In the past few days we have seen two uncomfortable facets of the war on
terror.
One was from Basra, where the two-year-old video of British soldiers brutally
beating young Iraqi stone-throwers has surfaced in the pages of a British
tabloid newspaper. British soldiers have mostly behaved well in Iraq, but
not always.
Long after they have withdrawn they will be remembered there and throughout the Islamic world for the occasional moments of brutality, not for the rest of their behaviour.
It is a different world nowadays. It is harder to hide things permanently. And a quick, angry reaction that might have been common enough in the past no longer looks good when people find out about it.
Those who are under attack often feel justified in hitting back in whatever way comes to hand. And you only have to look at online discussions of the beatings in Basra to see that the soldiers who carried them out have their supporters.
Guantanamo unrest
The other uncomfortable details, which have emerged in the past few days,
relate to the prison at Guantanamo Bay, where 517 men are being held without
trial.
After the appalling attacks of 11 September 2001, most Americans supported the idea of locking up men who had fought for al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and elsewhere. President George W Bush himself has assured them that the prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay are "the worst of the worst".
During the past few weeks there has been a widespread hunger strike among the prisoners there. It was effectively ended last week when the prison authorities took tough action to deal with the hunger strikers.
It seems as though they were worried about the effect on international opinion if one or more of the prisoners were to die. The hunger strikers were strapped into "restraint chairs" and forcibly fed. The Pentagon says the tactics used were humane and compassionate.
According to American lawyers representing some of the prisoners, one of the methods was for riot control soldiers to hold the prisoners down while long plastic tubes were inserted into their nasal passages and down into their stomachs. A Washington lawyer who visited Guantanamo last week called it "a disgrace".
Confused truth
But why did the prisoners decide to go on hunger strike in the first place?
Because they claimed that they had no link to al-Qaeda or other extreme Islamist
groups, and were demanding to be released. That could just be a tactic, of
course. Yet a thorough analysis by an American law professor and a defence
lawyer of information released by the US defence department revealed last
week that 92% of the 517 Guantanamo detainees had not been al-Qaeda fighters.
Of these, 40% have no clear connection with al-Qaeda, and 18% have no connection
with either al-Qaeda or the Taliban.
In total, 60% are there because they have been accused of being associated with a group, which the US government regards as a terrorist organisation. Most detainees are regarded as enemy combatants.
Among the criteria reportedly used to define an enemy combatant are these: possession of a rifle; possession of a Casio watch; and wearing olive drab clothing. In Afghanistan it has long been regarded as normal for every adult male to have a gun, because there was so much violence in the country. Casio watches and olive-coloured clothes can be bought in every market in every town in the country.
But where do all these prisoners come from, anyway? According to the Pentagon, the Americans themselves did not capture 95% of them. Some 86% were handed over in Afghanistan and Pakistan after a widespread campaign in which big financial bounties were offered in exchange for anyone suspected of links to al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
The US lawyers quote the text of one of the notices the Americans handed out: "Get wealth and power beyond your dreams... You can receive millions of dollars helping the anti-Taliban forces catch al-Qaeda and Taliban murderers. "This is enough money to take care of your family, your village, your tribe for the rest of your life."
So, according to the figures supplied by the Pentagon, it looks as though more than 440 men out of the total of 517 at Guantanamo were handed over to the Americans in Afghanistan and Pakistan as a direct result of these bounties.
Shocked, not surprised
Let's recapitulate briefly. According to the US Department of Defence, only
8% of the prisoners at Guantanamo were al-Qaeda fighters, and the Americans
themselves captured only 5% of them. People who could reasonably be called
bounty hunters handed over the overwhelming majority of the others to the
Americans.
Maybe the majority of those who went on hunger strike were telling the truth when they said they had no links to terrorist organisations. When the video apparently showing British soldiers beating up young stone-throwers was shown around the world on Sunday, a spokesman for al-Fadhila, an important moderate political party in Basra and southern Iraq, was asked for his reaction. He was, he said, "shocked but not surprised".
Many other moderate people throughout the Islamic world and beyond will feel the same way about this. And about the official figures which show the true background of the prisoners at Guantanamo.
2- Some American still believe that they were right by attacking Iraq,
an email sent to "friends".
----- Original Message -----
From: XXX
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2006 10:43 PM
Subject: I could not said it better myself
Man do I wish I said this.
This is a repeat, well worth repeating every few months.
As a final word, most of Europe would still be speaking German were it not
for us Americans and the Brits....
WOULDN'T IT BE GREAT TO TURN ON THE TV AND HEAR ANY US PRESIDENT, DEMOCRAT
OR REPUBLICAN, GIVING THE FOLLOWING SPEECH:
My Fellow Americans: As you all know, the defeat of the Iraqi regime has been completed.
Since congress does not want to spend any more money on this war, our mission in Iraq is complete.
This morning I gave the order for a complete removal of all American forces from Iraq. This action will be complete within 30 days. It is now to begin the reckoning.
Before me, I have two lists. One list contains the names of countries that have stood by our side during the Iraq conflict. This list is short. The United Kingdom, Spain, Bulgaria, Australia, and Poland are some of the countries listed there.
The other list contains everyone not on the first list. Most of the world's nations are on that list. My press secretary will be distributing copies of both lists later this evening.
Let me start by saying that effective immediately, foreign aid to those nations on List 2 ceases immediately and indefinitely. The money saved during the first year alone will pretty much pay for the costs of the Iraqi war.
The American people are no longer going to pour money into third world Hellholes and watch those government leaders grow fat on corruption.
Need help with a famine? Wrestling with an epidemic? Call France.
In the future, together with Congress, I will work to redirect this money toward solving the vexing social problems we still have at home. On that note, a word to terrorist organizations: screw with us and we will hunt you down and eliminate you and all your friends from the face of the earth.
Thirsting for a gutsy country to terrorize? Try France, or maybe China.
I am ordering the immediate severing of diplomatic relations with France, Germany, and Russia. Thanks for all your help, comrades. We are retiring from NATO as well. Bon chance, mes amis.
I have instructed the Mayor of New York City to begin towing the many UN diplomatic vehicles located in Manhattan with more than two unpaid parking tickets to sites where those vehicles will be stripped, shredded and crushed. I don't care about whatever treaty pertains to this. You creeps have tens of thousands of unpaid tickets. Pay those tickets tomorrow or watch your precious Benzes, Beamers and limos be turned over to some of the finest chop shops in the world. I love New York.
A special note to our neighbours. Canada is on List 2 Since we are likely to be seeing a lot more of each other, you folks might want to try not pissing us off for a change.
Mexico is also on List 2. President Fox and his entire corrupt government really need an attitude adjustment. I will have a couple extra tank and infantry divisions sitting around. Guess where I am going to put them? Yep, border security. So start doing something with your oil.
Oh, by the way, the United States is abrogating the NAFTA treaty - starting now.
We are tired of the one-way highway. Immediately, we'll be drilling for oil in Alaska - which will take care of this country's oil needs for decades to come. If you're an environmentalist who opposes this decision, I refer you to List 2 above: pick a country and move there. They care.
It is time for America to focus on its own welfare and its own citizens. Some will accuse us of isolationism. I answer them by saying, "darn tootin."
Nearly a century of trying to help folks live a decent life around the world has only earned us the undying enmity of just about everyone on the planet. It is time to eliminate hunger in America. It is time to eliminate homelessness in America. It is time to eliminate World Cup Soccer from America. To the nations on List 1, a final thought. Thanks guys. We owe you and we won't forget. To the nations on List 2, a final thought: You might want to learn to speak Arabic. God bless America. Thank you and good night. If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you are reading it in English, thank a soldier.
(Please forward this to at least ten friends and see what happens! Let's get this to every USA computer!)
3- Some of the deadliest bomb attacks in Iraq since August 19, 2003:
- August 19, 2003 - Truck bomb wrecks UN headquarters in Baghdad, killing
22 people, including UN envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello.
- August 29, 2003 - Car bomb kills at least 83 people, including top Shiite
Muslim leader Ayatollah Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim, at the Imam Ali mosque in
Najaf.
- February 1, 2004 - 117 people are killed by two suicide bombers in Arbil
at the offices of the two main Kurdish factions in northern Iraq.
- February 10, 2004 - Suicide car bomb rips through a police station in Iskandariya,
south of Baghdad, killing 53.
- February 11, 2004 - Suicide car bomb explodes at an Iraqi army recruitment
centre in Baghdad, killing 47.
- March 2, 2004 - 171 people are killed in twin attacks in Baghdad and Kerbala.
- February 28, 2005 - Suicide car bomb attack in Hilla, south of Baghdad,
kills 125 people and wounds 130. It was postwar Iraq's worst single blast.
- July 16, 2005 - Suicide bomber in a fuel truck near a Shiite mosque in the
town of Mussayib, near Kerbala, kills at least 98 people.
- September 14, 2005 - Suicide bomber kills 114 people and wounds 156 in a
crowded Shiite district of Baghdad, while gunmen kill 17 north of the city.
- September 29, 2005 - 98 people are killed in three coordinated car bomb
attacks in the mixed Shiite and Sunni Arab town of Balad.
- November 18, 2005 - At least 74 people are killed and 150 wounded by suicide
bombers inside two Shiite mosques in Khanaqin.
- December 6, 2005 - Two suicide bombers strike at Baghdad's police academy
in the east killing at least 36 officers and cadets and wounding more than
50. Al Qaeda in Iraq claims responsibility.
- January 4, 2006 - Suicide bomber causes carnage at a Shiite funeral and
guerrillas ambush a fuel convoy outside Baghdad in a wave of attacks that
killed nearly 60 people.
- January 5, 2006 - Two suicide bombers kill over 120 people and wound more
than 200 in Kerbala and Ramadi. 53 were killed and 148 wounded in Kerbala
and 70 killed and 65 wounded in Ramadi.
- March 27, 2006 - Suicide bomber kills 40 people at an army recruiting post
near Mosul. Thirty people were wounded.
4- Iraq was awash with cash!
At the start of the Iraq war, nearly $23bn-worth of Iraqi money was placed
in the trusteeship of the US-led coalition by the UN. The money, part of the
Development Fund for Iraq, resulted from the sale of Iraqi oil, Iraqi frozen
bank accounts and seized Iraqi assets. It was supposed to be used, as required
by the UN, in a "transparent manner for purpose benefiting the people
of Iraq". A large part was wasted and stolen in a scandal perhaps bigger
than the UN "Oil for food programme" and this time it was not the
UN that was responsible but, mainly, the USA.
When the coalition troops arrived in Iraq, a large part of the population greeted them. The coalition was in partial control of the whole country and it had the money -coming from the Iraqis- to reorganise and rebuilt Iraq at least in part. The Iraqi banking system having collapsed the funds were put in the US Federal reserve Bank in New York City from there it was flown to Iraq (during the first 14 months of the occupation, 363 tonnes of $100 bills we shipped there -$12bn in cash). The governing Coalition Provisional Authority "managed" it in Baghdad but there was so much of it that some US soldiers admitted that "they played football with some bricks of $100 bills" before delivery. In fact, at that time, there was no law in Iraq and corruption was the rule. And the worse "robbers" were not the Iraqis bit the Americans -civilians, soldiers, big firms and institutions.
5- Bush Keeps Revising War Justification
Saturday October 14, 2006 by Tom Raum
Initially, the rationale was specific: to stop Saddam Hussein from using what
Bush claimed were the Iraqi leader's weapons of mass destruction or from selling
them to al-Qaida or other terrorist groups. But 3 years later, with no weapons
found, still no end in sight and the war a liability for nearly all Republicans
on the ballot Nov. 7, the justification has become far broader and now includes
the expansive ``struggle between good and evil.'' Republicans seized on North
Korea's reported nuclear test last week as further evidence that the need
for strong U.S. leadership extends beyond Iraq. Bush's changing rhetoric reflects
increasing administration efforts to tie the war, increasingly unpopular at
home, with the global fight against terrorism, still the president's strongest
suit politically. ``We can't tolerate a new terrorist state in the heart of
the Middle East, with large oil reserves that could be used to fund its radical
ambitions, or used to inflict economic damage on the West,'' Bush said in
a news conference last week in the Rose Garden.
When no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq, Bush shifted his war
justification to one of liberating Iraqis from a brutal ruler. After Saddam's
capture in December 2003, the rationale became helping to spread democracy
through the Middle East. Then it was confronting terrorists in Iraq ``so we
do not have to face them here at home,'' and ``making America safer,'' themes
Bush pounds today. ``We're in the ideological struggle of the 21st century,''
he told a California audience this month. ``It's a struggle between good and
evil.'' Vice President Dick Cheney takes it even further: ``The hopes of the
civilized world ride with us,'' Cheney tells audiences. Except for the weapons
of mass destruction argument, there is some validity in each of Bush's shifting
rationales, said Michael O'Hanlon, a foreign policy scholar at the Brookings
Institution who initially supported the war effort. ``And I don't have any
big problems with any of them, analytically. The problem is they can't change
the realities on the ground in Iraq, which is that we're in the process of
beginning to lose,'' O'Hanlon said. ``It is taking us a long time to realize
that, but the war is not headed the way it should be.'' Andrew Card, Bush's
first chief of staff, said Bush's evolving rhetoric, including his insistence
that Iraq is a crucial part of the fight against terrorism, is part of an
attempt to put the war in better perspective for Americans. The administration
recently has been ``doing a much better job'' in explaining the stakes, Card
said in an interview. ``We never said it was going to be easy. The president
always told us it would be long and tough.'' ``I'm trying to do everything
I can to remind people that the war on terror has the war in Iraq as a subset.
It's critical we succeed in Iraq as part of the war on terror,'' said Card,
who left the White House in March.
Bush at first sought to explain increasing insurgent and sectarian violence
as a lead-up to Iraqi elections. But elections came and went, and a democratically
elected government took over, and the sectarian violence increased. Bush has
insisted U.S. soldiers will stand down as Iraqis stand up. He has likened
the war to the 20th century struggles against fascism, Nazism and communism.
He has called Iraq the ``central front'' in a global fight against radical
jihadists. Having jettisoned most of the earlier, upbeat claims of progress,
Bush these days emphasizes consequences of setting even a limited withdrawal
timetable: abandonment of the Iraqi people, destabilizing the Middle East
and emboldening terrorists around the world. The more ominous and determined
his words, the more skeptical the American public appears, polls show, both
on the war itself and over whether it is part of the larger fight against
terrorism, as the administration insists.
Bush's approval rating, reflected by AP-Ipsos polls, has slid from the mid
60s at the outset of the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003 to the high 30s now.
There were light jumps upward after the December 2003 capture of Saddam, Bush's
re-election in November 2004 and each of three series of aggressive speeches
over the past year. Those gains tended to vanish quickly. With the war intruding
on the fall elections, both parties have stepped up their rhetoric. Republicans,
who are also reeling from the congressional page scandal, are casting Democrats
as seeking to ``cut and run'' and appease terrorists. Democrats accuse Bush
of failed leadership with his ``stay the course'' strategy. They cite a government
intelligence assessment suggesting the Iraq war has helped recruit more terrorists,
and a book by journalist Bob Woodward that portrays Bush as intransigent in
his defense of the Iraq war and his advisers as bitterly divided. Democrats
say Iraq has become a distraction from the war against terrorism - not a central
front. But they are divided among themselves on what strategy to pursue. Republicans,
too, increasingly are growing divided as U.S. casualties rise. ``I struggle
with the fact that President Bush said, `As the Iraqis stand up, we will stand
down.' But the fact is, this has not happened,'' said Rep. Christopher Shays,
R-Conn., a war supporter turned war skeptic. The Republican chairman of the
Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. John Warner of Virginia, said after
a recent visit to Iraq that Iraq was ``drifting sideways.'' He urged consideration
of a ``change of course'' if the Iraq government fails to restore order over
the next two or three months.
More than 2,750 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning
of the war, most of them since Bush's May 2003 ``mission accomplished'' aircraft
carrier speech. Tens of thousands of Iraqis have died. Recent events have
been dispiriting. The United States now has about 141,000 troops in Iraq,
up from about 127,000 in July. Some military experts have suggested at least
one additional U.S. division, or around 20,000 troops, is needed in western
Iraq alone. Dan Benjamin, a former Middle East specialist with the National
Security Council in the Clinton administration, said the administration is
overemphasizing the nature of the threat in an effort to bolster support.
``I think the administration has oversold the case that Iraq could become
a jihadist state,'' said Benjamin, now with the Center for Strategic and International
Studies. ``If the U.S. were to leave Iraq tomorrow, the result would be a
bloodbath in which Sunnis and Shiites fight it out. But the jihadists would
not be able to seek power.'' Not all of Bush's rhetorical flourishes have
had the intended consequences.
When the history of Iraq is finally written, the recent surge in sectarian
violence is ``going to be a comma,'' Bush said in several recent appearances.
Critics immediately complained that the remark appeared unsympathetic and
dismissive of U.S. and Iraqi casualties, an assertion the White House disputed.
For a while last summer, Bush depicted the war as one against ``Islamic fascism,''
borrowing a phrase from conservative commentators. The strategy backfired,
further fanning anti-American sentiment across the Muslim world. The ``fascism''
phrase abruptly disappeared from Bush's speeches, reportedly after he was
talked out of it by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Karen Hughes,
a longtime Bush confidant now with the State Department. Hughes said she would
not disclose private conversations with the president. But, she told the AP,
she did not use the ``fascism'' phrase herself. ``I use `violent extremist,'''
she said.
6- What the world thinks about the USA
The author, who has always liked the USA and be pro-America, is very sad when
he hear or read about this big country since George W Bush became president.
A well-known serious newspaper like the Guardian would never published a article
like the one below under any of the previous presidency. There was respect
and admiration for the USA. Since Bush came to power most people -including
me- have changed opinion.
7- Following are notable quotes from before and after the US invasion of
Iraq in March 2003.
- July 11, 2002 - "Support for Saddam, including within his military
organization, will collapse after the first whiff of gunpowder." - Richard
Perle, then Pentagon Defence Policy Board chairman.
- September 19, 2002 - "I hereby declare before you that Iraq is clear
of all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons." - Saddam Hussein in
message to UN General Assembly.
- November 14, 2002 - "The Gulf War in the 1990s lasted five days on
the ground. I can't tell you if the use of force in Iraq today would last
five days, or five weeks or five months. But it certainly isn't going to last
any longer than that." - Then Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld.
- January 20, 2003 - "His regime has large, unaccounted for stockpiles
of chemical and biological weapons, including VX, sarin, mustard gas, anthrax,
botulism and possibly smallpox. And he has an active program to acquire and
develop nuclear weapons." - Rumsfeld.
- March 16, 2003 - "I think things have gotten so bad inside Iraq, from
the standpoint of the Iraqi people, my belief is we will, in fact, be greeted
as liberators." - US Vice President Dick Cheney to US television network
NBC.
- March 20, 2003 - "The criminal little Bush has committed a crime against
humanity." - Saddam, on first day of invasion.
- April 10, 2003 - "Saddam Hussein is now taking his rightful place alongside
Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, Ceausescu in the pantheon of failed brutal dictators,
and the Iraqi people are well on their way to freedom." - Rumsfeld.
- April 11, 2003 - "Stuff happens." - Rumsfeld, asked about rampant
lawlessness in Baghdad after US troops captured the capital. "It's untidy,
and freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit
crimes and do bad things."
- May 1, 2003 - "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the
battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed." - US
President George W. Bush, aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln under a banner declaring
"Mission Accomplished".
- July 24, 2003 - "Death is not enough. They should have been hung up
on poles in a square in Baghdad so all Iraqis could see them. Then they should
have died as people ate them alive." - Baghdad businessman Khalil Ali
after US forces kill Saddam's sons Uday and Qusay.
- September 14, 2003 - "He (Saddam) had long established ties with al
Qaida." - Cheney to a conservative think-tank.
- October 3, 2003 - "There's no question this guy (Saddam) had invested
billions in developing illegal programs of weapons of mass destruction and
don't let anybody tell you this was not a significant threat." - Cheney
to political fund-raiser in Iowa.
- December 13, 2003 - "My name is Saddam Hussein. I am the president
of Iraq, and I want to negotiate." - Saddam to US troops who captured
him.
- December 14, 2003 - "We got him," then US governor of Iraq Paul
Bremer announcing the capture of Saddam.
- January 30, 2005 - "This is a historic moment for Iraq, a day when
Iraqis can hold their heads high because they are challenging the terrorists
and starting to write their future with their own hands." - interim Prime
Minister Iyad Allawi.
- March 31, 2005 - "The intelligence community was absolutely uniform
and uniformly wrong about the existence of weapons of mass destruction (in
Iraq)." - Laurence Silberman, co-chairman, Commission on the Intelligence
Capabilities of the United States regarding weapons of mass destruction.
- March 19, 2006 - "We are losing each day on average 50 to 60 people
throughout the country, if not more. If this is not civil war, then God knows
what civil war is." - Former interim Prime Minister Allawi.
- October 25, 2006 - "It's my responsibility to provide the American
people with a candid assessment on the way forward ... Absolutely, we're winning."
- Bush.
- November 2006 - "Here I offer myself in sacrifice." - Saddam,
in a letter dictated after he was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity.
"If my soul goes down this path (of martyrdom) it will face God in serenity."
- December 20, 2006 - "We're not winning, we're not losing." - Bush
in interview with the Washington Post.
- December 30, 2006 - "Moqtada, Moqtada, Moqtada." - Unidentified
man attending Saddam's hanging, referring to a Shiite cleric whose family
was persecuted by Saddam. Saddam, the noose around his neck, responded: "Is
this what you call manhood?" "The tyrant has fallen." - Unidentified
witness at hanging.
- December 30, 2006 - "What happened today is unbelievable, it's a great
joy that I can't even express." - Mohammad Kadhim, a journalist in Basra.
"I can't believe what I'm seeing on television -- Saddam led to the gallows
where he hanged tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis by the same method."
- January 10, 2007 - "The situation in Iraq is unacceptable to the American
people -- and it is unacceptable to me ... Where mistakes have been made,
the responsibility rests with me." - Bush.
- April 18 - "The street was transformed into a swimming pool of blood."
- Shopkeeper Ahmed Hameed, witness to a car bombing in Baghdad that killed
140 people.
- August 26 - "There are American officials who consider Iraq as if it
were one of their villages, for example Hillary Clinton and Carl Levin. I
ask them to come back to their senses," Maliki after Democratic presidential
hopeful Senator Hillary Clinton and other US critics who have called for him
to be replaced.
- September 10 - "We succeeded in stopping Iraq from sliding toward
civil war, which was threatening our beloved country." - Maliki.
- November 16 - "I tell folks all the time one way to train to conduct
operations in Iraq is to watch the last season of the Sopranos. You get a
sense of the conflict among like individuals." Major-General Rick Lynch,
commander of US troops south of Baghdad.
- December 5 - "I believe that the goal of a secure, stable and democratic
Iraq is within reach." - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates during a visit
to Baghdad.
8- Is Obama that stupid?
Do you believe this right wing disinformation (July 2008)? Obviously they
are afraid of Obama. Poor America!
Subject: Comparison tax information coming your way
This is something you should be aware of so you don't get blind-sided. This
is really going to catch a lot of families off guard.
Proposed changes in taxes after 2008 General election:
i-Capital gain tax
MCCAIN
- 0% on home sales up to $500,000 per home (couples) McCain does not propose
any change in existing home sales income tax.
OBAMA
- 28% on profit from ALL home sales
How does this affect you? If you sell your home and make a profit, you will pay 28% of your gain on taxes. If you are heading toward retirement and would like to down-size your home or move into a retirement community, 28% of the money you make from your home will go to taxes. This proposal will adversely affect the elderly who are counting on the income from their homes as part of their retirement income.
ii- DIVIDEND TAX
- MCCAIN 15% (no change)
- OBAMA 39.6%
How will this affect you? If you have any money invested in stock market,
IRA, mutual funds, college funds, life insurance, retirement accounts, or
anything that pays or reinvests dividends, you will now be paying nearly 40%
of the money earned on taxes if Obama become president.
The experts predict that 'higher tax rates on dividends and capital gains
would crash the stock market yet do absolutely nothing to cut the deficit.
iii- INCOME TAX
- MCCAIN (no changes)
Single making 30K - tax $4,500
Single making 50K - tax $12,500
Single making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 60K- tax $9,000
Married making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 125K - tax $31,250
- OBAMA
(reversion to pre-Bush tax cuts)
Single making 30K - tax $8,400
Single making 50K - tax $14,000
Single making 75K - tax $23,250
Married making 60K - tax $16,800
Married making 75K - tax $21,000
Married making 125K - tax $38,750
Under Obama your taxes will more than double!
How does this affect you? No explanation needed. This is pretty straight forward.
iv- INHERITANCE TAX
- MCCAIN
0% (No change, Bush repealed this tax)
- OBAMA Restore the inheritance tax
How does this affect you? Many families have lost businesses, farms and ranches,
and homes that have been in their families for generations because they could
not afford the inheritance tax.
Those willing their assets to loved ones will not only lose them to these
taxes.
v- NEW TAXES BEING PROPOSED BY OBAMA
* New government taxes proposed on homes that are more than 2400 square feet
* New gasoline taxes (as if gas weren't high enough already)
* New taxes on natural resources consumption (heating, gas, water, electricity)
* New taxes on retirement accounts and last but not least....
* New taxes to pay for socialized medicine so we can receive the same level
of medical care as other third-world countries!!!