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Reality TV star Kim Kardashian – she of the Jimmy Choo shoes and Dolce & Gabbana lifestyle — is getting pitched this week to reach into her very, very deep designer pockets and come up with more money for California’s education and social services. No joke. The new ad campaign from the Courage Campaign has a light and playful touch but pointedly notes that Kimmie made $12 million last year, a far cry from the $47,000 average income for Joe Californian. It’s a high profile effort for the Courage Campaign’s latest campaign: www.MillionairesTaxCA.com, which officially asks “the wealthiest Californians —...

In his big economics speech in Osawatomie, Kan., Tuesday, President Barack Obama asserted, "This is a make-or-break moment for the middle class." That's not good news for the middle class. What's the big problem facing Americans today? A lack of good jobs or the fact that rich people make more now than rich people used to make? The president seems to believe the latter. He seems to think that if Democrats raise tax rates on the wealthy, jobs will become fruitful and multiply. Or if they don't, at least he can blame Republicans for not agreeing to his economic package....

From “An Open Letter to the People of California”: I am filing today an initiative with the Attorney General’s office that would generate nearly $7 billion in dedicated funding to protect education and public safety. I am going directly to the voters because I don’t want to get bogged down in partisan gridlock as happened this year. The stakes are too high.

It's difficult to divine exactly what the Occupy demonstrators in California cities and on university campuses are protesting. ... We needn't weep for the wealthy; they can take care of themselves. But their incomes are much more volatile than those of us who earn paychecks because they are much more dependent on capital gains from stocks and other investments, and when recession hits, their income streams decline sharply. That's where the effect on college fees comes into the equation. California has a particularly progressive personal income tax system, which means that it's extraordinarily dependent on high-income taxpayers. In fact, the...

Washington — Two dozen “patriotic millionaires” traveled to the Capitol on Wednesday to demand that Congress raise taxes on wealthy Americans. The Daily Caller attended their press conference with an iPad, which displayed the Treasury Department’s donation page, to find out if any of the “patriotic millionaires” were willing to put their money where their mouth is.

. . . Due To Liberal "Generosity." 50 million Americans are recorded as living below the poverty line, and nearly 50 million citizens are receiving Food Stamps, compliments of the rest of the tax paying populace. Lyndon Baines Johnson originally alloted a little over 1% of U.S. Gross Domestic Product to fight the War on Poverty, which we are miserably losing. Now, over 14% of America's GDP is spent on poverty programs. Dividing the estimated GDP of $14,000,000,000,000 by 50,000,000 "poor" Americans equates to each poor American receiving some sort of welfare in the amount of $280,000 per person. Don't...

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...

CHICAGO (CBS) – It’s sticker shock in the mail. Tax bills went out to Cook County homeowners this week and the big jump in the amount due to many homeowners has some wondering if they can keep their house. CBS 2′s Dana Kozlov takes a look at how the dramatic jump in property tax bills is affecting people and what you can do about it. According to the Cook County Clerk’s office, tax rates are up for schools, park districts, municipalities and other government bodies. Some of those tax levies have made double-digit increases in tax rates. The property tax...

WASHINGTON—Senate Democrats proposed a 5% surtax on people earning more than $1 million a year to pay for the $447 billion cost of President Barack Obama's job-creation bill, in a move designed to shore up their party's support for the measure. The proposal would replace the range of tax deductions for wealthy people, oil companies and other businesses that the president had proposed to end to offset the cost of the job-creation initiatives in his plan. WSJ Deputy Managing Editor Alan Murray and Evan Newmark discuss the politics of the proposed 5% surtax on millionaires put forth by Senate democrats....

BET founder Robert Johnson on the "FOX News Sunday" program: "Well, I think the president has to recalibrate his message. You don't get people to like you by attacking them or demeaning their success. You know, I grew up in a family of 10 kids, first one to go to college, and I've earned my success. I've earned my right to fly private if I choose to do so. "And by attacking me it is not going to convince me that I should take a bigger hit because I happen to be wealthy. You know, it is the old --...

According to biologists, billions of years ago the first sea creature wiggled onto the beach. This was a pivotal moment in life's long march from amorphous sea snot into the highest form of mammalian beings—hedge-fund managers. Many people see that as an improvement, but I'm not judgmental. What we don't know is why the first sea creatures were so anxious to leave their ocean habitats. My guess is that it had something to do with taxes. Reliable people on television have informed me that taxes are the root cause of all behavior. And that means we can predict the future...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: From Judicial Watch: "In its quest to promote taxpayer-funded entitlement programs, the Obama Administration has actually rewarded one state with a $5 million bonus for its efficiency in adding food-stamp recipients to already bulging rolls. It’s part of the administration’s campaign to eradicate 'food insecure households' by improving access and increasing participation in the government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)," or food stamps. "This week Oregon officials bragged that the USDA has given the state $5 million in 'performance bonuses' for ensuring that people eligible for food benefits receive them and for its 'swift processing of applications.'...

CNBC: "Are you happy that the way it is being described. Is the program that the White House has presented a million dollars and over your program? " Warren Buffett: "Well, the precise program which will -- I don't know what their program will be. My program would be on the very high incomes that are taxed very low. Not just high incomes. Somebody making $50 million a year playing baseball, his taxes won't change. Make $50 million a year appearing on television, his income won't change. But, if they make a lot of money and pay a very low...

A key moment in the dueling Obama-House Republican visit to Silicon Valley Monday was when the wealthy, retired-early Google exec told President Obama to raise his taxes. Yes, you read that right. “I don’t have a job, but that’s because I’ve been lucky enough to live in Silicon Valley for a while and work for a small startup down the street here that did quite well. So I’m unemployed by choice. My question is would you please raise my taxes? “I would like very much to have the country to continue to invest in things like Pell Grants and infrastructure...

Michelle Obama, the most glamorous of all U.S. First Ladies, dazzled the crowd at a DNC fundraiser Tuesday night wearing over $42,000 worth of diamond bracelets ($42,150 to be precise). Designed by Katie Decker, a 23-year-old Texas-based jeweller, the First Lady dropped a few dimes on some serious bling: (Daily Mail) - The First Lady, 47, chose to wear Miss Decker's Lotus cuff, with 2.9 carats of diamonds, costing $15,000, the Gothic cuff with 2.17 carats of diamonds, costing $15,350, and the $11,800 Quatrefoil bracelet with 1.73 carats of diamonds to the Gotham Hall event.Damn, for that kind of money...

By Walter E. Williams (Archive) • Wednesday, April 13, 2011 I've often said that I wish there were some humane way to get rid of the rich. If you asked why, I'd answer that getting rid of the rich would save us from distraction by leftist hustlers promoting the politics of envy. Not having the rich to fret over might enable us to better focus our energies on what's in the best interest of the 99.99 percent of the rest of us. Let's look at some facts about the rich laid out by Bill Whittle citing statistics on his RealClearPolitics...

Chairman Obamao went to the Rose Garden the other day to announce his tax plan to pay for his jobs bill that is already paid for. He wants to . . . wait for it . . . raise taxes on the rich! What a surprise! Of course, the cost of those taxes would then be passed along to the rest of us in the form of higher prices, jobs lost, etc. The real problem is the spending, things like . . . his jobs bill. But we're coming up on election season, and so the Panderer-in-Chief has to...

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...

Pundits dismissed the president’s jobs and deficit reduction proposals as political grandstanding, but the American people appear to approve of many of the president’s ideas, according to a Gallup poll released today.The survey of 1,004 adults — only about 44 percent of whom were Republicans or Republican-leaning independents — showed significant majorities support a majority of the individual components of the president’s plan.For example, 70 percent favor increasing taxes on some corporations by eliminating certain tax deductions and 66 percent favor increasing income taxes on individuals earning at least $200,000 and families earning at least $250,000.The first part of that...