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On Thursday, House Democratic Party Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi characterized as "crumbs" the bonuses of $1,000 or more, pay raises of up to $3 per hour, and other benefits well over 100 companies have showered on over 2 million employees as a result of December's tax law passage. Given their track record, there's no reason to believe that the establishment press will report Pelosi's condescending remarks — or that they will remind their audience that in 2011 and 2012, the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress treated the prospect of workers losing $40 every other week in their paychecks as...

You’ve got to admire the full frontal audacity of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, and their union and pressure group comrades in arms. Their hypocrisy, fraud and tyranny seem to have no boundaries, especially on fiscal responsibility, energy and climate change. Amid the seventh year of a “New York is open for business” advertising campaign that has spent $354 million thus far, they are presiding over tax and regulatory regimes, mountains of debt, intransigent public sector unions, anti-nuclear, anti-fossil fuel energy policies that are anything but business friendly – and press conferences that...

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said Thursday that her party will be using the weekend of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to hold events criticizing Republicans' tax reform law. Speaking at a press conference, Pelosi said that, while a similar push against repealing Obamacare worked well last year, the tax reform bill has already become law. Still, she justified her push to discount the tax plan by noting that King supported equality and therefore would support Democrats' vision of "economic equality" through higher taxes on the wealthy. "This year on Martin Luther King weekend, we honor his commitment...

Democrats are choking on crow for opposing this tax bill. Are they this economically illiterate? You pass the most extensive tax reform in nearly 30 years, it creates a better job creating and investing environment, and companies begin to boost U.S. investment, dole out bonuses to workers, some increase wages, and make declarations that charitable donations will go up. Yeah, that sounds bad, or something. It all centers on the notion that the Left thinks that your money is their money, and that the government, preferably run by over-educated, snobby liberal elitists, know best to allocate how that money is...

A promise of a flat tax by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi on Friday sparked sharp reactions from opponents ahead of a general election and head-scratching among economists. Campaigning ahead of a general election on March 4th at the helm of the conservative Forza Italia movement, Berlusconi said on TV late on Thursday that such a tax would start at the current minimum rate of 23 percent, before being brought down to below 20 percent. The remarks by Berlusconi — who never sought to introduce a flat tax during his three terms as prime minister — immediately drew criticism from...

Public employees in California may have their pension benefits slashed due to the rollback of a longstanding rule in the state, Gov. Jerry Brown revealed in a recent budget briefing. The California governor revealed that he has a “hunch” legal proceedings could pave the way for cuts to public employees’ benefits. “There is more flexibility than there is currently assumed by those who discuss the California rule,” Brown said during the briefing.

WASHINGTON - A loophole in the new U.S. tax law could allow multinational corporations like Apple Inc to avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes on profits stashed overseas, according to experts. Stemming from a Republican overhaul of international business taxes, the loophole involves the tax rates - 15.5 percent or 8 percent - that companies must pay on $2.6 trillion in profits they are holding abroad. By manipulating their foreign cash positions, a determining factor under the new law, a U.S. multinational could potentially save money by shifting profits to the lower rate from the higher one, according to...

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts railed against GOP-led tax cuts Wednesday before admitting that they will likely result in lower electricity rates for people in her home state. Warren railed against the tax cuts during an interview on Fox News, but back-peddled after interviewer Bret Baier mentioned energy companies are planning rate cuts in response to reduced corporate taxes. “And good for them. I’m delighted to hear that,” she said, before quickly pivoting back to her original criticism: “It is $1.5 trillion the Republicans gave away to billionaires and to giant corporations.” Massachusetts energy giant Eversource announced earlier this...

Walmart's employees will reap the benefits of the recent tax law changes, as the company raises its starting wage and distributes bonuses to eligible workers. The big-box retailer announced Thursday it will be increasing its starting wage rate for hourly employees in the U.S. to $11, and expand maternity and parental leave benefits. The retailer also will pay a one-time cash bonus to eligible employees of as much as $1,000. Currently, Walmart's starting wage is $9 until workers complete a training program. Then, they receive $10.

Waste Management said Wednesday that it will give $2,000 in special bonuses to about 34,000 employees. The company said the cash bonuses will be given to its North American employees who are not on a bonus or sales incentive plan, including hourly and other employees.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., announced Wednesday that he is retiring from Congress and would not be seeking re-election, the 31st House Republican to do so. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., announced he will not seek re-election Wednesday, adding to a record number of House Republicans heading for the exits ahead of the 2018 midterms — perhaps seeing the writing on the wall of a possible wave election for Democrats. There are now 31 Republicans who will not seek re-election in November: 19 who are retiring outright and another 12 who are running for higher office. And that list is is...

Democrats in high-tax blue states are already plotting ways to avoid the new tax law, hoping to seize on gimmicks that will allow their residents to cut their federal tax burden without costing the states themselves any money. The Democrats are trying to get around a new $10,000 cap on how much of their state and local taxes residents can write off on their federal forms. High-tax states fear their residents will quickly top the $10,000 limit, leaving them grumbling over their higher tax bills. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has suggested switching some of his state’s tax collections from...

An obscure provision in the tax code could force the foundation started by Paul Newman to sell the food company Newman's Own. The foundation is trying to coax lawmakers to shield Newman's Own from an onerous tax bill that could force divestment. Executives are hoping Congress will put a last-minute fix in any potential deal to fund the government past Jan. 19.

On the heels of companies dishing bonuses of up to $3,000 to over one million workers due to the anticipated benefit of President Trump’s tax reform victory, several major utilities have announced plans to cut rates in a consumer payback related to the lower taxes. Energy suppliers like Washington’s Pepco, Baltimore Gas and Light, Pacific Power, Rocky Mountain Power and Commonwealth Edison said they plan to give hundreds of thousands of customers a rate cut due to the tax reform.

Maine brewers stand to save about $1 million from less tax per barrel Part of the federal tax reforms passed last year were significant cuts to the excise tax imposed on craft brewers. Tucked inside the recently passed federal tax overhaul was a very specific tax cut that could cumulatively save Maine breweries about $1 million this year. The Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act was passed at the end of 2017 along with tax reforms that lowered both personal and corporate tax rates. The act includes a two-year cut on the federal tax levied on a barrel of...

Our farmers deserve a government that serves their interest and empowers them to do the hard work that they love to do so much. President Donald J. Trump On January 13, 1992, President George H. W. Bush stepped to the podium at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual convention in Kansas City, Missouri. The president had just returned from a 12-day trip across Asia, and he used his Farm Bureau speech to discuss what the future of trade might look like in a post-Soviet world. “Our Asian allies understand that we don’t want handouts or a home-field trade advantage,” President...

Started my 2017 taxes. The dreaded individual mandate question is on there.

A trio of recently released economic statistics have boosted Democratic hopes of retaking the majority in the House and Senate later this year. First, in December, private employers increased payrolls by stepping up hiring and reducing layoffs. Second, unemployment among blacks fell to the lowest level since 1972. Third, the number of Americans on food stamps fell by two million. Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez labeled these statistics “the starkest of warnings concerning the sad fate in store for average Americans under Republican government. Millions are being forced out of the social safety net so meticulously constructed for them...

When the Democrats were railing against the tax cut package which was passed before Christmas, one of their major rallying cries was to say that Trump and the Republicans were “punishing blue states” by capping SALT deductions (the amount of state and local taxes you pay which may then be deducted from your federal taxes) at $10K per year. Hardest “hit” were New York and California, with their respective governors vowing to #RESIST Trump and find a way to spare their people. While this would obviously be a silly idea in progressive circles, one response might have been to...

This week, retired singer Barbra Streisand took to Twitter to vent against the recently passed tax cuts saying that “blue states, athletes, actors, writers, producers, and directors will be punished by this scam of a tax bill. It targets those of us who have earned millions entertaining America. It limits property tax deductions to only a single residence and caps it at $10,000 per year. I, myself, have several homes. I don’t remember exactly how many, but all of them are in the multimillion dollar range and have annual tax bills far in excess of $10,000.” “What Trump fails to...