Free Republic

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...

http://boortz.com/nuze/index.html Monday, July 21, 2008 I KNOW WHAT WE SHOULD DO ... RAISE TAXES! Congress is currently considering the idea of raising fuel taxes by ten cents. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25751775/ Right now we pay 18.4 cents a gallon on gas and 24.3 cents on diesel. Congress thinks that this would be a great time to increase those taxes that you are paying at the pump. Why???? Well, it seems that our federal government doesn't have enough money to spend on highway projects. The chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Jim Oberstar presented the House with a list of how many...

"They've done real well the past few years," Wilkins said of House Republicans. "I was disappointed when they let Mark Warner talk them into a tax increase" -- a reference to the $1.4 billion rise for cops, schools and welfare that led to the Warner presidential boomlet. That increase in 2004 might not have occurred had Howell not looked the other way. He allowed several Republican anti-taxers to duck a do-or-die vote in the Finance Committee on the Warner package, clearing the way for passage. During Wilkins' brief reign, one usually got the impression the trains were running on time....

New York tax filers reporting more than $375,000 a year in earned income may end up paying nearly 60% of their wages in taxes to the government under a Barack Obama presidency, economists who have analyzed his plan said. The Democratic presidential candidate is proposing not only raising the federal income tax, but also adding a Social Security tax for those Americans earning more than $250,000 a year. For New Yorkers, that could mean that if the current Social Security rate is applied, the marginal tax rate, or rate on every extra dollar earned, could rise to 58%. "This is...

A Reminder of Mark Warner's 2001 "No Tax Pledge" "The voters of Virginia know all too well as evidenced by the 2001 gubernatorial debates, where Mark Warner repeatedly pledged to the working families of Virginia that he would not raise taxes, that he broke that promise upon taking office and instead gave Virginians a $1.4 billion tax increase, the largest in Virginia history, despite there being a significant budget surplus of $324 million."

SACRAMENTO - The Legislature's majority Democrats promised Wednesday to push a vote on a spending proposal containing several billion dollars in tax increases despite Republican opposition.

Democrats on Tuesday proposed billions in tax increases on businesses and high earners to help bridge California's budget shortfall. The proposed hikes include rolling back the dependent child income tax credit expanded in the 1990s, creating two higher income tax brackets for the state's biggest earners and increasing corporate taxes. The long-awaited list of revenue proposals faces near certain defeat, however, as Republican lawmakers have repeatedly said they are unified in their opposition to any tax increases. Approving a budget and increasing taxes requires a two-thirds vote, which means GOP support is mandatory. "I guarantee you it will be a...

The Virginia General Assembly yesterday began its latest special session to deal with the state's transportation problems. Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine wants to raise $1 billion per year for transportation through an increase in the motor vehicle sales tax, higher registration fees and a 1-cent sales tax increase for purchases in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads on everything except food and medicine. Mr. Kaine's plan also includes creation of what looks like a huge boondoggle to benefit the politically well-connected. It is called a "Transportation Change Fund," and it would pay for mass transit and rail projects, telecommuting and ride-sharing,...

To start, Obama frequently cites $250,000 as the line between those who would be subject to higher taxes and those who wouldn't. Indeed, under Obama's tax plan, married couples with at least $250,000 in gross income are likely to see their taxes go up if Obama is elected president. [click for brief entertaining video] But what about single filers? The line for them would likely be about $200,000, according to an Obama adviser. Those groups could end up paying anywhere from several thousand dollars to tens of thousands of dollars more to Uncle Sam than they do now, according to...

With President Obama in office, the days of governments extracting a top marginal rate of 60% will return. Could bell bottoms be far behind? Remember how the press made George Bush’s tax rate cuts look so “huge” in 2001 and 2003? A March 10, 2001, New York Times article by reporters Frank Bruni and Richard W. Stevenson typified the approach. The trick was to talk about the (scary) $1.6 trillion impact of the “cuts” while minimizing attention to their time frame. At the linked article, the reporters waited until the ninth paragraph to tell us that it was a “$1.6...

Democrats have placed a big bulls-eye on VA. Retiring Republican Senator John Warner's seat is in danger of being flipped by Democrat Mark Warner. Obama wants to make a play for the state. But the Dems can't keep their hands out of the cookie jar, giving Republicans a big stick.

Under Obama, Total Taxes on Labor Could Reach 60 Percent?A couple of days ago, I added the numbers on Obama's tax proposals in a back-of-the-envelope manner and concluded "we're really looking at a top tax rate of 53.45 percent to 54.9 percent for top earners." (A few accountants wrote in and said the complications of the tax code make it tough to make a precise percentage like that.) Guys much smarter than me at the Tax Policy Center (via Instapundit, via Kaus) have come to a similar conclusion: Combine [Obama's Social Security tax proposal] with a top income tax rate...

How a Windfall Oil Profits Tax Would Hurt You By Elizabeth MacDonald We are witnessing a new round of stiffnecked fulminations over the need for a new windfall tax on oil profits from elected officials who know nothing about economics and the impact their legislation has on US taxpayers. A growing number of Congressmen want to enact a windfall profits tax to punish what they see are greedy gougers in the oil industry. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has piled on, too, and is now exploiting anxiety over high gas prices by pledging to enact a windfall profits tax on...

McCain in NC says that he would consider windfall profits for oil companies.

Saved by Senate Republicans, big oil companies dodged an attempt Tuesday to slap them with a windfall profits tax and take away billions of dollars in tax breaks in response to the record gasoline prices that have the nation fuming. GOP senators shoved aside the Democratic proposal, arguing that punishing Big Oil won't do a thing to lower the $4-a-gallon-price of gasoline that is sending economic waves across the country. High prices at the pump are threatening everything from summer vacations to Meals on Wheels deliveries to the elderly. The Democratic energy package would have imposed a 25 percent tax...

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Saved by Senate Republicans, big oil companies dodged an attempt Tuesday to slap them with a windfall profits tax and take away billions of dollars in tax breaks in response to the record gasoline prices that have the nation fuming. GOP senators shoved aside the Democratic proposal, arguing that punishing Big Oil won't do a thing to lower the $4-a-gallon-price of gasoline that is sending economic waves across the country. High prices at the pump are threatening everything from summer vacations to Meals on Wheels deliveries to the elderly. The Democratic energy package would have imposed...

The spending plan approved by the Senate last week fails to extend President Bush’s tax cuts — and could lead to the largest tax increase in U.S. history. “Make no mistake: This tax hike is gargantuan,” the Investor’s Business Daily states in an editorial. “Simply by not making Bush’s tax cuts permanent, taxes will rise by a minimum of $2.8 trillion between now and 2018.” The IBD says that if the tax cuts are allowed to expire in 2010: # Spending will rise by half a trillion dollars over the next five years. And the Democrats will pay for it...

Tax Foundation: Obama’s Plan to Abolish the Social Security Wage Ceiling: A State-by-State Breakdown, by Gerald Prante: It is commonly observed that the policy ideas of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are almost identical, but Obama does have one major tax proposal that Clinton does not specifically endorse: eliminating the wage ceiling for Social Security taxes. ... [T]here has always been a ceiling on the tax, an amount of annual wages above which the tax does not apply. Right now, the wage ceiling is quite high, $102,000 for a single person ... In 2008, the maximum Social Security tax for...

What will happen to the U.S. economy if Barack Obama wins the presidency and he's backed by a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate? Taxes will go up. Capital gains and dividends will bypass 20% on their way to 25% or 30%. Income taxes will go to 40% for higher earners and possibly more for the "super-rich." The ceiling on payroll taxes will rise to $150,000 or so. Government tax receipts won't grow at all. The highest taxpayers, feeling assaulted, will flee. To where? Some will take longer vacations. If your last earned dollar is pinched in the 60%-plus range by...

New York's expansive new online sales-tax requirements are drawing mixed responses from major e-tailers that haven't previously collected such fees in the Empire State. Despite a pending lawsuit challenging the law's constitutionality, Amazon.com has said on its Web site that it still plans to abide by the law and add sales tax to orders shipped to New York when the mandate kicks in June 1. But online outlet store Overstock.com wants nothing to do with collecting the new tax, according to reports at the Affiliate Tip blog and The New York Times. A few weeks ago, New York's governor signed...

RICHMOND (AP) — Gov. Tim Kaine is expected today to announce a tax package to pay for highway construction and the upkeep and repair of state roads and bridges. Mr. Kaine scheduled a news conference at the state capitol to outline details of the bill that he will ask legislators to consider next month. He has called the General Assembly to Richmond beginning June 23 for the second special session on transportation funding in two years. Mr. Kaine, a Democrat, wants regional funding plans to pay for new projects in Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia, the state's most populous, fastest-growing...

By Amanda Carpenter Thursday, May 8, 2008 Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama flatly promised to raise taxes in a television interview Thursday afternoon. “I will raise CEO taxes,” Obama told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on “The Situation Room.” “If you’re a CEO in this country you’ll probably pay more taxes,” Obama said. Obama speculated his CEO tax rates “won’t be prohibitively high, you’ll pay roughly what you did in the 90’s when they were doing fine.” Obama also said he would eliminate the Bush tax cuts and install what he called a “middle class tax cut.” Blitzer asked Obama to define...

Both Hillary and Obama have explicitly stated that we need to "tax the rich" so each pays "their fair share". I recently came across a report titled DISTRIBUTION OF CERTAIN FEDERAL TAX LIABILITIES BY INCOME CLASS FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2000, as Prepared by the Staff of the JOINT COMMITTEE ON TAXATION. The following table from that publication is interesting. Income Category...................Individual Income Tax ................................................Income......Percent Less than $10,000.......................-5.........-0.6% 10,000 to 20,000........................-7........ -0.8% 20,000 to 30,000........................10..........1.1% 30,000 to 40,000........................30..........3.4% 40,000 to 50,000........................39..........4.4% 50,000 to 75,000.......................114.........12.9% 75,000 to 100,000......................113.........12.8% 100,000 to 200,000.....................213.........24.1% 200,000 and over...................... 377.........42.7% Highest 10%........................... 587.........66.4% Highest 5%.............................478.........54.0% Highest 1%.............................297.........33.6%...

As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger continues to say publicly that he will hold the line against new taxes, his administration is laying the groundwork for a possible tax increase. Administration officials are soliciting advice from business groups and other special interests on how to propose billions of dollars in tax hikes that could help close a budget shortfall the governor now says is as large as $20 billion. Schwarzenegger's staff is exploring a range of options, including sales taxes on lawyer and accountant services, on high-end services such as golf lessons and personal-trainer sessions, and on takeout coffee and other prepared...

Texas Farm Bureau offered several viable transportation and funding alternatives to the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) in meeting Texas’ future transportation needs during testimony before the Senate Transportation Committee. “Let me assure you, as an industry we absolutely support and recognize the need for building and maintaining roads in Texas,� said Texas Farm Bureau State Director Tom Paben. “We feel this can be accomplished within the current framework of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).� “However, there is a need for redirection, as well as a review of the current priorities of the agency,� Paben added, noting several concerns about...

Obama's newest TV ad tells about Exxon making $40 billion and how he's going to institute a windfall profits tax on the oil industry. Let's consider that idea. First, taking money away from the oil companies helps me at the pump by...??? It seems to me that the windfall profits tax ends up in Washington or in some politician's freezer. I fail to see how that lowers the price I pay at the pump. More than likely that money will get sucked off into new programs that make people more dependent on the gov't...not what I want. Second, while you...

Congress' $3,000 per Household Tax Increase by Brian Riedl Washington has no budget problems that higher taxes cannot solve. So seems the message from Congress The House- and Senate-passed budgets would raise taxes on every American taxpayer by an average of $3,000 per household. But don’t expect Congress to share in the sacrifice: The budget would hike discretionary spending by 8 percent, and not cut a single government program. First, the tax increase. The largest four-year revenue surge in 40 years has pushed tax revenues to 18.8 percent of GDP -- well above the historical average. Yet the House-passed budget...

Change We Can Believe In? Better Watch Your Wallet By Joseph BH McMillan One things voters can be assured of — Democratic "change" is always a very expensive proposition. The wonderful thing about election campaigns are the slogans. Campaign slogans are no different to any other brand slogan – they appeal to the ignorant, and persuade them to depart with their hard earned money. So let’s take Obama. His slogan is “Change We Can Believe in.” But what does this “change” really mean? His website makes it abundantly clear. Increased “investment” in infrastructure, energy independence, education, and research and development...

The Senate rejected calls from both parties' presidential candidates to take an election-year break from pork-barrel spending as a Democratic-run Congress passed budget plans that would torpedo hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts won by President Bush. John McCain, the GOP nominee-to-be, couldn't attract even a majority of Senate Republicans to vote with him Thursday night behind the earmark moratorium touted by party conservatives as a way to restore the GOP's credibility with voters. It failed on a 71-29 vote. Only three Democrats joined with Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama in voting for it. The underlying House...

WASHINGTON - House Democrats neared initial approval of an election-year budget blueprint late Wednesday that would produce sizable surpluses by 2012 by allowing President Bush's tax cuts to expire as scheduled. The $3 trillion budget plan for 2009, expected to pass the House Budget Committee on a party-line vote, would award greater-than-inflation increases to domestic programs. That immediately earned a promise from the White House that Bush would veto subsequent spending bills funding agency budgets. The Senate Budget Committee planned a vote Thursday on a largely similar plan. At issue is the annual congressional budget resolution, a nonbinding document that...

With the economy down, the stakes are up in next month’s Senate budget debate, which poses tough questions for Democrats on taxes and could become a preview of the fall presidential election, starring all the major contenders. A year ago, healthy revenue projections allowed the new majority to sail past the question of whether Congress would extend all or only part of President Bush’s tax cuts, due to expire after 2010. Today’s budget landscape is much more difficult, and the tighter margins give Republicans more leverage to demand that Democrats spell out what tax cuts they would keep — and...

With oil prices reaching new highs, House Democrats are taking aim at the oil industry ...in an effort to tap voter frustration over gasoline prices and oil-company profits. ...the House of Representatives is expected to approve a measure that would eliminate roughly $18 billion in tax incentives for oil and gas companies, and use the savings to fund tax credits and other incentives for renewable energy... The measure comes as high energy prices put increased pressure on consumers. Oil yesterday finished at a new high of $100.88 a barrel in New York futures markets, putting it $2.88 below the inflation-adjusted...

House OKs $18B in New Taxes on Oil Companies Wednesday, February 27, 2008 WASHINGTON — The House has approved $18 billion in new taxes on the largest oil companies. The money collected over 10 years is intended to provide tax breaks for wind, solar and other alternative energy sources and for energy conservation. The measure passed by the House by a 236-182 vote Wednesday as lawmakers cited record oil prices and rising gasoline costs. Senate Democratic leaders say they will put the bill on a fast track and try to avoid a Republican filibuster. The White House says the bill...

Republicans Aid Natural Adversaries by: Malcolm A. Kline, February 27, 2008 Former U. S. House Majority Leader Richard Armey used to repeatedly point out that conservatives are optimists. They prove it time and time again at every level of government whether that optimism is warranted or not. Case in point, speaking for the Republican majority in the lower chamber of the state assembly, Virginia delegate Jeff Frederick earnestly defended their increase in education spending, even though there is precious little research showing that where schools are concerned, more is better. “By increasing spending for K-12 public schools by $1.1 billion...

The Minnesota Legislature voted Monday to override Gov. Tim Pawlenty's veto of a $6.6 billion bill, paving the way for higher gas taxes and other fees to bring in more money for roads, bridges and transit. The House vote was 91-41, one more than was needed, and came after two hours of debate. Debate began shortly after 1 p.m. today amid increased pressure from both sides. The Senate vote later in the day, 47-20, was assured since Democrats have a veto-proof majority.

House to vote next week on energy tax billThu Feb 21, 2008 4:36pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives will vote next week on legislation that would levy $18 billion in taxes on big oil companies to help pay for extending renewable energy tax credits, Democratic leaders said on Thursday. The legislation includes tax credits to promote renewable energy production from wind, solar, geothermal, cellulosic ethanol, biofuels and other sources. Many of the tax credits will expire at the end of this year. The vote on the bill comes as crude oil prices hit a record high this...

McCain says no new taxes 8 minutes ago Republican John McCain says there will be no new taxes during his administration if he is elected president. "No new taxes," the likely GOP presidential nominee said during a taped interview broadcast Sunday. McCain told ABC's "This Week" that under no circumstances would he increase taxes, and added that he could "see an argument, if our economy continues to deteriorate, for lower interest rates, lower tax rates, and certainly decreasing corporate tax rates," as well as giving people the ability to write off depreciation and eliminating the alternative minimum tax. McCain was...

'Tax Me More Fund' raises little revenue February 15, 2008 By Seth McLaughlin - RICHMOND — State lawmakers can rule out Virginian's offering up more of their hard-earned money to fix the $1.4 billion budget shortfall Gov. Tim Kaine announced this week. At least that is what a peek at the so-called "Tax Me More Fund" suggests. Since its inception in 2002, the fund has collected a total of $10,217.04. It was established a year after Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee challenged proponents of higher taxes to contribute to a similar program when he was governor of Arkansas. Both programs...

Massachusetts residents may have to pay sales tax on items ordered on the internet, although officials involved in the decision say nothing definite will be decided in the immediate future. A law signed by Gov. Mitt Romney last month includes the state in the Streamlined Sales Tax Project, a group founded in March 2000 that discusses common problems with collecting sales tax, including those from internet sales, according to Tim Connolly, communications director for the Mass. Dept. of Revenue. The department will represent the state at the meetings, beginning with one held in Indianapolis on May 19 and 20. “What...

The Sierra Club is proposing a tax on video games and televisions with the proceeds going to programs that encourage families to get kids off of the couch and into the mountains. Call it “No Child Left Inside.” Mike Casaus of the Sierra Club says families hiking a mountain trail together are becoming scarce as childhood diabetes and obesity is soaring, which is why the organization is proposing the one-percent tax. “What we would do with this excise tax on tvs and video games and this type of equipment is to tax part of the problem to fund the solution,”...

WASHINGTON - Gov. Martin O’Malley’s tax increases have eroded his popularity statewide and are having a significant political effect in Montgomery County, officials said Sunday. Democrats in the county, which bears the heaviest burden under the new revenue-raising measures, say they will push for savings and cuts as a way to offset the impression that the state is trying to tax itself out of a budget hole. “We’re not going to be able to just raise taxes and solve our problems,” County Council President Mike Knapp, a Democrat, told The Examiner. A county budget shortfall and new local tax proposals...

More and higher tolls won't be enough to pay for the nation's highway needs, a bipartisan study panel chaired by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation said today in a long-awaited report. Instead, Congress will need to raise the federal gas tax by 25 to 40 cents a gallon over five years, according to the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission. The 12-member commission is a bipartisan panel formed by Congress in 2005 to rethink the way the nation builds and pays for its highways and transit systems. "There is no free lunch," Jack Schenendorf, vice chairman of the...

A federal panel today recommended a steep increase in motor fuel taxes and an increased emphasis on mass transit to meet the nation's transportation needs and repair its deteriorating infrastructure. In its report, the 12-member National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, appointed by Congress in 2005, recommended increasing the federal gasoline tax by as much as 40 cents a gallon, at a rate of 5 to 8 cents per year. The current federal tax is 18.4 cents per gallon and the state tax is 20 cents. The price of a gallon of regular gasoline has hovered near $3...

RICHMOND (AP) — Virginia residents will face potential tax increases to pay for highway maintenance if the governor and a growing number of legislators can repeal the high, punitive fees on bad drivers in the 2008 General Assembly. Gov. Tim Kaine, who said Wednesday the "abusive driver fees" that took effect in June were a failure, said yesterday he would consider any road-maintenance funding bill from legislators — including taxes on fuel. Mr. Kaine, a Democrat, said in his State of the Commonwealth speech that after six months the fees would raise only about half of their projected $65 million...

ne of a variety of tax increases taking effect in Maryland on New Year's Day could help some smokers keep their resolutions to kick the habit this year--a doubling of the cigarette tax from $1 to $2 a pack. The vehicle titling tax also is going up from 5 to 6 percent, and the corporate income tax will rise from 7 percent to 8.25 percent. Other taxes, including a jump in the sales tax from 5 to 6 percent also are going up this week.

Press Releases Contact: Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami 202-226-7616 For Immediate Release 12/19/2007 Pelosi: ‘Congress Has Ensured That 23 Million Middle-Class Families Were Not Hit With a Tax Increase’ Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement this evening on House passage of the Senate amendment to H.R. 3996, the Temporary Tax Relief Act of 2007. The bill, which protects 23 million middle-class families from being hit by the alternative minimum tax, now goes to the President for his signature. “Today Congress has ensured that 23 million middle-class families were not hit with a tax increase. “But this is not...

JOHNSTON, Iowa - Democratic presidential rivals called for higher taxes on the wealthiest Americans and on some corporations Thursday and said any thought of balancing the federal budget would have to wait. "We're not going to be able to dig ourselves out" of Bush-era deficits in the next year or two, said Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, one of six Democratic rivals sharing a debate stage for the final time before Iowa's leadoff Jan. 3 caucuses. Asked about eliminating deficits, several of the Democrats responded by mentioning higher taxes on the wealthy and on big corporations. "I want to keep the...

Special Session Actions Challenged on Constitutional Grounds The Minority Leadership in the House and Senate, along with a computer services business owner from Carroll County, filed suit today challenging the constitutionality of legislation passed by the Maryland General Assembly during the recently-concluded special session. The lawsuit was filed in Carroll County Circuit Court. In a motion filed on behalf of these Maryland taxpayers, attorney Irwin R. Kramer of Kramer & Connolly, requests that the court review irregularities that occurred during the special session, including the six-day adjournment by the Maryland Senate. This adjournment was in direct violation of Article III,...

Taxing successful energy sources and subsidizing unsuccessful ones: That's the essence of Washington's energy policy mistakes during the 1970s and early 1980s. These mistakes are about to be repeated in the tax title to the Senate energy bill. This section would raise taxes by an estimated $21 billion over 10 years--including $13 billion from the oil and natural gas sector--and spend much of it on tax breaks for alternative energy sources like ethanol and wind power. As before, this approach will likely backfire and raise prices while reducing energy security. Overall, this tax title makes an anti-consumer energy bill even...

Taxing successful energy sources and subsidizing unsuccessful ones: That's the essence of Washington's energy policy mistakes during the 1970s and early 1980s. These mistakes are about to be repeated in the tax title to the Senate energy bill. This section would raise taxes by an estimated $21 billion over 10 years--including $13 billion from the oil and natural gas sector--and spend much of it on tax breaks for alternative energy sources like ethanol and wind power. As before, this approach will likely backfire and raise prices while reducing energy security. Overall, this tax title makes an anti-consumer energy bill even...