I am really getting tired of the Obama ads claiming that the 13 percent federal tax that Romney paid last year is less than a man pays who makes $50,000 a year.
This was compounded by the AP article in a recent Cumberland Times-News saying that our taxes will go from 14 percent to 17.8 percent next year if Congress doesn’t act.
I made some calculations. No one who makes $50,000 a year comes even close to paying 13 percent federal tax.
A single individual pays 10.5 percent; a married couple over 65 pays 6.9 percent; a married couple (under 65) with two dependents pays 5.4 percent.
These percentages do not take into account the deductions allowed for Social Security benefits, itemized deductions, capital gains, or tax free income — any of which would decrease the percentage even further.
Are these claims deliberate distortions to influence the voters, or can’t these people use the tax tables?
Leon Dillman
Cumberland
Editorials
Look at the tax tables, and you will see who’s telling the truth
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Editorial Cartoon - 05/18/2013
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Maryland has stopped being “The Free State”
I am a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans and, last but not least, the National Rifle Association. I am a yearly member of the American Legion.
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Outrageous
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
This amounts to spying on an American news organization — common practice in dictatorships but scary conduct in a democratic system that prizes the public value of an independent watchdog press. -
Prevention
The Allegany County Board of Health on Tuesday heard some alarming numbers involving overdoses involving drugs and alcohol. Fortunately, the group already has a plan to ease the situation.
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Financial gutting will damage school system
I am writing in response to the Allegany County Commissioners’ efforts to cut local education spending to the lowest possible level allowed under state law.
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Cemetery organization plans events to mark Memorial Day
This upcoming Memorial Day marks the 30th anniversary of the Cumberland Historic Cemetery Organization (CHCO).
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Better fix it
The West Virginia Division of Highways should not give up on improving safety at the intersection of U.S. Route 220 and Stoney Run Road in Keyser merely because the intersection does not meet the state’s criteria for a traffic signal.
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That many?
Only about one in every four people trust the federal government, according to a recent Pew Research survey.
We’re surprised that number isn’t close to zero. -
It’s time to ratify Equal Rights Amendment
I have three words I want to say: “It is time.”
By those three words, I am referring to passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). -
Preserve these things for future generations
This is an open letter to the mayor of Cumberland and Allegany County commissioners:
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