At the end of Monday’s show, the question was raised of who pays taxes, who does not, and how much is fair. One caller complained that a third of his $300,000 income gets taken for taxes. Another caller, who grosses just $50,000 a year but has been unemployed before, said he would give half his pay if it meant people wouldn’t have to suffer the poverty of unemployment in this country. And another caller, who later honorably recanted the claim, tried to spread the disinformation that poor people pay no federal income taxes.

Assistant producer Alexandra and I both pointed out that we’ve recently been taxed on earnings less than the $22,000 floor the caller claimed below which one would pay no taxes. And eventually some tax experts called in to point out that if your taxable income is above zero, you pay federal taxes. All in all, the discussion was exactly the kind we love to have on the show. An issue gets raised, rumors get exposed, and everybody learns something.

On the larger matter of how much should we pay in taxes, how much is fair, etc — we probably all have different opinions on that, to be sure. But the point I always try to make is to look at what a person is left with after taxes, not the portion of one’s income that gets taken out. This is because we don’t all get paid fairly in the first place. One person who works 70 hours a week as a social worker or community organizer, trying desperately to make their neighborhood or city or world a better place, might bring home $25,000 a year, then lose $1500 of that (after deductions) in federal income taxes, leaving them with $23,500 with which to pay for food, housing, transportation, and lots of other taxes. Meanwhile, an arms merchant or a junk-bond trader — who contributes nothing to society, or detracts from it gravely — can make millions a year even after taxes, even if he or she pays the very highest tax rate. So where’s the fairness in that?

For the record, while deductions and tax credits get about a third or more of working Americans out of directly paying federal income taxes each year, this common argument and its implications are deceptive, since everyone who gets a paycheck loses a chunk to federal payroll taxes. Besides, plenty of people who would be considered poor by nearly any North American standard pay painful amounts in federal income taxes, with the lowest rate being 10%. And in the end, poor people pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than rich people do, especially considering state and local taxes. And if we want a common enemy, let’s look at all the corporations that get away with paying no income taxes at all!

Here’s an interesting interview with a progressive tax expert, to counter all the garbage being floated around.

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Okay, even if you haven’t heard the show in the last couple of days, the new look of the site should tell you that Pete’s show(s) made it through the merger, and his potential audience has doubled. Raw Dog has been picked up on XM, and Indie Talk is now POTUS — Politics of the United States/People of the United States. The show is now 3-6pm, and the replays have moved, too (check the right-hand column).

Pete will be blogging on the matter soon, or so he has promised, and I’ll hold him to that. But for now, let’s hear what long-time listeners think about the changes. And more importantly, welcome to all the new XM listeners. We are confident you’ll grow to love Pete as much as we do.

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One of the things I’d like to use this blog for — as Pete will with the show — is to evaluate the president-elect’s staff and cabinet picks. First on the chopping block: Illinois congressman Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s pick for White House chief of staff. Palestine-solidarity activists are none too pleased, with good reason:

In Congress, Emanuel has been a consistent and vocal pro-Israel hardliner, sometimes more so than President Bush. In June 2003, for example, he signed a letter criticizing Bush for being insufficiently supportive of Israel.

They do concede he’s not purely evil on the issue, though…

Emanuel has sometimes posed as a defender of Palestinian lives, though never from the constant Israeli violence that is responsible for the vast majority of deaths and injuries.

Meanwhile, from the other side, Emanuel is seen as “brilliant ruthless shark” who may be more divisive than what Obama needs or should be looking for in a chief of staff:

Obama’s apparent selection of Rahm Emanuel for White House chief of staff is an extremely disconcerting (if not wholly surprising) first indication on the “which Obama will we get” question. It suggests both that he wants to be ruthless and partisan and that he does not have a clear sense of how the White House works.

Does this mean Obama got it just right, or is he way off?

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Pete’s off the air till Monday, but I hope some of the regulars will be checking in here. I’m going to put up a couple posts in hopes of generating some chatter.

First up, how are you coping with the post-election phase? Did you riot, as we were told you would? If not, why not?

I hope you’re fairing better than these folks…

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

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In case you’ve been on a weeklong bender and are just coming around to reality: It’s Election Day! Every year our government permits us to come and choose who will rule us for the next 2-6 years. And your vote then gets bundled with those of your state, so it doesn’t really count for much, but hey, that’s republican democracy for you. Yay.

Anyway, if we didn’t do it, they would choose our rulers for us, and we can imagine how that might turn out, so there’s a modicum of redemption in the process.

So have you gone to vote yet? How was the experience? Any last minute arguments or diatribes to convince that solitary PBMer who still can’t decide?

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The email is already pouring in about anti-racist activist Tim Wise’s appearance on the show. He hung with Pete for the whole 3rd hour, so if you missed it, you can catch it again on the replays from 10-11pm and again 2-3am ET. It was fast paced, informative and hilarious.

You probably didn’t agree with everything Tim said, or maybe you just want to explore some of the ideas raised a bit more. So here’s your chance…

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So I pissed a lot of people off today when I evidently advocated “class warfare” against the rich. Callers came out of the woodwork, essentially to defend the rich, and of course they got priority over people who would stand with Pete or me, since that’s the way my little bro runs his show (and it’s why you listen)…

Anyway, I’m not sorry for what I said. (Okay, I’m sorry for saying Grant is lazy and implied he is an avid beachgoer. He may work hard for his “in excess of $180,000″, and he may burn easily. I just got pissed when he said I shouldn’t get emotional about not having much to show at the end of the day for all the work I do.)

We know that people call into talk shows and say whatever they think helps their argument, with little regard for the truth. Pete was on the ball today and fired back pretty good, but the onslaught continued. I’m sick of hearing about how the poor are stealing from the rich. I do think we need a class war in this country, but raising taxes on the rich isn’t good enough. Those who work for a living are sick of paying rent to and getting paltry wages from the ownership class. We can’t save enough to save, let alone to invest. Too many Americans can’t keep up — never mind get ahead — but we’re forced to sit back and watch the government give away our tax money to the investor class so they can gamble with it.

So now’s your chance to go off on me.

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AJ the trucker from Georgia called in and said he overheard some bigots talking about Barack Obama on the CB radio. One said “CHANGE” stands for “Come Help A Nigger Get Elected.” Since PBMers aren’t disgusting trogledytes, listeners immediately started generating alternative acronyms. Some examples after the jump…

(Read the article)

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Haven’t had a chance to post lately, so I guess you guys are going to have to keep it flowing.

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