Free Republic

Facts Are Stubborn Things Democrats Yank Middle Class Tax Relief from National Energy Tax Bill Wednesday, June 24, 2009 * In the middle of the night, Democrats yanked any energy tax relief for American families from their National Energy Tax bill (the cap-and-trade scheme under Waxman-Markey) and replaced it with a further expansion of their welfare program --- energy stamps. * This change renders the recent CBO analysis of net household cost from the Democrats’ National Energy Tax obsolete, because CBO included the benefits of the previously proposed tax relief in its analysis. * The Democrats’ National Energy Tax will...

Fifty-four percent (54%) of U.S. voters say tax cuts for the middle class are more important than new spending for health care reform, even as President Obama’s top economic advisers signal that tax hikes may be necessary. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey, taken Monday and Tuesday nights, finds that 34% disagree and say new spending for health care reform is more important. Twelve percent (12%) are not sure. It is important to note that this question asked about new government spending for health care reform rather than about the overall concept of health care reform itself. The partisan...

Federal legislation that would afford trial lawyers a special tax break faces an uncertain future, says one of the chief lobbyists for the nation's trial lawyers. The proposal would allow attorneys to deduct fees and expenses up-front for filing contingency-fee lawsuits. The proposal amounts to about a $1.6 billion tax break for plaintiffs' attorneys, estimates indicate. "Everyone wants to do it, but the problem is there is not a tax vehicle yet," said Linda Lipsen, American Association for Justice (AAJ) Senior Vice President of Public Affairs. Lipsen was speaking to the Birth Trauma Litigation Group at the annual meeting this...

Snips It's not real money as measured by the Washington adage of "$1 billion here and $1 billion there," but President Barack Obama's Cabinet has just delivered on his demand for $100 million in budget savings. Obama's promise to deliver the savings, which was greeted with considerable ridicule since it amounted to a pledge to cut about $1 for every $10,000 of the $1 trillion budget for agency budgets...the equivalent of cutting a foot-long submarine sandwich from the budget of a construction worker making $60,000 a year. Agriculture Department canceled a meeting in Australia Commerce Department scrapped $131,000 worth of...

The Barack Obama fiscal plan has cut taxes by over 30% for the second quarter of 2009. H/T to Bizzyblog. According to the US Treasury, receipts have fallen 30.9% from the same quarter in 2008. The Obama tax plan seems to be working fine. Now some may say that this is because individuals have lost their jobs and can’t pay taxes. And others may say that companies are not making any money so they can’t afford to pay taxes. But these are obviously “wingnuts” who can’t face the fact that Barack Obama is the COOLEST PRESIDENT EVER!!!!!

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said that Republicans would work with President Obama on a second stimulus bill, as long as it's like the tax cut-heavy package the GOP proposed earlier. Cantor told reporters Monday that Obama made a mistake by pushing through a $787 billion stimulus bill in February that had too much government spending. With the economy still scuffling and unemployment approaching 10 percent, Cantor said that Republicans could back new stimulus legislation that focuses on help for small businesses. "We stand ready and willing to work with the president to produce a bill that will actually...

President Obama's assertion to homeowners that refinancing their mortgage loans now with interest rates at a near-record low equates to a tax cut isn't that cut and dried, according to tax analysts. Obama said at his third press conference last month that the housing plan his administration has launched has "already contributed to a spike in the number of homeowners who are refinancing their mortgages, which is the equivalent of another tax cut." But tax analysts told FOXNews.com that lower mortgage rates actually reduces tax savings.

WASHINGTON -- Millions of Americans enjoying their small windfall from President Barack Obama's "Making Work Pay" tax credit are in for an unpleasant surprise next spring. The government is going to want some of that money back. The tax credit is supposed to provide up to $400 to individuals and $800 to married couples as part of the massive economic recovery package enacted in February. Most workers started receiving the credit through small increases in their paychecks in the past month. But new tax withholding tables issued by the IRS could cause millions of taxpayers to get hundreds of dollars...

Obama’s Spending vs Obama’s Spending Cuts — in PicturesPosted April 20th, 2009 at 10.34am According to reports, President Barack Obama plans to convene his Cabinet for the first time today, where he will order members to identify a combined $100 million in budget cuts over the next 90 days. Just how laughable is Obama’s latest stunt to try to maintain his “fiscal responsibility” credentials? This graphic from Heritage’s John Fleming might help:

Obama says his tax cut for 95% of Americans will lift people out of poverty. Please tell me how an $8 tax cut can possibly lift even one person out of poverty? Especially when these people pay no taxes to begin with. Also, he claims that it's the federal government's job to create jobs for Americans? Oh, yeah? Since when? Here's the formula that will help PRIVATE enterprise create jobs for Americans: Cut the spending. Cut the government. Cut the taxes. Repeat. Get the government out of the way and OFF our backs!! Set our people FREE!!

<p>WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Obliquely answering the hundreds of "tea bag" protests around the country on tax day, President Barack Obama said Wednesday that he's already delivered the most progressive tax cut in history, with 95% of families getting a tax break in every paycheck.</p>

Press Releases Contact: Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami 202-226-7616 For Immediate Release 04/15/2009 Pelosi on Tax Day: Millions of Americans Will See Tax Cuts This Year Thanks to Economic Plan of Congress and Obama Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement on Tax Day. “Millions of Americans will see their taxes cut this year thanks to the economic plan of the New Direction Congress and President Obama. We enacted the fastest tax cut in history—the Making Work Pay Tax Credit—that workers are already seeing in their paychecks. To spur economic growth and lay a foundation for stronger economy, the...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Obliquely answering the hundreds of "tea bag" protests around the country on tax day, President Barack Obama said Wednesday that he's already delivered the most progressive tax cut in history, with 95% of families getting a tax break in every paycheck. Americans need a "government that is working to create jobs and opportunity for them, rather than simply giving more and more to those at the very top in the false hope that wealth will trickle down," Obama said. In his remarks, Obama decried the use of taxes as a political wedge issue "to scare people into...

Tomorrow is Tax Day, and conservatives across the country are planning "Tea Parties," intended to be grass-roots "revolts" against the Obama administration's economic policies thus far. Though organized independent of the Republican Party, a number of officeholders and candidates are planning to attend local events. At the White House, Robert Gibbs said that he's not sure if President Obama is aware of the planned demonstrations. He will, however, mark the day with a White House event "to signal the important steps in the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment plan that cut taxes for 95 percent of working families in America," Gibbs...

81% Say Middle Class Tax Cuts Important for Budget Plan Monday, March 30, 2009 Eighty-one percent (81%) of voters nationwide say it’s important to keep the promised middle-class tax cuts in President Obama's $3.6 trillion budget. That figure includes 55% who say it’s Very Important.The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that just 15% do not see the tax cuts as important.<snip>By a 51% to 38% margin, voters say the tax cuts are more important than new spending on health care reform. While voters remain divided over the president’s budget, health care reform has emerged as the most significant...

President Barack Obama says he's not ready to comment on a proposal from some Senate Democrats to scrap his middle-class tax cut after 2010. Obama says he hasn't yet seen what changes are coming out of the House and Senate. But he delivered his bottom-line on the budget at a Tuesday evening news conference. Obama said the budget must move toward health care reform and include an energy policy that frees the nation from dependence on foreign oil. He also says he's looking for investment in education and a reduction in the deficit.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A top Democrat in the Senate announced a budget blueprint Tuesday that would scrap President Barack Obama's signature tax cut after 2010 and blends sleight of hand with modest restraint on domestic programs to cut the deficit to sustainable levels.

Similarly, on healthcare, Obama has decided to put cost control above expanding coverage... There's also a shift in investment priorities in the healthcare proposal. The fastest-growing part of the federal budget is spending for Medicare, a program that provides healthcare for the elderly. It is paid for by payroll taxes from people still in the workforce. In essence, Medicare amounts to a resource shift from younger workers to older retirees. And the population of older retirees is rapidly growing relative to the workforce. "The more we spend on the elderly, the less we can spend on other things, including education,"...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Gail in Lakeside, Arizona, you're on Open Line Friday. Hi. CALLER: Hi, Rush. Thank you for all you do for us. RUSH: Thank you very much. CALLER: I wanted to share quickly what I found out when I had my taxes prepared last week. The man that prepared my taxes for me cautioned me to watch out for my tax cut. He said, and you may want to adjust your withholding to take that back away, because the tax rate tables for next year when preparing taxes are not changing. So I could possibly owe my tax...

During his recent address to Congress Obama said that people making under $250,000 wouldn’t pay a single penny in additional federal taxes. I called that statement Obama’s “read my lips” moment, and I’m right too. Obama is already planning a massive tax hike for all Americans, albeit an indirect one. It’s called “cap and trade.” In one of the budget’s most ambitious proposals, the president plans to cap the emissions of greenhouse gases, forcing polluters to purchase permits for emissions that would be slowly brought down to 14% below 2005 levels by 2020 and 83% below 2005 levels by 2050....

How can we best invest our $13 per week tax cut toward overthrowing the Obama regime? The Democrats have further plundered our treasury, and endagered our country and the futures of our children and grandchildren. To the cheaters and scammers and non-productive elements, they give pork, bailouts, welfare, and debt forgiveness. To those who work and pay their bills, they have tossed a $13 crumb. How can we take this crumb and make something of it - something that might lead to regime change? I'm throwing this question out to the smartest people I know - the Free Republic community.

WASHINGTON – The notoriously slow Congress passed the $787 billion economic stimulus package in a matter of weeks. President Barack Obama signed it into law less than one month into his presidency. So, just how soon will Americans start reaping the benefits of tax cuts in it? By April 1, according to the president. "Never before in our history has a tax cut taken effect faster or gone to so many hardworking Americans," Obama said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address.

President Barack Obama ordered the U.S. Treasury on Saturday to implement tax cuts for 95 percent of Americans, fulfilling a campaign pledge he hopes will help jolt the economy out of recession. The tax cuts are part of a $787 billion economic recovery plan passed by the Democratic-controlled Congress over Republican opposition.

Saturday, February 21st, 2009 at 5:00 am The quickest and broadest tax cut ever Two important takeaways from the President's Weekly Address this morning. #1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will start having an impact as soon as a few weeks from now, in the form of the quickest and broadest tax cut in history: "Because of what we did, 95% of all working families will get a tax cut -- in keeping with a promise I made on the campaign. And I’m pleased to announce that this morning, the Treasury Department began directing employers to reduce the amount...

The notoriously slow Congress passed the $787 billion economic stimulus package in a matter of weeks. President Obama signed it into law less than one month into his presidency. So, just how soon will Americans start reaping the benefits of tax cuts in it? By April 1, according to the president. "Never before in our history has a tax cut taken effect faster or gone to so many hardworking Americans," Obama said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address. He said the Treasury Department has begun directing employers to reduce the amount of taxes withheld from people's paychecks in...

President Barack Obama ordered the U.S. Treasury on Saturday to implement tax cuts for 95 percent of Americans, fulfilling a campaign pledge he hopes will help jolt the economy out of recession. ...it is impossible to implement a tax cut for 95 percent of Americans, when over 40 percent of Americans have no income tax liability to begin with. Shouldn't a journalist question such a ludicrous claim, or at the very least, offer some context? One part of this so-called cut, transfers money from taxpayers and gives it to non-payers. That, conceivably, could be called tax relief for those who...

The Treasury Department has begun directing employers to reduce the amount of taxes withheld from people's paychecks. It's part of the economic stimulus package President Barack Obama signed into law this week. Treasury is directing employers to make the changes as soon as possible and no later than April 1. In his weekly radio and Internet message, Obama says the measure will mean a typical family will bring home at least $65 more every month. His ambitious $787 billion package of federal spending and tax cuts aims to revive the economy and save or create 3.5 million or more jobs....

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will allow tax breaks given to wealthier Americans under his predecessor, George W. Bush, to expire as scheduled rather than eliminate them sooner, an administration official said on Saturday. Obama, who promised during his White House campaign to roll back tax cuts on people earning more than $250,000, also plans to boost tax collections from about 16 percent of the economy this year to 19 percent in 2013, the official said, confirming a Washington Post report on Obama's budget proposals for the 2010 fiscal year.

(Rep. Michelle Bachmann) This might come as a surprise to you, but the United States is near the top of the list of industrialized countries with the highest corporate tax rates. You may be asking yourself “so what,” or “who cares,” but it’s important to recognize that lower corporate tax rates result in attracting more investment capital. A reduction of the federal corporate tax rate would increase firms’ productivity and investment incentives, and ultimately stimulate our nation’s long-term competitiveness by enhancing economic freedom. The end result would be a boon to your family budget. The trend for countries around...

Q: What are some of the tax breaks in the bill? A: It includes Obama's signature "Making Work Pay" tax credit for 95 percent of workers, though negotiators agreed to trim the credit to $400 a year instead of $500 — or $800 for married couples, cut from Obama's original proposal of $1,000. It would begin showing up in most workers' paychecks in June as an extra $13 a week in take-home pay, falling to about $8 a week next January. There is also a $70 billion, one-year fix for the alternative minimum tax. The fix would save some 20...

Senate Democratic leaders struck a deal late Friday with three moderate Republicans on a leaner economic-recovery package... Senators valued the compromise plan at $780 billion -- well less than the $930 billion plan the Senate debated most of the day... Not counted in that estimate are several popular tax breaks -- including measures to encourage auto and home sales -- that were approved this week on the Senate floor and are expected to be incorporated into the legislation. Those could push the final cost of the Senate plan closer to $820 billion... White House aides refused to call those cuts...

WASHINGTON -- The stimulus bill's tax breaks for individuals will put money in the hands of people likely to spend it quickly, proponents believe -- and fulfill a major campaign promise by President Barack Obama. One big question: How many of these largely temporary breaks will be allowed to expire in a year or two, and how many will survive and become permanent parts of the tax code?

Bowing to widespread Democratic skepticism, President-elect Barack Obama will drop his bid to include a business tax break he once touted in the economic stimulus bill now taking shape on Capitol Hill, aides said last night. Obama suggested the $3,000-per-job credit last week as one of five individual and business tax incentives aimed at winning Republican support. He proposed $300 billion in tax relief in a bill that could reach $775 billion, and he resurrected the jobs-credit proposal from the campaign trail as one of his main provisions. (snip) "We've always said we're open to other ideas. This was never...

Despite their political appeal, $500 per worker tax credits will do very little to actually boost the economy. We know that tax cuts are coming—the only question is what kind. Earlier this week, President-elect Barack Obama suggested that 40 percent (about $300 billion) of his proposed economic stimulus package should come in the form of a tax cut. At least half of that tax relief is expected to be aimed at helping middle- and low-income individuals. Obama advisers have begun outlining a “temporary” $500 per worker tax credit. Aside from being temporary, this Obama policy seems nearly identical to the...

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said Thursday that President-elect Obama’s stimulus plan spends too much money on tax cuts for his taste. Frank said on NPR’s “Marketplace Morning Report” that he believes the spending package Obama supports will be large enough to help the ailing economy but that he does not entirely agree with how the money will be used. “I have some difference because I think they may be doing too much tax-cutting and not enough direct spending from the standpoint of immediate job creation,” Frank said. However, the Democrat expressed confidence that economic recovery would...

Pelosi "urging" Obama to repeal Bush tax cuts House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tells Politico she's "urging" President-Elect Barack Obama to quickly repeal Bush administration tax cuts for the wealthy -- not wait for them to expire in 2010, as Obama has suggested he might do. "He has the full package of what he wants to do, and we'll respect what he is saying, but put me down as one who is urging repeal," said Pelosi, ducking into her Capitol office suite to watch Obama's dour speech on the economy. Pelosi supports Obama's push to include $300 billion in middle-class tax...

Obama unveils $1000 tax cut, energy efficiency plan Thu Jan 8, 2009 11:44am EST FAIRFAX, Virginia (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama said on Thursday he would offer working families a $1,000 tax cut and improve energy efficiency in millions of American homes in order to create jobs and stimulate the economy. "To get people spending again, 95 percent of working families will receive a $1,000 tax cut

It now looks like half of President-elect Barack Obama's stimulus package will take the form of "tax cuts" for 95 percent of all Americans. Yet this wouldn't boost the economy as much as trigger a massive, unhealthy shift in American politics. Under Obama's plan, the majority of American voters would pay no federal income taxes but would get money from the government instead. That is, these "refundable tax credits" are basically welfare checks — and Obama's plan would leave the most of us collecting, not paying. A $200 billion giveaway won't do much to get a $14 trillion economy rolling...

-Anyone who follows politics will recall the hue and cry that greeted President Bush’s 2005 proposal to allow workers to save a portion of their Social Security payroll taxes in personal accounts. But even many who follow politics today could be forgiven for failing to realize that the incoming Barack Obama administration is, in its stimulus proposal, suggesting something far more radical for Social Security.-

The Obama economic proposal includes $500 tax cuts for many workers and $1,000 for couples, as well as more than $100 billion for businesses, an Obama transition official told the Associated Press. The proposed tax cuts, which would make up about 40 percent of the economic stimulus package, may make it easier to attract Republican support for an economic-stimulus package, as many Republicans have said that economic initiatives should rely more heavily on tax cuts rather than spending, according to the Wall Street Journal.

WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama, commencing face to face consultations with congressional leaders Monday, is embracing an unexpectedly large tax cut of up to $300 billion. Obama said the country faces an "extraordinary economic challenge." Besides $500 tax cuts for most workers and $1,000 for couples, the Obama proposal includes more than $100 billion for businesses, an Obama transition official said. The total value of the tax cuts would be significantly higher than had been signaled earlier.

WASHINGTON -- President-elect Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are crafting a plan to offer about $300 billion in tax cuts to individuals and businesses, a move aimed at attracting Republican support for an economic-stimulus package and prodding companies to create jobs. The size of the proposed tax cuts -- which would account for about 40% of a stimulus package that could reach $775 billion over two years -- is greater than many on both sides of the aisle in Congress had anticipated, and may make it easier to win over Republicans who have stressed that any initiative should rely relatively...

President-elect Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are crafting a plan to offer as much as $310 billion of tax cuts to individuals and businesses, a move aimed at attracting Republican support for an economic-stimulus package and prodding companies to create jobs. The size of the proposed tax cuts -- which would account for about 40% of a stimulus package that could reach $775 billion over two years -- is greater than many on both sides of the aisle in Congress had anticipated, and may make it easier to win over Republicans who have stressed that any initiative should rely relatively...

President-elect Barack Obama put out the word this past weekend that his economic stimulus package would include "immediate" tax relief for middle-class families. That's the best part of his stimulus plan so far. Obama has been copying from FDR's playbook so fast it appeared as if he would never look up and see that the 1930s ended 69 years ago. His plan to boost the economy with massive federal spending on infrastructure is, at best, optimistic. At worst, it's a blind squandering of billions of dollars on a new monument to an old and disproven economic theory. But tax cuts?...

Advisors David Axelrod and Lawrence Summers also make the case for a new stimulus package that could exceed $775 billion and that would include a portion of a middle-class tax cut. Reporting from Washington -- President-elect Barack Obama's top advisors said Sunday that they wouldn't back away from a promise to cut taxes on the middle class and raise them for the wealthiest Americans, as they made the case for a massive new stimulus package geared toward reviving the slumping economy.