“Ninety-nine percent of everyday things are things we don't need - that goes for regular visits to the hairdresser just as it does for clothing. What would it mean if we all consumed 20 percent less? It would be catastrophic. It would mean 20 percent less jobs, 20 percent less taxes, 20 percent less money for schools, doctors, roads. The global economy would collapse.” IfsNeedsMeanDoeWould BeSchoolJobsEconomyTaxesPercentDoctorsEverydayNineClothingsCollapseNinetyConsumedGlobal EconomyNinety NineHairdresserEveryday Things Author:Karl-Johan Persson
“There's a lot of money in selling marijuana. If you can do it legally, that's good. Why should all the criminals make the money? This is what people are thinking. If it's happening, if it's going to be legal, let's tax it and regulate it, like we do with everything else and make some money off this. I think that's one reason why people are talking this a little more seriously.” PeopleIfsThinkingShouldLittlesReasonCan DoTalkingTaxesHappeningsCriminalsSellingReason WhyMarijuanaLots Of MoneyYou Can Do It Author:Willie Nelson
“This was years ago, I think during the early [Ronald] Reagan years. I came up with a plan that everybody just pay $8.95 in taxes. Cheating would be allowed. But the incentive to cheat wouldn't be nearly as great if you only had to pay the $8.95. There were a few people who would have to pay hundreds of millions of dollars under this plan. I think it was Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, the guys who do the quiz shows. But almost everybody else would be off really cheap.” PeopleIfsThinkingYearsShowsWould BeGuyPayMillionsPlansTaxesYears AgoMarkBillsDollarsCheatingCheatIncentivesQuizQuiz Show Author:Dave Barry
“If the US government spends 40 percent of the nation's income, as it does through either borrowing or taxes, that income is not available for people to spend. The deficit is an indirect method of taxation. Of course, politicians prefer to borrow instead of tax because then someone down the road has to deal with the consequences.” PeopleIfsDoeGovernmentCoursesNationsDealsPoliticianTaxesPercentConsequenceMethodAvailableIncomeTaxationDeficitDown The RoadBorrowingIndirect Author:Milton Friedman
“Undoubtedly Internet has reduced the possibilities of taxation. Why should I buy something here if I can buy it from a company in Japan or England or Brazil with a lower tax?” IfsShouldI CanCompanyPossibilityInternetTaxesEnglandJapanShould ITaxationBrazil Author:Milton Friedman
“If you are really standing up for the family, you then have to say, how do we change our school system, how do we fix tax policy so that our families are supported?” IfsSchoolPolicyTaxesStandingOur FamilySchool System Author:Otis Moss III
“You can't judge a book by its cover, though. People think I'm bad because I got tattoos or snort a little cocaine here and there. They think I'm a killer. But what if I wasn't a killer? Then what? Don't be tripping on me. I pay my damn taxes, OK? Chill.” PeopleIfsThinkingLittlesBookPayJudgingTaxesDamnWhat IfKillersTattooChillHere And ThereCocaineTrippingJudging A Book By Its Cover Author:Gunplay
“We have entered an Orwellian era in which entitlement replaces responsibility, coercion is described as compassion, compulsory redistribution is called sharing, race quotas substitute for diversity, and suicide is prescribed as 'death with dignity.' Political discourse has become completely corrupted. The reason is that if you tell people directly that you want to raise their taxes, transfer their wealth, count them by skin color, or let doctors kill them, most will object. Statists know this and therefore are obliged to obfuscate.” PeopleIfsKnowsWantReasonPoliticalPoliticsWealthRaceResponsibilityCompassionObjectsColorTaxesDiversityDignityDoctorsSkinsRaisesSuicideErasSubstitutesDiscourseObligedCoercionEntitlementTransfersCompulsorySkin ColorQuotaOrwellianPolitical DiscourseDeath With Dignity Author:Theodore J. Forstmann
“I'd tax the Daily Mail [if I were a Prime Minister] so high no one could afford to buy it. I hate that paper, I think it's really vicious. I picked one up the other day and every single page is about hate. It's just so negative.” IfsThinkingHateTaxesPaperPagesNegativeI HateMinistersPrimeMailPrime MinisterViciousDaily Mail Author:Jason Flemyng
“Now many such things may be done without intitling the people to rise in arms. A gross, flagrant, and palpable abuse no doubt will do it, as if they should be required to pay a tax equal to half or third of their substance.” PeopleIfsShouldMayDonePhilosophyPoliticalPayHalfDoubtArmsTaxesEqualEconomicsThirdsAbuseSubstanceNo DoubtGross Author:Adam Smith
“If we increase spending, we have got to raise taxes or any combination.” IfsTaxesIncreaseRaisesSpendingCombination Author:Bobby Scott
“The truth is that as we move forward, if one side says we can't raise any taxes on anybody or any interest, and the other side says we can't cut anything, we're obviously not going to make progress on this. And our interest is in making progress on this.” IfsMovingSidesInterestCuttingProgressTruth IsTaxesRaisesMoving ForwardKeep MovingKeep Moving Forward Author:David Axelrod
“If you raise taxes on millionaires and billionaires, you'll do nothing to address the debt and the deficit. And the thing you might do is you might finally put this economy over another cliff. These millionaires and billionaires are the folks that try to create jobs and help grow the economy.” IfsTryingHelpingMightJobsGrowsEconomyTaxesRaisesFolksDebtAddressesDeficitCliffsMillionaireBillionaire Author:Joe Walsh
“As to the Income Tax, my opinion is that the needful revenue would be fairly and most fairly raised if paid by property, and by individuals in proportion to their property. A Property Tax should be an assessment upon all land and buildings, and canals and railroads, but not on property such as machinery, stock in trade, etc. The aristocracy have squeezed all they can out of the mass of the consumers, and now they lay their daring hands on those not wholly impoverished.” IfsShouldHandsWould BeIndividualOpinionLandBuildingTaxesMassPaidTradeLaysPropertyRaisedIncomeConsumersProportionEtcDaringRevenueMachineryAristocracyIncome TaxAssessmentRailroadsCanalsProperty Taxes Author:John Bright
“If gay Americans are not allowed to get married and have all the benefits that American citizens are entitled to by the Bill of Rights, they should get one hell of a tax break. That is my opinion.” IfsShouldOpinionBreakHellRightsCitizensGayTaxesBenefitsMarriedBillsEntitledGay MarriageAmerican CitizensBill Of RightsTax Breaks Author:Jeanne Phillips
“We're not going to give tax breaks to billionaires and then cut back on the needs of our elderly or poor or kids or education. We're not going to privatize Social Security - in fact, we're going to strengthen it. We're going to provide quality education for every kid in America, from preschool through college. We have to take on these corporate leaders who are selling out the American people, whose allegiance is now much more to China than it is to the United States. If we have the courage to take these people on, I think we can overwhelm George W. Bush and his friends.” PeopleIfsThinkingNeedsGivingStatesFactsKidsAmericaSocialPoorUnitedQualityLeaderBreakUnited StatesCuttingSecurityCollegeTaxesChinaSellingCorporateSocial SecurityElderlyAllegianceBillionaireQuality EducationSelling OutTax BreaksPreschool Author:Bernie Sanders
“We need to put a price on carbon, and that's what cap-and-trade does and that's also what a CO2 tax does. As long as our current valuation in the marketplace tells us every minute of every day that it's perfectly all right to dump 90 million tons of global warming into the thin atmosphere surrounding the planet every 24 hours as if that atmosphere is an open sewer, then the individual actions are not going to solve the problem.” IfsNeedsLongDoeProblemActionIndividualHoursMillionsMinutesPlanetsTaxesTradeCurrentsSolveAtmosphereGlobal WarmingCarbonMarketplaceCapsDumpCo2SewersValuation Author:Al Gore
“Here's my proposal, which is based on the TV show Survivor: We put the entire Congress on an island. All the food on this island is locked inside a vault, which can be opened only by an ordinary American taxpayer named Bob. Every day, the congresspersons are given a section of the Tax Code, which they must rewrite so that Bob can understand it. If he can, he lets them eat that day; if he can't, he doesn't.” IfsShowsGivenTvsTaxesOrdinaryCongressCodeIslandsSurvivorBobLockedTv ShowsSectionsProposalTaxpayersVaults Author:Dave Barry
“I'd be a Libertarian, if they weren't all a bunch of tax-dodging professional whiners.” IfsTaxesLibertarianBunchSubtextWhiners Author:Berkeley Breathed
“If you don't try to generate more revenues through tax reform, if you don't ask, you know, the most fortunate Americans to bear a slightly larger burden of the privilege of being an American, then you have to - the only way to achieve fiscal sustainability is through unacceptably deep cuts in benefits for middle class seniors, or unacceptably deep cuts in national security.” IfsKnowsWayTryingAsksClassCuttingMiddleAchieveSecurityBearsTaxesBenefitsPrivilegeBurdenReformFortunateMiddle ClassSustainabilitySeniorNational SecurityRevenueTax Reform Author:Timothy Geithner
“I think most people, when they take a look at the candidates and the positions of the candidates, realize that protecting this country and keeping this economy going are the two most important issues. And you can't protect the country if you retreat from overseas, and you can't keep the economy growing if you raise taxes. And that's exactly what the Democrats in the House would like to do.” PeopleIfsThinkingLooksTwoImportantCountryHouseRealizingEconomyIssuesGrowingPositionProtectTaxesRaisesDemocratCandidatesRetreatImportant Issues Author:George W. Bush
“Government is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem. ... Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them. Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. If it stops moving, subsidize it. ... The problem is not that people are taxed too little, the problem is that government spends too much.” PeopleIfsLittlesDoeProblemGovernmentMovingViewsEconomyToo MuchTaxesSolutionsSolvePhrasesKeep Moving Author:Ronald Reagan
“I pay whatever tax I am required to pay under the law, not a penny more, not a penny less... if anybody in this country doesn't minimize their tax they want their heads read because as a government I can tell you you're not spending it that well that we should be donating extra.” IfsWantShouldWellsI CanCountryGovernmentPayTaxesSpendingExtrasPennies Author:Kerry Packer
“If all the lawyers were hanged tomorrow, and their bones were sold to a mah jong factory, we'd all be freer and safer, and our taxes would be reduced by almost a half.” IfsWould BeHalfTomorrowTaxesBonesLawyerFactories Author:H. L. Mencken
“If I get married I get a tax break, if I have a kid I get a tax break, if I get a mortgage I get a tax break. I don't have any kids and I drive a hybrid, I think I should get a tax break. I'm trying to pay off my apartment so I have something tangible. I actually figured out if I paid off my place my reward would be that I would pay an extra four grand a year in taxes.” IfsThinkingShouldTryingYearsWould BeKidsPayBreakFourTaxesMarriedPaidRewardsExtrasApartmentTangibleMortgageHybridTax BreaksPaid Off Author:Bill Burr
“It's interesting because the Thai king says there's no prostitution in Thailand, it doesn't exist, so the prostitutes don't pay taxes. They can work other jobs if they want and put away money, maybe leave when they're 40.” IfsWantJobsInterestingPayKingsTaxesProstitutionThailandThai Author:Michael Glawogger
“Ben Carson says his flat tax will be around 15 percent. And by God, if he ever shows you the details, you'll see how awesome and deficit-killing it is.” IfsShowsTaxesPercentKillingDetailsFlatsDeficitKilling ItFlat TaxBen Carson Author:Kevin Drum
“If I were an immigrant Latino not born in the US, I could not have written Searching for Whitopia: An Improbably Journey to the Heart of America book. And that is because many of the Whitopians would not have been comfortable talking about their views on immigration, talking about their views on taxes. And they wouldn't have spilled to me the new script on race and poverty as they did.” IfsHeartHas BeensBookAmericaBornViewsRaceTalkingPovertyWrittenJourneyTaxesComfortableScriptsImmigrationImmigrantsLatino Author:Richard Benjamin
“I kind of like carbon taxes because we already know how to apply them. We already have apparatus in place. When we talk about these other solutions - like a billion tons of iron filings in the ocean or putting sunshades between us and the sun - they're huge. We have no idea if they will work. We have no idea what their nasty consequences might be. And it's unlikely we can do them anyway.” IfsKnowsKindIdeasMightCan DoKnow HowSunHugeTaxesOceanSolutionsConsequenceBillionsNo IdeaIronNastyCarbonUnlikelyFilingCarbon Tax Author:Paul R. Ehrlich
“With taxes, if they aren't working right, we can change them with a stroke of the pen. It's basically a market-type mechanism. People make their own choices. You run the taxes, and you get the results.” PeopleIfsRunningChoicesResultsTypeTaxesPensMechanismStrokes Author:Paul R. Ehrlich
“How would you like your child in kindergarten through 12th grade attending classes with kids who can't read, write, speak or understand English -- or American education values? Furthermore, how would you feel if those students felt zero investment in education, in English and the American way? How would you like your child's education dumbed down to that of a classroom from the Third World? Guess what? Today, if you're a parent of a child in thousands of classrooms across America, that's what's happening to your children with your tax dollars.” IfsWorldWayFeelsWritingChildrenKidsTodayAmericaValuesSpeakFeltParentClassStudentsLike YouTaxesHappeningsThirdsOur ChildrenDollarsInvestmentYour ChildrenGradesZeroClassroomThird WorldAttendingKindergartenAmerican EducationTax DollarsInvestment In Education Author:Frosty Wooldridge
“Parents are used to being made to feel guilty about...their contribution to the population problem, the school tax burden, and declining test scores. They expect to be blamed by teachers and psychologists, if not by police. And they will be blamed by the children themselves. It is hardy a wonder, then, that they withdraw into what used to be called "permissiveness" but is really neglect.” IfsFeelsChildrenMadeProblemSchoolUsedParentWonderTeacherTaxesTestsPolicePopulationBurdenUsed To BeGuiltyContributionScoreNeglectPsychologistHardyTest ScoresTax BurdenPopulation Problem Author:C. Sommerville
“Donald Trump said that if President Obama releases his birth certificate, Trump will release his tax return. Obama said he won't run for a second term if Trump releases that thing on his head.” IfsSaidRunningPresidentTermReturnTrumpBirthTaxesReleasePresident ObamaCertificatesBirth CertificateTax Returns Author:Conan O'Brien
“I love listening to these guys give us lectures about debt and deficits. I inherited a trillion-dollar deficit. ... This notion that somehow we caused the deficits is just wrong. It's just not true. ... If they start trying to give you a bunch of facts and figures suggesting that it's true, what they're not telling you is they baked all this stuff into the cake with those tax cuts and a prescription drug plan that they didn't pay for and the wars.” IfsGivingTryingWarFactsGuyStuffPayCuttingPlansFiguresListeningDrugTaxesDollarsNotionDebtBunchCakeDeficitLecturesPrescriptionsSuggestingTax CutsPrescription Drugs Author:Barack Obama
“We owe something to the government to grow up in this great country. I'm tired of hearing people in the private sector talk like they don't owe the government anything. We do. This is a great country because we all pay into it. It's about time we all pay into it. ... If we paid the same amount of taxes we paid when Bill Clinton was president, I would be a happy guy, and the budget would be closer to balanced. You cannot give away money, whether you give it to rich or poor people. That's what George Bush did -- excuse me, trillions of dollars. You can't do that.” PeopleIfsGivingCountryGovernmentWould BeGuyGrowsPresidentPoorPayGrowing UpRichAmountTaxesPaidBillsTiredDollarsClintonExcuseHearingBudgetsBalancedPoor PeoplePrivate SectorI'm TiredExcuse MeGreat CountryRich Or Poor Author:Howard Dean
“The most absurd public opinion polls are those on taxes. Now, if there is one thing we know about taxes, it is that people do not want to pay them. If they wanted to pay them, there would be no need for taxes. People would gladly figure out how much of their money that the government deserves and send it in. And yet we routinely hear about opinion polls that reveal that the public likes the tax level as it is and might even like it higher. Next they will tell us that the public thinks the crime rate is too low, or that the American people would really like to be in more auto accidents.” PeopleIfsThinkingKnowsWantNeedsGovernmentMightWould BeWantedNextLevelsPayOpinionOne ThingCrimeFiguresHigherTaxesLowsDeserveRateAccidentsLikesAbsurdPublic OpinionPollsCrime RatesOpinion Polls Author:Llewellyn Rockwell
“I believe capital gains, for the most part, should be taxed the same way we tax income from hard work, sweat, and toil. And if we do those things, we can be a country that actually can afford debt-free college again.” IfsWayShouldBelieveCountryHardI BelieveCollegeHard WorkTaxesGainsDebtIncomeSweatToilCapital GainsDebt Free Author:Hillary Clinton
“The manipulation of credit has been the most potent of all methods employed by financiers as a means of controlling commerce and fixing prices.We are all consumers and should all be producers.This credit is a tax upon humanity as if government bonds were issued and people were obliged to pay it.” PeopleIfsShouldMeanHas BeensGovernmentHumanityPayTaxesMethodCreditProducersConsumersManipulationCommerceEmployedObligedFixingFinanciers Author:Charles Lindbergh
“No Taxes. Let's just tip the government 15% if they do a good job.” IfsGovernmentJobsTaxesGood Job Author:Pat Paulsen
“The IRS sent back my tax return saying I owed $800. I said If you'll notice, I sent a paper clip with my return. Given what you've been paying for things lately, that should more than make up the difference.” IfsShouldSaidGivenDifferencesReturnTaxesPaperIrsClipTax ReturnsPaper Clips Author:Emo Philips
“If you have a debt issue or credit card issue, start dealing with it. If you have a tax issue, don't just say, 'I'm not going to file.' There are ways to deal with these things, but you must communicate with your creditors, whether it's a credit card company or tax department.” IfsWayDealsCompanyIssuesTaxesCommunicateCreditDebtCardsDepartmentFilesCredit CardCreditorsDealing With It Author:Hill Harper
“[T]ax cuts are not just something that all taxpayers deserve, but also the best way to curb government spending. It is the best kind of tax reform. If the money never reaches the table, Congress can't gobble it up.” IfsWayKindGovernmentCuttingTaxesDeserveTablesCongressSpendingBest WayReformTaxpayersCurbGovernment SpendingTax Reform Author:Zell Miller
“Ask a fellow if he favors organized prayer in the public schools. If he says 'No' he's a liberal. If he says 'Yes' he's a conservative. If he says, 'Public schools? The Constitution grants the government no power to run any mandatory tax-funded youth propaganda camps,' you have your hands on the wily libertarian.” IfsHandsGovernmentRunningSchoolAsksPrayerYouthTaxesConstitutionFellowsConservativeLibertarianFavorsPropagandaOrganizedGrantsCampsPublic School Author:Vin Suprynowicz
“If anybody is so mad at Vladimir Putin, you know what they could do? They could advocate for a gas tax. He gets all his leverage from selling gas and oil. If we had a gas tax that made that less palatable, he would be less of a player on the world stage.” IfsKnowsWorldMadeWould BePlayerStageTaxesMadOilSellingGasPutin Author:Bill Maher
“We must end the iniquitous multi-taxing of the same money. It is not right to tax people's incomes, then their savings on that income, to tax the movement of assets through capital gains tax, stamp duty and tax them again through inheritance tax if they have the audacity to die.” PeopleIfsEndsDiesMovementDutyTaxesGainsIncomeSavingAssetsStampsInheritanceSavingsAudacityCapital GainsInheritance TaxCapital Gains Tax Author:Liam Fox
“If I have sex, I know my quarterly estimated taxes must be due. And if it's oral sex, I know it's time to renew my driver's license.” IfsKnowsSexTaxesDuesDriversLicense Author:Ray Romano
“The moral of the story of the Pilgrims is that if you work hard all your life and behave yourself every minute and take no time out for fun you will break practically even, if you can borrow enough money to pay your taxes.” IfsHardEnoughStoriesFunPayMoralBreakMinutesHard WorkTaxesBehavePilgrimMoral Of The Story Book:The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody Source: The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody
“Budget cuts if you're not rich, tax cuts if you are. Less money for those who don't have any and more to those who do. That's how President Fredo says we're going to get out of the giant deficit hole he's dug. You can't put it any more simply. Rich people richer. Poor people poorer.” PeopleIfsPresidentPoorRichCuttingTaxesHolesBudgetsGiantsPoor PeopleDeficitRich PeopleTax CutsBudget Cuts Author:Will Durst
“If you're living hand-to-mouth, and still buying into the con that the big threats to America are socialized medicine, Mexican immigrants and tax increases, then you're not being kept down by the rich. You're being kept down by you.” IfsStillsHandsBigsAmericaRichTaxesMouthsIncreaseMedicineThreatBuyingImmigrantsMexicanTax IncreasesSocialized Medicine Author:Bill Maher
“A federal bailout would spare California from having to make spending cuts needed to bring its budget into balance. The matter has become urgent since California voters rejected several tax-hiking ballot initiatives. Rather than taking the vote as a signal to dramatically curtail spending, the state turned to the feds. If they get a free pass, the politicians can avoid fixing any of their past mistakes or preparing California for the future.” IfsMatterStatesPastMistakeCuttingNeededBalancePoliticianTaxesVoteSpendingBudgetsCaliforniaFedsVotersHikingInitiativeRejectedSparesPreparingSignalsUrgentFixingBallotsPast MistakesBailoutsSpending Cuts Author:Peter Schiff