Fuck its silent in here.......

[Quality Start Machine]

What percentage of the tax income (gov't side) do they make up? I remember once seeing something on Rush (and I am taking it loosely based off of the source) that the top 1% pays 85% of the taxes and the top 10% pays 99% of the taxes.

OK, best practice is to take anything any pundit says and flush it.

That being said, here's the numbers from the American Enterprise Institute (WARNING: Slightly stale data):
Top 1% = 37%
Top 10% = 68%

This is a bit more comprehensive.

[Eli]

I guess what I'm saying (and is apparently getting missed) is that someone factors in the monthly payment into buying a house. It's not the end-all be-all but it's an important factor since it's the direct monthly expenditure.

Of course.  And really, I wasn't directing any of my comments specifically at you or your finance decisions; sorry if you took offense.  

[R-V]

Exactly, TJ.  Same goes for other purchases.  Car salesmen love it when people come in and say what they want to pay per month, because then the salesman can play around with terms, interest rates, etc. to drive up the cost.  And people don't notice because they're simply willing to pay x-amount of dollars per month until the car is paid off.

Furthermore, drywall something something.

So we went from me advocating for the gov't to keep middle/lower class income tax rates the same to budgeting to "there are people who make shitty economic decisions and I'm assuming yeti is bitching because I find one phrase in his post that I can dissect beyond belief and piss him off because I'm a pedantic asshole"?

http://blog.american.com/?p=4619

The unavoidable reality is that much of the burden of addressing the fiscal imbalance will fall on the middle class, broadly defined, either in the form of tax increases or entitlement reductions. That reality may not be pleasant, but it will be less painful if faced sooner rather than later.

Yup.  The maths say that there just aren't enough "rich" to address the fiscal imbalance.

What percentage of the tax income (gov't side) do they make up? I remember once seeing something on Rush (and I am taking it loosely based off of the source) that the top 1% pays 85% of the taxes and the top 10% pays 99% of the taxes.

A Rush music video? Or does your radio show pictures?

For what it's worth, here are effective federal tax rates (effective rate is what you actually pay after factoring in credits, deductions, etc) for some different groups, as of 2006:

Lowest 20% of earners: -7%
2nd lowest 20%: -1%
Middle 20%: 3%
2nd highest 20%: 16%
Top 20%: 14%

Top 10%: 16%
Top 5%: 18%
Top 1%: 19%

[morpheus]

I don't know any situation where I'd like to take an interest-only loan.

Good for you.  One of the reasons we are in the mess we are in now is the madness that was no money down, interest only, no-income-verification loans that were approved.

Fanny and Freddy were essentially landlords and "home buyers" (in these cases) were really renters.

Why were they even offered? They sound like they're doomed for failure. Is that one of the things that the government was pushing? If so, fuck them.

Don't forget about the negative-amortization loans and the 2/28's.  Woof.

Why were they offered?  They were offered for a myriad of reasons.  Banks made money off of them because they were able to lay the risk off on someone else through securitization.  Fannie and Freddie were pushed by Congress to meet "affordable housing" goals, which ultimately meant lending money to people who couldn't afford to pay it off, and couldn't or wouldn't provide the necessary support that an underwriter would normally demand.

These tools, by themselves, were not the problem.  It was in the application of the tools.  There might be times when someone wants to do an interest-only loan and it makes sense for the borrower.  However, giving them to someone without the necessary underwriting support is madness.

[Yeti]

And really, I wasn't directing any of my comments specifically at you or your finance decisions; sorry if you took offense.  

Yea. It's not your fault. I've admittedly been a major bitch lately. And my issue of uncontrollable anger is something I have to deal with.

I will say that a big part of my contention about a potential tax increase is due to my own financial concerns. That is fact. However, it's not *just* this potential increase. It's an expected state income tax increase. It's an expected county sales tax rate increase. It's a change in benefits at work and the stinginess by my employer, e.g. raises (and I'm not saying I'm bitching about that per se, because they need to pull a profit, but it does effect me). It's the lack of a second income that was expected around this time or so. So, really, it's a myriad of reasons. I guess this is just one "front". How's that for sincerity, KD?!?! (or RD, I don't remember who). Things definitely aren't coming up Yeti.

So, in short don't take offense to my bitchiness, because when it comes down to it, I'm just a cockbag who is wanting the government to bail me out of my own trailer park life from downstate IL.

A Rush music video? Or does your radio show pictures?

For what it's worth, here are effective federal tax rates (effective rate is what you actually pay after factoring in credits, deductions, etc) for some different groups, as of 2006:

Lowest 20% of earners: -7%
2nd lowest 20%: -1%
Middle 20%: 3%
2nd highest 20%: 16%
Top 20%: 14%

Top 10%: 16%
Top 5%: 18%
Top 1%: 19%

I've never said I haven't recently said Rush Limbaugh is worth a shit. Well, I'm guessing I lie in the 3% range, so I should probably bite the bullet and just take it. I suppose it's my 'merican duty. LIVESTRONG. Also, the Top 20% should be higher than the 2nd highest 20%. Fuckers

[Internet Apex]

Not reading this thread has become one of my most cherished daily rituals.

[Brownie]

Also, people buy a car or a house not only based off of the whole sale price, but probably more importantly, on the monthly payment.

Buying a house or car while focusing on the monthly payment is an awful, awful financial decision. Not that you're advocating it, necessarily.  Just saying that people probably shouldn't do that, even though they do.

Edit: My final sentence is positively BC-ian, I realize.

So you don't look at the monthly payment amount? Shit, I got this all wrong! I should have bought that $300,000 house because it was really nice, not because it was out of my monthly budget

No, he's saying quite the opposite. Too many people buy a house or car, justifying that they can afford it simply on the basis of the monthly payment. The amount of equity you have in the house, the interest rate, the value of the house, property taxes, the upkeep of the house, etc. are factors often overlooked.

Right, those things do have to be factored in, but I'm not going to decide if I can buy a house based off of the final sales price. Sure it ties into the monthly payment but my decision will ultimately boil down to the monthly payment, because that's what I will have to pay from my pocket each month. The equity in the house (I'm assuming you're looking at down payment) and the interest rate are factored into said payment. The property taxes (and insurance) are sometimes included in the payment as well. So, that's a good chunk of your factors. Unless you're paying cash for a car or house, the monthly payment is a big part of the decision. If you will have to pay a lot in upkeep, then you make sure your payment is low enough. So, no matter what, you will be looking at that payment amount

Chuck or morph, could you just write Yeti a fucking check so he can stop bellyaching about his personal financial issues?

Can I just make him a loan?  What monthly payment can he afford?

I don't know. I wonder if anyone's suggested the Bears try Chris Williams at guard either...

[Yeti]

Not reading this thread has become one of my most cherished daily rituals.

It was a butthurt machine. I shouldn't even had read it.

[Wheezer]

Not reading this thread has become one of my most cherished daily rituals.

It was a butthurt machine. I shouldn't even had read it.

What's missing here is the actual worried song.

[Tinker to Evers to Chance]

Not reading this thread has become one of my most cherished daily rituals.

It was a butthurt machine. I shouldn't even had read it.

What's missing here is the actual worried song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AUZEdFeVwU

[Wheezer]

Not reading this thread has become one of my most cherished daily rituals.

It was a butthurt machine. I shouldn't even had read it.

What's missing here is the actual worried song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AUZEdFeVwU

He's the Yeti who never returned.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

Not reading this thread has become one of my most cherished daily rituals.

It was a butthurt machine. I shouldn't even had read it.

What's missing here is the actual worried song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AUZEdFeVwU

He's the Yeti who never returned.

Oi! Oi! Oi!

[Tinker to Evers to Chance]

Bonertime.

[SKO]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20101015/wl_csm/332509_1 In case you think the Tea Party is a condemnation of American society alone, since every country seems to be dealing with their own branch of angry, crazy, and stupid reactionaries.

[Quality Start Machine]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20101015/wl_csm/332509_1 In case you think the Tea Party is a condemnation of American society alone, since every country seems to be dealing with their own branch of angry, crazy, and stupid reactionaries.

*hands Bort boxing gloves*