Tag: Republicans

We’re No. 1: In The Collection Of The Highest Corporate Taxes

Beginning this Sunday, the United States will gain bragging rights in the economic war with Japan and China:  It will have the largest jobs-killing corporate tax rate in all of the industrialized world.

This is no April Fool’s joke.  Once Japan officially drops its tax rate to 36.8% this Sunday, the USA’s will be at the top of the chart at 39.2%.

While the President has suggested a new 28% rate, Republicans claim that the reduction also would bring $350 billion in new taxes to offset losses.  In response, the GOP is suggesting a reduction to 25%; however, the upcoming election seems to be preventing any compromise.

Any business groups are asking that the government make a cut in the rate for corporate taxes, believing the reduction would improve the growth of jobs and encourage reinvestment in industry.  These groups cite moves in the UK to loser taxes by 6% from the former rate of 28% in a move to increase jobs and investment in Britain.

Tia Freeman of the Roundtable groups claims comprehensive tax reform to be imperative for the United States if the country is to remain an economic leader in the world.

Chair of the Senate Republican Policy committee, John Barrasso, R-Wyo. is also pressing for tax rate action.  Barrasso claims that Russia and China with 20% and 25% tax rates respectively have lower rates than the US.  This higher tax rate puts American companies at a disadvantage in the world market.

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Reducing Budget Deficit By Increasing Taxes

Obama: Taxes should be increased to reduce debt

In order to pay-off the 15 trillion dollar federal debt and cut down the government’s one trillion dollar budget deficit, taxes should be increased to generate more revenue. The president was expressing his views to a group of business executives.

While speaking to members of the Business Roundtable, President Obama insisted that although his administration is working on a plan to cut spending, strategies to increase revenue should also be put in place.

Taxes will have a big impact on the outcome of 2012 elections.

All the potential Republican flag bearers Romney, Gingrich, Santorum and Ron Paul oppose tax increases. This means that the president will face a tough battle when campaigning for reelection.

There have been budget crises between the White House and Congressional Republicans who oppose tax hikes.

Whatever the outcome of the elections, there will be tax changes in December.

Payroll tax spearheaded by the Obama administration will come to an end while Bush tax cuts will also expire before the year ends.

President Obama wants to entrench the Buffet rule into the country’s tax code. If this happens, people making more than a million dollars annually will be forced to pay a flat rate of 30 percent in taxes. The president also plans to phase out Bush tax cuts for taxpayers with an annual income of more than 200,000 dollars or couples who make a total of 250,000 dollars annually.

The president claims that he only seeks a balanced approach towards tax collection:

President Obama is of the opinion that a simple adjustment can be made to the tax code to help in stabilizing the government.

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Popularity Of Millionaire Tax

Polls show the millionaire tax and spending cuts are popular.

In general, people are in favor of President Obama’s proposal to increase millionaires’ taxes, but are still more in favor of spending cuts, as shown by an Associated Press-GfK poll. This gives Republicans an advantage over Democrats in the ongoing battle over the economy.

The poll shows that while the President’s proposed millionaire tax is generally popular, the plan does not effectively change the partisan views of public towards the $1 trillion yearly deficit.

Republican and retired New Jersey Mike Whittles said in support of the tax proposal, “Everybody should be called to sacrifice.” Still, Whittles said, he’d prefer spending and government waste reduced first.

Obama’s plan to impose at least a 30 percent income tax for millionaires was favored by 65 percent of the people polled by AP-GfK, while only 26 percent were opposed.

However, 56 percent as opposed to 31 percent approved of cuts in government spending rather than higher taxes — a small shift from the previous year’s poll.

Overall, people had a more optimistic view of Democrats than Republicans and positivity towards Obama as the presidential election approaches. Democrats received 54 percent favorable responses while Republicans had only 46 percent, corresponding with the results of a January 2011 poll.

Obama’s plan has little chance of passing in Congress despite Democratic support. Still, the proposal unifies Democrats in their opposition to GOP plans to lower top income earners’ taxes.

The 2012 taxes proposal was nicknamed the Buffet Rule since billionaire Warren Buffet is a supporter of higher taxes for the wealthy. The wealthy GOP candidate Mitt Romney released his tax returns to show he paid 15 percent.

Nearly two-thirds of independents and two-fifths of Republicans approve of Obama’s proposal. In addition, 60 percent of whites and 50 percent of conservatives back the plan, groups who generally support the GOP, and also 60 percent of those who earn more than $100,000 a year.

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Unconditional Offer On Extension Of Payroll Tax Cuts Made

On Monday the leadership of the House GOP said it planned to support a payroll tax cut extension through the end of this year. It would support the payroll tax cut without adding unrelated policies or making offsetting cuts. It is a surprising turn of events. Congress could pass a bipartisan proposal related to 2012 taxes well before deadline and without a huge debate about who pays what when. A compromise related to cuts in 2012 taxes is surprising.

This doesn’t mean that Republicans and Democrats are thrilled with each other when it comes to payroll tax cuts. Speaker of the House John Boehner, majority leader Eric Cantor and Kevin McCarthy, whip, read a statement together. The statement said that because an agreement hadn’t been reached, they decided to put into place a backup plan that extends payroll tax cuts through 2012. This will affect 2012 taxes. With the backup plan in place, negotiations on offsets and unemployment insurance will continue. The statements said that a measure for House consideration could be scheduled.

Despite Republican leadership support, the payroll tax cuts is not set in stone. Republicans might not have the support of conservatives in their party, Blue Dog Democrats could pull their support, and Democrats might not want the payroll tax cuts separated from unemployment insurance. Even though this is still not a done deal and may not affect 2012 taxes, it is remarkable that an unconditional tax holiday was passed by the House GOP. It has been a while since anyone in the government has used the word unconditional and meant it.

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Governor Christie To Grant Tax Cuts For All

Governor Chris Christie took his message to voters of New Jersey during a town hall meeting on January 18, 2012. He hit the airwaves in many media appearances. The first-term Republican governor of the Garden State attempted to sell his 10 percent income tax cuts for all. One day after his state of the state address, he informed crowds that he is the architect of New Jersey’s economic comeback.

With a boldness that only success can give, Christie presented the plan as a model for national economic policy too. Of course, this continues to feed into the speculation that he is positioning himself in a positive light for the 2016 presidential election.  Political spectators also believe the tax cut is a way to firm up his qualifications as a fiscal conservative. He has not only cut spending, but also he has cut taxes. New Jersey has a notorious reputation for high taxes and high spending.

Governor Christie takes credit for the current economic environment of New Jersey. In the first two years of his term, he has added private- sector jobs, reduced more than 375 government programs, placed a cap on increased property taxes, and overhauled that state’s pension and employee benefits programs. He plans to outline detail of the entire state budget in February. Christie stated that the intention is to pass that tax relief in phases over the next three years. His plans are a sharp contrast to other governors in liberal states such as New York, California and Illinois. Those Democrat governors raised taxes and targeted successful taxpayers with tax hikes. Christie’s tax cut idea caused thunderous applause at his town hall meeting in the New Jersey suburbs.

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Santorum Taxes A Tax Plan With Short Term Goals And No Long Term Benefits

Rick Santorum 2012 taxes and tax plan offers big savings for the wealthy and large corporations, while increasing the deficit. His plan substantially  cuts taxes, but the raise in the deficit counteracts any short term benefit to the American people.

The Santorum tax cuts would give the upper one percent the biggest tax cuts. Individuals who make between three-million to eight-million dollars would receive an average tax break of around one million dollars by 2015. The middle class who makes around fifty to seventy-thousand would receive around two-thousand dollars. The lower class making around twenty-thousand would get about thirty-nine dollars.

Santorum’s plan would increase the disparity between the haves and the have not’s. The burden on the middle class would increase and the upper class would continue to pay less taxes. Increasing the deficit would devalue the American dollar and lessen our spending power as a nation.

The Santorum tax plan would cut investment income and lessen the taxes of large corporations. The problem remains that corporations do not give back their profits with more jobs or increasing the growth of industries in the United States. Modern business looks at the profit margins and has no problem sending jobs abroad or having off shore bank accounts that cannot be taxed.

The Santorum plan only increases the economic problems, which exist today. The creation of more jobs, lessening unemployment, and lowering the deficit are not part of his plan. His plan is a bandage on a bleeding economic wound, with no constructive plan to keep the patient alive.

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