A Weekend Talking Point For You

Posted on 02/27/2009 at 1:23 pm by JumpyPants

A little something for when you’re confronted by the “but it’ll hurt small businesses” talking point:

…the Tax Policy Center has estimated that a mere 2 percent of tax returns reporting small business income in 2007 earned enough income to be affected by the expiration of the Bush tax cuts on individuals earning more than $200,000 per year and families earning more than $250,000 per year — not 80 percent.

In short: allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire will not effect 98 percent of small business owners.

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  • http://www.thenewwearsoff.com Kyle W.

    I’ve personally found that a good reaction is just to laugh as if you can’t believe the person is actually making that argument… especially whilst mopping the local Wal-Mart.

  • AZMtDog

    If 80% of small businesses made that much money, I guess there would less of a need for all this bailout money?

  • 24hourjack

    where were all the small business owners at today during the teabag parties being held across the country?they must be really pissed off huh?as far as i could tell it was just a couple hundred angry wingnuts holding signs about how much they hate the media and liberals are all communists.

  • JIm
  • MZ

    What do these new “Tea Parties” look like? Do they really dress up like Indians and throw tea off a boat? If so, I suppose if they’re getting permits, they’re probably also buying the tea first, which is good for local businesses, I guess. But considering what they’re mad about, tea isn’t even close to the symbol that it was originally, so how are they getting their point across by taking it out on the tea? And if there’s no tea involved, and these are just protests, won’t they feel silly calling it a Tea Party?And as long as I’m asking questions:Where did this “socialist-fascist” line come from? I’ve heard it used a few times, and the Beck weirdness that Bob linked to in his HuffPo article included a line about what “socialist fascist countries” do. What countries are these? Do they, in fact, not exist because socialism and fascism are on opposite ends of the political spectrum? How could anyone hired to talk politics not know this really, really, basic fact?

  • http://www.thenewwearsoff.com Kyle W.

    MZ..I know the question was rhetorical, but to answer it anyway: having knowledge of politics and history is not a pre-requisite in the mainstream media if you’re planning to discuss either. The knowledge required need be, to quote ZB, only “stunningly superficial.”

  • http://www.southofstrange.com Matt Osborne

    MZ’s comment also raises the inevitable reductio ad Hitlerum phenomenon. There was a troll passing this off in a thread the other day: “the Nazis were socialists! It’s in their NAME!”To which my response has always been, “Sure. And North Korea is a Democratic People’s Republic. What’s yer point?”

  • rogect8

    Thanks for the ammo, Bob. It’s what keeps me addictively checking this site.Matt – That’s an awesome response. Please excuse me in advance for totally stealing it for future use on my republican friends.

  • Teaflax

    Will not AFFECT. The verb “effect” means to cause or create.