TAX POLITIX
The Politics of Taxes
Public Sector Employee Wages Outpace Private Sector
This is an point that I have been writing about for years: workers in the public sector makes more than their private sector counterparts, especially when benefits are factors into the compensation package. Now, a new study by CATO affirms my supposition. CATO analyzed data from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and found that "that federal government workers earned an average of $84,153 in 2014, compared to the private sector’s average of $56,350." Even more incredibly, "when adding in...
Obamacare Penalty Goes Up for Tax Year 2015: A Primer
Remember, Obamacare mandates that you either have an approved insurance plan OR pay a penalty/fine/tax. The 2014 tax year was the first year year the penalty was assessed. This coming tax year, the penalty increases, and for tax year 2016, the penalty increases even more. Here's how the penalty works: "Your tax is the greater of either 1) a flat-dollar amount based on the number of uninsured people in your household; or 2) a percentage of your income (up to the national average cost of a...
Global Economy Now Affecting US Job Market
From the AP: A sagging global economy has finally caught up with the United States. Nervous employers pulled back on hiring in August and September as China's economy slowed, global markets sank and foreigners bought fewer U.S. goods. Friday's monthly jobs report from the government suggested that the U.S. economy, which has been outshining others around the world, may be weakening. Lackluster growth overseas has reduced exports of U.S. factory goods and cut into the overseas profits of large...
Jeb’s Tax Plan and the DNC’s Ignorance
Dear Mr. O'Connor and Mr. McKinnon, I read with interest many of the reviews of Jeb Bush’s tax plan. As a CPA for the past 40 years, I find his plan overall to be a good start. However, in your article in the Wall Street Journal, you included a quote from Ms. Holly Shulman of the Democrat National Committee, who declared, “What’s Jeb’s plan? More massive tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, all while exploding the deficit or shifting the burden onto the middle class.” As we both know,...
Jeb Bush Speaks Out Against Overregulation
It was refreshing to read an Op-Ed about overregulation in the Washington Examiner today. Presidential candidate Jeb Bush is absolutely correct that the explosive expansion of regulations during Obama's Administration has been a major factor in the tepid economic recovery. I enjoyed seeing a candidate speak to this issue. Below are his remarks in full: "President Obama has presided over a massive expansion of the federal government during his six and half years in office. He shepherded...
Fed Official is Incorrect About Delaying an Interest Rate Hike
The recent Wall Street Journal article discussing the pitfalls of raising interests rates in near future was so utterly fully of incorrect information and assumptions, that I felt compelled to call out the author, Mr. Narayana Kocherlakota, for his pomposity. He contends that raising the interest rates -- we’re talking .25% here -- would “create profound economic risks….given the prevailing economic conditions.” Though Mr. Kocherlakota recognizes the fragility of our current economy, he fails...
Federal Judge Rules Administration Overreach in Obamacare Funding
Now this is pretty interesting. Last week, a federal district judge ruled in favor of the House of Representatives against the Obama Administration with regarding to Obamacare payments and Congressional appropriations. Specifically, the ruling allow for House to continue their lawsuit which claims that the Executive Branch (via Health and Human Services and the Treasury Department) has overstepped its authority by overspending on Obamacare beyond what was appropriated to them by Congress....
Obamacare Enrollees Must Double To Meet Budget Projections, Stay Solvent
A piece from the Washington Times this week hammers out what most of us already know -- that Obamacare is lagging severely behind its initial projections for participants. The lackluster enrollment in turns impacts the financial side of Obamacare because it has missed key targets that were counted on in budget planning. The Obama Administration has tried all sorts of gimmicks so far to tout Obamacare as a success. First it was caught counting dental plans among enrollment figures to bolster...
Kim Davis Is No Hero
It is perfectly fine for an owner of a private business to decline to participate in an event or produce a product if it requires violating one’s religious beliefs. It’s another thing entirely for a person who works for the government -- on behalf of the taxpayer and paid by taxpayer funds -- to decline to do the job required of them. Kim Davis is no hero. Her job is to process marriage licenses. If she felt she could no longer consciously do her job, she had an obligation to step aside. No...
9/11: 14 Years Later
This quote from Virgil's Aeneid sums it up: God bless America.
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