Free Republic

TOWANDA - While Bradford County has experienced extensive gas drilling for a few years, what will it be like after the drilling has gone on for decades? The three Bradford County commissioners and other local officials had a chance to get a sense of what could happen when they traveled last week to participate in a two-day conference in Lea County, N.M.

If Mitt Romney's 2010 tax bill were merely his pretax income, he'd still be a member of the 1%—in other words, the government takes more of his wealth every year than 99% of Americans earn. But what the world really learned from the tax returns the GOP candidate released yesterday is that he is a walking argument for pro-growth tax reform. The details of Mr. Romney's six IRS schedules, eight forms and 69 income statements—totaling some 547 pages—are by now familiar. The Bain Capitalist made $21.7 million in 2010 and an estimated $20.9 million last year. He doesn't merely belong...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's jobs council called on Tuesday for a corporate tax overhaul, expanded domestic drilling and new regulatory reforms, a set of proposals unlikely to provide a quick fix for high unemployment or gain much traction in an election year. A panel of top U.S. business leaders advising Obama - whose re-election chances could hinge on whether he can boost the fragile economy - offered its latest job-creation prescriptions at a meeting with him at the White House. Obama pledged to "push as hard as possible" on their recommendations but also sought to temper expectations. "Obviously...

Herman Cain tells National Review Online that he will launch a new political-action committee in January. The outfit, whose final name remains under wraps, will be Cain’s main project next year. Its mission will be to enact his “9-9-9” economic plan. “We continue the campaign without a candidate,” says Cain, who hinted at the endeavor during his departure speech. “There are a lot of people who are willing to support the campaign for solutions without the end objective being my election as president of the United States.” As Cain transitions to private life, “Friends of Herman Cain,” the financial force...

U.S. Government Plans Tax-Reform Initiative... ... in Armenia!The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) said this week that it expects to award an estimated $5-10 million, four-year contract to assist the Armenian government in the areas of: (a) revenue policy formulation, strategic planning, revenue analysis and tax policy review and simplification; and the appeals policies, procedures and implementation carried out by the Ministry of Finance and (b) improving the SRC strategic planning, human resource management and internal control processes to better administer taxes and to enhance taxpayer trust and compliance. [emphasis added] USAID intends to release a more detailed Request...

Tax reform proposals are the political equivalent of science fiction: entertaining but imaginary. No tax proposal ever passes through Congress unscathed. There are too many interests that believe their survival depends on tax preferences — hence the tax code's immutable tendency to accumulate complexities as a ship collects barnacles. Still, presidential candidates' tax proposals are useful windows into their philosophies. Should income taxes on the wealthy go up or down? Should income from investments be taxed at a different rate than income from labor? And should "tax reform," a goal everyone embraces, be used as a tool to shrink the...

With Rick Perry’s call for a 20% Flat Tax, the movement for fundamental, pro-growth tax reform became unstoppable. Perry, Herman Cain, and Mitt Romney are now the only viable candidates for the Republican presidential nomination remaining. With both Cain and Perry now offering dramatic pro-growth tax reform proposals, Romney will either jump on the tax reform bandwagon or be left in the dust (or possibly both). The only pro-growth tax cuts in Romney’s 59-point economic plan are a reduction in the corporate income tax rate to 25% (from 35% today) and the elimination of the death tax. However, both Perry...

According to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, 25% of Republican primary voters currently favor Businessman Herman Cain as the potential GOP presidential nominee, 21% prefer former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and the rest of the field is at 10% or less. But the real headline is that 80% of respondents say they have yet to make up their minds. While the hopes for an exciting late entry (Chris Christie, Sarah Palin, etc.) have been dashed, that 80% who have yet to give their final answer offer a huge opportunity for existing candidates near the back of the pack...

I can’t imagine a true patriot proposing a new tax, a national consumption tax which would tax every necessity of life, in addition to keeping corporate taxes and taxes on the working person’s wage. I also can’t imagine a true patriot proposing a new general tax among the States [Herman’s national sales tax] to feed the beast in Washington, and ignoring the rule of apportioning that tax among the States as required by our founding fathers clear intentions. The rule of apportioning any general tax among the States was adopted by our founders to cure a vicious evil of democracy....

Paul Ryan does a good job of offering a Republican tax reform response to Obama's jobs bill monster.

Anybody have an opinion on Herman Cain’s 999 tax reform plan? - It ends the Payroll Tax completely - Business Flat Tax – 9% - Gross income less all investments, all purchases from other businesses and all dividends paid to shareholders - Empowerment Zones will offer additional deductions for payroll employed in the zone - Individual Flat Tax – 9% - Gross income less charitable deductions - Empowerment Zones will offer additional deductions for those living and/or working in the zone - National Sales Tax – 9% I don’t like it. This puts into effect both an income tax and...

Despite the recent gains made in the debt limit negotiations, there is no amount of debt-shuffling that doesn't leave taxpayers footing the bill for Washington's spending problem. In its annual Cost of Government Day report, Americans for Tax Reform Foundation calculated that Americans worked until August 12 this year to pay for the full costs of government spending and regulation. The 'Cost of Government Day' report determines the day of the year on which the average Americans has made enough income to pay off the local, state and federal regulatory and spending burdens. This year, Americans work a full 224...

Every year, Americans for Tax Reform Foundation publishes its Cost of Government Day report, which calculates the day on the calendar year until which the average American must work to pay for the full costs of government spending and regulation. The study is available online at www.CostOfGovernmentDay.com “Highlights” of the report are as follows: Overall government burden: This year, Cost of Government Day falls on August 12, meaning Americans labor a full 224 days into the year to pay for local, state and federal government spending and regulations. Impact of Obama overspending: Americans have lost 29 days of the calendar...

The tax code has morphed from a device to fund essential government services into a tool to redistribute wealth. If we are going to redistribute wealth, everyone wants to be a winner, so it is no surprise that lobbyists are employed to gather more preferences and defend existing preferences. Effective tax rates on corporate income vary widely by industry, with petroleum, utilities and construction among the highest (30 percent to 33 percent) and some industries in single digits. The higher the statutory rate, the more valuable the preferences, and preferences breed complexity.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), arguably the most prominent fiscal conservative in the Senate, is declaring his independence from one of the country's leading anti-tax groups, Americans for Tax Reform - and its fiery founder, Grover Norquist.

One of the more intriguing new websites on the political blogoshere is POPVOX. POPVOX is an interactive site that enables individual citizens to weigh in on bills introduced into congress. You can vote for/against bills in the house or senate and you can also make a comment that will be displayed on the respective Bill Report page and forwarded to your respective representative/senator. POPVOX also has a mapping facility which shows where support\opposition to a bill is coming from geographically. You can drill down to CD level all the way up to state and national. HR 25 (The FairTax) made...

Washington, DC—On Wednesday, January 5, 2011, Congressman Rob Woodall (GA-07) introduced H.R. 25, the FairTax. The FairTax legislation eliminates the current income tax paradigm and replaces it with a system of taxation based on consumption. The bill was introduced on Wednesday with 47 original co-sponsors—the most original co-sponsors the bill has ever had for its initial introduction. “I committed to the Seventh District of Georgia that my efforts in Congress would focus on reclaiming freedom for the American people. It is for that reason that I am proud to make the FairTax—the only bill that restores transparency and simplicity to...

The Bipartisan Policy Center’s debt reduction task force led by Pete Domenici and Alice Rivlin has performed a public service by trying to build a consensus and for offering some worthy ideas to steer the nation away from a fiscal cliff. But here’s one set of statistics that sticks out like a sore thumb. The highest marginal income tax rate at the federal level would be about 42%, including the employer portion of payroll taxes, paid by individuals earning from $51,000 to the top of the raised ceiling for Social Security’s 12.4% payroll tax. That ceiling is now $106,800, but...

"Cuba has set income tax rates at 25 to 50 percent for its soon to be expanded private sector, with the biggest earners paying the most taxes," reported Reuters last week. It is telling that the tax rates of Cuban communists are now comparable with those in many so-called free countries. Below, for comparison, are individual tax rates for selected Western democracies: Denmark                     36.57 - 51.5% United Kingdom          0 - 50% Belgium                      25 - 50% Germany                     0 - 45% France                         5.5 - 40% Austria                        21 - 50% Germany                     0 - 45% Japan                           5- 40% High as they...

After months of work and anticipation, [Puerto Rico] Gov. [Luis] Fortuño finally unveiled his administration’s comprehensive tax reform. At the center of the measure is an across-the-board reduction in the individual tax bracket that would result in a 49-percent overall savings in six years. Corporate reductions are slated to reach 30 percent. The cornerstone of the tax modification is the reduction of the income tax brackets. People making less than $20,000 would not pay any tax. The bracket of those making $20,001 to $30,000 would be taxed 7 percent. From $30,001 to $70,000, the allocation would be 14 percent. The...