TAX POLITIX
The Politics of Taxes
Payroll Extension Havoc
While Congress debated the merits of the two-month extension of the payroll tax holiday, no one mentioned the devasting economic impact this legislation will have on our small and large businesses, nor the tens of millions of dollars wasted by the Senate to come up with this hiccup. Our Senate did a disengenous job at compromise merely to enable them to go home on vacation. There is absolutely no consideration of the havoc being wreaked on our economy and our businesses due to the instability...
Ron Schmidt on Income Inequality
A fresh perspective on the myth and the reality of income inequality in the United States. Ronald Schmidt, professor of business administration at the Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester, says analysis of IRS data shows a "movement toward less inequality." Schmidt talks with Bloomberg's Ken Prewitt and Tom Keene on Bloomberg Radio's "Bloomberg Surveillance." Listen here to Ron Schmidt's interview this morning. Update: For an exposition of Schmidt's income...
The World According to Debbie Wasserman Schultz
You can't make this stuff up. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Chair of the DNC)states on national television that unemployment has not gone up under President Obama. See for yourself. Thankfully for the rest of us, the folks over at HotAir were quick to put together some information (also known as "Facts") about the unemployment rate. Here are a few facts that seem to have gotten past Wasserman Shultz as the head of a major political party, and as a member of Congress: Jobless rate in January 2009:...
Dick Durbin Defends Social Security
Dick Durbin has a love affair with Social Security. How else can one man continuously defend Social Security and mislead the country about its insolvency? He incessantly claims that Social Security does not add to the deficit. What he doesn't tell you is that is he specifically and purposefully excludes accounting for the billions in promised future payments to workers. And consider this: A company or organization earns $100.00 but spends $200.00. It only has to pay $100.00 now, while the...
The Payroll Tax Cut, er, Increase
Other pundits are writing about tax cuts and wondering how aloud how the Republicans vote against a tax cut. The answer is simple: the temporary payroll Social Security tax reduction is not, never was, and never will be a tax cut. There are many ways to look at the 2% reduction in the Social Security tax that is being collected. But effectively, it is no more than a spending increase all dressed up to look like a tax cut. The cost to taxpayers was $120 billion dollars. Congress simply decided...
Friedman on Economic Fallacy
The late Dr. Milton Friedman cogently expels one of the most persistent economic fallacies regarding the government, spending, and producing. Take 3 minutes and be enlightened and entertained.
Obama & Wealth Redistribution
While pushing for a Social Security payroll tax extension, Obama wants a 3.25% surtax on millionaires to pay for it. This is wealth redistribution under the guise of "fairness". Are you going to cut taxes for the middle class and those who are trying to get into the middle class, or are you going to protect massive tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires?" he said. "Are you going to ask a few hundred thousand people who have done very, very well to do their fair share or are you going to...
Herman Cain’s Social Security Problem
Though I applaud the refreshing boldness that Mr. Cain had shown by proposing to America an actual plan for tax reform, there are two serious drawbacks to his solution that show his fiscal naivete. Most critics would point to the unsavory proposal of having both a sales and income tax in force at the same time, making it possible for future Congresses to increase rates and turn us into Europe. But it is actually the plan's impact on Social Security that is most devastating. Cain's plan would...
Clyburn’s Super Committee Super Failure
Senator James Clyburn's (D-SC) appearance on Fox News Sunday on November 13 regarding the Super Committee was a disgrace. If he is representative of the Democrats on the committeee, there really is no hope that any meaningful conclusion can be reached by November 23rd. His analysis of tax loopholes and deficit reduction was utterly inaccurate. In the first instance, Clyburn disagreed with the premise that cutting loopholes results in a tax increase. He clearly doesn't understand that the...
The Gift Tax and the Super Committee
There are rumors circulating around the country that the Congressional Super Committee may take action that would immediately repeal the $5 million gift tax exemption by Thanksgiving. This is sending countless tax lawyers and accountants scurrying to complete gift planning that the law tells them they have until December 31, 2012 to complete. The lifetime gift level tax exemption was temporarily increased to $5 million under the 2010 Tax Relief Act for 2011 and 2012. Neither the Obama...
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