Free Republic

In the recent debates, both Obama and Biden have told us that under their tax plan is about ‘fairness’ and that no one will pay ‘no more than they did under Ronald Reagan’. These are boldface lies which we can not let stand. Karl Rove pointed this out after the VP debate on Fox, but even the well informed Rove only got it part right. Reagan’s top tax rate was 28%, and social security and Medicare were capped. Under Obama’s plan, the top rate would go up to 39.6%, much higher than Obama and Biden are telling us. But that...

WASHINGTON – Helio Castroneves, a U.S. resident and two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, was indicted by a grand jury today on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States of income taxes and with six separate counts of income tax evasion for tax years 1999 through 2004, announced the Justice Department, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida R. Alexander Acosta and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Special Agent-in-Charge Michael E. Yasofsky Jr. Also charged in the indictment were Helio Castroneves’ sister and business manager, Katiucia Castroneves of Miami, and his attorney, Alan R. Miller of Michigan.

WASHINGTON — The federal government may need hundreds of billions of dollars to rescue the financial services industry — but it shouldn't come from raising taxes, Rep. John M. McHugh said Saturday. Mr. McHugh, R-Pierrepont Manor, said he is still firmly behind extending the Bush administration's tax cuts even as Washington faces a heavy price tag for the Wall Street bailout. Some congressional Democrats have seized on the bailout as one more reason to criticize the tax cuts and to call for ending some of them as the federal government looks for ways to pay for the bailout, which could...

There have been some tax calculators posted today, and a Yahoo article promoting one of them. They portray only the proposed income tax changes, without NObama's ideas for raising Social Security and Medicare taxes. I couldn't find the Yahoo article that was running earlier, can anyone else? NObama's tax plans should be exposed for the sham they are, please do what you can!

Carbon tax to impact SarniaLIBERAL GREEN SHIFT KEY PLANK IN PARTY'S CAMPAIGN Posted By SHAWN JEFFORDS, THE OBSERVER Posted 17 hours ago Green shift or green shaft? That's what Sarnia-Lambton must decide as it ponders the Liberal Party's controversial carbon tax to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the impact it would have on the Chemical Valley and consumers. Dean Edwardson, general manager of the industry-funded Sarnia-Lambton Environmental Association, said he's skeptical of Liberal leader Stephane Dion's "Green Shift" strategy. "Anytime you bring a new tax in there's an impact," Edwardson said. "It's difficult to determine what the impact will be...

Joe Biden isn't backing down from his startling claim last week that raising taxes on the rich is the "patriotic" thing to do. On Thursday he upped the ante, thundering that he also has Jesus in his corner. "Catholic social doctrine as I was taught it is, you take care of people who need the help the most," Mr. Biden preached to a group of union supporters on Thursday. Heavens! The political left likes to score Republicans for claiming that God is on their side, but here we have Mr. Biden claiming support from both God and Caesar. If Sarah...

A youthful attempt to party their way to popularity and some exaggerated MySpace boasting have turned into a $320,000 tax nightmare for five current and former University of Central Oklahoma students. “This is crazy,” said Julius Baroi, co-founder of Kegheadz, a loosely organized Edmond-based party business. “The Tax Commission claims we owe more than $300,000. We don't have enough money between us to pay $6,000 to hire an attorney. They won't listen to us.” Paula Ross, spokesperson for the Oklahoma Tax Commission, said she couldn't comment on an individual taxpayer's case. Although the Tax Commission wants to tax Kegheadz like...

As election day comes ever nearer, Democrats and open-government advocates are pressing for the GOP vice presidential candidate to release her tax filings, a campaign tradition that extends at least to the post-Watergate era. Instead, Palin has to date declined to share the documents, becoming part of an ever-more-select historical group of candidates who waited until this late in a campaign year to release their tax filings. Since 1976, every major-party presidential and vice-presidential candidate has provided that information to the public, according to an analysis by ABC News. Until Palin, only three hopefuls have held onto their tax returns...

Excerpt from article (since I am not sure what the reprint rules are ... [Rangel] slipped this horrendous tax into a popular military and veterans pension/pay bill, (without hearings or public notice) and on June 4, 2008, President Bush, not wanting to upset the veterans' lobby, signed it into law. The Rangel exit tax presumes that anyone who ends his or her U.S. citizenship and; (1) who paid more than $124,000 in net taxes for the previous five years, or (2) has a net worth of more than $2 million, is a tax traitor who did so with the intent...

A majority of likely voters believe the tax plan being touted by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama would leave them worse off than they are now, according to a new poll. The ATI-News/Zogby poll revealed today 52 percent of those surveyed believe Obama's tax scheme would leave them worse off, including 52 percent of independents and 51 percent of women. "Surprisingly, 18 percent of Obama's own supporters said his tax plan would make them worse off," the poll results said. One in four Democrats believes Obama's tax agenda would be damaging personally and one in five self-described liberals takes the...

"It's a very positive sign for sensible management if the State of Texas does take a new look at how we rebuild extremely vulnerable shorelines," says Rob Young, director of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, N.C. "But I'm also skeptical, because the people who are being shut out of rebuilding tend to be wealthy and politically influential. People say, 'Those people must be nuts to build on the West End of Galveston,' but it's actually the taxpayers who are nuts for subsidizing that development."

WASHINGTON – Alan Greenspan says the country can't afford tax cuts of the magnitude proposed by Republican presidential contender John McCain — at least not without a corresponding reduction in government spending. "Unless we cut spending, no," the former Federal Reserve chairman said Friday when asked about McCain's proposed tax cuts, pegged in some estimates at $3.3 trillion. "I'm not in favor of financing tax cuts with borrowed money," Greenspan said during an interview with Bloomberg Television. "I always have tied tax cuts to spending." McCain has said that he would offset his proposed cuts — including reducing the corporate...

The Tax-Dodge Derivative Anita Raghavan 09.11.08, 6:55 PM ET While Lehman Brothers was fighting for its life in the markets today, it was also battling in a Senate panel's hearing on whether the company and others created a set of financial products whose primary purpose is to dodge taxes owned on U.S. stock dividends. The "most compelling" reason for entering into dividend-related stock swaps are the tax savings, Highbridge Capital Management Treasury and Finance Director Richard Potapchuk told the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Lehman Brothers , Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank are among the companies behind the products. "Without...

The best-kept secret in this presidential campaign is Barack Obama's substantial package of middle class tax cuts--most political junkies can't even tell you what's in it and most working-class swing voters don't even know it exists. Indeed, those voters would be shocked to discover that, according to independent analyses, Obama is offering 80% of Americans four times as much in tax relief as McCain on average. The next best-kept secret of the campaign, and arguably the biggest mystery, is why has Team Obama seemingly been hiding this electoral haymaker? Even worse, why have they been letting their opponents con the...

The national average income as of 2007 was, according to a census.gov PDF, $50,233 (see page 14). A dinkytown.net tool puts this at approximately $5762 in federal income tax for a single, male, head of the household. Note that this is just your income tax. No sales taxes or any other type of tax is included here. Additionally, this does not include state, county, or municipal tax, so you most likely pay much more (Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington state, and Wyoming are the only states that don’t have a state income tax, so chances...

Barack Obama's campaign has made a point about not taking money from big donors, even though it has received six figure bundled contributions from "little, ordinary people" like Goldman Sachs, Lehman Broters, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Execlon, and Microsoft,* and even though Obama broke his pledge to accept Federal campaign financing and the accompanying spending limits. The Obama campaign's fundraising ethics also include illegal and possibly rigged lotteries like "Dinner with Barack;" the "Backstage with Barack" lottery was modified to allow entry without a donation under pressure from Minnesota and possibly other law enforcement agencies. While Barack Obama is at...

Rep. Charles Rangel is sure keeping congressional ethicists busy these days.

What would raise taxes on the middle class, impose a heavy burden on small business, slow the economy and cost jobs? Answer: Barack Obama's plan to lift the cap on earnings subject to the 12.4% Social Security tax. That's what the Heritage Foundation discovered in an analysis of a proposal by the Democratic nominee. We can't help noticing that thorough, close, objective analyses of Obama's proposals are sadly lacking in the national media. Granted, the Heritage Foundation is a think tank with a record of opposing taxes, but at least someone's taking a look at how an Obama presidency would...

A nice-sounding bill called the "Global Poverty Act," sponsored by Democratic presidential candidate and Senator Barack Obama, is up for a Senate vote on Thursday and could result in the imposition of a global tax on the United States. The bill, which has the support of many liberal religious groups, makes levels of U.S. foreign aid spending subservient to the dictates of the United Nations. Senator Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has not endorsed either Senator Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton in the presidential race. But on Thursday, February 14, he is trying to rush Obama's...

Which of the following families is "richer"? The first family consists of a wife who has recently become a medical doctor, and she makes $160,000 per year. Her husband is a small business entrepreneur who makes $110,000 per year, giving them a total family income of $270,000 per year. However, they are still paying off the loans the wife took out for medical school and the loans the husband took out to start his business, amounting to debts of $300,000. Their total assets are valued at $450,000; hence, their real net worth or wealth (the difference between gross assets and...

August 27, 2008 Notice of One Year Suspension of the Alaska State Motor Fuel Tax Alaska Qualified Dealers: The suspension is effective September 1, 2008 through August 31, 2009. The suspension applies to all fuel types and uses. You will still be required to continue filing your tax returns during the suspension period because we are obligated to report Highway usage to the Federal Highways Administration (FHWA) to continue receiving federal highway funding.

tax for y'all

"I speak to you not as a candidate for President but as a citizen — a proud citizen of the United States and a fellow citizen of the world." — Barack Obama, Berlin, July 24, 2008 Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., is also a proud globalist and self-proclaimed agent of change. As the Democratic National Convention begins in Denver, many still ponder just what kind of change Obama has in mind for the country. His sponsorship of the Global Poverty Act, and more recently his Berlin speech, are prime examples. Peppered with "one-world" phrases such as “people of the world,” “global...

The plastic grocery bag is fighting for its crinkly life.From the city of San Francisco to Los Angeles County, more than a dozen local governments around the state have proposed or passed plastic-bag restrictions, ranging from recycling mandates to outright bans.Now, a proposal in the Legislature would put a 25-cent fee on all disposable bags – paper or plastic – given out at drug and grocery store check stands starting Jan. 1, 2010. It has won key support from the grocery and retail industries and faces its next legislative step today. Those in favor of the fee, led by Assemblyman...

It took seven years, but Charles Ulrich did something many people dream about, but few succeed at: He beat the IRS in a tax dispute. Not only that, but tax experts say potentially millions of other taxpayers could benefit from his victory.

Professor Hubbard explains that Obama's claim that he will increase the payroll tax by only 4% cannot be correct. This amount will not generate the revenue necessary to maintain even current levels of entitlement spending: "The new payroll tax hike is more modest than the one Mr. Obama hinted at last fall, which might have uncapped the payroll tax entirely. But it would also do very little to shore up Social Security, since it means that no more than 15% of Social Security's long-term funding gap would be closed. Thus, if Mr. Obama is indeed opposed to reductions in Social...

Volkswagen has a number of firsts for its 2009 Jetta TDI. It is the first new diesel powered passenger car on the market in the U.S. to qualify for sales in all 50 states under the Tier 2 Bin 5 (T2B5) emissions standard. And now it's also the first diesel car to qualify for a federal income tax credit under the Advanced Lean Burn Technology Motor Vehicle income tax credit program. The Internal Revenue Service has certified that the 2009 Jetta TDI qualifies for a one-time tax credit of $1,300. That is the same amount that buyers of General Motors...

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 22 CFR Parts 122 and 129 [Public Notice 6246] RIN 1400-AC50 Amendment to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations: Registration Fee Change AGENCY: Department of State. ACTION: Proposed rule. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Department of State is proposing to amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) by increasing the registration fees, changing the registration renewal period, and making other minor administrative changes. DATES: Effective Date: The Department of State will accept comments on this proposed rule until August 27, 2008. ADDRESSES: Interested parties may submit comments within 30 days of the date of publication by any of...

New taxes on beverages and health care claims to be on November 4 ballot. AUGUSTA, Maine – Maine people will have the last word on $75 million of new taxes on beverages and health care claims, now that the Secretary of State today certified that the Fed Up With Taxes/YES on 1 coalition submitted more than enough signatures to put the issue to a statewide vote on November 4.

Barack Obama: Bravely taxing the future. Barack Obama, presidential candidate and time traveller, said he has seen the future and its taxes were much, much too low. Obama, his financial adviser, and a time portal keeper named, Rolf, have recently returned from a fact-finding mission 11 years into the future and bravely raised social security taxes on this future world. "This is about fairness," Obama said. "The rich people in the future are out there with their suitcase cars and phasers locked on stun, paid for by the middle class American people of the present." Frank Tarleton, Obama's future tax...

LAKE FOREST, Calif.—Given the sharp words exchanged between their campaigns in recent weeks, John McCain and Barack Obama put on a good show of civility Saturday at their first joint appearance of the all-but officially begun general election race.... .......Warren asked Obama to define rich: “Give me a number.” Obama drew laughter when he briefly hesitated, then quipped: “You know if you’ve got book sales of 25 million … ” Turning serious toward the end, Obama said: “I want people to know me well,” and added that if they do, “they’re going to make a good decision and we’re going...

California taxpayers could be on the hook for a staggering $388 million because of a state tax collection agency's vigorous pursuit of a former California taxpayer. In a case that one tax expert called "completely unprecedented," jurors in a Clark County, Nevada District trial awarded Las Vegas inventor Gilbert P. Hyatt $250 million in punitive damages Thursday for the "outrageous conduct" of Franchise Tax Board auditors in an investigation that began in 1993. The award was on top of $138.1 million jurors gave Hyatt last week for "invasion of privacy" and "emotional distress." . . . "As far as I...

Perhaps spurred by the controversy surrounding Beijing’s smoggy skies during the ongoing 2008 Olympic Games, PRC officials are set to put the economic clamps on the purchase of large displacement engines – in theory the worst automotive polluters. Using a sales tax system that works on a percentage basis, the government will actually make buying small engined vehicles cheaper – in this case those with displacements smaller than or equal to 1.0-liter – by reducing the tax on them from three to one percent. Meanwhile engines that displace more than 4.0-liters will face a huge duty of 40 percent,...

    Please Join Us For Jim Gilmore's Working Families Tour III On August 20th and 21st, 2008   Day 1......August 20   City Location and Time Colonial Heights Meet & Greet - 9:30 am Swift Creek Mill Theatre / 17401 Jeff Davis Hwy Richmond Meet & Greet - 12:30 pm Rare Olde Times /10602 Patterson Ave Spotsylvania Meet & Greet - 5:30 pm Bailey’s Pub & Grille / 1861 Carl D. Silver Pkwy   Day 2......August 21   City Location and Time Tappahannock Meet & Greet - 12:00 pm Lowery’s / 528 Church Lane Gloucester Reception - 6:00...

Gov. Jon Corzine said today he is "not taking anything off the table" as he develops a new plan to pay for the state's roads, bridges and mass transit. But two prominent state senators said prospects for one option -- increasing New Jersey's gasoline tax -- are dimming. Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) said there is "no way" the Legislature could consider raising the tax when drivers are already facing sticker shock at the pump. Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union) called it the "least likely possibility" among an array of options. Lesniak said those other options include hiking rates on the...

One year ago, it seemed reasonable to hope that the mortgage crisis would be contained. Since then, just about everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. The crisis has spread through the financial system and is metastasizing into a global slowdown. It cries out for a bolder government response than we have seen so far. So here is a test for candidates McCain and Obama: Which of you would provide it? When the mortgage market crashed, it was plain that billions of dollars of real estate loans would not be repaid, leaving enormous holes in financial sector balance sheets....

For an entire week, Americans watched as Senator Barack Obama took his act on the road, courting the European elitists and cowtowing to an endless array of foreign politicians. At this point it may be easy to take Obama’s “celebri-plomacy” lightly. Yet, his trip highlights a dangerous threat to America’s national sovereignty in the form of his globalist policies that will diminish America’s role in the world and outsource decisions of vital national interest to the United Nations. His Global Poverty Act, currently under consideration in Congress, is just one such policy. Despite its seemingly innocuous title, the Global Poverty...

Taxing Unto Repressive DepressionObama will bring "change" that he can't contemplate. For an extensive look at the problem just read A Preliminary Analysis of the 2008 Presidential Candidates’ Tax Plans (a 39 page PDF file). But for a short overview click on this video from NewsMax.comMorris: Obama Taxes Equal 'Mammoth Depression', or read below ... the article Obama Tax Policies Penalize, McCain's Reward 06/17/2008 by Terry Easton McCain versus Obama. In this supposed year of twiddle-dee, twiddle-dumb left-of-center presidential candidates, some pretend it’s easy to argue that John McCain’s presidency wouldn’t be so very much different from Barry Obama’s. Nothing...

Obama Supports Global Tax From United Nations Christine O'Donnell Friday, August 08, 2008 For an entire week, Americans watched as Senator Barack Obama took his act on the road, courting the European elitists and cowtowing to an endless array of foreign politicians. At this point it may be easy to take Obama’s “celebri-plomacy” lightly. Yet, his trip highlights a dangerous threat to America’s national sovereignty in the form of his globalist policies that will diminish America’s role in the world and outsource decisions of vital national interest to the United Nations. His Global Poverty Act, currently under consideration in Congress,...

New Yorkers feel the pinch, call for tax on richMore than three-quarters of New Yorkers say they are feeling the pinch from pricey food and gas prices, and 80% were in favor of a so-called "millionaire's tax," according to recent polls. Elisabeth Butler Cordova August 06. 2008 3:13PM The deteriorating economy continues to weigh heavily on New Yorkers’ minds, according to two polls released Wednesday. With a remarkable one-month increase of 9%, 81% of New York residents say they are feeling the effects of rising food prices, according to a new Siena Research Institute survey. About 78% of New Yorkers...

The high price of gas has driven down demand. Now politicians like Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty are worried gas taxes might not be able to fund infrastructure projects. Pawlenty proposed a consumption tax on driving as a possible replacement for the gasoline tax. He is rumored to be a possible running mate for presumptive GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain.

WSJ - REVIEW & OUTLOOK What Is a 'Windfall' Profit? August 4, 2008; Page A12 The "windfall profits" tax is back, with Barack Obama stumping again to apply it to a handful of big oil companies. Which raises a few questions: What is a "windfall" profit anyway? How does it differ from your everyday, run of the mill profit? Is it some absolute number, a matter of return on equity or sales -- or does it merely depend on who earns it? Enquiring entrepreneurs want to know. Unfortunately, Mr. Obama's "emergency" plan, announced on Friday, doesn't offer any clarity. To...

The conservative anti-tax group Club for Growth said Wednesday that Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has evolved into the kind of vice presidential candidate it could get behind if Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) should tap him. The group argued that Cantor has been “consistently strong in several economic policy areas” and, after a start in the “key area” of government spending that was “less strong,” the Club for Growth now thinks that Cantor “ranks among the most pro-growth members in the House.” “Over the past two years, Rep. Cantor has been one of the few Republicans to come to grips with...

What taxes do you think should be eliminated and why? I am going to show this to my local Republican town branch and I hope that at some point this might be taken into consideration at some point. I'm also getting involved in the MCain campaign soon and I need all the ideas I can get from as many people as possible.

A new gasoline tax that ensured high prices would accelerate the move toward fuel-efficient vehicles and provide enough revenue to allow a cut in corporate taxes. On the surface, the market's behavior on certain days of June and July has been so illogical that my brain simply has refused to accept it. Double-digit intraday swings in prices of stocks without any material catalyst have become routine. But last week's trading has finally explained what should have been clear for a while: Though current economic troubles may have started with lax credit and underwriting standards and the ensuing subprime-mortgage fiasco, they...

Gas taxes are for the little people not Democratic party dignitaries. The committee hosting the Democratic National Convention is using the city's gas pumps to fill up on fuel, avoiding state and federal highway taxes, officials said today. "There's something there that just doesn't seem right to me because, in a sense, you're saying then that the officials who pass the laws are not willing to live by them, and that concerns me," Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz said. ...Faatz asked if it was customary to have "fleets for dignitaries" not pay for highway taxes if they're using government fuel facilities. (Mayor...

The host committee for the Democratic National Convention set for Denver next month is avoiding paying state and federal taxes on gasoline by gassing up vehicles at a city fuel depot, according to a city councilwoman quoted yesterday on the Web site of the Rocky Mountain News. "There's something there that just doesn't seem right ..." the Denver official, Jeanne Faatz, said at a city meeting yesterday. "I believe this [tax free gas pump] is only for elected officials, government dignitaries," Mayor Hickenlooper said at the session, according to the News. [Snip] Republican National Convention's host committee in [Minneapolis], Teresa...

Federal prosecutors have dropped their criminal probe of fiscal irregularities and tax fraud by the Rev. Al Sharpton and his National Action Network. Lawyers for the civil rights activist said that means Sharpton's tax tangle won't result in an indictment or jail time, or even an appearance before a grand jury, though he's agreed to pay millions in back taxes. It also means the feds aren't pursuing allegations the civil rights leader extorted contributions from corporations in exchange for not protesting against them. Prosecutors would not comment, but law enforcement sources confirmed that the criminal probe is over. Bottom line:...

Good-bye summer gas tax holiday. Hello, higher gas taxes. If you are outraged that gas taxes might go up instead of coming down for the summer, we don't blame you. But the way things are going, it's a possibility that we will be paying more to Uncle Sam when we gas up. Just as the country was digesting the possibility of the 90-day hiatus on gas taxes for the summer to alleviate gas prices, lawmakers learned that a trust fund that pays for road construction and repair countrywide is actually heading in the red, and needs every dime it can...