Free Republic

A powerful anti-tax crusader said President Barack Obama doesn't have a better argument for tax increases today than he did two years ago, when he agreed to extend the Bush tax cuts for all Americans. "Raising taxes is always bad for the economy," Americans For Tax Reform President Grover Norquist told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday. "Tax increases are what's done instead of reforming government." Negotiations to avoid the "fiscal cliff" of mandatory tax hikes and spending cuts have largely been focused on the president's desire to raise tax rates for the top two percent of wage earners. Republicans have...

White House: Threat of tax hikes could hurt holiday shoppingBy Justin Sink - 11/26/12 06:00 AM ET The White House released a report Monday arguing that a failure to extend tax cuts for middle class families could have a negative impact on the economy which outweighs the gains from traditional Black Friday and Cyber Monday holiday sales. According to the report, reverting back to pre-Bush era tax rates would reduce consumer spending some $200 billion — four times the amount holiday shoppers spent on Black Friday weekend in 2011. "As we approach the holiday season, which accounts for close to...

President Obama argues that President Clinton’s economic record is proof that the current economy would grow if Congress passed the tax hikes he has long proposed. The American public should not fall for this misleading argument.The historical record is clear: The economy grew slower than it should have in the years after Clinton’s 1993 tax hike. The strong economic growth that is associated with his presidency occurred only after he agreed with Congress to cut taxes in his second term.President Obama’s cursory and errant analysis of recent history has serious implications for policymaking today. If Congress raises taxes based on...

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney renewed his support Wednesday for automatic increases in the federal minimum wage to keep pace with inflation, a position sharply at odds with traditional GOP business allies, conservatives and the party's senior lawmakers. "I haven't changed my thoughts on that," the former Massachusetts governor told reporters aboard his chartered campaign plane, referring to a stand he has held for a decade. He did not say if he would ask Congress to approve the change if he wins the White House this fall. Congress first enacted federal minimum wage legislation in 1938...

"I think there is room for revenues, but I think there clearly is a limit to the amount of revenues that are available," Boehner told reporters. "What I was attempting to do," he said, grinning, "was to suggest that Mr. Norquist, like millions of Americans, believes that raising taxes is not good for our economy." Boehner insisted that Republicans would only compromise on tax revenue if Democrats were willing to take significant and painful steps to shore up Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. "Without real reform on the entitlement side, I don't know how you put any revenue on the...

Just after hitting a new all time high of above $1815 in spot gold, the CME immediately sent out a notice to members advising that gold margins for Tier 1 members were increasing by 22% for both initial and maintenance positions, from $4,500 to $5,500. Unfortunately for the CME, this predetermined move was telegraphed to the market weeks ago, and with rumor 57 out of 22 finally turning out correct, this latest move only managed to push gold down modestly, and at last check was once again trading above $1,800. Just like all central bank interventions, which now have a...

The first of many gold price upgrades is here, as Goldman's David Greely finally catches on to what has been all too obvious to anyone with a frontal lobe: "Gold prices hit a new record high last week, closing at $1,663/toz on August 3. Despite this rally, the rise in gold prices has continued to lag the plunge in US real interest rates, with 10-year TIPS yields trading below 30 bp. With our US economics team lowering their outlook for US economic growth, implying US real rates will remain lower for longer, and with sovereign debt issues in both the...

Republicans haven't gone wobbly on the debt ceiling debate, but in the House they are laying a trap for themselves that will leave them holding the bag for any downgrade or default on America's sovereign debt. President Obama, as he indicated Friday, still demands that significant tax hikes be a part of any debt ceiling deal. But as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Thursday, "Republicans will not be reduced to being the tax collectors for the Obama economy... We won't be seduced into calling a bad deal a good one." So far, so good. But there's a lot...

Now that the table is set, here’s how the proposed plan would work: Republicans in Congress would agree to vote to authorize the president to propose three separate incremental debt ceiling increases, spaced over the remainder of his term. He would be required to couple each request with a corresponding set of spending cuts that exceed the dollar amount of his sought-after debt limit hike. These cuts would be of his choosing alone. The first pair of requests would come prior to the August 2 deadline. It would be for roughly $700 Billion. The next requests, for $900 Billion, would...

Is President Obama proving his political genius by floating a plan for a $4 trillion deficit cut deal to lift the debt ceiling, offering entitlement cuts that will enrage parts of his base knowing he'll never face their wrath, because far-right Republicans will never take the deal? It could be. House Speaker John Boehner rejected Obama's "grand bargain" Sunday and Monday, because his members won't consider anything to raise revenue, not even closing loopholes for corporate private jets or a tax giveaway for hedge fund managers. Insiders say this lets Obama look like "the only grownup," the man who was...

Not sure if posting the story is ok. (kinda new to posting) http://bigjournalism.com/tag/debt-talks/

Did you enjoy the gridlock last week? Summer traffic trying to reach the beach can lead to some pretty hairy back-ups. Pretty soon, you'll be able to pay even more for the privilege of sitting in traffic. The O'Malley administration is socializing a plan to hike the gas tax between 42 percent and 100 percent, and raise the round-trip tolls on the Harbor Tunnel, Key Bridge and Bay Bridge to $8 - regressive taxes on hard-working Maryland families. There have been news stories about crumbling infrastructure, an empty Trust Fund and the need to pay bond holders. This PR campaign...

Nobody could have foreseen this. Nobody. At this point there is nothing left to comment on what is a concerted action to "mitigate" any and all risk in the commodity market but could as well be classified as executive order 6102.5. While we were joking before that soon one will have to post more cash than an silver contract is worth, we are now forced to reevaluate this sarcasm.

PASCAGOULA, Miss. — Documents provided by the administrator of BP's claims fund for Gulf oil spill victims show the oil giant agreed to increase his law firm's monthly compensation from $850,000 to $1.25 million. The documents furnished Friday to The Associated Press include a letter from former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey to claims czar Kenneth Feinberg. Mukasey stated his belief that the extra money was warranted because Feinberg's duties had grown. Mukasey was asked by Feinberg to weigh in on how reasonable his compensation was. The pay hike, detailed in a Tuesday letter from Mukasey to

Holding signs reading "Free my Future" and "Stop Education Cuts," up to 50,000 students stomped through the streets of London today, protesting both a tuition hike and deep cuts to the education budget. The protests turned violent Wednesday afternoon with protesters and police fighting in front of the Conservative Party's headquarters, the Millbank Tower. Students shattered the glass windows of the tower and hundreds occupied the building for a time. Activists threw water, paper, and even a fire extinguisher from the roof of the political headquarters

In just six months, the largest tax hikes in the history of America will take effect. They will hit families and small businesses in three great waves on January 1, 2011: First Wave: Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for investors, small business owners, and families. These will all expire on January 1, 2011: Read more: http://www.atr.org/sixmonths.html?content=5171#ixzz0soxbwXNO

In a shot across the bow to the insurance industry Tuesday, President Obama warned companies facing higher costs in part because of his health care law not to hike their prices, saying “we’ll be watching closely.” Backing up his rhetoric behind the scenes, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is quietly working on a new regulation to determine when insurance price increases are “unreasonable” and potentially prohibited by law. The move may provide political cover heading into November’s elections as the President tries to keep the public from linking recent premium hikes to his newly-passed health care law.

More than 50 oil tankers are anchored off Britain - pieces in a game in which the only winners are market speculators. The losers are the millions of British motorists paying over the odds for their petrol and diesel. After yesterday's report in the Daily Mail on how several so-called 'oil shark' tankers were moored near the Devon coast, dozens more vessels were revealed to be loitering off-shore. Some are carrying aircraft fuel or fuel for homes. Others are empty, waiting to be restocked before setting off around the globe. But according to industry experts, a significant number are 'oil...

WASHINGTON -- In twin strokes, President Barack Obama is calling on Congress to reward generous budget increases to domestic programs while proposing relatively modest cuts to wasteful or obsolete programs that just won't seem to die. Officials said Wednesday that Obama's promised line-by-line scrub of the federal budget had produced a roster of 121 budget cuts totaling $17 billion -- or about one-half of 1 percent of the $3.4 trillion budget Congress has approved for next year. The details were being unveiled Thursday. Those savings are far exceeded by a phone-book-sized volume detailing Obama's generous increases for domestic programs that...

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's ambitious new budget faced bipartisan skepticism Thursday as key senators questioned the administration's long-term budget outlook and the deficits it envisions rising in the middle of the next decade. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner defended it in testimony before the Senate Budget Committee, saying current increases in spending are short term and will have to be substantially reduced to get the country back into fiscal shape. Still, the Democratic chairman of the Budget Committee, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, called the track of future deficits "unsustainable" and singled out Obama's proposal for spending $634 billion on...