TAX POLITIX
The Politics of Taxes
Burdensome Regulations Hurt Our Industries and Economy
Diana Furchtgott-Roth wrote an article this past week outlining the economic impact of Obama's newest regulations. Obama has decided through Executive Order to institute environmental regulations similar to those in the failed "cap-and-trade" legislation from a few years ago. But Obama will now go a step further than just the regulation of power plants; regulations will include regional emissions. Regulation is stifling. It creates more barriers for American businesses which drives up costs...
The VA Scandal and Obamacare
Paul Krugman did it in 2011. Nicholas Kristof did in 2009. So did Ezra Klein. And Barack Obama did it in 2008. What did they do? They all praised the VA system as a model for health care. Krugman: “Yes, this is ‘socialized medicine’…But it works, and suggests what it will take to solve the troubles of US health care more broadly.” Kristof: It is fully government run, much more “socialized medicine” than is Canadian health care with its private doctors and hospitals. And the system for veterans...
Chesterton on Taxes
“A citizen can hardly distinguish between a tax and a fine, except that the fine is generally much lighter.” – G.K. Chesterton 5/25/31 Happy Birthday, Sir!
US Economy Shrinks For First Time Since 2011
From Bloomberg: "The economy in the U.S. contracted for the first time in three years from January through March as companies added to inventories at a slower pace and curtailed investment. Gross domestic product fell at a 1 percent annualized rate in the first quarter, a bigger decline than projected, after a previously reported 0.1 percent gain, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. The last time the economy shrank was in the same three months of 2011". Is this temporary? Is it a...
IRS Insurance Rule Keeps Employers From Putting Workers on Obamacare
The NYT reported that the IRS made yet another law clarification this past week: "Many employers — some that now offer coverage and some that do not — had concluded that it would be cheaper to provide each employee with a lump sum of money to buy insurance on an exchange, instead of providing coverage directly. But the Obama administration raised objections, contained in an authoritative question-and-answer document released by the Internal Revenue Service, in consultation with other agencies....
Quickly Noted: Million Dollar IRS “Bounty”
A nonprofit group, called The Voters Trust, "hopes to award a $1 million bounty to anyone who can provide “smoking gun” evidence to implicate IRS leadership or members of the Obama administration who purposefully targeted conservative and tea party-affiliated groups" The Voters Trust is a 501c4, whose purpose is "to identify and mobilize Americans" and “that this is the people’s bounty to seek the truth.” A press release from The Voters Trust says that, in order to be able to claim the prize,...
How The Wealthiest Paid Even Higher Taxes This Year
The Pease Amendment came into play for high income taxpayers this year once again, after a bit of a hiatus. The Pease Amendment was passed as part of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, and named after Congressman Donald Pease, who introduced it. This rule provided that if your adjusted gross income (AGI) passed a particular threshold, then some deductions would be reduced on your taxes -- thereby curbing your ability to limit your tax liability. This rule has the effect of...
Obama’s “(Don’t) Pay As You Earn” Program
Recently, the WSJ had an article drawing attention to Obama’s changes made to the student loan system for higher education. The article, while it raised good points, did not go far enough to explain the detriment to our economy that his program is causing. President Obama is intentionally undermining people’s successes -- and our nation’s success -- by encouraging large amounts of graduates to go into the government and the non-profit sectors and then subsequently forgiving student loan debt....
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Treasury
Many people this year are startled to find that the IRS is holding some or all of the portions of their tax return as a form of payment for old debt. Many so called debts are decades-old and often the debt is not even the debt of the taxpayer being targeted. How did this happen? The first part of the process began in 2008, when Congress passed HR6124, The “Food, Conservation, and Energy Act 0f 2008”, commonly known as the “Farm Bill”. On page 594-594 of the 662 page document, Section 14219...
Record Federal Tax Revenue — and Still A Deficit
It's the spending, stupid. CNS News reported today that "Federal tax revenues continue to run at a record pace in fiscal 2014, as the federal government’s total receipts for the fiscal year closed April at $1,735,030,000,000, according to the Monthly Treasury Statement. Despite this record revenue, the federal government still ran a deficit of $306.411 billion in the first seven months of the fiscal year, which began on Oct. 1, 2013 and will end on Sept. 30, 2014". The White House Office of...
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