Free Republic

The President started last year forcing through sweeping tax increases. The top marginal income tax rate rose by nearly 20%, to punish the most successful for the anti-social acts of working too hard and producing too much. The capital gains tax rate was increased by nearly 60%, as was the tax on corporate dividends. America’s top marginal corporate income tax rate remains the highest among all developed world economies, close to 40% on average, given state corporate tax rates as well. But those punitive tax burdens are just not enough for President Obama, who should go down in history as...

During his Tuesday remarks at the Clinton Global Initiative, President Obama admitted that his health care law raises taxes: “So what we did — it’s paid for by a combination of things. We did raise taxes on some things.” “Some things” is an understatement. Below is just a partial list of Obamacare’s new or higher taxes on Americans: Starting in tax year 2013: Obamacare Medical Device Tax: Medical device manufacturers employ 409,000 people in 12,000 plants across the country. Obamacare imposes a new 2.3 percent excise tax on gross sales – even if the company does not earn a profit...

President Obama’s budget would raise taxes mainly on people earning more than $200,000 a year, although earners at nearly every income level would face a somewhat higher tax burden, according to a new nonpartisan analysis. The study by the Tax Policy Center finds that in 2015, 86 percent of the increase in taxes would be borne by people earning $200,000 or more a year. That would largely be a result of dramatically scaling back tax breaks that disproportionately benefit the wealthy and establishing a minimum level of taxation for people who earn $1 million a year. But the study also...

Thoughts and prayers this morning for yesterday’s bombing victims and their families. I know there has been talk about the Marathon Bomber being a disgruntled Tea Partier (well okay, it was just Tingles and CNN dufus, Peter Bergen, who came right out and said it, butt you know others were hoping thinking it too.) From what I hear via Little Mo that is very unlikely. Here’s part of the report he filed late last night: “Authorities say they are searching for a darker skinned or black male with a black backpack and black sweatshirt, possibly foreign national from the accent...

President Obama's Weirdest New Taxes By CHRIS GOOD (@c_good) April 12, 2013 President Obama has plenty of big taxes in his budget proposal. To achieve $1.8 trillion in new revenue, the president suggested a few of the policies he's raised while battling Republicans over the past four years: taxing higher incomes by capping itemized tax deductions, rolling back domestic-production credits for oil companies, instituting the "Buffett Rule" of a 30 percent minimum tax rate for people making over $1 million in a year, and taxing investment managers' "carried interest" profits as regular income top the list. But the tax code...

President Barack Obama on Tuesday will propose that Congress pass a small package of spending cuts and tax reforms to put off the "harmful consequences'' of huge automatic spending cuts known as the "sequester'' for a few months, a White House official said.

President Obama insisted Sunday that additional tax revenue will need to be part of future deficit deals, but said hikes in tax rates may not be necessary. In a pre-Super Bowl interview with CBS, the president outlined his vision for further deficit reduction, which he said was essential, but in a way that preserves the government's ability to continue spending on key programs. He also emphasized that the seemingly continuous stream of Washington standoffs was wreaking havoc on confidence in the U.S. economy. Republicans have insisted that the revenue side of the deficit equation was dealt with during "fiscal cliff"...

Remember all those mainstream news reports before the election about how President Obama's expansive spending plans would require massive tax hikes on everyone, not just millionaires and billionaires? Neither do we. But somehow after the election, reporters are finally admitting that Obama's budget numbers simply don't add up and that new taxes on the middle class — including a European-style value added tax — are "inevitable."

Sometimes, watching a Democrat learn something is wonderful, like seeing the family dog finally sit and stay at your command. With President Obama back in office and his life-saving “fiscal cliff” bill jammed through Congress, the new year has brought a surprising turn of events for his sycophantic supporters. “What happened that my Social Security withholding’s in my paycheck just went up?” a poster wrote on the liberal site DemocraticUnderground.com. “My paycheck just went down by an amount that I don’t feel comfortable with. I guarantee this decrease is gonna’ hurt me more than the increase in income taxes will...

President Barack Obama said he’s willing to consider more spending cuts to lower the deficit, as long as they’re coupled with more tax reforms. Using Saturday’s weekly address to praise Congress’ last-minute deal to avert the “fiscal cliff,” Obama said it’s “just one more step” in the larger effort to boost the economy and reduce federal deficits. He said this week’s deal raised taxes on the wealthiest Americans while preventing a middle-class tax hike that could have thrown the country back into recession. “I believe we can find more places to cut spending without shortchanging things like education, job training,...

How is it possible that the government can spend almost twice as much as it takes in without having high inflation? The fact is that over a long period of time, it can’t. In the short run, which can be a few years, the government can paper over its fiscal irresponsibility by expropriating most of the productivity gains in the private sector through regulatory and central bank actions. This is precisely what has been happening in the United States. The reason real, after-tax, per capita incomes have been able to increase year by year for most Americans for the past...

Vice President Joe Biden said the middle class "has been buried the last four yeas" at a campaign event in Charlotte, North Carolina: "This is deadly earnest, man. This is deadly earnest," Biden said. "How they can justify--how they can justify--raising taxes when the middle class has been buried the last four years... How in Lord's name..." Of course, Barack Obama has been president the last four years, and Biden has been vice president.

President Obama is obviously panicked. Last month Obama and his supporters spent a lot more than Mitt Romney, but even with that cash advantage and the media on their side, the polls haven't budged. Moreover, the President and his campaign have been running around frantically trying to find something that will stick to Romney, be it provable lies about his outsourcing and outright smears involving offshore accounts. Still, Obama can't get above 47% and Romney hasn't even started campaigning in earnest or spending the $160 million he has on hand. Today, in yet another desperate attempt to win a news...

President Obama is campaigning heavily for Congress to prevent the lapsing of a special low-interest rate on student loans. Specifically, unless deferred, the interest rate will rise from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on federal Stafford student loans issued after July 1, says Curtis Dubay, a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D–NV) has proposed to offset the cost of continuing to subsidize these loans by raising taxes on small businesses to the tune of $9 billion over 10 years.[2] This is the latest in a series of tax increases on small businesses pursued...

President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama had a combined income of $789,674 in 2011 but paid a lower tax rate than the president's secretary, who made less than $100,000, the White House confirmed Friday. The Obamas paid an effective rate of 20.5 percent. White House aides would not reveal presidential secretary Anita Breckenridge’s tax rate but confirmed it was higher than the first family's rate. Breckenridge earned $95,000 last year. The Obamas' rate is less than the 30 percent the president wants millionaires to pay under his proposed Buffett Rule.

No wonder President Obama is so keen on passing the Buffett Rule -- it wouldn't have affected his tax rate this year! Yes, that's right: the Obamas raked in less than $1 million this year. Therefore, in a "Buffett Rule" world, they wouldn't have to pay their "fair share." President Obama earned $789,674 in 2011, the White House announced on Friday. However, with this income, he does not even qualify for the so-called Buffett Rule that he has promoted relentlessly and the Senate will take up on Monday. The Buffett Rule calls for those making over $1 million a year...

President Obama’s Secretary Paid Higher Tax Rate Than He Did President Obama today released his 2011 federal income tax, with he and his wife reporting an adjusted gross income of $789,674. The Obamas paid $162,074 in total tax – an effective federal income tax rate of 20.5%. The Obamas also reported donating approximately 22% of their income to charity — $172,130. President Obama has been making a big political push for the “Buffett Rule,” which would require millionaires to pay a minimum of 30% of their income in taxes. To illustrate the point, the president has pointed out that billionaire...

President Barack Obama released tax forms on Friday that reveal he will probably pay a higher tax rate on lower income than likely Republican opponent Mitt Romney in 2011, adding fuel to a Democratic election-year effort to raise taxes on the wealthy. Obama paid an effective tax rate of 20.5 percent on income of $789,674 last year, the White House said. Romney has estimated he will pay a 15.4 percent tax rate on income of $20.9 million, though he has not filed his return yet. Obama and his fellow Democrats have spent much of the week touting the "Buffett Rule,"...

President Obama and his wife, Michelle, reported adjusted gross income of $789,674 in 2011 and paid just over 20 percent of it to the federal government in taxes. Their income declined nearly $1 million from the previous year, when the president was reaping larger amounts from sales of his bestselling books. The numbers were disclosed in the Obamas’ federal income tax return and gift-tax return, released Friday by the White House, along with those of Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Obama paid $162,074 in income taxes, an effective tax rate of 20.5 percent. In a statement,...

Stumping for his “Buffett Rule” tax increase in Florida today, President Barack Obama said the following: “For those people who make under $250,000 a year – like 98 percent of American families do – then your taxes don’t go up.” – Barack Obama, April 10, 2012 But since taking office, President Obama has signed into law at least seven new or higher taxes on families making less than $250,000 per year. President Barack Obama’s central campaign promise – a “firm pledge” against “any form of tax increase” on families making less than $250,000 per year – was shattered when he...