Free Republic

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) said earlier this week that his administration will consider ending the personal income tax as part of a major review of the state’s tax structure. In comments first reported by WisPolitics.com, Walker told reporters at a stop in Pembine that some states without personal income taxes are in better economic shape and are better equipped to compete for jobs. “There are many states that do very well, better than most states in the country, that have no income taxes,” Walker said, according to WisPolitics. “That’s one thing for us to look at. Is that feasible?...

Last week we got our monthly insult from the Bureau of Labor Statistics telling us unemployment is down to 7.0%. The truth behind the BLS’s fake number is that when Americans are so sick and tired of trying to find work and give up in despair, using Soviet style logic, the government declares them nonpersons and refuses to count them as unemployed. If there was a touch of honesty in these announcements the true unemployment rate would be 11.5%. The percentage of Americans who are working is startlingly low at just 58.6%. During the contrived “Bush recession” the rate was...

The rich are paying even more in taxes than you think.According to a Congressional Budget Office report this week, America’s top 40 percent of earners pay 106 percent of the taxes and the bottom 40 percent pay negative 9 percent, reports CNBC.How can one group pay more than 100 percent and another group pay less than zero? The formula that the CBO uses offsets taxes that are paid with refundable tax credits. These include money the government transfers back to the taxpayer for food stamps and social programs.Some low-income Americans received very generous subsidies. The report shows that Americans who...

Income Gap: As President Obama laments America's growing income inequality, a new government report shows the futility of his calls for ever-more wealth redistribution. To deflect attention from ObamaCare's failures, the president this month trotted out his income inequality chestnut. "A dangerous and growing inequality," he intoned, "has jeopardized middle-class America's basic bargain." He argued, "as a trickle-down ideology became more prominent, taxes were slashed for the wealthiest, while investments in things that make us all richer, like schools and infrastructure, were allowed to wither." Apparently, nobody bothered to brief the president before he delivered this speech. Fact is, federal...

(CNSNews.com) - The top 40 percent of households by before-tax income actually paid 106.2 percent of the nation’s net income taxes in 2010, according to a new study by the Congressional Budget Office.At the same time, households in the bottom 40 percent took in an average of $18,950 in what the CBO called “government transfers” in 2010.Taxpayers in the top 40percent of households were able to pay more than 100 percent of net federal income taxes in 2010 because Americans in the bottom 40 percent actually paid negative income taxes, according to the CBO study entitled, “The Distribution of Household...

Fully 20 percent of U.S. adults become rich for parts of their lives, wielding extensive influence over America's economy and politics, according to new survey data. These "new rich," made up largely of older professionals, working married couples and more educated singles, are becoming politically influential, and economists say their capacity to spend is key to the U.S. economic recovery. But their rise is also a sign of the nation's continuing economic polarization. They extend well beyond the wealthiest 1 percent, a traditional group of super-rich millionaires and billionaires with long-held family assets. The new rich have household income of...

There are cheers from the media about the latest jobs report. While some speculated that it was so good that The Fed would begin tapering their assets purchases, few noticed that the 10 year Treasury yield actually fell on the jobs report. But let’s look at the longer term picture. House prices are rising rapidly despite declining real median household income. Problem 1: Labor’s share of nonfarm business have been falling for decades, but it’s decline has been accelerating since 2000. laborsharelt No problem, many economists say. The U.S. has been moving towards a service economy for decades. But, …...

While foreclosure activity as a whole has been declining in the U.S., there are still some unnerving aspects to the housing and mortgage recovery. So, it’s time for “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.” The good. According to RealtyTac, overall U.S. foreclosure activity is down 23 percent year-to-date through October 2013. The bad. Foreclosure activity on properties in the $5 million-plus value range is up 61 percent from the same time period in 2012. And most of it is concentrated in Florida and Los Angeles. I designate Atlanta as an honorary coastal city since Georgia does have properties on...

President Obama will cast growing income inequality and a decline in economic mobility as a “fundamental threat to the American dream” during a speech Wednesday in Washington. The speech will serve as an early preview for next year’s State of the Union address, according to a White House official, who said Obama would focus much of his energy over the next three years on the issue. “The decisions we make over the next few years will determine whether or not our children will grow up in an America where, if you work hard, you can get ahead,” the official said.

“Go West, young man” is a popular quote from Horace Greeley in 1865. “Washington is not a place to live in. The rents are high, the food is bad, the dust is disgusting and the morals are deplorable. Go West, young man, go West and grow up with the country.” – Horace Greeley I see much hasn’t changed since 1865, but Greeley’s advice was wrong if we look at real median household income. The blue line is for the nation as a whole, the red line is for Washington DC. realmedhi So, go east young man, if you want to...

Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, caused a flap where he pronounced that some people are too stupid to get ahead. But unless people are getting more stupid over time, it is likely bad government policies that are preventing people from getting ahead. Government policies including the Fed monetary expansion have seemingly made matters worse for the average American family. Particularly since 2007. The GINI coefficent is a measure of income distribution in country. And it has been skyrocketing since 2007 when Democrats took control of Congress and 2009 when they achieved a majority in both the House and Senate...

Government policies including the Fed monetary expansion have seemingly made matters worse for the average American family. Particularly since 2007. The GINI coefficent is a measure of income distribution in country. And it has been skyrocketing since 2007 when Democrats took control of Congress and 2009 when they achieved a majority in both the House and Senate AND the Presidency. But for all the talk of income redistribution and “leveling the playing field,” things have only gotten worse for the average American household. Here is the GINI coefficent for the USA since 2005. Note the decline from 2006 to 2007,...

My mother and father taught me some important lessons in my life. One of them was to not to pay attention to what someone is saying, but rather pay attention to what they are doing and the consequences of their actions. Never has this lesson been more evident in taking stock of the economic policies of Obama and the progressive liberals who seek to transform America from an individualistic, capitalistic society to a collective, socially democrat one. We hear on the news every day that the economy is improving, people are going back to work, and that the dark days...

Stan Druckenmiller makes an unlikely class warrior. He's a member of the 1%—make that the 0.001%—one of the most successful money managers of all time, and 60 years old to boot. But lately he has been touring college campuses promoting a message of income redistribution you don't hear out of Washington. It's how federal entitlements like Medicare and Social Security are letting Mr. Druckenmiller's generation rip off all those doting Barack Obama voters in Generation X, Y and Z. "I have been shocked at the reception. I had planned to only visit Bowdoin, " his alma mater in Maine, he...

The final deal to avert a breach of the debt limit and end the government shutdown included what has been described as a “small concession” to Republicans: tightening the income verification measures for customers on the Obamacare insurance exchanges to qualify for subsidies. But considering the hurdles associated with this step – and the enormous IT problems we’ve already seen with the exchanges – the concession may not be small at all. As one prominent health care expert tells Salon, the impact could contribute to an attempted sabotage of the law by those who want to see it repealed. Rather...

**SNIP** By the way, you can only receive tax credits if you buy from Covered California. They won’t be offered for employer-sponsored insurance or open-market plans. Will my eligibility for tax credits in 2014 be based on my 2012 or 2013 income — or my estimated 2014 income? And when I do my 2014 taxes in 2015, will there be an adjustment if my actual 2014 income is different than my estimated 2014 income? Let’s start off with a straightforward answer and then ease into the pain: Your eligibility will depend on your 2014 income, says Anne Gonzales of Covered...

What does the government shutdown mean for the mortgage market? Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac aren’t affected by the shutdown. While the FHA is still processing loans, it’s operating with a vastly reduced staff, which could lead to delays. The FHA is part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Housing, which has just 64 of 2,972 employees reporting to work right now. The biggest issue facing the mortgage market is that the Internal Revenue Service isn’t issuing Form 4506-T, which is what most lenders currently use to verify borrowers’ incomes. For loans ready to close now,...

For some individuals and families signing up for ObamaCare, a little fudging can make a big difference in their bank accounts. In California, for example, a childless married couple stating income of $30,000 would face a $1,000 deductible, $15 per primary care visit and a maximum out-of-pocket cost (after premiums) of $4,500. But for a couple attesting to $32,000 in income, the deductible would be $3,000, primary care visit $40 and out-of-pocket maximum a hefty $10,400. Though they are separated by just $2,000 in income, the government might provide the lower-earning family as much as $5,900 more in cost-sharing subsidies...

The American middle class, like the American economy in general, is ailing. Labor-force participation has hit a 35-year low. Median household income is lower than it was five years ago. Only the top 5 percent of households have seen their incomes rise under President Obama. Commuters are paying more than twice as much for gas as they were in 2008. Federal payouts for food stamps, unemployment insurance and disability insurance have reached unprecedented levels. Meanwhile, the country is still running near-record budget deficits and is burdened by $17 trillion in aggregate debt. Yet the stock market is soaring. How can...

Household net worth rose to $74.8 trillion in the second quarter, helped by the stock market, housing market and government accounting. Household wealth in the U.S. increased from April through June, supported by gains in the stock and housing markets that are improving Americans’ finances. Net worth for households and non-profit groups climbed by $1.34 trillion in the second quarter, or 1.8 percent from the previous three months, to $74.8 trillion, the Federal Reserve said today from Washington in its financial accounts report, previously known as the flow of funds survey. Here is a chart of household net worth since...