Free Republic

Dear Marylanders, Today I signed into law the largest tax cut package in state history—including the Retirement Tax Elimination Act—which will provide an additional $1.86 billion in long overdue tax relief for Maryland retirees, families, and small businesses. Combined with the gas tax suspension we enacted just a few weeks ago, we are delivering nearly $2 billion in tax relief during this legislative session alone. This historic, bipartisan agreement brings the total tax, toll, and fee relief that our administration has delivered to nearly $4.7 billion.When I was first running for governor eight years ago, I pledged that once we...

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that a Kansas state freshman Republican representative hopes to help struggling college students burdened by the already high cost of textbooks via tax relief. Rep. Rick Hoheisel suggests that Kansas exempt all textbooks from the statewide 6.5% sales tax, thus saving students money each year they buy new books for their curriculum. Rep. Hoheisel is a recent college graduate and remembers quite well that he would have to shell out big bucks each year simply to afford required reading. While Kansas cannot control the price of textbooks directly, the state government can control the taxes imposed on said...

Well, it passed the House. Now, a Senate vote will occur later today. It’s going to pass. It’s going to President Trump’s desk. And it will be law. The GOP has the votes. Despite concerns from Sens. Lankford (R-OK), Corker (R-TN), Johnson (R-WI), Collins (R-ME), and Rubio (R-FL) over a range of issues relating to the deficit and expanding child tax credits, all of these senators are projected to vote “yea” in the coming hours. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) will not vote, as he’s flown back to Arizona for the holidays following cancer treatments. Yet, unlike the health care fiasco,...

With Germany raking in more taxes due to strong economic performance, the leader of its liberal party has suggested state officials are enriching themselves at the cost of the taxpayer. “The greed of the state has taken on kleptocratic characteristics,” Christian Lindner, head of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) told Handelsblatt on Wednesday. A kleptocracy is a form of government in which officials corruptly use public funds for personal gain. “The yearly tax intake of the state is set to be €100 billion higher in 2020 than this year, if we don’t act. For the FDP, it is clear that...

Washington -- William McGurn, the esteemed Wall Street Journal columnist and soon-to-be editor of the editorial page of the New York Post, has made an interesting observation about the fabulous Bush tax cuts that are about to lapse. They amount to a substantial sum of money for a middle-class family. For the middle class it will be a big deal if they disappear. President Barack Obama has portrayed the Bush tax cuts as a rich person's tax cut, but now he is portraying them as a huge tax break for the middle class. Of a sudden he says do not...

President Barack Obama in 2008, and again during the 2012 election, promised absolutely, positively no tax hikes on the middle class. The rich, however, must pay more: "It's not me being stubborn, it's not me being partisan -- it's just a matter of math." How does Obama intend to pay for our cradle-to-grave welfare state? Why, by charging the dastardly "millionaires and billionaires" who "can afford to pay a little bit more." No more extending the Bush-era tax rates for the rich. To do so, Obama tells us, would "cost" $700 billion -- over 10 years. So this "break" for...

Who exactly were the rich who, as the president said, were not "paying their fair share"? The rapper Jay-Z (net worth: nearly $500 million)? The actor Johnny Depp (2011 income: $50 million)? Neither seems to have heard the president's earlier warning that, "at a certain point you've made enough money." Could both zillionaires simply have quit making money at $10 million -- and thereby given their poorer audiences a break on ticket prices? With all the talk of raising taxes on the supposedly conservative wannabes who make $250,000 per year, why not additionally levy a $3 surcharge on discretionary tickets...

"April is the cruelest month. . . ."--T. S. Eliot, The Waste LandRonald Reagan said it back in 1983: "Our federal tax system is, in short, utterly impossible, utterly unjust and completely counterproductive . . . (it) reeks with injustice and is fundamentally un-American . . . it has earned a rebellion, and it's time we rebelled." But what politician today would speak so eloquently, and all too accurately, about the country's irrational, insufferable, infernal Internal Revenue Code? (Except maybe for purely ceremonial purposes during an election year.) Those in Congress who have made distinguished careers sneaking tricky little passages...

The majority of economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics believe that the federal deficit should be reduced only or primarily through spending cuts. The survey out Monday found that 56 percent of the NABE members surveyed felt that way, while 37 percent said they favor equal parts spending cuts and tax increases. The remaining 7 percent believe it should be done only or mostly through tax increases. As for how to reduce the deficit, nearly 40 percent said the best way would be to contain Medicare and Medicaid costs. Nearly a quarter recommended overhauling the tax system...

How tipsy you'll be when you toast the new year could depend on your sex, education level, and where you live. Anneli Rufus on 15 stats that predict your propensity to imbibe. Related story on The Daily Beast: Beyond Champagne1. Men drink 11.1 percent more than women. In a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services survey, 57.6 percent of males aged 12 and older and 46.5 percent of females aged 12 and older reported having consumed at least one alcoholic beverage in the past 30 days. (Other studies consistently show adult men out-drinking adult women.) The gender gap is...

Implementing tax breaks for the poor and middle class will be the New Progressive Party’s [NPP's] first order of business this year, Gov. Fortuño said after meeting Tuesday with the NPP legislative conference at La Fortaleza [the Governor's Mansion]. Fortuño said he expects to pass reform legislation during the second half of this year and taxpayers will first receive tax cuts in 2011 and more in 2012. The reform will eliminate income taxes for families that earn less than $20,000 annually, Fortuño and House Speaker Jenniffer González promised. The tax cuts for will be fueled by “fostering work, rewarding success...

Yes, corporate profits are slowing and jobs are softening. Despite 52 months of ongoing jobs gains and 1.3 million new payrolls in the past year, December jobs registered only 18,000 and the unemployment rate ticked back up to (a still historically low) 5 percent. Despite years of gains from a booming business sector, corporate profits are in fact falling at about a 6 percent clip. But the last thing we need now is root-canal economic populism from the campaign trail and the mainstream media telling us that Americans are unhappy. Unhappy? According to a Gallup Poll released last week, “Most...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Confronting the Senate and White House, House Democrats for a second time passed tax relief for 21 million people, going after companies and hedge fund managers that shelter money offshore. The vote Wednesday was a near party-line 226-193. The White House responded with a veto threat and the Senate's top Republican said the House approach to fixing the alternative minimum tax was unacceptable. "The Senate will not pass a short-term fix for some, if it includes a permanent massive tax hike for others," said Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said it was...

WASHINGTON – Working middle-class families threatened by the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) next April would save money under legislation introduced today by U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL). Sessions’ bill, the Saving Families First AMT Relief Act of 2007, would allow taxpayers to claim personal exemptions under the AMT to reduce their taxable income subject to the alternative tax rules. Current law prevents AMT taxpayers from claiming personal exemptions, as most taxpayers do under normal tax provisions. The personal exemption in the 2007 tax year is $3,400 per person. “By allowing personal exemptions under the AMT, we will be providing tax...

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryJuly 7, 2007 President's Radio Address   President's Radio Address  Audio  En Español       In Focus: Jobs & Economic Growth THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week, we received more good news showing that our economy is strong and growing. The Department of Labor reports that our economy has now created jobs for 46 consecutive months. America added 132,000 jobs in June, and that means our economy has added more than 8.2 million new jobs since August of 2003. Unemployment is low, consumer confidence is high, incomes are rising, and opportunity is growing across America. Our Nation's...

GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, courting Iowa conservatives, found himself answering questions Saturday about the role his Mormon faith would play should he win the race. Romney told one questioner "we have exactly the same values" and said there is no religious litmus test for candidates. The former Massachusetts governor dismissed suggestions of a conflict between his religion and his ability to govern. He also hastened to offer assurances of his faith. "The Bible for me is the word of God," Romney said. "I also believe that Jesus Christ is my savior." The questions arose as Romney prepared to join...

For Immediate ReleaseJune 16, 2007 President's Radio Address   President's Radio Address  Audio  En Español THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week, Congress began to debate its annual spending bills. The American people expect us to spend their tax dollars wisely, or not at all, and to pursue pro-growth economic policies that will allow us to reduce the deficit while keeping our economy strong. Since my Administration's tax relief was implemented four years ago, our economy has added more than eight million new jobs, and we've experienced 45 months of uninterrupted job growth. With more Americans working and more businesses thriving, our economy...

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryFebruary 3, 2007 President's Radio Address       Audio      In Focus: Jobs & Economy      THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week was filled with more good news about America's economy. We learned that our economy grew at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the fourth quarter of last year. Overall, our economy grew 3.4 percent in 2006 -- up from 3.1 percent in 2005. The Dow Jones reached an all-time high this week for the 27th time in the past four months. And we learned that America created 111,000 new jobs in January, which...

This couldn't be better news at a better time. The following news release from Americans For Prosperity (AFP) is like a little water to parched lips in the desert. They, AFP, just won a lawsuit in Texas’ 277th District Court seeking injunctive relief from counties spending taxpayers' dollars on membership to organizations that lobby (for higher taxes). The Texas Association of Counties may offer some tremendous consulting and guidance services to counties in Texas but along with that they are avid lobbyists in Austin for higher taxes and against any sort of property tax appraisal reform. They, along with...

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryOctober 28, 2006 President's Radio Address       Audio      In Focus: Job & Economy      THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Election Day is around the corner, and one of the biggest issues at stake in this campaign is your taxes. Here is my philosophy: I believe that our economy grows and the American Dream reaches more citizens when you keep more of what you earn. With more money in your pocket, it is easier for families to afford a good education, it is easier for young people to afford the down payment on a home of...