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Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said on Friday that poor Americans will not have to pay the 9 percent flat income tax under his now-famous “9-9-9” tax reform plan. During a speech in front of a vacant train depot in Detroit, the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO staunchly defended his signature tax proposal from critics who say it will raise taxes for lower-income Americans. Cain’s plan would throw out the current tax system in favor of a 9 percent corporate tax, a 9 percent income tax and a new 9 percent national sales tax. He said Friday that poor people under...

The context for Occupy Wall Street and proposals to tax the rich - "rich" being constantly redefined - is the broader issue of economic inequality. For years, liberal politicians, academics and pundits have complained about growing inequality, but their protests barely resonated with the public. When most people are doing okay, the fact that some people are doing better does not arouse much anger. No more. When many people do worse, or fear they might, the rich inspire resentment and envy. Glaring inequalities that once seemed tolerable become offensive. By and large, Americans regard the rich the way they do...

White House: Millionaire tax isn’t enough Neil Munro -- The Daily Caller 39 mins ago President Obama wants tax increases on the wealthy, regardless of whether the Democrats’ proposed millionaire tax becomes law, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Friday. “The president’s position has not changed” since he called for increased tax rates on individuals earning more than $250,000 per year, and for adoption of the “Buffett Rule,” Carney said during his midday press conference. Under the still-vague “Buffett Rule,” named for multi-billionaire investor Warren Buffett, the government would ensure wealthy people could not use current features of the tax...

For about a year, Dauhn Minus has been struggling to pay her utilities bill, which, at times, she said runs well over $300. "That's a lot of money for an electric bill," said the 52-year-old West Palm Beach resident. The main reason their bill is so high is because the air conditioning unit is 15 years old and working overtime to cool their two-bedroom home. But it can't do the job properly since Minus' home wasn't energy efficient. "I would have my AC on at 70 degrees, but it was reading 85 degrees in my house," Minus said. "I was...

WASHINGTON -- It is clear from the way President Barack Obama has been talking about the federal budget recently, and about taxation since he came to office, that all the money that Americans earn belongs to the federal government. The key words in this conversation are "tax expenditures." Obama has lost a lot in tax expenditures, and he wants more of those tax expenditures back. He can spend that money, he believes, more wisely than the citizenry -- that is to say, you and me. He has wiggled and wobbled on the nation's finances over the years. First, he spent...

C’mon, IRS. “Stop coddling the super rich.” Contrive to successfully extract the taxes they already owe.Mr. Buffett, I barely want to waste my breath on your blatant hypocrisy.And, Mainstream Media (by which I mean the NYT, which ran Buffett’s obnoxious op-ed in the first place), WHERE ARE YOU?From NewsMax: Billionaire investor Warren Buffett triggered a major debate over taxes recently when he wrote in The New York Times that he should be paying more to the federal government. He called on Washington lawmakers to up tax rates on the rich.But it turns out that Buffett’s own company, Berkshire Hathaway, has...

Yes, you read correctly. “Spread the jobs around.” You’re probably familiar with Barack Obama’s well documented intentions to “spread the wealth around.” In a discussion about his vision for economic recovery back during the campaign of 2008, he expressed that intention using those precise words (do a web search with the President’s name and the phrase, and see what pops up). Today, the President struggles with the political consequences brought about by the stifled economy, which has been brought about his own “wealth spreading” ways. Yet within the Obama worldview, it makes sense that a President who has displayed no...

IT HAS BEEN a little over a week since billionaire Warren Buffett called for higher taxes on the richest Americans, and now comes the reaction. Harvey Golub, a former chairman and chief executive of American Express, writes in the Wall Street Journal that he “resents” Mr. Buffett’s suggestion. I already pay plenty of taxes, Mr. Golub asserts, adding: “Before you ‘ask’ for more tax money from me and others, raise the $2.2 trillion you already collect each year more fairly and spend it more wisely.” Who’s right? Mr. Golub points out that almost half of the population pays no income...

Full Title: College Students in Favor of Wealth Distribution Are Asked to Pass Their Grade Points to Other Students A California college student is conducting a social experiment where he’s trying to get his peers to sign a petition in favor of distributing grade point averages to show how the federal government distributes wealth.

There are fewer millionaires in America today – can you hear the celebration at the Blue Heron farm on Martha’s Vineyard where the Obama family is spending someone’s millions? Obama at Blue Heron Farm - 2009 Pullout quote: For the past three decades, the political left has obsessed about income inequality. As the economy experienced one of the largest and lengthiest economic booms in history from 1982-2007, the left moaned that the gains went to yacht club members. Well, if equality of income is the priority, liberals should be thrilled with the last four years. Wall Street Journal (great article...

Key Republican on New Deficit Panel, Rep. Dave Camp, Won't Rule Out Tax Increases CNBC.com breaking headline

Liberals outline stimulus agenda in 'Contract for the American Dream' By Erik Wasson - 08/09/11 10:57 AM ET Liberal organizations and unions are frustrated that President Obama has not aggressively pushed a new jobs stimulus agenda and they are offering up a consolidated fall agenda for Democrats to embrace as an alternative to austerity. Representatives of MoveOn, Rebuild the Dream and the Center for Economic Policy and Research will join Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) on Tuesday to launch a progressive “Contract for the American Dream” to urge the administration and Congress to turn away from budget cutting and focus on...

Over the past several weeks, America has seen on grand display in Washington a singular mindset emanating from the White House: We must raise taxes so that we can keep on spending. This week, though, America was treated to something different—a glimpse inside President Barack Obama’s mind, a roadmap of his economic worldview. And what was revealed was a philosophy that is fundamentally at odds with America’s job creators. That insight came during the President’s press conference on Monday in which he broached the subject of raising taxes as part of the debt limit deal: And I do not want,...

One day after the government is set to default on its debts, Barack Obama could be the guest of honor at a 50th birthday celebration where the cost of attendance tops out at $35,800 per couple. Okay, it's not likely if the government defaults that the president will be partying it up. But the timing of Obama's Aug. 3 birthday bash is raising some eyebrows. The White House said earlier this week the president's Aug. 3 party could be canceled if a deal is not reached by Aug. 2. As of now, however, the event is "not on hold," ...

"Revenue enhancements" must be on the table, the president insists. In a remarkable performance Monday, President Barack Obama dug in his heels, insisting that new taxes and new revenues had to be part of any grand deal struck to avoid going over the debt ceiling.Obama used his midday presser to argue for “a balanced approach” that included some kind of revenue enhancements as the price for slicing away at entitlements and other government programs, if not now then in a few years.“What we have talked about is that starting in 2013, that we have gotten rid of some of these...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) files a cloture motion on Senate bill 1323, a "Sense of the Senate" bill on "Shared Sacrifice." Here are the details of this resolution: SECTION 1. SENSE OF THE SENATE ON SHARED SACRIFICE. (a) Findings- Congress makes the following findings: (1) The Wall Street Journal reports that median pay for chief financial officers of S&P 500 companies increased 19 percent to $2,900,000 last year. (2) Over the past 10 years, the median family income has declined by more than $2,500. (3) Twenty percent of all income earned in the United States is earned by...

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) saw her net worth rise 62 percent last year, cementing her status as one of the wealthiest members of Congress. Pelosi was worth at least $35.2 million in the 2010 calendar year, according to a financial disclosure report released Wednesday. She reported a minimum of $43.4 million in assets and about $8.2 milion in liabilities.

"Americans break into two roughly evenly matched camps on the question of whether the government should enact heavy taxes on the rich to redistribute wealth in the U.S. Forty-seven percent believe the government should redistribute wealth in this way, while 49% disagree, similar to views Gallup found four years ago."

Democrats have said they only intend to restore the tax rates that existed during the Clinton years. In reality they're proposing rates like those under President Carter. Media reports in recent weeks say that Senate Democrats are considering a 3% surtax on income over $1 million to raise federal revenues. This would come on top of the higher income tax rates that President Obama has already proposed through the cancellation of the Bush era tax-rate reductions. If the Democrats' millionaire surtax were to happen—and were added to other tax increases already enacted last year and other leading tax hike ideas...