in soft ways, then surrender the privileges. Let ministers pay income tax on all of their income. Let churches pay income tax, let them pay property taxes. They can't have it both ways. You can't pat the politicians on the back, break the rules, and then get all these perks.” PoliticalChurchBreakPoliticianTaxesPropertySeparationSurrenderChurch And StateSeparation Of Church And StateIncome Tax Author:Anthony B Pinn
“In the eyes of many business leaders, there is never an opportune moment for tax reform. Yes, the economy is losing momentum, but that is not because a handful of people are losing their privileges. Slow growth did not first begin during my term in office; the market downturn is making itself felt around the world. My government has responded with an agenda aimed at raising productivity. We are also investing substantially in infrastructure - the plan calls for €20.5 billion or $26.3 billion by 2021.” PeopleWorldMomentsEyeGrowthTermLeaderEconomyTaxesOfficeLosingProductivity Author:Michelle Bachelet
“Liberals in the US don't have great passions about Margaret Thatcher. Conservatives do. For all the worship that Ronald Reagan elicits in conservative circles in the US, I would venture that Thatcher did far more to reshape British society than Reagan did here. When I moved to Britain, the utilities were state-run. By the time I left, most of that was privatized. Thatcher had broken the miners' union, all but crushed the Labour Party, cut back the welfare state, even flirted with a poll tax. In the circles I ran in, Reagan was mocked as a childish dolt. Thatcher was despised.” PassionPartyCuttingBrokenTaxesWorshipMovedConservativeRanWelfareLabourUtilityCrushedGreat Passion Author:Jon Weisman
“Until White America can look through the eyes of a Black man, nothing will change. Even we as Black people sometimes don't want to face what's going on within our communities because some of us crossed over into a different tax bracket, but these issues affect the communities that raised us, so it affects us all.” PeopleMenDifferentSometimesEyeBlackCommunityTaxesBlack People Author:Antonio Cromartie
“Despite all the taxes people pay, there supposedly isn't any money in this country for art. Of course, this makes an artist ask himself: "Well, then, what are you doing with the 100 million I pay each year? What happened to that money?" And he doesn't get an answer.” PeopleArtCountryArtistTaxes Author:Georg Baselitz
“Whenever you get involved with talking about rights, you're talking about being a citizen. You're talking about being a citizen in capitalism; you're talking about what rights are granted to what identities, under what laws, and all that is a big mix. Marriage is, among many other things, a formality to channel capital through a family. And that's why the big DOMA lawsuit was about paying too many taxes! "I wouldn't have had to pay all these taxes if Theodora had been Theo" - that was the big tagline. It's all about protecting assets.” IdentityTaxesCapitalismGrantedGet Involved Author:Maggie Nelson
“Much of the blame for the situation lies with the states themselves. They haven't been able to pass decent laws. For decades, tax authorities have been taking aim at the phenomenon of tax havens, and the most aggravating thing is that they aren't just in Bermuda or on the Cayman Islands, but right outside our front door.” LyingSituationTaxesAuthorityAimBlameDecentPhenomenonAggravating Author:Wolfgang Kubicki
“The Netherlands, Ireland, Luxembourg and others, exactly. We have to take a close look at their tax regimes, particularly if we want to move forward with European integration. We can't have a situation in which some EU member states enrich themselves at the expense of their partners.” MovingSituationTaxesMoving ForwardIrelandIntegration Author:Wolfgang Kubicki
“Nobody, not even the EU, can tell us how to design our tax law. We can solve the problem with license boxes in the Netherlands unilaterally.” ProblemDesignTaxes Author:Wolfgang Kubicki
“We have to make sure that a fair share of the tax revenues remain in our country.” CountryShareTaxes Author:Wolfgang Kubicki
“A foreign company in a comparable industry should pay the same as a domestic company, even if their products aren't produced here. That can be achieved using measures in corporate tax law.” TaxesUsing Me Author:Wolfgang Kubicki
“Airlines need staff to fly and maintain their aircraft. They need to pay applicable taxes and gate fees. They need to buy new planes, repair worn-out parts, manage their company pension plan, and everything else a service industry has to do. But by far, the largest chunk of their non-payroll operating budget goes to fuel. That's what costs the most for any given flight.” TaxesFlightManageGatesAirlinePension Author:Andy Weir
“I don't know a lot of writers, even writers who have been on the bestseller list for a few weeks, or writers who have gotten movie options, who can live on just their writing income. Once you break it down to the years it took to write the book, place it, promote it, and you pay the agent, pay the taxes, the annual income is not enough to live on comfortably. I do not have a starving artist inclination. I'm from the working class. I don't feel creative unless I feel like my house is going to be there and I'm going to be fed. I can't worry about money and write. Maybe some people can.” PeopleWritingBookEnoughArtistHouseBreakWorryCreativeWeekTaxesWorking ClassStarving Artist Author:Debra Monroe
“Canadians expect their government to make sure we're helping the people who need the help and growing the economy, and that's exactly what we're committed to do, not just with our historic investments into infrastructure that are going to create jobs while the others are focusing on cuts, but by lowering payroll taxes, by lowering EI premiums from $1.88 to $1.65, at the same time as we make sure that the people who need help are getting the help that they paid into, because they're not getting it under Stephen Harper. That's what Canadians expect from their government.” PeopleHelpingEconomyCuttingTaxesInvestmentCommittedHistoricNeed HelpPayroll Author:Justin Trudeau
“One measure for promoting both stability and fairness across financial market segments is a small sales tax on all financial transactions.” TaxesFinancialStabilityFairness Author:Noam Chomsky
“Bush the Elder's stature as president grows with every passing year. He was the finest foreign policy president I've ever covered and a man who defied his party on tax increases while imposing budget restrictions on the Democrats.” MenYearsGrowsPresidentPartyPolicyTaxesIncreaseDemocratPassingPassingsBudgetsCoveredForeign PolicyFinestEldersRestrictionImposingStatureTax Increases Author:Joe Klein
“Now it is unambiguously clear that trickle-down economics does not work. But what does that mean? That means we have to structure our economic policies to make sure that we have shared prosperity. And you don't do that by giving a tax cut to the big winners and raising taxes on those who have not done very well. Your economic policy has to respond to the way our economic system has been working.” GivingMeanDoneCuttingEconomicPolicyTaxesProsperityWinner Author:Joseph Stiglitz
“I feel like there's this misconception that immigrants come here and just don't care about the system and paying taxes, and that's not true. My father was desperately trying to be a legal contributor to this society.” TryingCareFatherTaxesMisconception Author:Diane Guerrero
“We need a common European tax policy that closes these tax loopholes. We need a common European social policy that prevents social dumping. We need an effective securing of our external borders and a smart way of fighting terrorism. Acting as a state within a national framework is no longer enough. The German chancellor has completely failed to convey that throughout her years in power. We need a re-start for Europe.” EnoughFightingCommonActingPolicyTaxesSmartTerrorism Author:Martin Schulz
“I want to end tax dumping. States that have a common currency should not be engaged in tax competition. We need a minimum tax rate and a European finance minister, who would be responsible for closing the tax loopholes and getting rid of the tax havens inside and outside the EU. It is also clear that we have to reach common standards in our economic and labor policies. We cannot continue to just talk about technical details. We have to inspire enthusiasm in Germany for Europe.” CommonEconomicPolicyInspireTaxesLaborResponsibleCompetitionRateFinanceEnthusiasmCurrencyBeing Responsible Author:Martin Schulz
“The failure of the first Barack Obama administration to really deliver on a new War on Poverty and a new language to explain these societal challenges in some ways provided the fuel that led to the Occupy Movement a few years later. And, while Occupy was a somewhat transitory phenomenon, many of the activist groups that emerged during this period are still out there, and still working on reshaping the political debate around taxes, around welfare, around government assistance to the poor, around debt relief for students, and so on.” WarPoliticalLanguageChallengesPoorPovertyStudentsTaxesDebateBarackWelfarePhenomenonActivistWar On Poverty Author:Sasha Abramsky
“Big cities like New York are thriving, economically, culturally, in terms of real estate values, and by a slew of other measures. Yet, at the same time, much of the country has been utterly hollowed out. In California, where I live, affluent coastal cities such as San Francisco and the Silicon Valley hubs have lower than national average unemployment, higher wages, higher tax bases. Meanwhile, there are inland counties in California where there's still nearly 20 percent unemployment.” RealCountryValuesTermTaxesCounty Author:Sasha Abramsky
“You can't lift people out of poverty simply by tweaking the tax system, or by raising the minimum wage by a few cents, or by reducing student debt slightly. These might be necessary components of a larger anti-poverty program, but you have to accept they are pieces of a much larger puzzle.” PeopleAcceptingPovertyStudentsTaxesProgramPuzzles Author:Sasha Abramsky
“To really tackle poverty, politicians, activists, academics will all have to think outside their boxes, will have to start developing much more integrated approaches to these problems. And a large part of this will involve working out ways to push for living wages. Partly this will involve re-empowering the union movement, which has been massively weakened in recent decades. Partly it will involve a willingness to restructure tax codes to penalize companies that don't provide basic benefits and decent wages to employees.” ThinkingProblemPovertyPoliticianTaxesWork OutCodeDecentEmployeeWillingnessActivistIntegrated Author:Sasha Abramsky
“As a country, Americans have to find a way to keep our cities solvent. If large numbers of cities no longer have the necessary tax base, we have to find federal methods to intervene. If we don't, there's a risk of dozens of cities simply being left to their bankrupt fates - and I can't see how that serves anybody's interests in the long run.” LongCountryRunningInterestFateRiskTaxes Author:Sasha Abramsky
“The poverty we see in America is now too widespread, and too complex, for easy fixes. But I do think we can reimagine many of our institutions and can create new ones in ways that would be effective. We could, for example, create social insurance systems, similar to social security, such as that we went through in 2008-9. We could create a financial transaction tax, oil profit taxes and a fairer estate tax system, and we could plow much of the revenue raised from these into job training programs, into better education infrastructure, into an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit.” ThinkingEasyPovertySecurityTaxesTrainingProgramFinancialIncome Tax Author:Sasha Abramsky
“I argue that in the long run, the US would be on a far more financially secure footing if we recalibrate how we spend about two-to-three percent of the country's GNP, using state and federal taxes to create pools of money for spending on America's poor - which would, as numerous economists have argued in recent years, create virtuous spending circles, since those on lower incomes spend more of each extra dollar in their possession than do those on higher incomes.” LongRunningPoorTaxesPossessionArguingExtrasPoolVirtuousEconomist Author:Sasha Abramsky
“I'm not shy about stating my opinion on political issues, so I can state my opinion, which is, on this one, Premier Notley's right. Because cap and trade systems have not been shown to work. And if you want to price carbon, then I would listen to the CEO of Suncor, who suggests a clean, transparent carbon tax makes a bunch more sense than a cap and trade system that just creates jobs for traders. I - I kind of agree with that.” KindPoliticalOpinionTaxesAgreeTradeShyCeo Author:Naheed Nenshi
“Trump himself stands to benefit dramatically from the tax cuts. One of the things they're cutting is the alternative minimum tax. Last time we have tax returns for him was in 2005, where he paid about $31 million because of the alternative minimum tax. He won't have to pay that, if this tax bill goes through. So, not only is he reordering our constitutional democracy, he is personally enriching himself - which is not new, because, of course, he's done it ever since he swore an oath to become president of the United States.” DonePresidentDemocracyCuttingTaxesLast TimeOath Author:Keith Ellison
“You know, the elites always want to shame the poor - right? - and everyone else. I mean, the fact is, this economy is based on 70 percent of the people driving consumer demand. If people do not purchase goods and services, this economy will grind to recession. And that is why, if you are going to do a tax cut, it ought to really be aimed at low-income and middle-income people.” PeopleMeanPoorEconomyCuttingTaxesShameDrivingGrind Author:Keith Ellison
“Look, rich people already have a lot of money. There's literally trillions of dollars in cash held by corporations, their stock valuations at an all-time high. They do not need a tax cut to do anything. They can invest now, if they wanted to. They don't want to, because they can make more money just by mergers and stock buybacks and stuff like that. So, this is really just sort of a travesty.” PeopleRichCuttingTaxesRich People Author:Keith Ellison
“Now that the most interesting matter of identity is not what place someone was born in, but what point in time they are from - where they sit in relation to time. Age has become much more divisive than place. With the Internet and globalization, a twenty-year-old in New York has far more cultural references in common with a twenty-year-old in Nebraska than they do with a thirty-year-old who lives next door. National identity is what they trick you with when they want your feet in their army boots or your taxes in their bailouts.” AgeInterestingCommonIdentityInternetTaxesArmyRelationGlobalizationMost Interesting Author:Nick Laird
“I don't want to stand with somebody's praise. Whereas now when people come up to me, they say, "I love the bookstore" and "Kids! Come here, come here! This is the woman who owns the bookstore." That's incredible. I can say to that, "Thank you for shopping local. Thank you for coming in. What are you reading? Let's talk about books." It's about something I'm doing as opposed to somehow something I am. I feel comfortable and positive in that role. Because it's about reading. It's about books. It's about learning. It's about business and tax base.” PeopleBookKidsReadingTaxesPraiseIncredibles Author:Ann Patchett
“Right now, America doesn't ask us to do anything besides pay taxes. We don't even have to vote. But as psychologists will tell you, when you have to sacrifice for something, you value it more. What about national service for young people? Everybody between 18 and 24 could spend a year or two working for this country in some capacity. It'd be an amazing thing. And it would mix this country racially, culturally, economically.” PeopleCountryValuesSacrificeTaxesVotePsychologist Author:Sebastian Junger
“I can't tell you how many times at the breakfast table my dad would curse out Franklin Roosevelt. I love my father. He was an intelligent man, but he really didn't like regulations of the Roosevelt style, or the taxes. He was an Dwight Eisenhower man. And that's what Eisenhower did, committed to breaking down the program.” MenFatherStyleDadTaxesProgramIntelligentMy DadCommittedCurseBreaking DownFranklinDwight Author:Oliver Stone
“I'd like to help struggling homeowners who can't pay their mortgages, I'd like to invest in our crumbling infrastructure, I'd like to reform the tax system so multimillionaires can't pretend their earnings are capital gains and pay at the rate of 15 percent. I'd like to make public higher education free, and pay for it with a small transfer tax on all financial transactions. I'd like to do much more - a new new deal for Americans. But Republicans are blocking me at every point.” HelpingStruggleRepublicanTaxesRateFinancialBlockMortgageHigher EducationHomeowners Author:Barack Obama
“I think the Republican tax law is so bad that it almost guarantees a Republican victory, precisely because it's so bad. The seeming irony is that it's so bad that it enables the Democratic Party to think, "A-ha, all we have to do is be the lesser evil.” ThinkingEvilPartyVictoryRepublicanTaxesDemocraticIronyDemocratic Party Author:Michael Hudson
“Donald Trump is the least unpopular thing about today's Republican Party. I mean, the idea that a Mitch McConnell or a Paul Ryan could say, "Let's toss Trump overboard and return to our program of plutocratic politics, health care removal, massive income tax cuts for the affluent, deregulation of finance" - if they cut loose from Donald Trump, it's like, you know, storm in channel, continent cut off. If they cut loose from him, they are much likelier to sink.” MeanCarePartyCuttingLike YouRepublicanTaxesProgramStormFinanceHealth CareRepublican PartyIncome TaxRemovalOverboard Author:David Frum
“We no longer have a significant middle class in the US due to Barack Obama's job-killing ban on oil drilling in Zion Park. While a small middle class remains in the coastal blue states, our tax bill devastates them by curbing deductions for state and local taxes and large mortgages. In a few years, everyone except the 1% will be a tricklee.” TaxesSignificantBarackMiddle ClassMortgage Author:Gary Cohn
“There is this fashionable progressive notion that everything is so completely political that the idea we could have some sort of neutral legal process is practically utopian - because we all know that the more money you have, the more rights you can exercise in this society. But I don't think that you deal with income inequality by limiting the First Amendment rights of affluent people. I'd rather see people screw around with the tax code to redistribute wealth a little bit than screw around with the First Amendment.” PeopleThinkingPoliticalWealthExerciseTaxesInequalityCodeProgressiveFirst AmendmentFashionableUtopian Author:Wendy Kaminer
“When the president talks about tax reform, he talks about the people who will benefit. He talks about American jobs. He talks about the fact that we're going to be taking money that's overseas and bringing it back to the United States so that it will employ American workers. I think that focus again on the American working and middle class is- is-is to me the most thoughtful and, in some ways, the most genius part of Trump's approach to politics.” PeopleThinkingPresidentFocusGeniusTaxesThoughtfulMiddle Class Author:James Vance
“Politicians like to talk about the income tax when they talk about overtaxing the rich, but the income tax is just one part of the total tax system. There are sales taxes, Medicare taxes, social security taxes, unemployment taxes, gasoline taxes, excise taxes - and when you add up all of those taxes [many of which are quite regressive], and then you look at how they affect the rich and the poor, you essentially end up with a system in which the best off 20 percent of Americans pay one percentage point more of their income than the worst off 20 percent of Americans.” PoorRichWorstSecurityPoliticianTaxesIncome TaxMedicare Author:David Cay Johnston