Stephen King Demands to Know Why He’s Not Paying More in Taxes
**Written by Doug Powers
Who better to weigh in on the issue of nightmarish debt spending and the blood-curdling notion that a country can tax its way to prosperity than one of the masters of the horror genre?
In Florida recently, author Stephen King, out of concern for the well-being of the middle and lower classes, expressed a willingness to financially martyr himself when he said, “As a rich person, I pay 28 percent tax… what I want to ask you is, why am I not paying 50?” The crowd applauded in appreciation at King’s willingness to throw more of his income down the money hole never to be seen again without first asking themselves, “If he really wants to help the middle and lower classes, why doesn’t he start by giving his books away for free?”
If King’s not aware, he can pay 50 percent of his income to the government, thanks to the Treasury Department’s volunteer donations program that allows guilt-ridden rich liberals a way to relieve themselves of their soul-rotting cash burden (they rarely take advantage of it though).
There’s some criticism of elitist Tea Party candidates here as well. King prefers to support only blue-collar working class politicians like John Kerry:
(h/t Joyanna Adams)
**Written by Doug Powers
Twitter @ThePowersThatBe
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I seen this last night on the news. I used to love to ready his books. Can’t pass up a good horror or thriller, but I will not be reading any more. After seeing it last night I figured he must have enought money that he doesn’t worry about loosing any fans, because you know there has to be alot of people that buy his books who are conservatives. Just shows that libs believe their better and smarter than others.
tea party knockers! snort!
He is also a liar. He is paying much more than 28 percent. And assuming he is self-employed he is paying Fica, Futa, Medicare (both sides) and state income taxes. I bet that unless he in engaging in tax shelters he is paying 50 percent. But I don’t mind if he pays more. He should be asking however: What are they doing with the money I am giving them? But liberals never ask that question.
Because there aren’t enough rich people in the whole country to pay our debts but there’s enough private investment capital to spark a real recovery, if the government would do its mandated job and leave us alone.
Capitalism is the solution, government is the problem.
When authors, celebs, Leftist Elites in general start running their yaps, I tune them out and refuse to support any project they produce or collaborate on. I have a collection of Stephen King books. That’s the end of that nonsense.
Oh I’m sure Michael Moore is publicly asking the same question. What? Really? Never mind.
I always laugh when I see rich liberals claiming they should be paying more in taxes. I would be willing to bet that King, like all the rest, are using every single tax break or tax shelter they can to keep more of their money.
This is very similiar to Bill Gates Sr. pushing for an income tax in WA ST only to find out that he would not have to pay it as his money is not derived from what the law would have considered income. Instead it would have hit the small business owner and middle class workers the hardest.
Well it is really really easy stephen, if you don’t think you pay enough taxes, just write a check for 50% of your income to the irs! A poll on Rasmussen today shows how un-informed American’s are on who pays taxes.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/taxes/march_2011/64_say_middle_class_americans_pay_the_largest_share_of_their_income_in_taxes
L
Here comes breakfast.
He is a small business. (sort of)
But doesn’t have to re-invest profits to maintain market share and profitability like most small business owners.
I have always thought based on his writings he was three cards short of a full deck.
To rich guys like him, money is a fiction, not a tangible asset like one of his manuscripts. He whips out a credit card or check book without a thought to how much work those dollars represent.
I bet if someone bright reported asked him if he would be willing to sign over ownership of 1/2 of all his books and movies created in the past and future over to the Federal government he’d say without a thought “No way!”
Taxation is not charity. King gives an awful lot away to causes he supports, whatever they may be. He doesn’t need Uncle Sam spending it for him. Why he wants him to is another story…
Yup, the IRS is more than happy to collect voluntary excess income tax payments. So go ahead Mr. King, in fact why stop at 50%? I’m sure you could live comefortably on 25%, maybe even $200,000 left of your income (that figure rings a bell), and heaven knows, the BIG GOVERNMENT you love so dearly would love to have that 75%, and much, much more.
Mr. King,
Nothing is preventing you from writing out larger checks to the federal government. While you claim you wish to pay more in taxes, I have no doubt you have a team of well paid accountants that do their best to minimize your share paid to the government.
If you wish to pay more taxes, you are free to do so. That does not mean that the rest of us wish to lose more of our paychecks to the government.
If he really wants to help, he should set up some businesses that hire people to work. Even buying a couple of McDonalds or Wendy’s franchises would do more than giving it to the government to waste. The government will just give it to people that hate us, like cronies and lobbyists. And some of it might even be used to fund a Death To America festival in some backwater muslim country.
That link should be sent to these folks over and over and over again. I can certainly understand why Mr. King and Mr. Moore would prefer to give their “extra” 22% to more efficient institutions for causes they are interested in but I would also like that choice.
Was Mr. King only speaking in Florida or has he relocated to Florida? If he as relocated to Florida could it be because Florida has no state income tax?
Hypocrite, thy name is Leftist.
I haven’t read any of his books for a long time. His early books, like Carrie, were good. Later, though, they just started getting weird.
Looney leftwing liberals NEVER want to pay their own moolah. They only want the Intimidating Renegades Service to take it from everyone else.
Actually I believe he’s visiting there to promote his latest novel. While there he he found time to speak at a political rally in Sarasota against Governor Scott, lending his voice in opposition to the Tea Party movement, of course. Probably where he was interviewed for this topic.
This shows that just because an individual is an expert in one area, he/she isn’t necessary knowledgeable in an unrelated area.
King, although being a talented writer, doesn’t understand the problem facing America and other countries throughout the world.
It really doesn’t matter how much the government takes in, they will outspend their revenues in every scenario. If the tax rate for everyone in America was 90%, the government would still run deficits. Revenues have almost always increased year over year, yet deficits continue to get bigger.
If paying more tax resulted in a better fiscal situation for nations, then Greece, Portugal, Spain and Ireland wouldn’t be in the situation they are in today. Europe generally has higher tax rates and they run deficits.
If giving a problem gambler or shopaholic more money doesn’t ever solve their problem, why does King think that giving the government more money will solve the debt crisis?
Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and others run their mouths about needing to pay more–and have armies of tax lawyers and accounts to avoid taxes. It is similar to the movie stars talking Green and having multiple vacation home and private jets.
I am not impressed.
Of course he understands problems America and the world face….he’s a leftist, which means he is an all-knowing, wise and sagacious member of the intelligencia, ever glad to enlighten us with his perfectly awesome knowledge and advice.
I… honestly found myself wondering ( who actually finds this pulp ‘scary’? ) I’ll take Italian-horror genre over fluff-boy anyway! Proper horror requires the utmost in timing. How much ‘timing’ is there in something that’s part of a 6-Hour “Mini-series’?
( Maybe he should give it away? ) Just a thought!
The man hasn’t written a decent book since The Shining. Turns out pablum like popcorn.
Oh, and he has an opinion? I’m all aflutter. ZZZZzzzzzz
Wow, is there something about being an “artist” that requires you to abandon all common sense?
OTOH, Mr. King is a very funny guy when he speaks publicly; maybe this was a joke?
I think he was damaged in the brain when that car hit him. His books are odd as well since the accident.
I think he realizes it too.
“I think he realizes it too”
This I absolutely don’t get. You can’t swing a dead cat w/o hitting someone calling for the Rolling Stones to retire ( but there’s scores of faithful waiting in line for the ‘latest’ King re-tread novel? )
Who should retire again?
This is off-topic, but I don’t see any recent post where it would be on-topic, so please forgive me…
Don’t look now, but guess who’s speaking in Duke Chapel right now?
The Ground Zero Mosque Imam!
These idiots don’t seem to understand that Cordoba was the capital of the CALIPHATE, and the goal of the Cordoba Initiative is to re-establish a world-wide caliphate.
Much more info can be found in a post I wrote a while back:
And what about holding true to the original intent of Duke University’s founders?
How many lawyers do you think he has looking for tax loopholes? If he doesn’t think he’s paying enough taxes all he needs to do is write the IRS a check, I’m sure they would appreciate it. Fools like this should keep their mouths shut.
Shut up and write!
I enjoy reading some of King’s work and will continue to do so as long as he continues writing. I don’t take economic advice from writers any more than I take political advice from actors or directors, they are in way over their heads. Put your money where your mouth is releasing too much carbon emissions. Or just go home and write.
I know, I know, I should trust their word. Call me a skeptic. But, how do we know that funds donated this way actually go toward “reducing the public debt”?
Can we have an audit, please?
Does he live in Florida? if so, it looks like he is avoid paying his “fair share” since FL does not have an income tax. He should move to New York or California. They have high taxes and could use the money.
That’s before all the libs starting taking over North Carolina. Wake County and Chapel Hill are mostly al libs now.
If he thinks he isn’t paying enough, he can remedy that quickly enough. What makes me think he won’t?
Hey! I think swede found the title to King’s next book! See… this evil demon inhabits this uh… cornfield and uh after its harvested and people bring it home and cook it up..?
Subtitle? There’s Terror In Your Cupboards!
I stopped being interested in King’s work a long time ago. It was great until it started to get predictable. That was before I heard his liberal drivel. If celebs and such want me to buy their books, movies, etc. then
Just.Shut.Up.
We need to send out representatives asking people like King, Micheal Moore and any other wind bag who spouts nonsense like this to sign an agreement to pay their taxes and then cut a check for the difference to equal 50%. As part of the agreement they must be willing to post a cancelled check paid to the feds for their “voluntary donation.” I want to see it! These nuts jobs are all say as I do, not as I do.
I suggest a trade. FL gets Twitter and CA gets Stephen King.
what’s his residency status? You realize that he’s avoiding Maine income taxes by moving to Florida right? No income taxes in Florida.
WHAT A HYPOCRITE
The rich liberals need to put their money where their mouth is and just write the IRS a check.
Yadkinctygirl,
I guess you’re in Virginia Foxx’s district, correct?
I can’t wait for redistricting and to finally give Brad Miller the boot!
It’s not about solving the debt crisis. It’s about making sure the elites stay elite and everyone else suffers. If the tax rate goes to 90%, there will be many intentionally-placed loopholes to ensure only the elites get to use them. Then the socialists will just continue with their class warfare to keep the public thinking gov’t can solve any problem.
He is free to pay more if he wants to, but does he know….
Who is Barry Soetoro?
Perhaps, since he is already rich, and doesn’t need anymore money for which to exist, he will consider endorsing the backs of the rest of his “royalty” checks, in perpetuity:
Pay to the United States Treasury, and the People of the United States of America.
Or, maybe he believes, like many of his ilk, that his money is better served by donating it legally, and under the table (illegally) to the Democrat Party of whores’n leeches for their re-election campaigns?
Funny that the poor people he claims to support are the very ones who cannot afford to by his books, many of whom, I dare say, can’t read anyway. That means that the “wealthy” must be supporting him financially. Talk about “Biting the Hand that Feeds You….?”
Hey, Stevie – Write. A. Check.
The Feds will accept it!
You moron!
Roger that. Hollyweird go-maniacal idiots who think people care what they thnk. I can live without their “art” as well as their opinions.
They prefer running off their mouths, hiding their own money and demanding everyone else send money to the IRS for their beloved pet social projects.
Obviously they have wiser plans for their own money, we don’t. We’ll just waste ours on the gas guzzlers we drive, meat for our misguided carniverous appetites, and the guns and bibles we tote around.
We all sneer at poor John as not being a working man, but I ask you Doug – could there be any work harder than pleasing Tuh-RAY-zuh?
Perzactly. Provided tried & true Soc. Justice talking points held water, I’d have every Right to be as ‘jealous’ of Pamela Anderson as we should be of Bill Gates?
Given I’ll never be either.., why is it I’m jealous again?
Which part of write a check to the US Treasury and mail it in if they think they aren’t paying enough in taxes don’t these libs understand?
( Thought we weren’t going to catch that eh? )
Like pouring water into a sieve. Your water, Stephen, their sieve. Leave me out of it.
The reason he doesn’t pay more in taxes is clear: He’s an evil capitalist pig!!!
Since they are collectivists they won’t donate more individually. It has to be a ‘group’ effort. No courage of convictions.
How about “Children of the Corn-run Hybrid Cars’ as the next title of a scary book? Imagine: They run out of CORN, and they can’t drive to the movies to see another King Thriller….
Yes Sir. You got it. Virginia is the one good thing we got. Hagan, Poohdue are no good and I believe that you have to watch Burr. I had to give him a piece of my mind right after the election for the yes vote on that Food Safety bill. I with you on the redistricting. Going to be real interesting!
I have never read a book written by Stephen King. I was never interested in reading a book authored by Stephen King.
If I discover that I have any Stephen King books among my thousands of books at home, for I do have quite a few books in my possession which I have never read, or have not completed reading, then I can now either use them to burn, such as to get a camp fire started for a backyard camp fire for our children, or I can see if someone will buy the Stephen King books in a yard – garage sale.
As has been stated by others, I agree, Stephen King, Michael Moore, Bill Maher, Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Hillarty Klinton, Barbara Streisand, and all the other well-to-do, extremely wealthy leftist propaganda, redistribution of wealth, faux compassion pretending celebrities, politicians, etc., can voluntarily give ALL their billions, or millions, if they really DO mean what they say.
Don’t hold your breath.
All they do is talk, just for show, but they don’t really want to give IR money. They just spew platitudes in order to pretend, and have people believe, that they care.
They care as long as they get on the bandwagon and demonize Conservatives, but not leftist loons like themselves.
Maybe King should write a book about what happens to a country when the governing elites shut down all the energy sources, tax us out of all our incomes, drive out all our jobs and then expect us to drive electric cars and get food from farms plowed with electric farm equipment. It would have a great ending when the population starves to death from massive stupidity.
I never bought or read one of his books. I never will.
Hey Stephen, give the government as much of your own money to waste as you want. Just don’t volunteer any of mine.
Disgusting Leftist.
He’s separated from Michael Moore at birth. Forgive him.
Hangfire I now have a awefull imagine in my head that’s going to take a good drink tonight to get out.
The Horror… the, horror.
It’s a wrap! I’m smellin’ Block-buster here people. Get my agent on the phone. I want Tim Robbins in the lead role. I said NOW.
***
HI RAMBLER–#60. Too late for King to take your suggestions for his next literary masterpiece. Ann Rand beat him to this story genre decades ago.
***
John Bibb
***
That’s a chilling concept.
Sooo, Michael is the evil twin, and Stephen is the _____ ??
Ask your accountant, moron.
I read some where a few years ago that King still sleeps with a night light on…now I can’t hold that against him after reading some of his books, but we’re supposed to take him seriously? Wonder if his momma tucks him in and he rubs his blanky, too?
Its already writing itself….if King took off with it it’d be plagerism, and there wouldn’t be enough readers left to make it profitable anyway.
My only exposure to his work was The Langoliers movie on TV. I stayed with it for about 30 minutes. I’m betting I didn’t miss anything.
The man writes for a living, but he couldn’t tell them that awake the state is incorrect. It should be awaken the state.
Maybe he didn’t readed the sign first.
You didn’t. You should have tried to endure watching The Stand. Nope. Better yet don’t.
Never read any of his books, and will never watch any movie or mini-series based on them again.
How dumb do libs have to be to take tax advice from a guy who makes a living writing his deathwish?
And please, well-written darkness is still, darkness. That affects your brain.
It isn’t fellow libs to whom he’s addressing the advice…it’s everyone else.
C’mon, people. King knows if only he gives the IRS 50% of his income, it is a meaningless amount, but if all of the ‘rich’ people got taxed 50%, then that would be quite a haul. So you can’t blame him for refusing to give the IRS what he say he really thinks he should be giving.
All of the really good people like King, caring and compassionate ‘liberals,’ think that way. It’s like what Christians do when they refuse to give money to a charity, even though they know it would be the right thing to do, because their own little amount doesn’t really matter.
Er, wait a minute …..
I was thinking a remake of Christine where Christine is a Prius that is chasing down and killing non eco-friendly people…..
The Langoliers was ok, but his older movies were better. One that I thought was pretty scary was IT about a clown who feed off young kids.
Now we have IT in the White House and that’s scary too. You know Mr. & Mrs. IT feed off young kids too don’t they?
A quick Google search revealed King’s estimated annual income at $40 million a year (1999 figures). Ok I will work with those numbers which are undoubtedly much higher in 2011. He can pay his 28% of $40 million which is $~14.3 million. I will take the other 22% which is $8.8 million. I will then either pay 50% of that sum to the U.S. Treasury or I will hold the full $8.8 million for the year, pay the Gov’t and keep the interest. A 12 month CD @ 2%, compunded monthly will yield me ~ $180K (Pre-Tax) of which I will gladly pay 28% income tax on. Win/Win. Stephen gets to feel better about his wealth and paying his fair share, and I can be part of the process of helping to reduce our deficit with a huge smile on my face. Mr. King, please feel free to contact me @ 1-800-555-trav.
Should I apologize for this?…..I actually liked the Langoliers, at least the first time I saw it.
Sorry for the highjack, but….I noticed we now have a big time birther….none other than Mr. Donald Trump who says, “it’s really strange no one knew Obama for many years of his life”, or something like that.
Check it out here:
http://obamareleaseyourrecords.blogspot.com/2011/03/video-donald-trump-joins-long-list-of.html
Who is Barry Soetoro?
Remember, he’s a liberal, so telling him to ‘write a check’ is missing the point. He says sh!t like that to make others think he is willing. He is not. He wants you to pay more.
So, not only is he being obtuse, he’s also lying. Yes, like the rest.
We’re slated to begin filming in Portland, Oregon next month. That way we can take advantage of all those Movie Industry -subsidies- and “put people to work” grooming Tim Robbins Yorkie while he’s “on location”.
Gonna’ be great.
Clowns are pretty scary as it is to a number of people without a horror story written about one. Just rekindles repressed memories in some older children and adults
.
I’m surprised no one has mentioned this:
If he really wants to help the middle and lower class, why is giving money to the government his preferred action? Giving it to charities (if he’s not willing to start his own) is a much more effective means of helping the poor.
For example, right now the Red Cross and Salvation Army—among others—could really use extra money to help ease the suffering in Japan; not to mention much more prosaic and everyday suffering in many other places around the world.
I completed your sentance for you. I know that is a rude thing to do. Don’t tell my mom!
Who’s stopping King, Moore, Gates and that fraud Buffet if they feel they aren’t paying their fair share from donating more to the U.S. Treasury or stop using what ever accounting tricks that are used to save them from paying more taxes. I’m sure our site Marxist, tax lawyer, Chapped can explain that one.
Just ’cause it needs to be said again:
I was thinking more Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels.
This is just an attempt to make conservatives look bad, and it is paid for by the lame media. King doesn’t have to pay for an ad decrying how evil and selfish those “rascally republicans” are–he has the media do it for him. I can GUAR-AN-TEE you, not one extra dime will ever leave his coffers….this is a major sham and he learned it well from that other blowhard Michael Moore. Conservatives should boycott all of King’s books. Gad, I despise this hypocrisy.
The libtards love this bumber sticker:
Keep your laws off of my body!
How about this one, you socialist morons?
Keep your socialism off of my paycheck!
And here’s a question for Mr. King:
I know that Hawk, and although King’s message was directed to that particular audience, he only wants “the rich” to pay 50%. But we all know the definition of rich will be ratcheted down in a democrat/socialist government. And they wont stop at 50% either.
You’re being way to charitable. : )
Hell, my wife’s been doing that for years. No one ever told her it was rude. I’ll tell her tonight.
Uh…..forget that!
Wow. I’m framing that one.
John Kerry is blue collar?
Did he cut himself shaving?
Who is Barry Soetoro?
I demand to know why he didn’t file an amended return and eliminated all his business deductions, and pay higher taxes when his guilt level got too high.
A masochist who thinks everyone else is one too.
Of course, Michael Moore can take the money that’s he suing Harvey Weinstein over because of the $’s he should have made on filming ‘Fahrenheit 9/11′ – what, about $3 million?
I just BET Michael Moore will turn right around and GIVE all of that $’s to the IRS. Right? Hellllooooo, Right?
Unless of course you want your boy circumcised in San Fran or salt in NYC or trans-fat in MD.
Oh, and then there is Michelle Obama telling everyone to eat lettuce and carrots while she, her family and Hill colleagues eat McDonalds and other high-calorie meals when they host foriegn dictators who are publicly anti-US.
Pffftt… zee case is solv-ed!
( Well put BK ) He can assuage his guilt AND make the world (read media perception ) a better place.
What a celebritwit.