The Role that Bush-Era Tax and Spending Policies Play in the Deficit
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The Tax Foundation crunches the numbers to see if it’s true that “the economic downturn, President Bush’s tax cuts and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq explain virtually the entire deficit over the next ten years.”
1) Tax revenues have fluctuated largely with the economy, dropping precipitously in the aftermath of the 2008 recession, …
Why 70% Tax Rates Won’t Work
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Alan Reynolds is great in explaining the income tax facts of life. Higher tax rates on the rich do not bring in nearly as much revenue as lower tax rates. It’s important to emphasize that tax rates are not the same as tax revenues. Higher rates do not automatically bring higher revenues. In fact, historically, …
Further Thoughts on Taxes and Spending
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William Voegeli takes on the idea that “it’s absurd to cut spending because we tax the wealthiest Americans less today than we did in 1955”.
First he illustrates that today’s rich pay more in taxes than the rich of 1955 did. (They pay more in real dollar terms, even if they do pay less in percentage …
Life Insurance Likes the Estate Tax
… In steps the helpful life insurance company. For a hefty annual premium, they can help provide the money to pay the tax man, without needing to sell cherished family assets. If the estate tax goes, how many of these wealthy individuals will need life insurance? None, probably. Poof. There goes 10% of the industry’s revenues.
Are Income Tax Rates the Problem?
Income tax revenue, as a share of GDP, has stayed fairly constant throughout the past 50 years. Raising taxes on “the rich” won’t do much to solve the deficit problem.
Popularizing Deadweight Loss
When you hear someone mention the “deadweight loss of taxes” on the economy, this is exactly what they mean: taxes that result in the government not getting money and consumers not getting what they wanted.
The Power to Tax is the Power to Govern
[B]etter luck next time kids. Your Aldermen, County Board members, state Assemblymen, state Senators, and Governor long ago gave up the right to actually govern this state. As a result, they’re powerless to help you now.
Your dividend taxes are going up
From the Wall Street Journal:
As the big tax increase day of January 1, 2011 approaches, the Democrats running Congress are beginning to lay out their priorities. Get ready for bigger rate increases than previously advertised.
Last week the Senate Budget Committee passed a fiscal 2011 budget resolution that includes an increase in the top tax rate on dividends to 39.6% from the current 15%—a 164% increase. This blows past the 20% rate that President Obama proposed in his 2011 budget and which his economic advisers promised on these pages in 2008.
Two Reasons to Dislike the Government
Liberals might want to consider that one of the reasons most people don’t like government is the behavior of, well, government. Two stories caught my eye this morning.
First: One-Fourth of Nonprofits Are to Lose Tax Breaks – NYTimes.com.
As many as 400,000 nonprofit organizations are weeks away from a doomsday.
At …
The "bank tax" is unconstitutional and illegal
I listen to the President’s Weekly Radio Address every week. It’s usually a painful process, since I almost always disagree with the President. (That’s been true for both President Bush and President Obama, in case you’re wondering.)
Last week’s address was particularly painful. It was almost scary to listen to. The President spoke quite passionately about …