Rick Perry's tax plan attacked by ... Phyllis Schlafly?

[ProSense]

Rick Perry's tax plan attacked by ... Phyllis Schlafly?

by Hunter

Rick Perry has had a lot to be thankful for this week: namely, that he's not Herman Cain. Actually, I think that's pretty much the only thing Perry has to be thankful for right now, but let's face it, that's a lot.

Now Perry's tax plan is getting panned from a very unlikely source: the religious right. As you can imagine, it's not because his plan, like Cain's, is primarily just an avenue to provide massive tax cuts to the rich. Nor is it because his plan is layered onto the existing tax code in some strange attempt to pretend nothing is changing and everything is changing at the same time. No, this complaint is a bit odder, and comes from America's original Church Lady:

But Phyllis Schlafly, the religious-right icon who, like Perry, was featured at this year’s Values Voter Summit in Washington, says Perry’s plan fails on another measure: protection of marriage.

In an op-ed at Creators.com, the Eagle Forum founder tears into Perry’s flat-tax proposal which, she says, “would eliminate all tax advantages for married couples where one spouse is the primary breadwinner.”

Schlafly bristles at the possibility that, if Perry has his way, husbands and wives wouldn’t be allowed to file jointly, ending the deductions and other tax benefits married couples enjoy today. “Does Rick Perry want to undermine traditional marriage?” she asks, going on to dismiss his campaign’s message:

Perry’s spokesman told the Wall Street Journal, “We were very careful to construct this in a way that protects the middle class.” No. Giving that size deduction to unmarried parents, defined as “individuals and their dependents,” means rewarding bad behavior and is, by definition, outside the middle class. Regardless of income, you can’t be middle class without respecting middle-class values, the most important of which is marriage.

All righty then. So the problem is that it doesn't provide sufficient tax breaks for married couples. Worse still, it might insufficiently punish single parents for being single! It's anti-family! Evil! Satan!

Schlafly goes on to express alarm that homosexuals might also benefit from his plan, says that the "baby boom" was caused by serendipitous federal tax rates on joint filers, and is peeved that the Perry plan provides corporate tax breaks for overseas operations instead of the Cain and Santorum plans, which she says do a better job of cutting taxes here.

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From the comments

From the Houston Chronicle, Geller, of Atlas Shrugs, says this about Perry:

Perry is a snake. Watch him. He is creepy. And his drunken, freak show speech this past weekend belonged in a Roger Corman film.

http://blog.chron.com/rickperry/2011/11/rick-perry-blasted-by-anti-jihadist-blogger/

The queen of lunatic anti-Muslim/birthers also endorsed Cain, TPM: Pamela Geller: ‘I Endorse Herman Cain. What He Doesn’t Know, We’ll Teach Him’.

Politico: Herman Cain lies low, snags endorsement

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His campaign tried to take a positive tone ahead of the debate by announcing on Twitter Saturday morning that he had secured the endorsement of Rep. Dan Benishek (R-Mich.), a congressman that Cain endorsed in the 2010 elections.

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Rick Perry can't catch a break, and the RW lunatics love Herman Cain!

[Jack Rabbit]

1. Amusing

I'm sure Ms. Schlafly and Mr. Perry agree on the need to overhaul the present tax system and make it simpler and flatter (they mistake flatter for fairer on the grounds that Wall Street bankers actually earn the money they steal). In polite society, Ms. Schlafly could present her problems with Mr. Perry's proposals as constructive criticism. However, in right wing barbarian circles, there is no such thing constructive criticism and Ms. Schlafly must confront Mr. Perry belligerently and accuse him of attempting to destroy God's Will by undermining marriage and the family.

If you think this display of incivility among right wingers is just peculiar to Ms. Schlafly and not the general rule on the far right, then please note that Pam Geller can't just say that, in her opinion, Herman Cain is a better candidate than Rick Perry and leave well enough alone, but she must call Mr. Perry a "snake."

[LiberalFighter]

2. She obviously doesn't understand the tax system.

Or I'm not.

Standard Deductions as follows 2010:

$ 5,700 -- Single
$ 5,700 -- Married filing separately
$11,400 -- Married filing jointly

$ 8,350 -- Head of Household
$11,400 -- Qualifying Widow(er)

Being single I don't know what special deductions married couples receive other than having exemptions for having a dozen kids. Maybe she cheats on her returns.

[Zynx]

5. If you're a married-joint filer, and have only one income, you get the additional $5,700

deduction for just being married, essentially. This is referred to as "the marriage bonus", which is the often unmentioned sister to the "marriage penalty". Additionally, the brackets kick in at higher levels. For a single income, married household, there is quite a benefit built in.

[Tarheel_Dem]

3. Rec'd to "0". WTF? Trolls Unite!

:rofl:

[polichick]

4. Wonder if Phyllis would like churches to be taxed - imo that would be fair.

[lunatica]

6. The true essence of Phyllis Schlafly captured in this photo of her