Catching you up on clips, commentary and news of the day. Sign up for the daily email update from Scribe. It Won’t Be Pretty, as the Post-Gates Era Begins at the Defense Department – Jim Carafano Coolidge only president born on the Fourth of July – Julia Shaw U.N. Budget Cuts: Why Not Eliminate the Conference on Disarmament? – Brett Schaefer The Election Deal – Murray T. Bass Here’s a debt reduction plan: Collect billions from tax cheats – Tony Pugh Reax To Appellate Decision Upholding Health Law – Andrew Villegas …
The chief economic culprit of President Obama’s Wednesday press conference was undoubtedly “corporate jets.” He mentioned them on at least six occasions, each time offering their owners as an example of a group that should be paying more in taxes. “I think it’s only fair to ask an oil company or a corporate jet owner that has done so well,” the president stated at one point, “to give up that tax break that no other business enjoys.” But the corporate jet tax break to which Obama was referring – called …
When faced with losing one of the most brilliant companies in the country, Twitter, even San Francisco can have a moment of revelation regarding tax policy. Burdened with heavy California taxation—and San Francisco’s on top of that—Twitter presented a letter to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors giving them an option: either exempt Twitter from the city payroll tax for six years or watch the tweeting company walk. The board decided in favor of Twitter’s proposal, and Twitter signed its new lease last Friday.
U.S. taxpayers will spend $431 billion just complying with the tax code this year, according a new study by Arthur Laffer, Wayne Winegarden, and John Childs. That’s not money collected by the Internal Revenue Service; that figure represents just the value of the time taxpayers will spend keeping records and filling out tax forms, and the cost of paying professional tax preparers to do it for them, plus the cost of the bureaucracy needed to administer the tax code. That $431 billion amounts to 30 percent of the total of income taxes …
While it’s being reported that every state (except Florida) had snow on the ground this week, 46 states are digging out of another kind of mess — a combined deficit of at least $127 billion. Democratic and Republican state leaders alike are grappling with structural budget deficits, many of whom are proposing budget cuts to tackle the problem. But then there’s Illinois. President Barack Obama’s home state is beleaguered by a $15 billion budget deficit that is said to be the worst in the nation. And apparently the last thing …
House Republicans should be commended for offering an alternative vision for America’s future, in their Pledge to America. It is an important element in moving America in the right direction. Conservatives must present ideas to America that are consistent with our nation’s founding principles and empower people, not government. The Pledge rightly frames the argument to be about the choices we face going forward and the need to return to core first principles, about the role of the state, popular consent and self-government. The most important constitutional reform a new …
Marty Sullivan, a frequent commentator on tax policy, has now apparently decided the United States needs a value-added tax (VAT). To advance the cause, he penned a brief column on “VAT Lessons from Canada” [“VAT Lessons From Canada”, Martin A. Sullivan, Tax Notes, May 3, 2010.] However, in trying to portray the Canadian VAT in the best possible light, Sullivan airbrushed a couple of the more relevant facts. The most important fact for the United States and one stunning by its absence in Sullivan’s piece is that the only reason …
Does marriage provide health benefits? According to the research, it does, but not according to many in Congress. Under the Senate-passed health care bill, couples who choose to wed, or to remain wedded, will face financial penalties cohabiting couples will be spared, even if a married couple makes the exact same combined income as a cohabiting couple. Robert Rector explains that the “anti-marriage discrimination” found in the Senate bill is due to married couples’ income being counted jointly, reducing the amount of subsidies they can receive for health care. For …
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 …
The U.S. House of Representative could vote as early as Wednesday of this week to increase the estate tax (known popularly as the death tax). The bill it will consider, sponsored by Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-North Dakota), would extend permanently the death tax at its current 45 percent rate and $3.5 million exemption. This extension would be a drastic tax increase since the death tax expires on January 1, 2010. In addition, the Pomeroy bill would be a repudiation of the policy stands of several past Congresses that all agreed …
