The Fed Taxes Savers to Pay for Govt. Spending
Richard Rahn explains how the Federal Reserve’s low interest rate manipulation taxes savers to help government spend more of taxpayers’ money: By artificially holding down interest rates to...
View ArticleCould a Higher Sales Tax Lead to Less Expensive Government?
A Governing.com blog post by finance writer Liz Farmer includes a little history lesson for conservative governors looking to swap income tax cuts for higher sales taxes. In order to avoid a massive...
View ArticleCA’s Brown Faces Big Test over Shale Oil Fracking
It’s an interesting time to follow California politics. Last month, Democratic Governor Jerry Brown announced that, thanks to the voter-approved tax hikes from last November, the state looks poised...
View ArticleObamaCare’s Most Expensive Tax Flies Under the Radar
According to America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), ObamaCare’s health insurance tax needs to be repealed as soon as possible: Starting next year the ACA imposes a new $100 billion tax on health...
View ArticleMore Local Govt. Corruption in California
An investigative report from the Orange County Register deserves to be read in its entirety, but here’s my executive summary. Hundreds of schools in California enlisted the services of a bank to...
View ArticleTax Bite Makes NFL’s Highest Paid Second in Net Income
Fresh off his Super Bowl win, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco signed a contract extension worth $120.6 million, making him the highest paid player in the National Football League. But as...
View ArticleJindal’s Louisiana Tax Reform a (Possible) Model for Other States, Feds
A few weeks ago I wrote on the income-for-sale-tax swap some conservative governors are pursuing as an alternative to Washington’s income tax rate debate. Today, Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, a...
View ArticleUpdate on Jindal’s Sales-for-Income Tax Swap
Two state-based think tanks, Louisiana’s Pelican Institute and Massachusetts’ Beacon Hill Institute, released a study (pdf) highlighting the likely benefits of Louisiana Republican Governor Bobby...
View ArticleJindal “Parks” Controversial Income-for-Sales Tax Swap
With opposition from Louisiana’s business and religious communities, as well as resistance from Republican state lawmakers, Governor Bobby Jindal announced he will “park” his plan to replace the...
View ArticlePro-Texas Ad Campaign in Anti-Business Blue States
Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry is once again visiting Democratic strongholds in an attempt to lure businesses to relocate to the Lone Star State. Perry is set to meet with business groups in New...
View ArticleHHS Hires 86 Cops, 2 Consumer Safety Officers under ObamaCare
How’s this for a snapshot of ObamaCare’s priorities? Since the controversial health law passed in March 2010, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has hired 1,684 new employees. Of those,...
View ArticleObamacare’s Christmas Hangover
As Americans awake from the annual Christmas spending spree, a new set of bills is coming due in January – Obamacare-related taxes and fees. The New York Post offers a summary: · A 2 percent levy on...
View ArticleCBO: ObamaCare Incentivizes More Welfare, Less Work
A new report by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office predicts the Affordable Care Act (i.e. Obamacare) will cause up to 2 million lower-income workers to leave the labor force over the next...
View ArticleObamaCare’s War on Work
Up to 38% of people who qualify for Obamacare exchange subsidies may have to pay some or all of the money back to the IRS. That’s because the amount of subsidy dispensed is based on a sliding scale. As...
View ArticleIRS Compliance Nightmare Looms as ObamaCare Site Crashes Ahead of Deadline
This morning Healthcare.gov – the federal ObamaCare website serving citizens in 34 states – went down for four hours, stymieing customers from accessing or completing their applications for insurance....
View ArticleAn Energy Policy that Creates Jobs and Prestige
“By boosting our energy production, the U.S. could restore its diminishing influence in the world without expending blood and treasure – in fact, we would reap major economic benefits,” writes Rep....
View ArticleReport: Without Subsidies, ObamaCare Enrollment in Death Spiral
“Without [ObamaCare’s] premium support, premiums rise by nearly 45 percent, and enrollment falls by nearly 70 percent,” says a report by RAND Health. The analysis is part of an evaluation commissioned...
View ArticleRepeal of ObamaCare’s Medical Device Tax Coming Soon?
Repealing ObamaCare’s medical device tax is one of the ways to deprive the controversial health law of $30 billion in funding, so it’s no wonder Republicans in Congress are getting ready to do just...
View ArticleIRS Tax Refunds Could be Much Smaller Under ObamaCare This Year
Anyone still looking for a fundamental change to the federal tax code need look no further than ObamaCare. H&R Block, one of the nation’s largest tax preparation companies, is promoting its free...
View ArticlePaul Ryan Says No to Raising Gas Tax
With oil prices at record lows some Members of Congress have floated the idea of raising the federal gas tax to make up for lost revenue. Today, Paul Ryan put the kibosh on the proposal. “We won’t pass...
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