Tax Policy Blog reports that the Maryland legislature is considering whether to pass a law that would raise tax rates on wealthy individuals. And what is considered wealthy in Maryland? $100,000.00 of annual income: Maryland’s tax special session began today; expect more analysis on it from us tomorrow. However, we just obtained detail on S.B. [...]
The tax-the-rich left finally has the conclusive proof it has been seeking that it is absolutely, unequivocally the right thing to do for the United States to increase taxes on the rich: France is doing it. Charles Riley of CNNMoney says that “raising taxes on the rich isn’t just an election year issue in the United States — it’s [...]
From Paul Caron: The Hill, Hill Poll: Likely Voters Prefer Lower Individual, Business Tax Rates: Three-quarters of likely voters believe the nationâs top earners should pay lower, not higher, tax rates, according to a new poll for The Hill. The big majority opted for a lower tax bill when asked to choose specific rates; precisely 75% said the [...]
The Weekly Standard via Instapundit: Tim Geithner says that because Americans are privileged to be Americans the rich should pay hire taxes: Thatâs the kind of balance you need. Why is that the case? Because if you don’t try to generate more revenues through tax reform, if you don’t ask, you know, the most fortunate Americans to [...]
Chris Christie’s in-your -face-I-don’t-take-no-crap-from-anyone schtick is getting old. If I hear him tell some John or Jane Doe to shut up and mind their own business again, I think I’ll lose a gasket. But Warren Buffett’s woe-is-me-I-am-so-undertaxed schtick has gotten even older. So, I was pleasantly pleased when I heard the rotund Governor smack down the octogenerian Ukelele player [...]
Heritage: Nearly Half of All Americans Donât Pay Income Taxes Heritage Foundation: Chart of the Week — Nearly Half of All Americans Donât Pay Income Taxes: (Hat Tip: Paul Caron) Bookmark & Share:
Paul Caron reports that the United States tax system is more progressive than France, Germany, Belgium and the UK. No doubt my friends on the left, tax bloggers Linda Beale and James Maule, and those of their ilk, will find a way to recast the study and the charts below as evidence of a right wing [...]
Listen to left-lurching tax law professor and tax blogger Linda Beale wax indignant about Greece’s austerity program (emphasis is mine): The austerity demands, in order for a sovereign nation to pay back its debt to mostly big banks that lent money recklessly in the leadup to the financial crisis, make no sense at all. If [...]
By way of Paul Caron, Liz Peek of Fiscal Times explains why the Buffett Rule is pile of propagandistic nonsense (emphasis added): Fiscal Times, Obamaâs âBuffett Ruleâ Fails the Tax Reform Test, by Liz Peek: President Obama has a new favorite possession â the âBuffett Rule.â Like a poodle with a new chew-toy, Mr. Obama canât [...]
The left would have you believe that 1 percenters like Warren Buffett and Mitt Romney are the poster boys for a tax system that favors the rich. Enter James Ross, a 1 percenter who paid 102% of his 201o taxable income in federal income, state income local taxes. James Stewart of the Associated Press has the story: [...]
By way of Paul Caron, the WSJ reports that the Buffett Rule, if enacted, won’t apply to its namesake: Wall Street Journal, Will Buffett Avoid the Buffett Rule? The Sage of Omaha Is Already Positioned to Shield Most of His Rising Wealth From Such a Tax, by James Freeman: Billionaire Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett [...]
One of the first rules of debate is that you should endeavor to understand your opponent’s argument – both the strong and weak points – better than he does. The pro-tax left is, apparently, unaware of this rule. Count left-leaning economist Robert H. Frank among those who simply do not understand why many conservative Americans, the [...]
Please bear with me on this one. If Warren Buffett really does pay taxes at a lower rate than his secretary does, it is a fairer result than if he paid taxes at a higher rate.¹ Here’s why: Warren Buffett employs his secretary. Debbie Bosanek employs no one Warren Buffett, directly and indirectly, employs hundreds of thousands of workers. Debbie [...]
In his post Lying About Tax Myths Professor Maule responds point by point to my recent post More Lies About Tax Lies. I have published Maule’s entire post below. After each of his assertions, I give my rebuttal. 1. Maule’s Assertion: Peter Pappas is at it again. My Rebuttal: I agree, I am at it again. “It” being the [...]
John Berlau and Trey Kovacs of The Wall Street Journal point out that Mitt Romney’s capital gains income was paid with after-tax corporate dollars and, therefore, taxed twice. I don’t expect people on the left to understand this. And even if they do, I don’t expect them to stop their anti-rich, class-warrior, Buffett secretary nonsense. But hope springs eternal. [...]
Professor James Maule has, once again, lied about who tells tax lies. He lists five myths – he really means lies – which he says the right tells about taxes. In this post I will discuss and hopefully refute the first three of them. Maule’s First Myth The first myth, that â47% of Americans do not [...]
John Kerry, the Democratic nominee for President in 2004, paid a lower rate of taxes than Mitt Romney paid in 2010. Of course, we didn’t hear much about Mr. Kerry’s low tax rate from the mainstream press even though, unlike Romney, he thinks the rich are undertaxed. It almost seems unfair to point out that unlike Mr. Romney, who [...]
In a 2007 blog post appearing in The American Stephen Moore reported that the top one percent of American income earners pay 37% of the federal income tax: The latest data show that a big portion of the federal income tax burden is shoulÂdered by a small group of the very richest Americans. The wealthiest 1 percent of the population earn 19 [...]
Self-declared undertaxed billionaire Warren Buffett says he’ll contribute money to the Treasury if self-declared overtaxed Republicans do the same. You read that right. Let me illustrate Buffet’s crazy reasoning with a bit of imaginary dialogue straight from the theater of the absurd: Warren Buffett: All rich people should pay more taxes because I don’t think I don’t pay [...]
In today’s WSJ, Stanford economics professor Ronald McKinnon makes what he calls a “conservative” case for a wealth tax (the emphasis is mine): In order to have a fairer tax system, we should implement a new federal wealth tax in addition to the federal income tax. Unlike the current income tax, the wealth tax would not rely on how [...]