Free Republic

We've steered away from this question for some time now, since so many other current events have seized the news cycle, but Herman Cain had a fairly long history of pontificating on the radio and writing editorial pieces before he began his current run for the presidency. When you generate that much material, you're bound to leave behind a few nuggets for your opponents to find. The case in point today, however, if a fairly glaring one. Highlighted by Doug Mataconis at Outside the Beltway, it’s noted that Mr. Cain may have written passionately about an idea which runs directly...

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has done the nation a great service by proposing major changes in the byzantine way the U.S. government collects its revenue. Cain maintains that his so-called "9-9-9" plan restructures the nation's tax system in a way that significantly boosts real growth. He also claims that his program is revenue-neutral. This means that it is designed to replace the revenues generated by the current tax system. Restructuring the U.S. tax system along the lines Cain proposes might promote explosive economic growth. However, there are serious problems with tax proposals that claim to be revenue-neutral. One potential...

Tthe Wall Street Journal’s Steve Moore, who helped design Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 tax plan, is having second thoughts about the political viability of the national sales tax aspect of the plan and has recommended a 9 percent payroll tax to replace it. In an interview with National Review Online, Moore explains that he has “come to the conclusion that a national sales tax is just a nonstarter,” politically. While he wasn’t expecting such a hostile reaction to the idea, Moore concedes that “people are naturally suspicious of a new tax.” Cain’s current plan would eliminate the payroll tax altogether, and...

Now that President Obama and the Democrats have generated a projected record $10 trillion in new debt over the next 10 years, they are now singing their favorite song: We must raise taxes! Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., sent the first signal a few weeks ago when he said paying taxes is the price we pay for living in this great country. Never mind that we are paying too much and that too much of our money is being wasted. One of the president's senior economic advisers, Paul Volcker, said recently in a speech that "we must raise taxes" to deal...

Herman Cain tested the national spotlight Sunday as the Republican presidential primary’s newest front-runner. Facing tough questions during a 25-minute one-on-one interview on NBC’s "Meet the Press," Cain acknowledged that his plan to simplify the tax code would raise taxes for “some” people and clarified his position that he doesn’t believe abortion should be an option in instances of rape and incest. Scrapping the current federal tax code — which he described as a “10-million-word mess” — would eliminate a host of invisible taxes and eventually reduce prices, Cain said. Some economists have pointed out that Cain’s plan would shift...

September 22, 2011Combined State and Local Sales Taxes: New Report by TF StaffToday we released a new report on local sales taxes, which updates a study we published in February.  The new report updates the state and local sales tax rates across the country and ranks each state on its combined state rate and average local rate.  Click here to read the report. Most shoppers have some idea of the sales tax rate imposed by their state, or they can at least find the rate by looking at the receipts they receive with every taxed purchase. However, it's easy to forget...

ANNAPOLIS — A Senate leader in the Democrat-controlled General Assembly said Wednesday that a proposal to increase the state’s gas tax might get shelved during its 2012 session because of anticipated budget woes and public outcry. Senate Budget and Taxation Committee Chairman Edward J. Kasemeyer, Baltimore County Democrat, said legislators will likely have their hands full attempting to close an anticipated $1 billion budget shortfall and might not get around to considering a proposal to raise the 23.5-cents-a-gallon excise tax. A state-appointed commission recommended last week that lawmakers pass $520 million in tax and fee increases to fund improvements to...

Monday, September 12th at 12:00 Noon on the corner of Markham and Broadway The Chamber of Commerce is calling for a "Early Vote PRO 1 cent Sales Tax" Rally. The Arkansas Tea Party is asking you to make a sign Against Any New Tax and stand across from them. No shouting, No Chanting.....just to have our presence in opposition to a new tax!!! Rally against the Little Rock Sales Tax Monday September 12th! _________________________________________________________ We need people to cover polling sites with signs and flyers opposing urging people to vote NO (against) on the LR sales tax increases September 13th!...

SACRAMENTO -- The big showdown between traditional retailers and the online sales giant Amazon may dissolve into one big handshake. Amazon is considering backing away from a referendum to overturn a law forcing the company to collect sales taxes if a deal can be worked out with brick-and-mortar retailers and legislative leaders, according to Capitol sources. Amazon would get a two-year reprieve on California taxes but would pledge to support Congressional action on leveling the playing field on Internet sales taxes nationally, according to one person involved in talks between the traditional retailers and Amazon. The negotiations took place Tuesday...

PLEASANT HILL -- To get a good deal, Paul Brodman used to buy cigarettes online. Little did he know, those smokes weren't the bargain they appeared to be. There's no getting out of paying state taxes simply by buying cigarettes online. Earlier this month, Brodman received a bill for $1,398 from the State Board of Equalization for back taxes and penalties he owes for 100 cartons of cigarettes he bought online from an out-of-state retailer in 2007 and 2008. Initially, Brodman thought it was a mistake. "We smoked them; we didn't resell them," he said. "I wasn't selling them on...

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) introduces legislation that would require online retailers such as Amazon to collect sales taxes. Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) plans a similar measure in the House.

A Senate committee listened Tuesday to the pros and cons of expanding Maryland's sales tax base to include more services, as well as goods purchased over the Internet. The Senate Budget and Taxation Committee spent the day in Annapolis receiving briefings on taxes, the federal debt ceiling, education funding and toll increases. Legislative committees meet occasionally between the 90-day General Assembly sessions. Tangible products, but few services, sold by Maryland retailers are taxed at 6 percent. This year, the sales tax is predicted to generate $4.2 billion, about 30 percent of the state's general fund revenue, according to the Department...

Amazon.com is negotiating a deal with Texas officials that would see the online retail giant promise to create more than 5,000 jobs and invest $300 million in the state over the next three years. In exchange, lawmakers would have to grant Amazon a 4½-year exemption from collecting tax on online sales in Texas, according to documents obtained by the American-Statesman. The proposal would be attached to Senate Bill 1, the fiscal matters bill being debated in the Legislature's special session. SB 1 is a must-pass measure essential to balancing the state's 2012-13 budget. The American-Statesman obtained a draft copy of...

DALLAS — Amazon.com wants to make a deal with the state of Texas. The proposed offer circulating around Austin and obtained by The Dallas Morning News would let Amazon off the hook for collecting sales taxes from its Texas customers over the next 4 ½ years, and would bring 5,000 jobs to the state. The company also is promising to spend $300 million to open distribution centers where those employees would work. Finally, it wants the Texas comptroller's office to set up a website where its customers can send sales tax owed on Amazon purchases to the state. Historically, voluntary...

Prospective presidential candidate Michele Bachmann says she wants a national sales tax, but can’t vote for it because she believes Congress would just add it to the current income tax system. In a profile in The Wall Street Journal, Bachmann says she loves the FAIR tax proposal but just cannot bring herself to back it in the House. “If we were starting over from scratch, I would favor a national sales tax," the three-term Minnesota congresswoman says. But the reality is that if it were enacted, the chances are “we would end up with a dual tax, a national sales...

Japan closer to doubling sales tax amid fiscal woes Friday 03rd June, 07:00 AM JST TOKYO — The Japanese government on Thursday announced a social security reform plan that would result in a doubling of the country’s consumption tax rate to 10% in stages by the year through March 2016 and lower pension payments to the elderly with higher incomes. The move came as the country has been struggling under swelling welfare costs due to the aging population, which have added to the government’s difficulty in restoring its fiscal health, the worst among major developed economies. But the reform initiative...

Internet companies such as Amazon and Overstock are threatening to pull out of California rather than collect state sales tax on tens of millions of dollars worth of business, the Los Angeles Times reports. The move comes after the Golden State’s Assembly passed a law expanding the tax to Internet sales for companies that have a physical presence or sister companies with offices there. The move passed the Democrat-controlled lower house on Tuesday on a 47-16 vote. It now goes to the Senate. [Snip] One Republican voted with the majority. The rest rejected the move saying it would drive business...

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) plans to introduce a bill after the Easter recess allowing states and local municipalities to collect sales tax revenue for online purchases, according to a CNET News interview with a Democratic aide on Tuesday. It is a bad idea but judging from President Obama’s deficit speech yesterday, Democrats in congress are hellbent on raising taxes by any means, especially on the wealthy. In the case of an internet sales tax, they would be hitting all segments of of the population. The Heartland Institute has been out in front on this issue. Three of their scholars...

COBB COUNTY, Ga. -- Dueling rallies were held in Cobb County on Sunday as residents prepared to have a direct say in whether a local sales tax continues or is cut. Voters will decide on Tuesday as one of Georgia’s largest counties hold a special election for the issue. Supporters of continuing the special sales tax in Cobb County held a rally Sunday afternoon. The group believes the tax monies would keep Cobb County strong. But earlier on Sunday afternoon, the more vocal anti-tax groups gathered and chanted, “Ax the tax.” Bryon Jones is one of a couple hundred people...

Given the huge amount of controversy about California (770 miles long, 250 miles wide) vs. Amazon... California has decided it wants to worry more about some fish than the central valley, which has been one of the highest, most prolific, profitable areas in the world for years (remember "The Grapes of Wrath" and "Chinatown"? I suspect the tax revenue California might get from a booming central valley exceeds Amazons total revenue by billions. But CA decides it would rather go after an entity in another state. Do you know what they call it when an organism manages to not produce...