President Obama has consistently ducked the question on whether he is considering a massive tax hike in the form of a value added tax (VAT) – until now. Yesterday in an interview with CNBC, the president made clear that he is open to a VAT – once he has seen the recommendations his Debt Commission makes. The president’s comments spell out what has been obvious for months: the debt commission is a stalking horse for the VAT as the solution to close massive deficits today and in the future. A …
The danger of higher taxes in the future is thwarting economic recovery today. Businesses make investment and hiring decisions based on their expectations of future profitability. If they expect to be more profitable in the future they will hire. If they do not they hold back on expansion. They base their expectations of future returns on estimates of their sales and costs years down the line. Uncertainty in either makes predictions difficult and causes them to put off decisions until they have a better idea what their bottom line will …
The death tax will expire tonight as soon as the ball drops and 2010 officially begins. This is good news for the businesses and families the tax plagues. Unfortunately, this triumph may be short-lived as Congressional leaders have pledged to revive the death tax in the new year and make it retroactive so anyone that passes away during the period the tax is repealed will still have to pay. This could be difficult legally and will undoubtedly lead to many lawsuits that will play out for years. Not to mention …
The U.S. House of Representatives will likely vote tomorrow to continue about 50 expiring tax incentives known as “tax extenders.” It must do so each year to prevent significant tax increases for some taxpayers. This year, however, the House will likely pass increases in other taxes to offset the supposed cost of the tax extenders. This is nothing more than Congress hiding behind the guise of fiscal discipline as an excuse to raise taxes year after year. Continuing the tax extenders is not a tax cut. It is the prevention …
Congress is discussing yet another tax increase. This one would be a tax on stock transactions and could fund a new jobs bill since it has become apparent to everyone that the stimulus failed to create any jobs on net. This was underscored again when the Labor Department reported Friday another 11,000 job loss for November. The job-destroying stock transactions tax gained traction this week when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she “believe(s) the transaction tax still has a great deal of merit.” Improving business confidence is the great missing …
When President Barack Obama was trying to sell his $787 billion economic stimulus plan to the American people, there was no louder cheerleader for the plan than Mark Zandi of Moody’s Economy.com. Zandi confidently produced scientific tables purporting to prove that for every $1 the Obama administration gave to states, GDP would grow by exactly $1.36. Zandi later produced an analysis claiming that Obama’s stimulus would create 2.2 million jobs. But as millions of Americans now know all too well, Zandi was very, very wrong. President Obama’s stimulus has completely …
The U.S. House of Representatives will vote this week on a bill that would permanently extend the estate tax (known better as the death tax) at its current rate and exemption level. This extension would prevent the death tax from expiring as scheduled on January 1, 2010. As such it would be a significant tax increase. Before voting to extend the death tax, Congress should consider the devastating impact it has on family-owned businesses. Grande Harvest Wine, a family-owned wine retailer operating in Grand Central Terminal in New York City, …
The U.S. House of Representatives will vote this week on a bill that would permanently extend the estate tax (known better as the death tax) at its current rate and exemption level. This extension would prevent the death tax from expiring as scheduled on January 1, 2010. As such it would be a significant tax increase. Before voting to extend the death tax, Congress should consider the devastating impact it has on family-owned businesses. Reliable Contracting, a family-owned business in Millersville, Maryland, for example, had to pay a death tax …
Last month when the White House released its visitor log for the first six months of the Obama presidency, one name appeared far more often than any other: Service Employee International Union (SEIU) President Andrew Stern. Stern has every right to expect to be welcome in the Obama White House. He has repeatedly bragged about the fact that under his leadership, the SEIU spent $60.7 million to elect Barack Obama president. Stern and Obama collectively support ever expanding federal government programs and state government bailouts which are rapidly bankrupting our country. …
The federal government is estimated to run a 2009 budget deficit of $1.845 trillion. While it is true that President George W. Bush handed President Barack Obama a $1,186 billion deficit for the year, Obama has only added to that total to the tune of $659 billion. Worse, President Obama’s budget shows average deficits of $855 billion over the next decade, which would double the publicly held national debt by 2019. And that does not even count Obama’s budget-busting health care spending. But don’t worry; the Obama Justice Department just …
