Help Stop the Stupidity

a coworker of mine sent me the following email which i find completly bullshit. i already pointed out how people are paying more taxes... through the state, local, payroll, and property taxes... but can anybody help me with numbers about how much Bush and Kerry paid in taxes...
the email is in the extended...

> Every year an independent tax watchdog group analyzes the average tax

> burden  on Americans, and then calculates the "Tax Freedom Day".  This is the  day after which the money you earn goes to you, not the government.

> This year, tax freedom day was April 11th. That's the earliest it has been  since 1991. It's latest day ever was May 2nd, which occurred in  2000.

>  

> Notice anything special about those dates?

> Today John Kerry gave a speech in which he claimed Americans are  actually paying more taxes under Bush, despite the tax cuts. He gave no explanation  and provided no data for this claim.

> Another interesting fact:  Both George Bush and John Kerry are  wealthy men.

> Bush owns only one home, his ranch in Texas.

> Kerry owns 4 mansions, all worth several million dollars.  (His ski resort  home in Idaho is an old barn brought over from Europe in pieces.  Not your  average A-frame).

> Bush paid $250,000 in taxes this year; Kerry paid $90,000.  Does that sound  right?  The man who wants to raise your taxes obviously has  figured  out a  way to avoid paying his own.

> Pass this on. Only 202 days until the election.

also what was that story with Bush reclassifying his ranch? anybody have details? Thanks all.

•  his wife?

  Teresa could answer the tax question. I know she's got a boatload more cash than does John, and I'm guessing she (or her family) still technically own the homes in question and that the taxes on them are paid by her estate, not his.

  If Kerry were really cheating on his taxes, don't you think we'd have heard it by now?

  I'd venture that the whole email is bogus and written by some internet idiot and passed on by people ignorant enough to believe it or uninterested enough to actually read it. Kudos for calling them out for it.

  by Strategery on Thu Jul 15, 2004 at 01:27:13 PM PDT

•  this might help

  "The 1,600 acres on which the "ranch" sits was purchased in 1999 for an undisclosed price, but it was a helluva lot less than the current real estate agents' appraisal of $1.2 million. Yep, worth $1.2 million, but G.W. has a sweet deal at the tax appraiser's office, where the property is valued at about $988,000. Oh, and that "homey ole ranch house?" It's actually a 10,000-square-foot single level mansion/compound that won't even be 2 years old until this November.
  -----

  Until Bush and handlers decided that a rural ranch would be a slick bit of PR for the presidential campaign, Bush had no interest in a "home on the range." Instead, his preferred weekend retreat was to the Rainbo Club, an exclusive lakeside hunting club in Henderson County, about an hour south of Dallas, much closer to the comforts of Austin."

  source

  As for the cows? the cattle are run by the former owner, Bush only owns three longhorns which were gifts. All Hat and No Cows!

  by greatbasin2 on Thu Jul 15, 2004 at 01:30:44 PM PDT

  •  lalala

    As for the cows? the cattle are run by the former owner, Bush only owns three longhorns which were gifts. All Hat and No Cows!
    

    I thought he raised brush.

    by JoeWPgh on Thu Jul 15, 2004 at 01:38:15 PM PDT

  •  Laura the Environmentalist

    Laura Bush loves the ranch. From an NPR interview, I have the feeling it's her escape from reality (denial has to be a way of life for Laura).

    Laura is trying to restore the ranch's native plants and grasses so she wouldn't want more than a very few cows tramping about. I was impressed by her knowledge of the prairie ecosystem, and she even has a native grass specialist working for her. She's done a lot to bring back the wildlife on the ranch (which as you say was a working cattle ranch before Dubya bought it). As a bird watcher, the Crawford Ranch is probably a great place for birding, esp. given how the no doubt amazing security measures keep the wildlife from being bothered.

    by lanshark on Thu Jul 15, 2004 at 01:58:35 PM PDT

    •  dubya

      doesn't advertise the fact that they installed solar panels and other "environmentally friendly" devices in the new home.

      Wouldn't want to mess up that "Cowboy Image" I suppose...

      by greatbasin2 on Thu Jul 15, 2004 at 02:02:36 PM PDT

•  1984

  There probably is some truth in that email, because I'm sure they're factoring in everybody's taxes, including the multi-billionaires who got the biggest tax cut of all time. I'm sure that accounts for a whole month right there. But it's money none of us will ever see.

  Maybe this "independent" group could start calculating "Health care freedom day." That's the day that the working poor stop giving all their money to pharmaceutical companies and start earning their own money.

  by Zackpunk on Thu Jul 15, 2004 at 01:37:49 PM PDT

•  Let's say these numbers are 100% correct.

  Bush paid $250,000 in taxes this year; Kerry paid $90,000.

  These tax cuts are designed to help the rich.  Kerry is substantially richer than Bush, therefore he pays less taxes.  And I can practically guarentee they're legal, because if Kerry so much as missed paying taxes on a necklace the press would be all over him about it.

  Don't blame Kerry, if you made as much as he did you could pay these fantastically low rates too.  Bush pays more because he doesn't take as many deductions as Kerry does.  Simple as that.  If Bush had the money to sink into tax free shelters, he would.

  Bush did this so wealthy folks would donate lots of money to his campaign.  And they do.

  by pixie on Thu Jul 15, 2004 at 01:38:44 PM PDT

  •  Untrue

    These tax cuts are designed to help the rich.  Kerry is substantially richer than Bush, therefore he pays less taxes.  And I can practically guarentee they're legal, because if Kerry so much as missed paying taxes on a necklace the press would be all over him about it.

    This is untrue, John Kerry is substantially less rich than Bush, therefore his taxes were lower, as they should be.  Teresa Heinz-Kerry, however, is significantly richer than Bush, but they didn't quote her taxes, just President Kerry's.

    You see, the email is playing a shell game.  They point at Teresa's wealth, which is not shared by John Kerry because they signed a prenup then they quote Kerry's taxes to make it appear he paid less despite being "wealthier".  The reality is, because of John and Teresa's prenup, their money is seperate, their taxes are seperate.  They file "married but filing individually" on their IRS forms.  The email realizes that most American's don't do this, so it mentions Teresa's wealth then talks about John's tax forms in a fast and loose play on the facts, i.e. the entire email is total bull**it.

    by cevik on Thu Jul 15, 2004 at 02:04:18 PM PDT

•  here

  this rather psycho e-mail was dissected at length here:

  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/7/12/155934/791

  the problem is that anyone dumb enough to buy into this crap probably won't listen to reason. i'm all for you trying to explain to your co-worker, but i just don't have very high hopes...

  by scottesposito on Thu Jul 15, 2004 at 01:42:31 PM PDT

•  its easy to give tax relief

   all you do is put a 1,500,000,000,000 dept on your children and let them figuere out how to pay it.

  by ctkeith on Thu Jul 15, 2004 at 01:56:31 PM PDT

•  Kerry made less money than Bush

  Bush's salary is 400,000, Kerry's - 157,000.  Teresa made a buttload of money, but files seperately (she paid more in taxes than Bush made altogether...)

  link
  

  George and Laura Bush reported adjusted gross income last year of $822,126 and paid $227,490...(27.67%)...The Cheneys enjoyed adjusted gross income last year of nearly $1.3-million. ...The couple owed $253,067 in federal taxes...(19.46%)...Kerry had adjusted gross income of $395,338 last year - ...He paid $90,575 in federal income taxes...(22.91%)

  however note this...Kerry reported a capital gain of nearly $146,000 from... sale last year of a painting --Bush's money generated more than $395,000 in interest income...capital gains are taxed at a max rate of 20% (or 28% for short term gains), while interest income is treated as ordinary income and taxed at a max personal rate of 33%...

  by PBJ Diddy on Thu Jul 15, 2004 at 02:00:40 PM PDT

  •  ALSO -

    these guys say tax freedom day is actually May 30, 2004 showing that TFD was earlier in the following Clinton years:  1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 than in all but ONE of the Bush years (tied)...

    by PBJ Diddy on Thu Jul 15, 2004 at 02:07:46 PM PDT

•  That email is complete crap

  THK paid $750,000 in taxes last year. And half of the houses are still under (Republican) John Heinz's name.

  I read an editorial once that said -- because the Kerrys have a pre-nup -- "if Teresa Heinz Kerry doesn't trust John Kerry, why should we?"

  Nevermind that she has three sons with Heinz and her money is basically a trust for them. Of course she has to have a pre-nup!

  You can't win. It's either John Kerry's money which apparently makes him a tax invader, or it's her money, in which case John Kerry can't be trusted.

  by missanthropy on Thu Jul 15, 2004 at 02:41:44 PM PDT