Deficit and Tax Policy
Virginia House Sets The Stage For Bipartisan Monetary Reform
This article orginially appeared on Forbes.com on February 11, 2013.
The elevation of reform of our broken monetary system to a bi-partisan economic issue may be the biggest positive development of the next two years. Just last week, two-thirds of the Delegates in the Virginia House voted to “establish a joint subcommittee to study the feasibility of a metallic-based monetary unit.” That follows the lead of the Republican Platform’s call for a commission to consider the feasibility of a metallic basis for the U.S. currency, and last year’s decision by Utah to recognize gold and silver coins minted by the U.S. government as legal tender.
Importantly, there is nothing inherently partisan about favoring a metallic-based monetary unit. George Bernard Shaw, co-founder of the London School of Economics and ardent socialist, in his 1928 book, The Intelligent Women’s Guide to Socialism and Capitalism wrote this about the gold standard:
Congressional Budget Office releases Economic Outlook, 2013-2023
By Bea Kath
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report to show how Obama’s tax hikes, signed into law last month, will affect the federal government’s fiscal outlook.
Here are some highlights:
With the Vast Deficit, Where is Our Economy Headed?
The federal deficit, currently $1.1 trillion, is now about 7 percent of our economy or gross domestic product (GDP). Although the deficit was even higher by this standard in 2009, at 10.1 percent of GDP, both figures are historically high numbers in the post-World War II era, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s most recent Monthly Budget Review.
When the government borrows on the scale that Washington has been doing over the past decade, it reduces the funds available for private lending and therefore the investment activities that fuel the economy. Concerned observers have raised the possibility, unless substantial deficit reduction occurs, of a long-term trend of higher interest rates and slow growth.
The Democratic Party’s Secret Attack On The Middle Class
This article originally appeared on Forbes.com on October 22, 2012
Democrats repeatedly claim their goal is to promote middle-class prosperity. Yet, their policy of increased spending financed by higher taxes and rising debt are a direct threat to the middle-class standard of living and economic security. That is the conclusion of new research I have just completed based on an analysis of state taxes, spending and debt policies and their economic consequences based on data provided by the Tax Foundation, Sales Tax Institute, U.S. Census Bureau, and the U.S. government.
States are a perfect laboratory for cutting through the political spin and observing the actual economic policies of the nation’s two major political parties, along with their consequences for the average American. Democratic states – defined as those 18 states and District of Columbia won by the Democratic candidate for President in the 2000, 2004 and 2008 elections – are true to the Democratic Party’s rhetoric.
Obama Drowns in Red Ink
This article originally appeared on the National Review Online on October 19, 2012
"Today I am pledging to cut the deficit in half by the end of my first term in office,” President Obama boldly declared on February 23, 2009. He added that this “means taking responsibility right now, this administration, for getting our spending under control.”
Among Obama’s parade of disappointments, this vehicle may be the most dangerous.
No “Laffing” Matter: President Obama’s Attack on Romney’s Tax Plan is Groundless
In the days following the first Presidential Debate, the spin coming from the mainstream has been that while Republican challenger Mitt Romney “won” the debate, he did so with the caveat that he was lying about how he would address the tax problem in America.
At Engage America, we’re not so much concerned with who “won” the debate, but rather what policies are part of a winning future for the country. We do, however, find it troubling when the mainstream media appears to be mitigating a one-sided debate of the issues.
President of the United States of Decline
With Obama in office, the nation’s economy has gotten worse and worse.
This article originally appeared on The National Review Online on October 5, 2012
Slip slidin’ away . . .
Why does America seem to be slouching? Multiple measures have found this country going down, down, down since President Obama’s inauguration.
A History of Obama’s “Fair Tax” and Welfare
When it comes to taxes, Barack Obama has long championed “fairness,” but his “fairness” isn’t justice, its demagoguery. Indeed, according to press clippings from the time, Barack Obama’s coalition building for the “working poor” extended beyond welfare policy to taxes. In February 1998, the then-state senator unveiled a “fair tax” which sought to increase personal exemptions for 10 million Illinoisans and make the tax code more “progressive.” Unfortunately, this loss in revenue had to be made up elsewhere and Obama targeted the so-called rich. This didn’t work in Illinois when the rich moved to other states.
If Congress Goes Over the Fiscal Cliff Your Taxes Will Likely Go Up
This article orginally appeared in the TaxVox blog on October 1st, 2012
If Congressional gridlock sends the U.S. government tumbling over the fiscal cliff later this year, Americans could face an average tax hike of almost $3,500 in 2013. Nearly 9 of every 10 households would pay higher taxes. Every income group would see their taxes rise by at least 3.5 percent, but high-income households would suffer the biggest hit by far, according to a new Tax Policy Center analysis.
TPC found that if the tax hikes last the entire year—a big ”if”–those in the top 0.1 percent would pay an average $633,000 more than if today’s tax rules were extended. However, even middle income households would take a hit: they’d pay an average of almost $2,000 more, and see their after-tax income fall by more than 4 percent. Such tax hikes would be “unprecedented,” said the paper’s authors, Bob Williams, Eric Toder, Donald Marron, and Hang Nguyen.
The Fed’s Futile Effort To Bail Out Obamanomics
This article originally appeared on Forbes.com on September 14, 2012
In what can be viewed as a desperate effort to bail out the failed economic policies of the Obama Administration, the Federal Reserve this week committed to purchasing $40 billion a month of mortgage backed securities for an unlimited time and to keep interest rates artificially low until at least mid 2015. By so doing, the Fed has embarked upon a course that invites higher inflation, falling living standards, and a global financial crisis.
Get The Facts
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"Tax-Reform Peril" New York Post via Manhattan Institute
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"An Inferior Tax Cut" Wall Street Journal
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"Would Another Repatriation Tax Holiday Create Jobs?" Heritage Foundation
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"10 Graphs that Prove that the U.S. is a Low-Tax Country" American Progress
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"The Moment of Truth" National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
ENGAGING WITH OTHERS
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October 22, 2012
Paul Krugman: 'The Public Really Doesn't Care' About The Deficit
Cody, on Huffington Post -
October 16, 2012
Branstad announces tax cuts
Moss, on KCCI -
October 10, 2012
Hey Romney, Here's A Comeback To Obama's $5 Trillion Tax Cut Canard
Moss, on Forbes -
October 17, 2012
11 Things The GOP Doesn't Want You To Know About The Deficit
Bill, on Huffington Post -
September 11, 2012
We Need a Bipartisan Effort to Fix the Economy
Collin, on US News
