Archive for the ‘Death & Taxes’ Category
Stop the presses! AP writes piece critical of Obama
It’s all the taxpayers’ fault
When I saw the headline below, I thought that maybe an honest story lay on the other side, you know, blaming liberal social programs and irresponsible growth of government for the budget deficit facing the California government. But no. This is the mainstream press. Even thought taxpayers spend untold fortunes paying the heavy price of fiscal recklessness engaged by the imbeciles they elect, the fault, you see, is squarely on the shoulders of the taxpayers for the sin of wanting to keep their own money.
They begin with the 1978 property tax revolt and the victory of Proposition 13. As California experienced a dramatic escalation in home values, property tax assessments skyrocketed. Especially vulnerable were seniors on fixed incomes. When then Gov. Jerry Brown and the legislature dithered, conservative activists led by Howard Jarvis put a seductively simple sounding proposition on the ballot. Under Proposition 13, the annual real estate tax on a parcel of property would be limited to 1% of its assessed value and this assessed value would only increase by a maximum of 2% per year, until a change in ownership. Voters responded and Proposition 13 scored a dramatic victory with 65% of the vote. Property tax rates dropped an average of 57%.
While homeowners celebrated, city, county and school district officials sat in stunned disbelief. There were predictions of drastic cuts to education and social services. But the ax did not fall as Sacramento, flush with a multibillion-dollar surplus, bailed out local governments and the schools. But the state rescue was accompanied by a loss of local control. As a result of Proposition 13, school districts, county governments and cities were forced to compete with state priorities for a slice of the state budget.
How California’s Fiscal Woes Began: A Crisis 30 Years in the Making – Yahoo! News.
One reason why it’s best to break even or end up owing a little money on tax day
A broken campaign promise
If you voted for Obama believing his promise that 95% of Americans were going to get a tax cut, then the joke’s on you. Ha-ha! Actually, the joke’s on all of us.
House Democrats have lots of potential targets for higher taxes as they aim to expand health care coverage to reach the roughly 50 million that experts say are uninsured.
Also under consideration are higher alcohol taxes, increases to the Medicare payroll tax and a value-added tax, a sort of national sales tax, of up to 1.5 percent or more.
The list of options being weighed by the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, and obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, aims to raise some $600 billion over 10 years to partially pay for President Barack Obama’s goal of overhauling the nation’s health care system to tame costs and cover the 50 million uninsured.
House eyes new taxes as senators pare health bill – Yahoo! News.
Today’s Lebanon Democrat column: “Americans get what they voted for”
Last November, the American electorate voted to increase Democrat majorities in both the U.S. House and Senate while sending a leftist to the White House.
The results have been predictable. The bills are about to start pouring in.
Not only are Democrats obsessed with raising taxes, but their incessant meddling in the private sector will also inevitably increase the cost of living in the long run.
In the most recent example, President Obama has assumed the role of car-designer-in-chief. He is leading the way for much stricter mileage standards for automobiles. By 2016, he wants the average motor vehicle to get 35.5 miles per gallon. This will add as much as $1,300 to the cost of each new vehicle.
Even though he has absolutely no constitutional authority to make these kinds of demands, he’s doing it anyway, and no one has the will to stop him. The left has for years been trying to get us to drive tin can automobiles, using the global warming hoax as a wedge between us and our gas guzzlers.
Liberalism succeeds only by convincing individuals to act against their own self-interest. And if liberals can’t convince us, they’ll use the power of government to force us. In this case, Americans will be forced into buying a bunch of cars we don’t want.
Of course, according to President Obama, the increase in cost will be offset by the decrease in the demand for gasoline — about $2,800 during the life of each vehicle. That is, until the federal government decides to raise the fuel tax. You see, Americans currently pay 18.4 cents to the federal government per gallon of gasoline. If we increase our gas mileage, we’ll be buying fewer gallons of gas, which will mean less revenue going to Washington. So Congress will end up raising the gas tax in order to make up the difference.
Back in February, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood suggested that the government tax motorists not on how much gas they buy, but by how many miles they drive. This has already been proposed in several states, and if it were to become law at the federal level, then it wouldn’t matter how much money you save on gas. The government would still manage to pick your pocket.
Even though President Obama and the Democrats in Congress are spending piles of money they don’t have, President Obama is still planning on government taking over the health care industry. Government is already broke, and is going another $1.8 trillion in debt this fiscal year alone, but that’s not stopping Obama. Where’s he going to get the money for a massive government health care program that will cost an estimated $1.5 trillion over ten years? By raising taxes, of course.
Democrats in Congress are mulling over limiting the tax-free status of employer-provided health benefits. This is really ironic, given that Democrats are supposed to be all about health care. Employer-provided health benefits are tax-free for a reason: to make it easier to afford health coverage. Thus, limiting the tax-free status of employer-provided health benefits will make it more difficult for consumers to afford their premiums. This makes no sense, unless you understand that the current Democrat leaders really aren’t about health care. They’re about government-run health care.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus says there are no easy options. Of course there are. Just get government to stop meddling in our lives and stop spending money it doesn’t have.
The federal government is broke, and yet President Obama and the Democrats in Congress are still proposing program after program. Right now, given the size of the national debt and the amount of revenue that is collected each year, the federal government is today collecting money it spent about four years ago. On top of that, government is currently borrowing nearly 50 cents for every dollar it spends.
The federal debt currently stands at $11.3 trillion, and increases by about $5 billion every day. Given past revenue figures, the federal government is today collecting revenue that was actually spent in 2005. And given President Obama’s budget forecast, we are spending money today that won’t be collected until 2013 or 2014. By then, the federal debt will be nearly $16 trillion.
When President Obama isn’t tinkering with the automobile industry, or the health care industry, or the banking industry, he’s messing around with the credit card industry.
During his weekly radio address on May 9, he remarked, “Americans know that they have a responsibility to live within their means and pay what they owe. But they also have a right to not get ripped off by the sudden rate hikes, unfair penalties, and hidden fees that have become all too common.”
Yes, he actually said that. Americans have a responsibility to live within their means. Apparently, Congress and the President don’t.
We also have a right to not get ripped off by sudden rate hikes, unfair penalties, and hidden fees by credit card companies. But we do apparently have a right to get ripped off by tax hikes and all the other means government uses to separate the American taxpayer from his paycheck.
Tax revolt in California
Even in the liberal state of California, taxpayers are tired of having to pay for the idiocy of the people they elect to state office. Voters yesterday slapped down a series of ballot measures that would have raised taxes to help cover a projected $42 billion budget deficit. The only measure they approved prohibits pay raises for lawmakers and other state elected officials during deficit years.
This is encouraging.
Ballot Defeat Leaves California In Deeper Budget Hole – cbs2.com.
The exodus
Americans have been leaving high-tax states for low-tax states in droves, and have been doing so for years. Tennessee is one of those states, fortunately, that is a low-tax state, which is one reason why our population growth exceeds that of the nation as a whole. One thing, though. Those of you who flee the oppressive taxation of Democrat-run states for the promise of liberty we enjoy here in Tennessee better not come here and vote Democrat. They’re the ones who taxed your pants off in the first place. We don’t want that here.
Updating some research from Richard Vedder of Ohio University, we found that from 1998 to 2007, more than 1,100 people every day including Sundays and holidays moved from the nine highest income-tax states such as California, New Jersey, New York and Ohio and relocated mostly to the nine tax-haven states with no income tax, including Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire and Texas. We also found that over these same years the no-income tax states created 89% more jobs and had 32% faster personal income growth than their high-tax counterparts.
Rush was right
During the final year of George W. Bush’s presidency, Rush Limbaugh made the prediction that the taxes we are paying right now may be the lowest we’ll ever see them. In other words, once the Democrats have their way, they’re going to raise taxes and we’ll never be able to get them back down to Bush-era levels again.
On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee peeked into vending machines and liquor stores, company payrolls and health savings accounts, looking for a mix of tax increases and spending cuts as a way to pay for a health overhaul — which could cost more than $1.5 trillion over 10 years.
Remember, the Bush tax cuts are set to expire after next year. So there’s one automatic tax increase that isn’t even being talked about.
Smokers, drinkers to carry tax burden? – Carrie Budoff Brown – POLITICO.com.
You have to wonder if politicians lie awake at night thinking of ways to tax people
The road builders want…
State Representative Stacey Campfield — sometimes referred to as Speaker Campfield at Right Minded — writes that “The tax on gas is currently a fixed amount per gallon. Road builders want to make it a % of sale price. The logic is that since road building is funded by the gas tax and roads are made up of mostly oil product when oil prices go up their cost of road production does also. The down side is when gas prices hit say $4.00 be it because of oil prices or an out of control stock market then the tax could double or triple from its current rate. A sizable tax increase when gas prices are already high. Expect more from this issue as time rolls on. It could turn into a campaign issue for some races.”
Not only that, but if gas prices did go back to $4 a gallon — and let’s hope we don’t see that anytime soon — the state will quickly grow accustomed to the excess revenue, then, when gas prices go back down, the state will attempt to make up the “revenue shortfall” by raising the gas tax again. Better just leave it alone.
How come politicians never campaign on these things?
There is a movement afoot in Congress to tax Internet sales — in the middle of a recession, no less.
Tax Day Tea Party
A nationwide Tax Day Tea Party is being staged on April 15 in at least 300 cities. There’s even one scheduled here in Mt. Juliet that afternoon. You know us Tennesseans. We love a good tax protest.
Atlas is shrugging
Michelle Malkin highlights what she calls the letter of the day. It begins:
I have employed about 50 people during the last 20 years, and my family’s taxable income is about $300,000. In order to avoid paying a higher percentage of taxes on all of my income, I will decrease output, lay off some staff and still end up keeping the same amount.
Michelle Malkin » Letter of the day: Disgusted in Diamond Bar.
An administration of tax cheats plans to crack down on tax cheats
This is just priceless. When they’re not out ruining things, liberals can sometimes give a person a good laugh. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, a tax cheat, says the Obama administration is going to seek ways in the coming months to limit the ability of international companies to avoid U.S. taxes.
Michelle Malkin » Priceless: Tax cheat Treasury Secretary to chase after…tax cheats.
How does class warfare actually make anyone’s life better?
It doesn’t, but raising taxes on the rich sure does make liberals feel better about themselves. The Obama administration is currently defending the President’s tax increase as “necessary.”
Geithner said Obama’s plan would cut income taxes for 95 percent of families and 97 percent of small businesses. Raising taxes on couples that make more than $250,000 would make the tax system more equitable, restoring the balance that existed before a series of tax cuts were enacted under former President George W. Bush, he said.
“This budget targets tax relief to families that have lost ground the past eight years,” Geithner said.
A few points:
1. I can’t help but wonder if Geithner will actually pay his own taxes.
2. The “system” wasn’t equitable before George W. Bush, it wasn’t equitable during George W. Bush, and sure isn’t going to be equitable after Obama raises taxes. The facts are — and I know liberals don’t actually use facts — the top 50% of wage earners already pay 97% of all income taxes. The top 1% pay 34%. The top 5% pay 54%, and the top 10% pay 66%.
So when President Obama talks about the current system as being unfair, he’s actually spot-on, but for the wrong reason. The way you make things more equitable isn’t to saddle the wealthy with an even larger share of the tax burden, but to have everyone pay a flat tax rate.
To liberals, the government is charity
Liberals are all about charities and helping the poor and needy, right? Wrong. And we’ve shown over the years here at Right Minded that liberals don’t really care about the poor. They merely use the poor the same way they use the global warming hoax: to grow government. President Obama’s tax increase would wipe out part of the charitable deductions high income earners can take, which will only serve the purpose of discouraging charitable giving.
That’s insane, right? After all, liberals love charity. No, they don’t. That’s why the generosity index shows those living in red states consistently out-give those living in blue states. Conservatives are the ones who support charities the most. To liberals, the government represents charity, which they seek to fund with other people’s money, and not their own. You see, private charities distribute money as they see fit — not the government. Liberals hate this, because they’re not in control. They would prefer that government be the source of all “charitable” distributions, and not the private sector, because they are in control of government. So if they can re-route money from private charities to government, they’ll do it.
In his preliminary budget, Obama says he plans to pay for his health care reform by increasing the burden on those he considers “rich,” families earning more than $250,000. In particular, taxpayers would only be able to take itemized deductions against a 28% tax rate, instead of the actual rate they paid, which in 2011 could be as high as 39.6%. That means they’d still be paying nearly a 12% tax on items they were supposedly allowed to deduct.
But the rich arent the only ones who could lose under this plan, critics say. Those who benefit from the wealthy’s deductible charitable contributions could also feel the pain, as the rich cut back on giving.
Going Galt
Liberalism is anti-growth, and Barack Obama is proving it. The stock market stood at 9,000 or so back on Election Day, and it had already been falling as Obama’s election became inevitable. The American people indeed elected a leftist who promised to raise taxes on capital gains and the wealthy. Now, less than four months later, the stock market is below 7,000, and the economy is in recession as a result of a Democrat-induced mortgage crisis and subsequent profligate spending of money we don’t have.
Now, Obama is making good on his promise to raise taxes on those who earn a quarter-million or more.
A 63-year-old attorney based in Lafayette, La., who asked not to be named, told ABCNews.com that she plans to cut back on her business to get her annual income under the quarter million mark should the Obama tax plan be passed by Congress and become law.
So far, Obama’s tax plan is being looked at skeptically by both Democrats and Republicans and therefore may not pass at all.
“We are going to try to figure out how to make our income $249,999.00,” she said.
Raising taxes on an activity discourages that activity. If that activity happens to be earning income, people won’t be quite as motivated to earn more of it. Trouble is, liberals raise taxes on high income earners under the guise of raising revenue. They know intuitively that doing so won’t increase revenue. Tax cuts do that. Rather, raising income taxes discourages earning, and, just as important to liberals, limits the economic freedom of Americans. Liberals are all about limiting liberty. That’s why they raise taxes. Raising taxes, which discourages earning, defeats the purpose if one’s aim is to raise revenue. That’s why their revenue projections don’t come to fruition. But raising taxes gives liberals the opportunity to control more of our lives, which is why liberals live and breathe in the first place.
When a tax cut isn’t a tax cut
Rush Limbaugh and an informed caller explained on Friday’s program why the tax cut we’re supposedly getting this year really isn’t a tax cut. The IRS isn’t going to adjust the rates, so the “tax cut” we’re realizing this year will simply have to be paid back next year. This is why Barack Obama means the opposite of what he says. You absolutely cannot trust this guy.
“Obama is proposing to raise taxes on households earning over $250,000 by increasing the rate on the top two tax brackets and limiting deductions, starting in 2011. Republicans and other critics, knowing they will get little mileage from defending the rich, instead are casting the plan as a tax hit on people who run industrious little companies driving job growth. That’s not likely, according to one in-depth analysis, which found that more than 95 percent of small business owners would be off the hook.” The magical 95% number again, as in 95% of you are going to get a tax cut. Well, we just had a call, Gail in Lakeside, Arizona, and she just had her tax preparer do her 2008 income tax return, and her tax preparer warned her about the Obama tax cut that starts in April, where many of you ostensibly are going to see $13 more per week in your take-home pay. Withholding tables are being rewritten as we speak, so that when your employer gives you your first check in April you will see $13 a week additional in your net, and that reverts to $8 a week starting in January. Gail’s tax preparer told her to be very careful because this really is not a tax cut because they are not adjusting the rates.
Obama “Tax Cut” Doesn’t Exist; AP Lies About Small Business Jobs.
Coming in 2011
The pain of the Obama presidency is slowly coming home to roost.
President Obama’s budget proposes $989 billion in new taxes over the course of the next 10 years, starting fiscal year 2011, most of which are tax increases on individuals.
1) On people making more than $250,000.
$338 billion – Bush tax cuts expire
$179 billlion – eliminate itemized deduction
$118 billion – capital gains tax hikeTotal: $636 billion/10 years
2) Businesses:
$17 billion – Reinstate Superfund taxes
$24 billion – tax carried-interest as income
$5 billion – codify “economic substance doctrine”
$61 billion – repeal LIFO
$210 billion – international enforcement, reform deferral, other tax reform
$4 billion – information reporting for rental payments
$5.3 billion – excise tax on Gulf of Mexico oil and gas
$3.4 billion – repeal expensing of tangible drilling costs
$62 million – repeal deduction for tertiary injectants
$49 million – repeal passive loss exception for working interests in oil and natural gas properties
$13 billion – repeal manufacturing tax deduction for oil and natural gas companies
$1 billion – increase to 7 years geological and geophysical amortization period for independent producers
$882 million – eliminate advanced earned income tax creditTotal: $353 billion/10 years
Political Punch: Obama’s Budget: Almost $1 Trillion in New Taxes Over Next 10 yrs, Starting 2011.
For those of you who bought small cars trying to save the planet, the joke’s on you
If you were a good, obedient liberal and bought a small car that gets high gas mileage, you are no doubt saving money on gasoline. You’re not saving the planet, but you are at least spending less at the pump. Unfortunately for the government, that also means a decrease in tax revenue, even if you’re still driving the same mileage as before. So, you were simply doing as you were told by liberal politicians, but if Democrats have their way, you will be paying the same amount of taxes as those of us who drive evil SUV’s.
