Free Republic

With the expiration of the Bush tax cuts and the implementation of a proposed health care surtax, in 2011 the top federal individual income tax rate will rise to more than 46% and over 50% for those living in many states. This sharp increase in tax rates can be expected to reduce the size of the tax base and may raise substantially less revenue than the casual observer might think—perhaps only 60 cents on the dollar. In Tax Foundation Fiscal Fact No. 182, "The Economic Cost of High Tax Rates," Senior Fellow Robert Carroll explains that for every 1% decrease...

So what explains the crazy, cockeyed optimism of House Democrats? Maybe they still believe Team Obama’s rosy-scenario forecast that shows the stimulus package a) keeping unemployment under 8 percent this year and b) launching an economic boom next year and beyond. For some reason, though, they think the battered U.S. economy is so strong that politicians can pile tax upon tax on it with no fear of further harm. Less than three weeks after passing a costly cap-and-trade carbon emission plan, Pelosi & Co. have giddily unveiled a $1.2 trillion healthcare plan partially funded by a $544 billion surtax on...