Taxation Without Constitution

Lord Obama on Shared Sacrifice

"So what's the definition of shared sacrifice, and what's the definition of 'forward?' 54 Christmas trees, a 300 lb. gingerbread presidential palace, and a dandy $4 million Hawaiian vacation. Robert Keith Gray, a former Eisenhower staffer, revealed that last year the U.S. presidency cost American taxpayers $1.4 billion. Over the same period, the entire royal family cost British taxpayers about $57 million. There’s nothing 'royal' about the current level of 'presidential perks': The Obama family costs taxpayers more than every European royal house put together." Continue reading →

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Fiscal Cliff Deal: $1 in Spending Cuts for Every $41 in Tax Increases

"Matthew Boyle at Breitbart now reports that the according to the Congressional Budget Office, the last-minute fiscal cliff deal reached by congressional leaders and President Barack Obama cuts only $15 billion in spending while increasing tax revenues by $620 billion—a 41:1 ratio of tax increases to spending cuts." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFiscal Cliff Deal: $1 in Spending Cuts for Every $41 in Tax Increases

Congress, federal workers to get raise

"Members of Congress will be getting a small pay increase next year. Under an executive order issued by President Obama on Thursday, members of Congress will join federal workers in seeing their pay rise by 0.5 percent after March 27. Congressmen and senators make $174,000 a year and will see an extra $900 in their annual pay packages before taxes next year." Continue reading →

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Why You Might Only Be Able to Get Part-Time Work in 2013

"Here is what I am doing for the rest of the year -- working with every manager in my company so that as of January 1, 2013, none of our employees are working more than 28 hours a week. We have got to get our company under 50 full time employees or else I am facing a bill from Obamacare in 2014 that will be several times larger than my annual profit. I love my workers. They make me a success. But most of my competitors are small businesses that are exempt from the Obamacare hammer. To compete, I must make sure my company is exempt as well. This means that our 400+ full time employees will have to be less than 50 in 2013." Continue reading →

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New Taxes to Take Effect to Fund Health Care Law

"Among the most affluent fifth of households, those affected will see tax increases averaging $6,000 next year, economists estimate. The law does not provide for the money to be deposited in a specific trust fund. It is added to the government’s general tax revenues and can be used for education, law enforcement, farm subsidies or other purposes. Under another provision of the health care law, consumers may find it more difficult to obtain a tax break for unreimbursed medical expenses. In addition, workers face a new $2,500 limit on the amount they can contribute to flexible spending accounts used to pay medical expenses." Continue reading →

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How Congress Snuck in a 3.8% Tax Increase that Will Kick in on Jan. 1

"Scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, the tax, which was adopted as part of the 2010 health-care law, is a 3.8 percent levy on interest, dividends, capital gains and passive business income received by taxpayers with incomes exceeding $200,000 (or $250,000 for couples). Because the new tax was added to the health-care law late in the process without congressional hearings, it received little attention at the time. With only a few weeks left before it takes effect, it remains largely unknown. One problem with the unearned income Medicare contribution tax is the name Congress chose for it, which is a triple misnomer." Continue reading →

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Why Your Take Home Pay WILL DROP in 2013

"The headlines all talk about taxes being increased, as a result of Obama and Boehner scheming, for those earning over $400,000 per year, perhaps $1 million per year. Nothing for you to worry about, right? Not so fast. Little discussed is the fact that the payroll tax is very likely to go up. Letting the payroll tax rate revert to the old 6.2% from the current 4.2% would raise government revenue by about $125 billion next year, equivalent to 0.8% of total U.S. economic output, according to J.P. Morgan Chase. WSJ estimates that it will mean an average tax increase of about $1,000 a year for the typical American household making about $50,000 annually." Continue reading →

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Merry Christmas: Congress Could Vote for an Online Sales Tax before the End of the Year

"With less than five weeks to go in the year, supporters are concentrating most of their efforts on the Senate, where a measure giving states greater latitude to collect sales taxes from online purchases has a powerful backer in Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), says Politico. Both the Senate and House proposals would allow states to collect sales taxes from internet retailers located in other states, an approach that also has been backed by prominent GOP governors, such as Cato favorite Chris Christie." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMerry Christmas: Congress Could Vote for an Online Sales Tax before the End of the Year

Tell me again… which of these nations is communist?

"Tax rates across the board in the United States are set to increase dramatically in 2013. Currently the government will charge a 35% tax on the value of your estate that exceeds $5 million. If you happen to kick the bucket on January 1st, however, the tax goes up to 55%, and the exemption goes down to $1 million. This exemption is not indexed to inflation. Perhaps most shocking is increase in dividend tax rates, set to rise from 15% to as high as 43.4%. Ironically, the new government of the People’s Republic of China has decided the REDUCE their tax on dividends. Effective January 1st, the dividend tax rate in China will drop to a mere 5%." Continue reading →

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Coerced Foreign Tax Compliance Is Killing American Jobs

"No doubt thanks in part to FATCA, foreign direct investment in the US for the first half of 2012 declined by 39.2% over the prior year, and China surpassed the US as the world’s largest recipient of global foreign direct investment for the first time since 2003. At a time when Washington should be pursuing policies designed to attract foreign investment capital to American shores, politicians seem intent on driving it away." Continue reading →

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