Free Republic

Madison — Senate Republicans Tuesday narrowly passed Gov. Scott Walker's $541 million tax cut proposal in a vote that guaranteed the cuts will become law. The tax decreases — the third round of cuts by Republicans in less than a year — passed 17-15 with GOP Sen. Dale Schultz of Richland Center joining all Democrats in voting against the proposal. The proposal now goes to the Assembly, which passed a different version of the tax cuts last month with two Democrats joining all Republicans in supporting it. With growing tax collections now expected to give the state a $1 billion...

Taxes for most Americans will still go up this year despite declarations from President Obama and others touting Tuesday night's fiscal crisis deal as a victory for middle-class workers. At the same time, tax relief that was included in the package comes at a cost -- contributing, along with new spending, nearly $4 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years, adding to the nation's more than $16 trillion debt. But there will be federal tax hikes in 2013. That's because the legislation pushed through the Senate and House on Jan. 1 does nothing to prevent a temporary cut...

A Canadian commercial income tax preparation service in Vancouver was tidying up Monday after an enraged customer caused more than $10,000 damage. Constable Lindsey Houghton told reporters the unidentified 52-year-old man showed up at the business Sunday afternoon claiming the company had made a mistake on a past income tax filing, although at a different location. He was apparently unhappy with the staff's response to his complaint and began throwing furniture around the office, The (Vancouver) Province said. He then began sliding his arms across desks, sending computers and monitors crashing to the floor, Houghton said. As police officers arrived...

... Democrats in Congress are saying they now want to address the "wealth gap" even as they deplore and want to eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax, or AMT. It was a previous crusade against the wealthy that created the AMT. Haven't we learned anything about the perils of tax policy rooted in political envy? ...The latest data indicate that the eight states with the highest percentage of tax filers subject to the AMT all voted heavily Democratic in 2004 and 2006 -- including Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey and Rhode Island. Those voters are now screaming for relief, and the question...