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President Obama signaled in our interview that he was prepared to address some of the concerns raised by key Senator Jay Rockefeller, who called the Baucus bill a “big middle class tax increase” this week. That means he’ll support more subsidies for middle class families. But in our most spirited exchange, the President refused to accept the argument that a mandate to buy health insurance is equivalent to a tax. Here it is: STEPHANOPOULOS: You were against the individual mandate… OBAMA: Yes. STEPHANOPOULOS: …during the campaign. Under this mandate, the government is forcing people to spend money, fining you if...

The Maryland General Assembly passed a $260 million tax increase Wednesday as it adjourned from a three-day special session that ended with Gov. Martin O'Malley saying he will bring lawmakers back for another session this summer. The House gave final approval to two bills that will raise income taxes and shift a portion of teacher pension costs to counties to balance the state’s $35.5 billion budget, which is nearly $1 billion larger than last year’s spending plan.

What’s worse than dueling tax increases appearing on the November ballot? How about, dueling tax increases that find a “cooperative” way to work together on the November ballot...

Among the intended goals of higher taxes on cigarettes is that some smokers will quitrather than dealwith the increased cost. While this may happen, newly released numbers show that taxing cigarettes also drove up the sales of forms of tobacco that are taxed at lower rates. The Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) of 2009 increased and equalized federal excise tax rates for cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco, and small cigars. It also increased the tax rates on pipe tobacco and cigars, but not to the levelof theother items.

ANNAPOLIS — Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. is pushing for broader income-tax increases and a last-ditch attempt at expanding gambling as lawmakers look toward a possible special session, but the House appears reluctant to embrace either proposal. Mr. Miller will meet Tuesday with Gov. Martin O'Malley and House Speaker Michael E. Busch to discuss the scope of a potential special session, during which the General Assembly likely would pass several tax and revenue increases to cancel out $512 million in cuts resulting from their failure to pass the increases at the regular session’s close. Mr. Miller is waging...

Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to raise your taxes would raise less than he planned, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst. So Brown came up with another plan, caving in to union demands. Now Brown would raise your taxes even more. Does Jerry Brown have it right this time? Guess what the Legislative Analyst says about this new, improved (higher) tax plan? Just two days after the governor announced his “compromise” ballot measure to raise taxes, California’s top budget analyst said today the measure will generate $2.2 billion less next year than Brown has estimated...

ANNAPOLIS — The Maryland Senate passed a $35.9 billion budget package Thursday that would increase income-tax rates on nearly all earners and impose a flat income tax on residents making more than $500,000 a year. The spending plan would boost the state’s income-tax brackets by as much as 0.25 percentage point — a move expected to generate more than $500 million next fiscal year. The budget bill passed after senators narrowly approved an amendment Wednesday night that would allow the state to tax “half-millionaires,” who make more than $500,000 annually, at the maximum 5.75 percent rate for every dollar they...

ANNAPOLIS — Gov. Martin O'Malley told House and Senate lawmakers Wednesday that failing to raise Maryland’s gas tax could lead to crumbling roads and bridges in the future, and that they should pass his proposal despite its lack of popularity with residents. Mr. O'Malley, a Democrat, touted his proposed 6 percent sales tax on gas while testifying before the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee and at a joint hearing of the House Ways and Means and Environmental Matters committees. Legislators have said a gas-tax hike appears unlikely during this year’s General Assembly session because of rising gas prices, public outcry...

ANNAPOLIS — Gov. Martin O'Malley will go before House and Senate committees Wednesday and ask them to raise the state’s gas tax, but he might get drowned out by the talk from constituents back in lawmakers’ home districts. Mr. O'Malley, a Democrat, has clung to the proposal in recent weeks even as skepticism of the plan has mounted in the face of rising gas prices and persistent objections from the public. The governor says the tax increase is a necessary investment in the state’s congested, too-long-ignored road and transit infrastructure. But with gas prices climbing toward $4 a gallon, leading...

The huge tax increases proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown are becoming much less popular as voters learn more about them. At the rate of decline in popularity over just the past two months, there may be no one left in California who will vote for the higher taxes by the time November balloting arrives, save, of course, Mr. Brown and the principal beneficiaries, public employee union members to whom he panders. Meanwhile, an analysis by the state Board of Equalization, which handles state business taxes, has weighed the impact of the governor's higher taxes and found them quite costly. The...

ANNAPOLIS —Gov. Martin O'Malley’s proposal to increase the state’s gasoline tax is looking more and more far-fetched because of rising gas prices and persistent public outcry, say state lawmakers from both parties. The Democratic governor’s bill to phase in a 6 percent sales tax on gas has been met with skepticism from Republicans and moderate Democrats in the General Assembly. Now with gas prices climbing toward $4 a gallon and lawmakers focused on fine-tuning a state budget that could include several other tax increases, some legislators say they are running low on time and political will to tack on a...

For years, we’ve been hearing from experts across the political spectrum about the need to invest more in our failing transportation infrastructure in Maryland. The D.C. region is at the top of the list of the most-congested cities in America, and Baltimore is not far behind. Almost half of Maryland’s roads and bridges are in poor or mediocre condition, and 55 percent of our urban highways are heavily congested. Maryland’s construction industry and its thousands of workers have been decimated by years of severe cuts in transportation investment. Despite what is clearly a growing need, Maryland’s transportation program is a...

This bill will increase the VA gasoline tax by indexing it to the Producer Price Index. Click on the link to see the actual results....should be posted by tomorrow. The bill passed 26 to 14. Republicans voting FOR the gas tax included Blevins, Hanger, Norment, Ruff, Stosch, Wagner and Watkins. Their emails are listed below....

It is amazing how much legislators forget while they are in Richmond. While their constituents are home balancing their budget and making do with much less, the Senate of Virginia is supporting efforts to increase taxes. This week, the Virginia State Senate will consider a bill that will increase the gas tax (SB 631). The sponsor of the bill calls this an “inflation adjustment,” but AFP-VA is calling this a tax increase on hard working families of Virginia. Increasing the gas tax will drive up consumer costs; unfairly hurting the less fortunate and the unemployed. Tell your Legislators you oppose...

WASHINGTON - A day after the governor of Maryland said he would like to institute a percentage tax on gasoline, the chief executive of Virginia said he would not seek any additional taxes during a recession, particularly on gas, despite a significant demand for more transit projects. Both states have looked to sales tax to resolve their transportation funding woes. On Monday, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley said he would like to do away with a ban on sales tax for gasoline, to add to its existing 23-cent flat tax. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has a different approach. "I will not...

IN THE MAELSTROM of tax increases proposed by Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D), it’s easy to lose track of which are most critical. For a start, it’s useful to identify which needs have been most and longest neglected — and near the top of that list is transportation. It’s been 20 years since Maryland raised its gasoline tax, the largest source of transportation funding. As construction costs have risen, the revenue it yields has plummeted in real terms. At this point, Marylanders (like Virginians, who last saw a gas tax increase when Ronald Reagan was president) are not paying for...

CBO: Taxes Will ‘Shoot Up by More Than 30 Percent’ Over Next 2 Years By Terence P. Jeffrey January 31, 2012 (CNSNews.com) - The amount of money the federal government takes out of the U.S. economy in taxes will increase by more than 30 percent between 2012 and 2014, according to the Budget and Economic Outlook published today by the CBO. At the same time, according to CBO, the economy will remain sluggish, partly because of higher taxes. “In particular, between 2012 and 2014, revenues in CBO’s baseline shoot up by more than 30 percent,” said CBO, “mostly because of...

WASHINGTON - Many of Maryland's traffic woes would be alleviated by allowing a percentage tax on gasoline, the state's governor said Monday. While speaking on WTOP's "Ask the Governor," Martin O'Malley said he would like to "phase out" the sales tax exemption on gas, which would allow a percentage tax on the fuel in additon to the existing 23-cent flat tax. The current flat tax has not changed since the early 1990s when gasoline was about $1.08, the governor says, adding the regional arteries wouldn't be so clogged if the state had more to invest in transportation infrastructure. "The best...

For Immediate Release Contact: Garren Shipley (540) 686-1138 Surprise! Democrats Call for Plastic Bag Tax -- Bill would add $1 to a grocery bill for every five bags -- Democrats in Virginia are often fixated on the gas tax, but sometimes they do come up with other ideas. Like making it more expensive for you to take home groceries. Del. Joe Morrissey, D-Richmond, and Del. Scott Surovell, D-Mount Vernon, have put forward a bill that would charge hard working Virginia families 20 cents every time they bring home a bag from the grocery store. Why? It's not about money, according...

DES MOINES, Iowa - Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann is telling college students in politically important Iowa that all Americans should pay taxes since they all benefit from services such as roads and bridges, national defense and the courts. Her position, which she was outlining today at Iowa State University in Ames, is a direct challenge to rivals Rick Perry and Herman Cain, who are advocating plans that would allow low-wage earners to continue paying no taxes while implementing a form of a flat tax on all other workers. The Tax Policy Center estimates that some 46 percent of households...