THERE SHOULD BE NO TAX BREAKS FOR THE RICH OR BIG CORPORATIONS AT ALL... NONE... ZIP... NOTTA!!!

I agree with Ross, this country is so f'd up it's pathetic!

http://www.fairtax.org/site/PageServer?pagename=FairTax_and_Business

Not about politics, about taxes. If you go to that link Zubaz posted, click on the Home link and watch the video, its enough to make one cry.

Better yet, this is quicker:  http://www.fairtax.org/site/PageServer

I do not however totally agree with them, taxing food and medical spending, which are necessities of life, is just plain wrong.

It was just a rant, blowing off steam as it were. Nothing more.

Yup, that'd get my dander [ire] up.  It's another case of the rich getting richer... at everyone else's expense... happens all over the world.

However, if this were a headline about an Aussie company ripping off the country [read taxpayer], I'd have some rather colourful language to impart.

In any event, it is an enormous travesty and it needs to be remedied... and laws to prevent it ever happening again.

Did my taxes and found out I own and I'am retired.  Because I owe, I have to pay a penalty.  Now that sucks.

Minus the inflation. Actually, WOM is probably (and hopefully) paying less if there are no penalties attached.

I don't even have a job and "made" a pathetic amount of money last year from unemployment. I paid Federal and State taxes on that money.

My Mother is in her 70's, my Stepdad is in his 80's. Both are long since retired and living on Social Security, they paid the same taxes.

So, what is wrong with this picture?

For mine, the US tax system is about as f**ked as you can get.  Retired people should never have to pay taxes unless they're earning huge amounts of interest on savings and/or investments.  Here in Oz, pensioners do not pay personal/income tax unless they have additonal income over about $120 per fortnight.... then they pay about 30c in the dollar or something. Usually, however, most pensioners/retired people pay nothing. Unemployed persons do not pay tax, either... not until they're employed

Here in Oz, we consider pensioners, the disabled and unemployed to be at the low end of the socio-economic scale - the poorest of society - and therefore are not required to pay personal/income tax.  And what's this paying taxes into your 80's???  I mean, doesn't the US Gov't think you've contributed enough during your regular working life?

And when a multi-million dollar corporation gets a refund of 429 million dollars after paying nothing in, there is something seriously wrong with the system.  Yup, if I were the American people, I'd be calling for heads... and gonads [to prevent like-minded offspring].

Frankly, taxes in any Western Nation are bad.  I mean, look who gets paid first.... then there's their golden handshakes and exceedingly generous retirement funds... all out of taxpayers dollars/pounds/euros, etc.  Then there's the grants to fund highly ridiculous studies that do sweet f/a to improve life for anyone.  And all the gov't and bureaucratic overseas trips with an entourage of dozens to wait on the bastards hand and foot.

Yup, everyone in every country should fight for lower taxes and to cut the crap.

Agreed, but no breaks at all for corporations or the rich! If they were to have a flat let's say 10% tax for everyone that earns above poverty level, but not retirees (unless they make over $250K a year) or the disabled, that should do well enough. Gee, let's see... if Facebook and all those other rich companies/individuals would have had to pay a 10% tax.... lets see, uhmmm... well, that should cover the government programs I would think.

Here's a though that might make your head explode.  Raise taxes on the corporations - will they just eat that?  Of course not, they'll raise prices to cover it, plus a percentage of that to get their desired rate of return.  If what they sell goes to say a distributor, then the distributor will raise their prices the amount of the increase to them, plus an extra percentage to get their rate of return on that increase, plus an extra percentage to pay for their own new higher tax costs.  Then the retailer will raise their prices to cover the additional cost to them, plus an extra percentage to get their rate of return, plus an additional percentage to pay for their own new higher  tax costs. The end consumer will, naturally, pay for all that. 

I started to do the math on that but I don't think I want to.

Much better to tax everything more effectively on the tail of the process so  it doesn't get all that marking up.