Tag: Taxation

Wait For It! It Is Coming!

The most horrible word that can be politically uttered is……TAXATION!  Nobody wants to pay more or higher taxes…no matter where we live, the taxation is too much….but the reality is that taxes must be paid if the services that the people demand are to be provided….sorry, it is just that simple.

If you want to get elected in the US, you run on a lower taxes platform and you will usually get elected….promise the voter lower taxes and taste victory……people have been running on that promise for decades and so far it has NOT worked the way it was promised….but yet the next election we get the same lame promises and those making them get elected….the people do NOT learn from their mistakes……it is called democracy….

This election cycle we have a bit of a different lean going on….whether you call it a Fair Tax or a Value Added Tax (VAT), regardless what they want to call it…there will be higher taxes or at least a more fair taxation than we have now….even some of America’s biggest capitalists see the need…like Warren Buffet, the Oracle of Omaha…..

“In the end we are not taxing enough, unfortunately, or we’re spending too much, probably some of each,” Buffett told FOX Business’ Liz Claman. “We’ve got a gap of 10 percentage points between what we’re raising in taxes and what we’re spending. One way or another we are going to have to close that gap in a major way, so if some of those taxes fall on me, or some fall on Berkshire, that’s probably the way it should be.”

Irregardless what you think…if we are to protect our children and grandchildren from the disaster waiting on the horizon, then we will be paying higher taxes….but it will be…WHO will be paying the higher taxes and will it be a joint venture of all Americans?  The thing to remember is that all taxes are bad, but public services that are promised to the people must be paid for in some way….and that way is through taxation….

The US is giving away its tax base all in the name of things like the “free markets”………companies get a free pass on taxes if they locate in a certain area or make a certain product or….well you get the idea….that is revenue lost……then we have a volume of tax deductions that help wealthy people avoid the fair share of the taxes…..another lost revenue…then there is the social security tax and Medicare tax….if you make above a certain amount then you do NOT have to pay any more SS taxes….more revenue lost……and there is more that gives away the revenue that the government could use to either lower the deficit or eliminate it.

Americans will be paying higher taxes…but the question is… will it be all Americans are just those working and surviving by the seat of their pants?  The real answer would be to eliminate tax avoidance.   It will be telling to watch the debate….that will tell one where the taxes will come from….will it be just YOU or from everyone?

What Are They Yelling About?

Daily Agitator

I am referring to the Tea Party folk……I see the signs about over-taxation and taxed too much and taxation without representation and on and on and……..ad nauseum!

But the TRUTH and I hope you realize the emphasis on the word TRUTH…..is something a bit different than what the GOP and the TP would have us believe……

You wouldn’t know it from the clamor of anti-tax protests, but Americans turned over a lower share of their income to the taxman last year than at any time since the Truman administration, according to a USA Today analysis. State, local, and federal taxes took up 9.2% of income last year, the lowest proportion since 1950 and well below the average of 12% over the last 50 years.

The tax rate paid by all Americans has shrunk 26% since the recession began in 2007, largely because of tax cuts in the stimulus package and lower consumer spending reducing the amount of sales tax paid. Do the figures mean all those Tea Party tax protests are wrong-headed? Not so, says Adam Brandon at protest organizer FreedomWorks. The real problem, he says, is runaway spending and the huge deficit, which is going to have to be paid for by future taxes.

That from a post on Newser on 12 May 2010.

Just what are they worked up about?  If the taxation thing is not it, then what?  Could it be a color thing and the tax thing is just a cover?  What are these uninformed people really protesting?

Taxes Owed?

Daily Agitator

I recently heard a Repub Senator, Judd Gregg, mention that we should collect all the taxes that are owed to help solve part of the deficit problem…..now I had to have a good chuckle at this….

First, there are lawyers waiting in line to see that YOU do NOT pay all your taxes…just watch the tube….you will see at least 4 different firms that are clamoring for your business…..second, what a crock of crap!  Do you think that any wealthy person or corporation is going to pay their fair share of the taxes?  If you do think you need to return to the ICU for a Thorazine shot…..

Here is an idea!  The GOP is pushing for tort reform as part of any health reform…as a matter of fact it is in their top 5 reasons we need reform…then why not go the next step and demand tax reform?  Why not make it damn near impossible to NOT pay your taxes?  And that includes our lovely batch of Reps in Washington, who always have a better idea but somehow never involves them…..

A couple good ideas….but…..we will NOT see these anytime soon…..why?…..corporate cash for politicians program….so they only things you will see as a way to help the deficit is entitlements…….seniors will be forced to work until they are 80…..Medicare will be made harder to get……and social security will be attacked to the point that they try to eliminate it in favor of some lame ass savings account…..there are the answers they have to the deficit…..and you elected these guys…..how is that working out for you?

Politicians keep saying that they have to make “hard choices”….laughable at best….why?  They make the decisions that are most politically advantageous for them there are no “hard choices” to be made…only actions that NEVER help the people …..actions that will help in winning their next election.

Can you feel the love?

Has GOP Finally Found A Hook?

Looks like the GOP has found that long elusive hook for their opposition to any health reform…..took the dimwits long enough…..they seem to have stumbled onto the “hook” finally….

All summer long they were shooting their wads at reform….death panels…..socialism….government run……fascism…..on and on….a whole litany of non-existent fears….and with each “new” attack the party would pull a few more people from the rolls of the pro-reform camp.

After a long summer of craziness…..that elusive issue has made it to their attacks……

I know…..I know…..would I please get to the point and stop dragging this out…..what the Hell did they find that would help their cause and attacks on health reform?

One word…ABORTION!

But I bet you thought that that issue had been settled earlier in the summer, right?  Think again!  The NY Times is reporting in yesterday’s edition:

Abortion opponents in both the House and the Senate are seeking to block the millions of middle- and lower-income people who might receive federal insurance subsidies to help them buy health coverage from using the money on plans that cover abortion. And the abortion opponents are getting enough support from moderate Democrats that both sides say the outcome is too close to call. Opponents of abortion cite as precedent a 30-year-old ban on the use of taxpayer money to pay for elective abortions.

With each attack, whether true or misleading, more and more Americans are being peeled off of the side of change….and as this happens, it appears that the country could be moving into a more conservative posture…(a future post in the making)….but will this issue bring down the health reform bill?  Probably not, but stranger things have happened…..abortion was attempt to be used this past summer and the Dems adjusted their wording to silence the opposition on the matter, but now……it is BACK!

But with that said…it needs to be pointed out that they, Republicans,  were standing on the pier and the ship went right pass them….they missed the boat and continue to miss the boat….

But after a summer of calling Dems socialists/Nazis/Death dealers/etc…..a whole litany of lies and misinformation…letting the conservs on radio and TV lead the opposition and to set the agenda…..I have but one thing to say to the GOP…….

Are you dipsticks ignorant or just plain stupid?  Why do I ask?  All the bills that have come out of both chambers and all the committees have increased taxation…..I mean you idiots tried to scare the public with made up crap….why not use something that really exist?  Like…….. TAXES!

If this is the best you morons can do…then the Dems do not have a whole lot to worry about in 2010……I mean if you cannot use one of your tired old attacks, especially when it would be spot on for a change, then maybe you need to make the talking heads on the air waves your leaders….because the ones you have no are IMPOTENT!

What About A Flat Tax?

For years I have argued that there needs to be a flat tax in the US….of say 10-15% with NO deductions or loopholes for the wealthy to take advantage of in the year end accounting…..well it has been a long uphill climb to say the least.  I also like a land value tax, first put forth by economist Henry George, yet another uphill stumble….that is for another day though…(if one wants more info in the LVT go to my page on the subject)

For now let us talk about the flat tax, the Conservative Party candidate for the state of New York, Hoffman has thrown it into the campaign in the state election:

The U.S. currently uses a progressive tax system, under which people who earn more money pay a greater percentage of their total income in taxes. A flat tax would have every wage earner pay the same percentage of their income in taxes – no matter how much or how little they earn. The flat tax would also eliminate deductions that are allowed under the current laws.

Supporters of a flat tax argue that such a tax is fairer to everyone and would result in many people actually paying less in taxes than they do now. Because a flat tax is simple, more people would pay their taxes and the cost of overseeing the income tax system would decrease, they claim.

Opponents argue that a flat tax places a disproportionate burden on lower- and middle-income wage earners.

Flat tax plans have been brought forth periodically in recent years, with little success. Democrat Jerry Brown included a flat tax proposal in his platform during his 1992 presidential bid. Republican Steve Forbes proposed a similar plan during his presidential bid four years later. Republican Richard Armey, who served as majority leader in the House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003, championed the idea in the House and has continued to press the proposal since leaving office.

Now there is an idea, but the is one thing that immediately turned me off the plan……and that thing is Richard Armey (Dick)…..one of the sponsors of the Tea Party theater….and a lobbyist that is too far right for the common good….

Dick Armey and I have had little consensus on the subject of governance and now that he thinks it is a good idea…makes me re-think my acceptance of the idea…..

Is It A Tax Increase?

Taxes…Taxes….Who gets the taxes?

Congress has been all a twitter (pun intended) about the tax increases proposed by the Obama admin and then the admin shakes its head and promises NO new taxes….the question is….is there tax increases or not?

If it is a government program, whether Dem or Repub, it will contain tax increases…but sometimes they are hidden by flowery language….but a tax increase by any other name is still just that…a TAX INCREASE.

And the Baucus bill that was voted on does just that…though it is not a final draft, it will help word the final bill.

Page 29, sentence one of the bill introduced by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont) says: “The consequence for not maintaining insurance would be an excise tax.”

And the rest of the bill is clear that the Finance Committee does, in fact, consider it a tax: “The excise tax would be assessed through the tax code and applied as an additional amount of Federal tax owed.”

The bill requires every American, with few exceptions, to carry health insurance. To enforce this individual mandate, the Senate Finance Committee created the excise tax as a penalty for people who don’t have insurance – and it can run as much as $3,800 a year per family.

Even the House draft has wording that is a tax, it is just that plain and that simple:

The House bill also refers to the penalties for not carrying insurance as a tax. It calls for a “tax on individuals without acceptable health care coverage” and amends the tax code to implement it.

Conservatives Dems wanted it, the bill, to be deficit neutral and about the best way to do that is to raise taxes…in some fashion or another.
I want the politicians to STOP playing these damn silly games…..ALL programs, whether from Conservs or liberals, have to be funded….and who do you think is the funding mechanism?  (I will give pause for thought).
My point is that no matter which of the power elites are in power….taxes are the revenue needed to fund the government…..taxes will go up and those in the power offices will deny that it is taxes…..no matter what you call it people….you will pay and pay and…….it is not a Repub thing or a Dem thing…it is just simply….REALITY.

That Is Right…..A Fat Tax!

I have written several posts on the idea of making FAT a sin or making FAT socially unacceptable…..many in the media are jumping on the anti-fat thing, some go so far as to accuse people that are “fat” of all sorts of mortal sins….lazy…gluttony….etc….well, there is another way of doing this….another way of doing what they say cannot be done…..TAX THE BASTARDS! (sarcasm intended).

First it was Alabama…this story came from the LA Times:

The State Employees’ Insurance Board announced a new plan beginning next year in which state employees will be required to receive medication screenings for several conditions, including body mass index. Those considered obese or who have high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high glucose will have to pay $25 a month more in health insurance beginning in January 2011, if they don’t take steps to address their health problems.

The new rule will affect more than 37,000 people employed by the state. Alabama is the first state to issue a so-called fat tax. The state already charges smokers a $24 per month surcharge (which will increase to $25 next month).

Alabama has the second highest obesity rate in the country, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Just over 30% of the population is obese, ranking just behind Mississippi. Still, a fat tax?

And then another Southern state has jumped on the bandwagon.  The NewsObserver.com:

“Tobacco use and poor nutrition and inactivity are the leading causes of preventable deaths in our state,” said Anne Rogers, director of integrated health management with the N.C. State Employees Health Plan. “We need a healthy workforce in this state. We’re trying to encourage individuals to adopt healthy lifestyles.”

State workers who don’t cut out the Marlboros and Big Macs will end up paying more for health care. Tobacco users get placed in a more expensive insurance plan starting in July and, for those who qualify as obese, in July 2011.

The idea of penalizing unhealthy lifestyles and rewarding healthy conduct is hardly new among insurance plans. Public health insurance plans in other states already penalize smokers or reward nonsmokers in insurance costs. South Carolina’s state employees health plan is scheduled to add a $25-per-month surcharge on smokers in January. Elsewhere in the Southeast, Kentucky and Georgia impose surcharges, and Alabama gives nonsmokers a discount.

Tobacco and obesity are leading risk factors for ailments such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and chronic breathing disorders. BioSignia is not under contract with the state health plan, but Smith said that employers like the state are trying to catch employees who are in pre-disease stages to save both lives and money.

Only a fraction of employers, though, offer financial incentives for healthy behavior or wellness programs, such as gym memberships or smoking cessation, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation study last year. Differences in employees’ education, health literacy and access to basic health care could affect the usefulness of financial incentives in reducing health-care costs over time, the study said.

How lovely!  What is next….. Beer?  After all beer has a way of showing up on one’s waistline.  Granted there is already some taxation on beer and alcohol, there is always more room for expansion of that tax.

Yes, once again this is government inserting itself in people’s lives…you know the same government that seems not to want to do anything about guns and crime…..or the same government that seems reluctant to do anything about the effects of carbon emissions…that is also the cause of illness and bad for people’s health…..

If this survives any court challenge then the rest of the states will run herd over their employees.  Workers will have something else to make their pay checks smaller….and the insurance companies smile……

Taxation To Come?

All states are suffering for a budgetary shortfall….why?….basically they have given away all revenue to business and now needs to find ways to extend their income……good plan, but who will pay and who will benefit?

Well, California seems to have an idea as reported by the LA Times:

The most obvious thing about the big, complicated tax reform scheme that will go to the Legislature this week is that millionaires would save an average of $109,000 a year. Taxpayers making between $40,000 and $50,000 would save $4. This is not a typo.

The plan, still awaiting a final draft, is the work of the grandly named California Commission on the 21st Century Economy, which held its final official meeting last Monday. But it’s been clear from the beginning that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, in setting it up last fall, was aiming to do precisely that: enact big cuts for upper-income taxpayers and create what’s become a pea-under-the-shelltax system to make up the lost revenue.

Under the commission’s BNRT proposal, all California businesses would pay a tax, probably about 4%, on their net receipts, which would be calculated by subtracting the cost of the goods they’ve purchased from their gross receipts. That makes it roughly like a VAT, the value-added tax used in most of Europe, but not similar enough to be comparable. Under the BNRT, there would be no deduction for labor costs, not even for employee health plans.

That element alone creates incentives for firms to purchase parts from abroad and, depending on how the courts rule on a string of unsettled legal issues regarding taxation of out-of-state entities, maybe even from Oregon or New York, rather than making them with their own workers in California. “It appears to be a tax on employees,” wrote the state Chamber of Commerce and other groups. And because the tax is built into the price of California goods and services, it also could make them less competitive in other states and abroad.

Something to watch…..even though some states have found alternate avenues to gain revenue, this, if it passes, could be the future for other states that are in sad need of revenue.

My state is scrambling around trying to find new sources of revenue without hitting business……business is the life blood of the politicians of my state and the bane of the workers.  Anything they could do to drop the bulk of revenue responsibility onto the worker the better….business will never be asked to shoulder any responsibility.

Fight The Fat—Tax Sodas

The US is in the midst of trying to stop the fall into obesity of the American people….NY has outlawed trans fats in Restaurants, others are pushing for a tax on fast foods to try and curb the consumption of said food stuffs and now health experts are proposinbg the ultimate tax—

Several of the nation’s leading health experts are calling for a tax on soda as a means of curbing America’s obesity-epidemic.

Their paper, appearing in the most recent issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, calls for a tax on “sugar-sweetened” drinks in order to reduce the consumption of the drinks and lower health costs as well as fund government-run health programs.

“A tax on sugar-sweetened beverages is really a double-win,” said Dr. David Ludwig, a co-author of the paper and director of the Optimal Weight for Life program at Children’s Hospital, Boston.

“We can raise much-needed dollars while likely reducing obesity prevalence, which is a major driver of health care costs, the paper states. “Ultimately the government needs to raise more money to cover the deficit, and in terms of ways of raising that revenue, a tax on sugar sweetened beverages is really a no-brainer.”

Is this the answer?  To tax the choices people make when they eat?  If so, why not tax everything that is considered unhealthy and lower the cost of so-called “organic” products that are healthier to eat?

I want to see how many people jump on this…especially those who think the we should have more individual responsibility.

The South Still Amazes

I live in the South and I have written many times about the lunacy that seems to invade the mental process in this section of the country.  recently a friend and reader sent me an email about a story that she thought was totally bizarre.

Paul McCrory won’t go deer hunting until November, but Louisiana’s new ‘‘sales tax holiday’’ on hunting equipment makes this weekend his best opportunity to shop for bullets and a new rifle.

Gun shop owners report customers like McCrory are enthusiastically planning to stock up on bullets, shells, shotguns, rifles and handguns — all of which will be sold without the 6 percent state sales tax or local sales taxes Friday through Sunday. That means a 9-percent tax break for Baton Rouge shoppers, several of whom said they planned to take full advantage.

The tax break is a natural fit for the state known as ‘‘Sportsman’s Paradise,’’ and debuts at the same time dove hunting season starts. The inspiration for the ‘‘Annual Louisiana Second Amendment Weekend Tax Holiday’’ came from South Carolina, the first and only other state with such a law. South Carolina introduced its tax holiday over two days last year and is scheduled to lift taxes again in November on guns and bullets.

As was true in South Carolina, the Louisiana proposal faced little opposition in the Legislature, where many members campaigned as pro-firearm and want to avoid angering the National Rifle Association and other gun lobbies.

But Louisiana’s tax break goes much farther than South Carolina’s: Sales taxes are waived on any item that could be used for hunting or fishing, including clothes, shoes and bags. Also included: off-road vehicles, airboats, flat-bottomed boats called pirogues, animal feed, firearm and archery accessories, range finders, binoculars, knives, decoys, duck blinds, chairs, ear plugs, holsters, belts and slingshots.

While some states are giving a tax holiday on school clothes and supplies or on hurricane prep supplies…..Louisiana has decided that the best place for a tax break is in the buying of guns.  Just like most of the Southern states…all tax benefits are for those who need them the least….a total ignoring of the poor and unemployed…..they refuse to live in reality that tax reveue is the way states pay their bills….but they continue to have budgetary problems because of the stupidity of their elected officials.

The South has shown to be still living in the early 20 th century…..dislike of a black pres……anger at health reform even though most of those angered are dependent on the government for their present health care.