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When Diana Higley received her September utility statement from Sheffield Utilities, she thought it was a mistake. It showed a $6.30 credit. But there was no mistake, the Tennessee Valley Authority's Sheffield affiliate assured her. Advertisement "I was shocked, amazed and thrilled," said Higley, who adopted her three grandchildren, ages 9, 8 and 4, to raise as a single mom. "I couldn't believe it. I never dreamed they would owe me money." Higley's dream came courtesy of Habitat for Humanity. In August she moved into a newly built 1,200-square-foot Habitat house in Tuscumbia. It is the first zero-energy, solar-powered Habitat...

New Welfare: Tax Cuts for Paying 0?

Hey, Senator Obama, three words … wrong, wrong, wrong! On Saturday, one-tenth of a million faithful Obama-maniacs gathered in St. Louis, Missouri to hear their man claim that his proposed tax cuts for ninety-five percent of American working families are not welfare payments, as correctly asserted by Senator John McCain. Said The One: I'm not giving tax cuts to folks who don't work, I'm giving tax cuts to people who do work. John McCain is so out of touch with the struggles you are facing that he must be the first politician in history to call a tax cut for...

The recently released details of Barack Obama's tax plan, published on his campaign website, along with an article by his top economic advisers in the Wall Street Journal, confirm that Obama makes Mondale look like a moderate. For Obama pledges not just to raise taxes. He proposes to raise every major federal tax. -The big trick behind the Obama tax plan is that his refundable tax credits would primarily go precisely to those who pay little or nothing in federal income taxes. -When "tax credits" primarily go to this group in the form of checks from the government rather than...

Barack Obama's tax plan is the opposite of supply-side economics. He proposes to raise marginal rates for just about every federal tax. He also proposes a raft of tax credits that taxpayers can receive if they engage in various government-specified activities. Moreover, the tax credits would mostly go to those who pay little or nothing in federal income taxes. His trick is to make the tax credits "refundable." Thus, if the tax credit is for $1,000, but the taxpayer would otherwise only pay $200 in taxes, the government would write a check to the taxpayer for $800. If the taxpayer...

PHOENIX (Reuters) - John McCain will push on Monday for car makers to build more environmentally friendly vehicles, threatening new legislation if they do not comply and proposing tax breaks to encourage consumers to buy "cleaner" cars. According to excerpts of his speech obtained by Reuters, the Republican presidential candidate will call for auto manufacturers to speed up the process of making engines that can use alcohol-based fuels. "Whether it takes a meeting with automakers during my first month in office, or my signature on an act of Congress, we will meet the goal of a swift conversion of American...

COLUMBIA, S.C. --Parents who home school their children should get a tax credit to help offset the expense of teaching, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Wednesday. "I also believe parents who are teaching their kids at home, homeschoolers, deserve a break, and I've asked for a tax credit to help parents in their homes with the cost of being an at-home teacher," he said. Romney supports giving parents more educational options, through charter schools or vouchers, but he said legislation should be done on a state level. "I really hesitate to have the federal government become too involved in...

Take a deep breath. Now exhale. Does that make you feel like you deserve a raise? If so, you understand the concept of the so-called "breathing bonus." And you also understand one of the main reasons New Jersey has the most expensive public school system of any state. One of the few useful results to come out of those legislative committees on property tax reform was an admission of just how costly it is to put a kid through New Jersey's public schools: $16,000 a year. That figure was included in the report of the Joint Legislative Committee on Public...

CAMBRIA, N.Y., July 31 — Reaching out to rural voters in New York and elsewhere in the nation, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton called on Monday for increasing federal support for struggling farm communities to revitalize rural America. In a speech delivered on a 152-year-old family farm, Mrs. Clinton called for major federal investments to expand broadband Internet access in rural communities, promote the development of alternative fuel sources like corn-based ethanol and encourage medical school graduates to practice in agricultural areas. “We can build a new rural future,’’ Mrs. Clinton said, after listing economic problems that she said have led...

The effort to make cellulosic ethanol into a full-blown power source to run America's cars is embryonic, and its outcome uncertain. But the fuel has two big things going for it: High oil prices and backing from the Bush administration, which sees it as a potentially important part of future energy supplies and is putting up money to help launch the first "biorefineries" to make it. Adherents think it could reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil, cut emissions that cause global warming and shore up the nation's rural economy. Already, the race is attracting big names, with the likes of...

Dear Colleagues, Despite the accounts that education “won” with the passage of the state budget, we have precious little to celebrate and every reason to question the agreement reached by Governor Janet Napolitano, President Ken Bennett, and Speaker Jim Weiers. The Arizona Education Association opposes this budget and takes offense that it was negotiated in secrecy, voted on in the middle of the night, and that educators were not consulted about, or alerted to, the inclusion of vouchers. Specifically, Arizona is looking at more than $1.5 billion in lost revenue over the next three years, the continued expansion of corporate...

EVER since the first Prius rolled off the assembly line almost a decade ago at the Takaoka plant not far from Toyota City, hybrid cars have basically been a luxury item. If you owned one, you could feel good about using less gasoline and being a trendsetter, but you couldn't expect the fuel savings to make up for the thousands of extra dollars that the hybrid cost. There was no financial reward for environmental virtue. But in the last few months, something important has changed. Gas prices have settled in at close to $3, which is enough to make a...

Toyota hybrids have hit the ceiling - the tax break ceiling. The limit of 60,000 cars was surpassed already, BUT, because of some funky law, buyers have until Sept. 30th to buy a Prius and still qualify for the $3,150 government tax credit. After that they can only get half a credit. Qualifying for the credit is easy -- finding a Prius is the hard part. I got an email from a fellow in Canada who says they have a bunch of them just sitting around. Would anybody like to fund bringing them here to the Bay area of San...

Queens County Conservative Party Thomas M. Long, Queens County Chairman Raquel Lacomba Walker, Political Affairs Chairwoman For Immediate Press Release Contact: Thomas M. Long (718) 748-6505 April 12, 2006 **FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE** EDUCATION TAX CREDITS Queens County Conservative Party leaders are urging elected officials in the New York Senate and Assembly to make Governor Pataki’s education tax credit proposal a part of this year’s final budget. Governor Pataki’s proposal provides a $500 tax credit to low and middle income families with children in elementary or high school in order to lower costs related to private/parochial schooling, including after school programs,...

In what could be the first big legislative test for New Jersey's school voucher supporters, a pair of bills was filed that would provide privately funded scholarships for 4,000 children in four cities to attend schools of their choice. The proposed Urban Schools Scholarship Act would create pilot programs in Newark, Orange, Camden and Trenton where low-income children could tap scholarships of up to $9,000 to attend private schools or public schools outside their district, backers say. They would be funded entirely by corporate contributions that, under the new bills, would in turn qualify for state tax credits of up...

The first federal energy law in more than a decade doles out tax breaks of all sizes, designed to encourage everything from buying a fuel-efficient car and installing a solar water heater in a home to building more power lines and new nuclear reactors. The bill, signed into law by President Bush on Monday in New Mexico, was passed during a year in which the price of everything from oil and natural gas to gasoline and electricity has escalated. Before signing the bill, Bush said: "This bill is not going to solve our energy challenges overnight. It's going to take...

More than 1,000 Celebrate Fourth Anniversary of Pennsylvania Tax CreditOn what turned out to be a stunningly beautiful day, more than 1,000 parents and children joined state legislators at Pennsylvania’s Capitol in Harrisburg on May 10 to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the state’s landmark Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program (EITC).Signed into law in 2001 by former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge (R), the EITC provides tax credits ranging from 75 percent to 90 percent to companies contributing to nonprofit scholarship, educational improvement, and pre-kindergarten scholarship organizations. Nearly $27 million is allocated annually for scholarships, a little more than $13 million...

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. (Applause.) Please be seated. Thanks for coming. Thanks for the warm welcome, and thank you for giving me a chance to get out of Washington. (Laughter.) I'm proud to be the first sitting President to visit this part of Virginia. (Applause.) They tell me George Washington came -- (laughter) -- before he was President. I thought it was time for another George W. to stop by. (Applause.) I appreciate the folks here at Virginia BioDiesel for showing me around. You know, I love the innovative spirit of our entrepreneurs in this country. And the folks...

WASHINGTON -- Despite President Bush's new call for tax credits for buyers of diesel vehicles, a consensus on the best way to use government subsidies to reduce fuel use remains elusive. Seven years after federal officials first proposed tax credits to promote sales of fuel-efficient vehicles, there's no guarantee the breaks will become law soon. On Wednesday, April 27, in a speech before small-business owners, Bush proposed a $2.5 billion program of credits for buyers of new diesels and gasoline-electric hybrids. But the next day, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, introduced a subsidy bill that omits diesels. Instead, it focuses on...

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryApril 16, 2005 President's Radio Address      Audio THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. American families and small businesses across the country are feeling the pinch from rising gas prices. If you're trying to meet a family budget or a payroll, even a small change at the pump can have a big impact. America's prosperity depends on reliable, affordable and secure sources of energy. And today our energy needs are growing faster than our domestic sources are able to provide. Demand for electricity has grown more than 17 percent in the past decade, while our transmission...

In South Carolina, Governor Mark Sanford and the house leadership have been pushing for the "Put Parents in Charge" act--one of the largest "school choice" measures in the country that is based on educational tax credits. It appears that the measure has sufficient support to pass the house when the legislature reconvenes in January and the proponents of school choice are engaged in a pitched battle against the teachers unions to sway public opinion and the senate between now and then. If South Carolina does begin secede from the public education system--through the individual choices of one parent at a...

A report released Tuesday shows tuition tax credits could save the state millions of dollars every year, supporting a failed proposal by a Utah County lawmaker earlier this year. "I think what it does is emphasizes the financial benefits," said Royce Van Tassell, executive director of Education Excellence Utah, a group that supports tuition tax credits. "The choice is pretty clear -- either have a dramatic tax increase or enact tuition tax credits." However, Carol Murphy, president of the Utah School Boards Association, doesn't think the study results give a green light to tuition tax credits. She plans to take...

Teachers lose tax breaks for class expenses LOS ANGELES (AP) — If Doreen Seelig pocketed all the money she has spent on classroom supplies over 35 years as a teacher — the printer cartridges, the paper, the pencils and the paperback books lent to her Venice High School students — she figures she would have a new car by now. Now, as the new school year gets under way, the burden on Seelig and other teachers around the country is even hea vier. Because of a budget crunch, California has suspended a tax credit that reimbursed teachers up to $1,500...

As a tax guy, I found myself chuckling quietly when President Bush said in his speech at the Republican National Convention that he would "lead a bipartisan effort to reform and simplify the federal tax code." Before long, I was howling with laughter. Sorry, folks, but efforts to "simplify" the code always bring clients streaming through my door. And the president quickly went on to show why: he wasn't able to offer simplification without adding two levels of complication within the next two minutes. O.K., the president said, I'm going to lead an effort to simplify. But I'm also going...

School vouchers still a tough sell in New JerseyBy DIANE D’AMICO Education Writer, (609) 272-7241, E-Mail NEWARK - Does New Jersey have "school choice?" It depends on your definition. Charter schools, "choice" public schools and vocational schools all offer students the opportunity to attend a school outside of the public school in their hometown. But the next step - giving parents vouchers so their children can attend private or parochial schools at public expense, has not gained a strong foothold in the state. It's certainly not for lack of trying. Excellent Education for Everyone, or E3, has been actively lobbying...

Congress considers bill to encourge sales of high-tech vehicles Story

p>COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry wants to give parents more money to help cover child care costs, to the tune of $20 billion over 10 years. Kerry says he will, if elected, raise the child and dependent care tax credit to cover up to $5,000 in expenses, up from the current $3,000 maximum. And he would extend the benefit to some parents who currently are not eligible, including stay-at-home parents and some lower-income families who cannot get the nonrefundable credit because they do not owe any tax.Kerry also said he would create a federal program that...

America's education system needs a Bill James, and a Billy Beane. Together, James and Beane — the focus of Michael Lewis's recent bestseller Moneyball — revolutionized Major League Baseball by demonstrating how maximizing efficiency can leverage limited resources to create a successful outcome. Bill James, author of the comprehensive Historical Baseball Abstract, spent three decades challenging the national pastime's conventional wisdom, applying rigorous statistical analysis to determine the traits most associated with a player's true value to his team. James's findings didn't square with most baseball experts' opinion, and his research was ignored for years. Until, that is, Oakland A's...

<p>Health care for the uninsured is shaping up to be the next big issue this election year, and President Bush staked his claim on Tuesday, outlining a handful of proposals to help the uninsured get medical coverage.</p> <p>Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said he intends to push all of the proposals in Congress this year, including refundable tax credits to help poor Americans buy health insurance — a proposal that has been pushed in the past and that aides say has a price tag of about $89 billion over 10 years.</p>

In 1997, Bill Clinton pushed through Congress legislation creating the Hope Scholarship and Lifetime Learning Tax Credit as a way of helping families cope with exploding college costs. Among the chief cheerleaders was Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, who said the tax credits were needed because tuition at four-year public colleges rose by an average of 234 percent from 1980-95. That statistic should have tipped off Congress that the approach it was about to take — pouring more money into higher education — ultimately would make college less affordable. To be sure, many middle-class families believe they have benefited from...

Treatise on education funding and choice.

The American dream, as conceived by the nation's founders, has little in common with H.R. 1276, the so-called American Dream Downpayment Act. In the original version of the American dream, individuals earned the money to purchase a house through their own efforts, oftentimes sacrificing other goods to save for their first downpayment. According to the sponsors of H.R. 1276, that old American dream has been replaced by a new dream of having the federal government force your fellow citizens to hand you the money for a downpayment. H.R. 1276 not only warps the true meaning of the American dream, but...

<p>Do you favor allowing the Louisiana Legislature to control the Minimum Foundation Program for funding public education rather than leaving control with the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education?</p> <p>Kathleen Blanco: I prefer the Minimum Foundation Program. It's what has protected education through the years. The BESE board has the whole picture.</p>

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.The Internal Revenue Service is putting off until next year a pilot program to require certain low-income taxpayers to provide conclusive proof of their eligibility for a special tax credit and reduce the number of people covered by the program. But it will also look more closely at other poor wage earners seeking the credit. Terry Lemons, an I.R.S. spokesman, said in an interview yesterday that the heightened scrutiny for the second group would constitute "a new area of emphasis" on poor people whom the agency suspects of having misrepresented their eligibility...

In his recent bestseller, The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell describes the magic moment when an idea, product, or trend achieves mainstream status. Cell phones, for example, "tipped" in 1998. Cellular technology and sales improved steadily throughout the 1990s, but it wasn't until 1998 that people realized the phones were everywhere. News from the nation's capital suggests 2003 could be the "tipping point" for school choice. If that's the case, events in the District of Columbia may impact Arizona politics. Anthony Williams — the Democratic mayor of a city where Republicans are outnumbered nine to one — recently bucked party loyalties...

Some economic facts of life are obvious. You can’t take money out of a bank account unless someone has put money in it. You can’t get a rebate on a product if you don’t buy it. You can’t take advantage of lower interest rates if you don’t take out a mortgage. Only in Washington, D.C. can basic economic truisms be turned on their head. That’s the case with the expanded child tax credit.Less than a month ago, Mr. Bush signed a multibillion dollar tax cut that will issue checks of up to $400 to most middle-income families. The reimbursement is...

<p>Senate Republicans are chagrined for giving in last week to Democratic demands to extend the child-care tax credit to people who don't pay income taxes. They should be embarrassed, but it's even worse than that: They also voted to raise marginal tax rates on more of their own voters.</p>

The Democrats want to extend the Child tax credit to those with low incomes. They argue that the working poor do pay taxes in the form of payroll taxes. But to refund the payroll tax is to robbing the Social Security "trust" fund of needed cash. The poor are the primary beneficiaries of the social programs so they must bear the responsibility of paying the premiums. So, the new rallying cry should be "Don't starve old widows -- leave the Social Security "trust fund" alone -- Don't cut payroll taxes!"

SA 862. Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mrs. Lincoln, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Voinovich, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Warner, Mr. Stevens, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Byrd, Ms. Collins, and Mr. Nelson of Florida) proposed an amendment to the bill H.R. 1308, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to accelerate the increase in the refundability of the child tax credit, and for other purposes; as follows: Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Relief for Working Families Tax Act of 2003''. TITLE I--CHILD TAX CREDIT SEC. 101....

WASHINGTON (AP) — Unable to shake Democratic demands that minimum wage workers get the same benefit from a $1,000 child tax credit as other families, Republicans in the Senate struck an agreement to expand the benefit for low-income families and extend the benefit to more high-income couples. "There is a deal," said a spokesman for Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., who has been advocating the change since President Bush signed a $350 billion tax cut last month.The strategy, designed to diffuse a growing storm over a bigger child tax credit for middle-income but not low-income families, gives both Republicans and...

School choice advocates will be watching Tuesday's Republican gubernatorial primary in New Hampshire where one of the candidates says if elected, he'll try to give parents a tax credit for sending their children to private schools. New Hampshire has neither a state income nor a general sales tax. However, Gordon Humphrey, a former U.S. senator currently running for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, would like to give low and moderate-income parents the chance to use education credits to lower their other state-related taxes or local property taxes. According to Humphrey's campaign, parents would be able "to take a dollar for dollar...