@Popehat that was my tax professor's theory in law school. Paint your house rather than hire a painter? You should pay the tax he didn't.
— Lawyer Cat* (@LawyerCat_) January 28, 2015
Astoundingly un-American ideas like this caused a stir on Twitter thanks to an article in The Nation and a New York Times blog post
Um. <blinking eyes rapidly> pic.twitter.com/TfLukF48ZO
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) January 28, 2015
That epically ridiculous retweet is a quote from — wait for it — The Nation. http://t.co/1i9oRqnvgr
— IWantNothingHat (@Popehat) January 28, 2015
https://twitter.com/konabianca/status/560265411972063232
This ridiculous snippet from the article at The Nation is going viral.
And as Josh Barro points out, single-earner households are getting a bonus another way: the labor a mother or father performs in the home caring for a kid or wiping down a counter is unpaid and therefore goes untaxed. When two parents work outside the home and pay someone to watch their children, both those incomes are taxed.
The link in that snippet points back to a New York Times blog post by Josh Barro with an equally ridiculous smart take.
President Obama’s proposal to expand a tax break for working parents with children under 5 has some conservatives criticizing it for discriminating against stay-at-home parents.
Those parents wouldn’t be able to take the proposed tax credit equal to 50 percent of child care expenses, up to a maximum of $3,000 per child. What the critics fail to see is that the playing field wasn’t level to begin with. The tax code is already hugely distorted in favor of stay-at-home parenting: Labor outside the home is taxed; household work, such as stay-at-home parenting, is not. (emphasis added)
You see, by being a stay at home parent, you are a recipient of government benevolence because your “labor” is not taxed. Funny. We were always under the impression that it was income that was taxed, not labor. But the moonbats are actually arguing that by performing labor without income, you are technically stealing—or at least receiving benefits—from the government. Your labor is not your own.
Couples w/ 1 job are cheating the rest of us "@MZHemingway: Um. <blinking eyes rapidly> pic.twitter.com/b2zKc5nS4m”
— Brian Faughnan (@BrianFaughnan) January 28, 2015
https://twitter.com/GrantGambling/status/560261223816908802
https://twitter.com/SethAMandel/status/560261229558910976
.@BrianFaughnan @MZHemingway Hey, remember when Josh Barro thought he'd be able to have a successful career pretending to be a conservative?
— Moe Lane (@Ogiel23) (@moelane) January 28, 2015
@moelane @BrianFaughnan @MZHemingway All labor belongs to the State and it is only its forbearance that has allowed the current situation.
— Given enough eyeballs, all Dougs are shallow (@zamoose) January 28, 2015
https://twitter.com/stinson/status/560262448750804993
https://twitter.com/CaseyMattoxADF/status/560264360996913153
#InTheBeginningWasTheTax RT @MZHemingway: Um. <blinking eyes rapidly> pic.twitter.com/NQQDWrLhYC
— Scott Lincicome (@scottlincicome) January 28, 2015
@scottlincicome @Heminator @MZHemingway Whenever I change a diaper or use the weedwacker, I always chuckle about how I'm cheatin' the taxman
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) January 28, 2015
Someone actually said this –>“@MZHemingway: Um. <blinking eyes rapidly> pic.twitter.com/USsZwG3pVB”
— Brit Hume (@brithume) January 28, 2015
http://t.co/w0XIjR95Pn RT @brithume: Someone actually said this –>“@MZHemingway: Um. <blinking eyes rapidly> ” pic.twitter.com/g4ApLkw5aS
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) January 28, 2015
@brithume @MZHemingway I just walked my own dog. Could have paid a dog walker! Where should I send the check?
— virginiahume (@virginiahume) January 28, 2015
Hmm. Under the Nation's theory, does marital sex represent tax-cheating, if you live in the Nevada counties where prostitution is legal?
— IWantNothingHat (@Popehat) January 28, 2015
https://twitter.com/cicero_agricola/status/560266725158309889
Crazy.
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