How can Washington D. C. get enough money to balance the budget and not cut spending. The answer is that everyone’s taxes must go up. Don’t let anyone fool you. There is not enough money to just tax the rich. Instead, entitlements need to be reform and real spending cuts need to be made. The real problem is spending. Washington already has enough of our taxes.
The Washington establishment loves talking about the “distribution” of income and taxes. The CBO has issued a new report on the topic that will no doubt keep the discussion rolling on.
The mindset of many people in government is encapsulated by this sentence in the CBO report: “Market income is very unevenly distributed.” But anyone with a decent appreciation of America’s economy knows that market income is in fact earned in a decentralized fashion by 140 million people and 25 million businesses spread across this vast land. It is not ”distributed” from a big vault in the capital by central-planning czars with a god-given preemptive right to decide how much everyone gets.
Yes, the huge subsidies that the federal government hands out each year are “distributed.” But CBO statisticians seem to be so used to thinking about the entire economy as a giant government-created pie that they say market income is also distributed.
That said, the CBO report has some interesting statistics to consider. Most important are calculations of average federal tax rates, which are total federal taxes paid as a share of income. The chart shows average tax rates by quintiles, which each contain one fifth of U.S. households grouped by income level. The households at the top are hit with the largest burdens by far. Elsewhere, I’ve discussed who some of these high-earning households are and the damage done by nailing them with such high taxes. (For example, see here and here).
Thank you so much for your time. I know how valuable it is. I also appreciate the fine family that you have and your commitment as a father and a husband.
Sincerely,
Everette Hatcher III, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002, ph 501-920-5733, lowcostsqueegees@yahoo.com
Your administration has firmly supported a higher death tax. Dan Mitchell notes, “To make matters worse, the United States also has one of the most onerous death taxes in the world.” I just don’t understand why a person has to pay a death tax when he dies. If a person is a very talented pianist is he allowed to pass that teaching and skill along to his children? Parents should not be encouraged to spend their money on wild living versus building up their businesses for their children. How would that affect the economy to encourage people to divide and sell their businesses versus building them up?
Considering that every economic theory agrees that living standards and worker compensation are closely correlated with the amount of capital in an economy (this picture is a compelling illustration of the relationship), one would think that politicians – particularly those who say they want to improve wages – would be very anxious not to create tax penalties on saving and investment.
To make matters worse, the United States also has one of the most onerous death taxes in the world. As you can see from this chart prepared by the Joint Economic Committee, it is more punitive than places such as Greece, France, and Venezuela.
Who would have ever thought that Russia would have the correct death tax rate, while the United States would have one of the world’s worst systems?
Fortunately, not all U.S. tax policies are this bad. Our taxation of labor income is generally not as bad as other industrialized nations. And the burden of government spending in the United States tends to be lower than European nations (though both Bush and Obama have undermined that advantage).
But these mitigating factors don’t change the fact that the U.S. needlessly punishes saving and investment, and workers are the biggest victims. So let’s junk the internal revenue code and adopt a simple and fair flat tax.
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Thank you so much for your time. I know how valuable it is. I also appreciate the fine family that you have and your commitment as a father and a husband.
Sincerely,
Everette Hatcher III, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002, ph 501-920-5733, lowcostsqueegees@yahoo.com
I appeared on CNBC a couple of days ago to discuss a new report which claims that some big U.S. companies “only” paid 9 percent of their income to the government.
While I’m a bit skeptical of the numbers (did it include the taxes paid to foreign governments, for instance, which can be substantial for multinational firms?), I confess I didn’t read the report.
So I focused on the best way of getting rid of corrupt loopholes while simultaneously boosting the competitiveness of America companies.
In other words, I said we should rip up the wretched internal revenue code and implement a simple and fair flat tax.
As is my habit, allow me to emphasize a few points from the interview.
It’s good to keep money in the productive sector of the economy because we shouldn’t feed the spending addiction in DC.
If tax rates are low, there’s much less incentive for companies to lobby for loopholes.
I wish Republicans would listen to Representative Tim Huelskamp concerning the need of Republicans to get back to their conservative roots that brought them the 1994 and 2010 election victories in the House and Senate. We got to get back to being the party of Ronald Reagan. HOW IN THE WORLD COULD REPBLICANS CLAIM THAT THEY WANT TO LIMIT SPENDING BUT THEY ACCEPT A “FISCAL CLIFF DEAL” THAT CUTS SPENDING BY 15 BILLION AND RAISES TAXES BY 600 BILLION? Notice this picture below that shows exactly what is happening.
Rep. Tim Huelskamp tells Newsmax he is “very pessimistic” that there will be a deal in Washington to significantly cut federal spending and begin dealing with the deficit.The Kansas Republican also says he is “dissatisfied with both parties” for not taking action earlier to deal with the fiscal crisis.And he warns that the conservative base could mount primary challenges against Republican incumbents who agree to raise taxes.Editor’s Note: 5 Signs Stock Market Will Collapse in 2013
Rep. Huelskamp was first elected in 2010 and is a member of the Tea Party Caucus. He is one of four Republicans the GOP leadership removed from key committee posts for failure to toe the party line, a move the congressman calls “petty” and “vindictive.”
Several Senate Republicans have suggested they could endorse a plan raising taxes on high-income earners. In an exclusive interview with Newsmax TV, Huelskamp was asked if such a proposal could pass the GOP-controlled House.
“I’m not for certain that would pass,” he says.
“The speaker had offered a somewhat similar plan to the House in terms of raising taxes on the top one percent or half percent, but the last thing we want to do in these economically difficult times is things that would result in the loss of jobs.
“Anywhere from 200,000 to 700,000 jobs would be lost with the president’s tax increases. I’d rather extend these tax measures for another year and that would provide some certainty in this current environment.
“With the president so firmly entrenched in his idea that we should raise taxes on anyone, together with the Obamacare taxes that are rolling in next year, it could be an enormous tax increase on January first which will set the economy back.
“The tax increases that the president has proposed would impact hundreds of thousands of small businesses so it’s just not ‘the wealthy,’ it impacts those who actually create jobs today and will be doing that in the future.
Story continues below the video.
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Tim Huelskamp on Morning Joe ‘It’s not a taxing problem, it’s a spending problem’.mp4
Published on Dec 21, 2012
Cong. Tim Huelskmap appeared on the December 21, 2012 Morning Joe program with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. Cong. Huelskamp discussed the Fiscal Cliff negotiations and the failure of the “Plan B” proposal which was pulled from the House of Representatives the night before. Cong. Huelskamp also was asked questions about Republicans addressing the Newton, Connecticut school shooting and proposed gun laws. Cong. Huelskamp opposed any new gun laws and stated the necessity for us to address the problem in the culture and in families not in Washington, DC.
The proposed tax increase that the House rejected last week to raise taxes on millionaires would have impacted over 300,000 small businesses and over 41 percent of small business income.”
Asked if he is optimistic that a deal will be reached, Huelskamp responds: “I am not that optimistic. It’s still 50-50 but I am pretty certain there will not be a solution.
“The problem in Washington, D.C. is not that there’s not enough taxes collected. There’s too much spending. And we have a majority leader in the Senate as well as the president of the United States that are absolutely opposed to any reductions in spending.
“With the $1.3 trillion deficit last year and looking at a trillion-dollar deficit for years to come, we have to reduce spending. So I’m very pessimistic that there will be any spending reductions that are necessary to start working towards some fiscal responsibility.
“We have a president that won 51 percent of the vote but is more than willing to hold up tax relief for 99 percent of Americans to get after the one percent he would like to identify. But that does not solve the problem.
It’s a spending problem and Americans, as they see this, hopefully they’ll begin to understand the reality of the problem is there’s too much spending in Washington, D.C., too many new programs, too much government, too many regulations.
“Obamacare kicking in next year it will be decidedly cost Americans jobs. We have 20 million Americans out of work or looking for more work and the last thing they want to hear is that Washington is going to do some things that will make the economy slow down, perhaps go into recession.”
Huelskamp believes that even with the fiscal cliff looming, President Obama’s top priority is raising taxes to pay for increased spending.
“Even the biggest tax increase in American history will not be enough to match the new spending priorities this president has,” he tells Newsmax.
“If he wants to raise the money to pay for his programs, particularly for Obamacare, it will take these massive tax increases that are on the table for the end of the year.
“I’m so dissatisfied with both parties in Washington because this is not a surprise. For two years they knew this was coming. I introduced a bill over a year ago that would help avoid this problem, make the tax relief permanent and then start working on fundamental tax reform. So this cliff is Washington’s own making.
“We waited far too long, as evident in the election results. Clearly, the advantage that Republicans have had as being seen as the pro-taxpayer party, we’ve lost, especially with the Republicans in Washington, D.C. actually talking about tax increases.
“For decades, it’s been the Democrats that have passed tax increases through the House and it should stay that way. The Republican Party needs to return to its conservative roots and understand that we are the party of growth and opportunity, not the party of smaller tax increases than the president of the United States.”
The Club for Growth and other conservative groups have said they’ll target any Republican who would vote for a tax hike. Asked if those Republicans should worry about a primary challenge, Huelskamp observes: “They’ve received a number of calls and concerns. I’ve heard from constituents, and if it’s the same across the country, the conservative base is quite upset.
“They’re very upset that in the midst of the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression and a wounded presidency, that the GOP establishment could not beat this president, could not win seats in the Senate, lost eight seats in the House. So there’s a lot of dissatisfaction with the current establishment in Washington, D.C. and I’m presuming it will translate into election results in the next year to two. Primaries begin in a little over a year in some of these states and this is going to be a huge issue in many of these races.”
In light of Speaker John Boehner’s playing the lead role in the removal of Rep. Huelskamp and three other Republicans from committee posts, Huelskamp was asked if Boehner’s job is safe.
“That would be a decision for a couple of weeks from now when the entire House will consider who will be the next speaker. It might be the same. That’s probably pretty likely.
“The way the speaker has negotiated behind closed doors is not helpful and starting by granting the president’s idea that we should raise taxes on someone, that was the wrong place to start. So there’s certainly a lot of dissatisfaction, but then you tie on top of it the really petty, vindictive acts against myself and three of my colleagues by kicking us off preferred committees.
“If Republicans would like to return to the majority in the Senate and actually take back the House, the best way to do that is promoting and rewarding and advocating conservative pro-growth principles, not attacking those who are doing so.”
Thank you so much for your time. I know how valuable it is. I also appreciate the fine family that you have and your commitment as a father and a husband.
Sincerely,
Everette Hatcher III, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002, ph 501-920-5733, lowcostsqueegees@yahoo.com
(Emailed to White House on 12-21-12.) President Obama c/o The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President, I know that you receive 20,000 letters a day and that you actually read 10 of them every day. I really do respect you for trying to get a pulse on […]
(Emailed to White House on 12-21-12.) President Obama c/o The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President, I know that you receive 20,000 letters a day and that you actually read 10 of them every day. I really do respect you for trying to get a pulse on what is […]
(Emailed to White House on 12-21-12) President Obama c/o The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President, I know that you receive 20,000 letters a day and that you actually read 10 of them every day. I really do respect you for trying to get a pulse on what is […]
The federal government has a spending problem and Milton Friedman came up with the negative income tax to help poor people get out of the welfare trap. It seems that the government screws up about everything. Then why is President Obama wanting more taxes? _______________ Milton Friedman – The Negative Income Tax Published on […]
I was sad to read that the Speaker John Boehner has been involved in punishing tea party republicans. Actually I have written letters to several of these same tea party heroes telling them that I have emailed Boehner encouraging him to listen to them. Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ),Justin Amash (R-MI), and Tim Huelskamp (R-KS). have been contacted […]
Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute in his article, “Hitting the Ceiling,” National Review Online, March 7, 2012 noted: After all, despite all the sturm und drang about spending cuts as part of last year’s debt-ceiling deal, federal spending not only increased from 2011 to 2012, it rose faster than inflation and population growth combined. […]
Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute in his article, “Hitting the Ceiling,” National Review Online, March 7, 2012 noted: After all, despite all the sturm und drang about spending cuts as part of last year’s debt-ceiling deal, federal spending not only increased from 2011 to 2012, it rose faster than inflation and population growth combined. […]
Some of the heroes are Mo Brooks, Martha Roby, Jeff Flake, Trent Franks, Duncan Hunter, Tom Mcclintock, Devin Nunes, Scott Tipton, Bill Posey, Steve Southerland and those others below in the following posts. THEY VOTED AGAINST THE DEBT CEILING INCREASE IN 2011 AND WE NEED THAT TYPE OF LEADERSHIP NOW SINCE PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS BEEN […]
I hated to see that Allen West may be on the way out. ABC News reported: Nov 7, 2012 7:20am What Happened to the Tea Party (and the Blue Dogs?) Some of the Republican Party‘s most controversial House members are clinging to narrow leads in races where only a few votes are left to count. […]
Rep Himes and Rep Schweikert Discuss the Debt and Budget Deal Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute in his article, “Hitting the Ceiling,” National Review Online, March 7, 2012 noted: After all, despite all the sturm und drang about spending cuts as part of last year’s debt-ceiling deal, federal spending not only increased from 2011 […]
President Ronald Reagan once said, “I have only one thing to say to the tax increasers: Go ahead, make my day.”
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Here below is a list of those 66 brave Republicans that voted against the debt ceiling increase listed below in August of 2011. The ones in blue are the ones that I have done posts on. Instead of giving in to President Obama and going for the deal that John Boehner put together in August of 2011 these Republicans truly believe in limited government like the founding fathers intended.
When the debt ceiling debate starts soon again I am hopeful that these same Tea Party favorites will stand up against President Obama because they know the founding fathers favored limited government and they did not want government spending 42% of GDP. Socialist Europe is at 48%. DO WE WANT TO END UP LIKE GREECE?
The 257-167 roll call Tuesday by which the House passed the agreement that avoided the so-called fiscal cliff of middle-class tax increases and spending cuts and sent the measure to President Barack Obama.
Congress’s dance with the debt limit can be confusing and, frankly, the details can be a real snooze fest for many Americans. Sometimes a little humor clarifies the absurdities of Washington antics better than flow charts and talk of trillions.
The 31-second video and accompanying infographic “The Debt Ceiling Explained” by Bankrupting America offers the facts, leavened with a dose of levity. The conclusion is serious, however: The country’s debt threatens economic growth, and spending cuts are the answer.
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It is obvious to me that if President Obama gets his hands on more money then he will continue to spend away our children’s future. He has already taken the national debt from 11 trillion to 16 trillion in just 4 years. Over, and over, and over, and over, and over and over I have written Speaker Boehner and written every Republican that represents Arkansans in Arkansas before (Griffin, Womack, Crawford, and only Senator Boozman got a chance to respond) concerning this. I am hoping they will stand up against this reckless spending that our federal government has done and will continue to do if given the chance.
What would happen if the debt ceiling was not increased? Yes President Obama would probably cancel White House tours and he would try to stop mail service or something else to get on our nerves but that is what the Republicans need to do.
President Ronald Reagan once said, “I have only one thing to say to the tax increasers: Go ahead, make my day.” ____________ Here below is a list of those 66 brave Republicans that voted against the debt ceiling increase listed below in August of 2011. The ones in blue are the ones that I have […]
_________________ President Ronald Reagan wisely said: “The federal government has taken too much tax money from the people, too much authority from the states, and too much liberty with the Constitution.” You would think that the Republicans who talk so much of cutting spending would try to get a plan that cuts spending 3 […]
(Emailed to White House on 12-21-12.) President Obama c/o The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President, I know that you receive 20,000 letters a day and that you actually read 10 of them every day. I really do respect you for trying to get a pulse on […]
(Emailed to White House on 12-21-12.) President Obama c/o The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President, I know that you receive 20,000 letters a day and that you actually read 10 of them every day. I really do respect you for trying to get a pulse on what is […]
(Emailed to White House on 12-21-12) President Obama c/o The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President, I know that you receive 20,000 letters a day and that you actually read 10 of them every day. I really do respect you for trying to get a pulse on what is […]
The federal government has a spending problem and Milton Friedman came up with the negative income tax to help poor people get out of the welfare trap. It seems that the government screws up about everything. Then why is President Obama wanting more taxes? _______________ Milton Friedman – The Negative Income Tax Published on […]
I was sad to read that the Speaker John Boehner has been involved in punishing tea party republicans. Actually I have written letters to several of these same tea party heroes telling them that I have emailed Boehner encouraging him to listen to them. Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ),Justin Amash (R-MI), and Tim Huelskamp (R-KS). have been contacted […]
Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute in his article, “Hitting the Ceiling,” National Review Online, March 7, 2012 noted: After all, despite all the sturm und drang about spending cuts as part of last year’s debt-ceiling deal, federal spending not only increased from 2011 to 2012, it rose faster than inflation and population growth combined. […]
Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute in his article, “Hitting the Ceiling,” National Review Online, March 7, 2012 noted: After all, despite all the sturm und drang about spending cuts as part of last year’s debt-ceiling deal, federal spending not only increased from 2011 to 2012, it rose faster than inflation and population growth combined. […]
Some of the heroes are Mo Brooks, Martha Roby, Jeff Flake, Trent Franks, Duncan Hunter, Tom Mcclintock, Devin Nunes, Scott Tipton, Bill Posey, Steve Southerland and those others below in the following posts. THEY VOTED AGAINST THE DEBT CEILING INCREASE IN 2011 AND WE NEED THAT TYPE OF LEADERSHIP NOW SINCE PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS BEEN […]
I hated to see that Allen West may be on the way out. ABC News reported: Nov 7, 2012 7:20am What Happened to the Tea Party (and the Blue Dogs?) Some of the Republican Party‘s most controversial House members are clinging to narrow leads in races where only a few votes are left to count. […]
Rep Himes and Rep Schweikert Discuss the Debt and Budget Deal Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute in his article, “Hitting the Ceiling,” National Review Online, March 7, 2012 noted: After all, despite all the sturm und drang about spending cuts as part of last year’s debt-ceiling deal, federal spending not only increased from 2011 […]
Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute in his article, “Hitting the Ceiling,” National Review Online, March 7, 2012 noted: After all, despite all the sturm und drang about spending cuts as part of last year’s debt-ceiling deal, federal spending not only increased from 2011 to 2012, it rose faster than inflation and population growth combined. […]
Here is a study done on the votes of the 87 incoming freshman republicans frm the Club for Growth. Freshman Vote Study In the 2010 election, 87 freshmen House Republicans came to Washington pledging fealty to the Tea Party movement and the ideals of limited government and economic freedom. The mainstream media likes to say […]
Stimulating the economy comes from giving the private sector incentive to grow or in other words cutting taxes for job creators and not class warfare. Sadly we have had too many RINOS out there. The Tea Party is the answer for that. The liberal Arkansas Times blog runned by Max Brantley is upset that the Tea […]
Tea Party Conservative Senator Mike Lee interview Here is an excellent interview above with Senator Lee with a fine article below from the Heritage Foundation. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) came to Washington as the a tea-party conservative with the goal of fixing the economy, addressing the debt crisis and curbing the growth of the federal […]
I feel so strongly about the evil practice of running up our national debt. I was so proud of Rep. Todd Rokita who voted against the Budget Control Act of 2011 on August 11, 2011. He made this comment: For decades now, we have spent too much money on ourselves and have intentionally allowed our […]
Rep. Quayle on Fox News with Neil Cavuto __________________ We have to get people realize that the most important issue is the debt!!! Recently I read a comment by Congressman Ben Quayle (R-AZ) made after voting against the amended Budget Control Act on August 1, 2011. He said it was important to compel “Congressional Democrats and […]
What future does our country have if we never even attempt to balance our budget. I read some wise words by Congressman Jeff Landry (R, LA-03) regarding the debt ceiling deal that was passed on August 1, 2011:”Throughout this debate, the American people have demanded a real cure to America’s spending addiction – a Balanced Budget […]
I read some wise comments by Idaho First District Congressman Raúl R. Labrador concerning the passage of the Budget Control Act on August 1, 2011 and I wanted to point them out: “The legislation lacks a rock solid commitment to passage of a balanced budget amendment, which I believe is necessary to saving our nation.” I just […]
You would think that the Republicans who talk so much of cutting spending would try to get a plan that cuts spending 3 to 1 over tax increases at least. Instead, they go for a plan that raises taxes 41 to 1 over spending cuts. The government is spending 42% of our GDP while in socialist Europe most countries are at 48%. Soon we will be where they are and probably will looking at the same fate as Greece. Our problem is spending. Over and over you hear Republicans say that but they do nothing about it. At least Rick Crawford and Tim Griffin from Arkansas voted against the plan Obama laid out. The only good thing about this deal is that it did not raise the debt ceiling. We will soon another fight over that.
During the month of December I contacted our three Republican Congressman and our one Republican Senator several times concerning this fiscal cliff deal that was coming down the pike and the debt ceiling debate. I also contacted over 40 Tea Party Republican Representatives around 1/2 dozen times concerning these same issues. I am happy to report that according to my records all 40 voted against this latest deal. I have some more verifying to do on that but it appears now that is the case.
Below is an earlier post of mine concerning Rick Crawford:
I recently wrote an open letter to Congressman Rick Crawford and I put it on his facebook page. I personally do not have a facebook page so I used my son Wilson’s facebook page and here is what Congressman Crawford said:
Wilson- I agree with you that we have a spending problem and not a revenue problem in this country. As you might know I have been a strong advocate for permanent spending controls, like a Balanced Budget Amendment, that will ensure we do not continue spending money that we do not have. Thank you for your thoughts and know that I am fighting everyday to rein in federal spending and to pay down our crushing national debt.
I have written about these Tea Party heroes over and over and over. They are the only hope that we have to stopping this federal government spending problem that we have. I like John Boehner a lot but if he keeps trying to give in to the Democratic demands to raise taxes and raise the debt limit then we need to do something about getting more conservative representation in the speaker chair. Newt didn’t put up with this kind of thing in the 1990’s when he worked with Clinton. As a result we had 4 balanced budgets in a row. DO YOU THINK THAT CLINTON WOULD HAVE DONE THAT WITHOUT NEWT STANDING UP TO HIM?
I was sad to read that the Speaker John Boehner has been involved in punishing tea party republicans. Actually I have written letters to several of these same tea party heroes telling them that I have emailed Boehner encouraging him to listen to them. Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ),Justin Amash (R-MI), and Tim Huelskamp (R-KS). have been contacted by me before and I have posted things about them too.
In December 2010, I wrote that “An indicator of the incoming House Republican majority’s seriousness about cutting spending will be which members the party selects to head the various committees.” The final roster ended up leaving a lot to be desired from a limited government perspective. For example, the House Republican leadership and its allies went with Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY), aka “The Prince of Pork,” to head up the Appropriations Committee.
Two years later, the committee situation is about to get even worse now that the House Republican leadership has decided to send a message that casting a vote according to one’s beliefs instead of one’s instructions is a punishable offense. On Monday, four congressmen were booted from “plum” committee assignments for failing to sufficiently toe the leadership line. I suspect that the purge was motivated, at least in part, by Team Boehner’s desire to have the rest of the rank and file think twice before casting a “no” vote on whatever lousy deal is struck with the White House to avoid the “fiscal cliff.”
Three of the purged Republicans are returning members of the 2010 freshmen “Tea Party Class”: Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ), Justin Amash (R-MI), and Tim Huelskamp (R-KS). Over the past year, I have been keeping a loose record of how the freshmen voted on opportunities to eliminate programs and prevent spending increases. On seven particularly telling votes*, Schweikert and Amash voted in favor of limited government every time. Out of 87 freshmen, only Schweikert, Amash, and five others had a perfect record. Huelskamp was six for seven. He also was one of only four Republicans on the House Agriculture Committee to vote against the bloated farm bill that passed out of the committee in July. The fourth outcast, Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), had become an irritant to the Republican establishment after turning against the Iraq War and associating himself with more libertarian Republicans like Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX).
The best that can be said for Team Boehner thus far is that it isn’t Team Pelosi. A common excuse is that House Republicans have been constrained by Democratic control of the Senate and White House. While there is an element of truth to that claim, we’re talking about a House Republican majority that wouldn’t even vote to get rid of the loan guarantee program that led to the Solyndra debacle. The reality is that most Republicans were only ever interested in using Solyndra to score political points against the White House. Ditto pretty much every other White House spending endeavor that House Republicans claim to oppose.
*Votes were to terminate the Economic Development Administration, Advanced Manufacturing Technology Consortia, Essential Air Service program, Title 17 Energy Loan Guarantees, Community Block Development Grant program, against reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank, and against the Continuing Appropriations Act in September.
Open letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner (Part 53) John Boehner, Speaker of the House H-232, The Capital, Washington, DC 20515 Dear Mr. Speaker, I know that you will have to meet with newly re-elected President Obama soon and he will probably be anxious for you to raise taxes and federal spending, but […]
Open letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner (Part 52) John Boehner, Speaker of the House H-232, The Capital, Washington, DC 20515 Dear Mr. Speaker, I know that you will have to meet with newly re-elected President Obama soon and he will probably be anxious for you to raise taxes and federal spending, but […]
Open letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner (Part 51) John Boehner, Speaker of the House H-232, The Capital, Washington, DC 20515 Dear Mr. Speaker, I know that you will have to meet with newly re-elected President Obama soon and he will probably be anxious for you to raise taxes and federal spending, but […]
Open letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner (Part 50) John Boehner, Speaker of the House H-232, The Capital, Washington, DC 20515 Dear Mr. Speaker, I know that you will have to meet with newly re-elected President Obama soon and he will probably be anxious for you to raise taxes and federal spending, but […]
Open letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner (Part 49) John Boehner, Speaker of the House H-232, The Capital, Washington, DC 20515 Dear Mr. Speaker, I know that you will have to meet with newly re-elected President Obama soon and he will probably be anxious for you to raise taxes and federal spending, but […]
Open letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner (Part 48) John Boehner, Speaker of the House H-232, The Capital, Washington, DC 20515 Dear Mr. Speaker, I know that you will have to meet with newly re-elected President Obama soon and he will probably be anxious for you to raise taxes and federal spending, but […]
Open letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner (Part 47) John Boehner, Speaker of the House H-232, The Capital, Washington, DC 20515 Dear Mr. Speaker, I know that you will have to meet with newly re-elected President Obama soon and he will probably be anxious for you to raise taxes and federal spending, but […]
Open letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner (Part 46) John Boehner, Speaker of the House H-232, The Capital, Washington, DC 20515 Dear Mr. Speaker, I know that you will have to meet with newly re-elected President Obama soon and he will probably be anxious for you to raise taxes and federal spending, but […]
Open letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner (Part 45) John Boehner, Speaker of the House H-232, The Capital, Washington, DC 20515 Dear Mr. Speaker, I know that you will have to meet with newly re-elected President Obama soon and he will probably be anxious for you to raise taxes and federal spending, but […]
Open letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner (Part 44) John Boehner, Speaker of the House H-232, The Capital, Washington, DC 20515 Dear Mr. Speaker, I know that you will have to meet with newly re-elected President Obama soon and he will probably be anxious for you to raise taxes and federal spending, but […]
Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute has some great videos and I have posted lots of them on my blog. I like to go to Dan’s blog too. Take a look at some of them below and then the links to my blog.
It’s Simple to Balance The Budget Without Higher Taxes
Politicians and interest groups claim higher taxes are necessary because it would be impossible to cut spending by enough to get rid of red ink. This Center for Freedom and Prosperity video shows that these assertions are nonsense. The budget can be balanced very quickly by simply limiting the annual growth of federal spending.
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Six Reasons Why the Capital Gains Tax Should Be Abolished
The correct capital gains tax rate is zero because there should be no double taxation of income that is saved and invested. This is why all pro-growth tax reform plans, such as the flat tax and national sales tax, eliminate the capital gains tax. Unfortunately, the President wants to boost the official capital gains tax rate to 20 percent, and that is in addition to the higher tax rate on capital gains included in the government-run healthcare legislation. http://www.freedomandprosperity.org
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Keynesian Economics Is Wrong: Bigger Gov’t Is Not Stimulus
Based on a theory known as Keynesianism, politicians are resuscitating the notion that more government spending can stimulate an economy. This mini-documentary produced by the Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation examines both theory and evidence and finds that allowing politicians to spend more money is not a recipe for better economic performance.
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Obama’s So-Called Stimulus: Good For Government, Bad For the Economy
President Obama wants Congress to dramatically expand the burden of government spending. This CF&P Foundation mini-documentary explains why such a policy, based on the discredited Keynesian theory of economics, will not be successful. Indeed, the video demonstrates that Obama is proposing – for all intents and purposes – to repeat Bush’s mistakes. Government will be bigger, even though global evidence shows that nations with small governments are more prosperous.
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Big Government Is Not Stimulus: Why Keynes Was Wrong (The Condensed Version)
The CF&P Foundation has released a condensed version of our successful mini-documentary explaining why so-called stimulus schemes do not work. Based on a theory known as Keynesianism, politicians are resuscitating the notion that more government spending can stimulate an economy. This mini-documentary produced by the Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation examines both theory and evidence and finds that allowing politicians to spend more money is not a recipe for better economic performance.
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Eight Reasons Why Big Government Hurts Economic Growth
This Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation video analyzes how excessive government spending undermines economic performance. While acknowledging that a very modest level of government spending on things such as “public goods” can facilitate growth, the video outlines eight different ways that that big government hinders prosperity. This video focuses on theory and will be augmented by a second video looking at the empirical evidence favoring smaller government.
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Now that I have been critical of the Democrat President, I wanted to show that I am not concerned about taking up for Republicans but looking at the facts. President Clinton did increase government spending at a slower rate than many other presidents. Here are two videos that praise both Reagan and Clinton for both accomplished this feat.
Spending Restraint, Part I: Lessons from Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton
Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton both reduced the relative burden of government, largely because they were able to restrain the growth of domestic spending. The mini-documentary from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity uses data from the Historical Tables of the Budget to show how Reagan and Clinton succeeded and compares their record to the fiscal profligacy of the Bush-Obama years.
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Spending Restraint, Part II: Lessons from Canada, Ireland, Slovakia, and New Zealand
Nations can make remarkable fiscal progress if policy makers simply limit the growth of government spending. This video, which is Part II of a series, uses examples from recent history in Canada, Ireland, Slovakia, and New Zealand to demonstrate how it is possible to achieve rapid improvements in fiscal policy by restraining the burden of government spending. Part I of the series examined how Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton were successful in controlling government outlays — particularly the burden of domestic spending programs. www.freedomandprosperity.org
Here are some posts that include videos from Dan Mitchell:
In this post I have gathered several videos from the Cato Institute concerning the subject of failed stimulus plans. _____ Government Spending Doesn’t Create Jobs Uploaded by catoinstitutevideo on Sep 7, 2011 Share this on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/qnjkn9 Tweet it: http://tiny.cc/o9v9t In the debate of job creation and how best to pursue it as a policy […]
It’s Simple to Balance The Budget Without Higher Taxes Steve Brawner in his article “Safer roads and balanced budgets,” Arkansas News Bureau, April 13, 2011, noted: The disagreement is over the solutions — on what spending to cut; what taxes to raise (basically none ever, according to Boozman); whether or not to enact a […]
Dan Mitchell did a great article concerning the affect of raising taxes in these two areas and horrible results: How Can Obama Look at these Two Charts and Conclude that America Should Have Higher Double Taxation of Dividends and Capital Gains? Posted by Daniel J. Mitchell As discussed yesterday, the most important number in Obama’s […]
They’re right, though they probably don’t realize the seriousness of that looming crisis.
Here’s what you need to know: America’s fiscal crisis is actually a spending crisis, and that spending crisis is driven by entitlements.
More specifically, the vast majority of the problem is the result of Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security, programs that are poorly designed and unsustainable.
The Medicaid program imposes high costs while generating poor results. This Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation video explains how block grants, such as the one proposed by Congressman Paul Ryan, will save money and improve healthcare by giving states the freedom to innovate and compete.
This Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation video explains how a “premium-support” plan would solve Medicare’s fiscal crisis and improve the overall healthcare system. This voucher-based system also would protect seniors from bureaucratic rationing. http://www.freedomandprosperity.org
There are two crises facing Social Security. First the program has a gigantic unfunded liability, largely thanks to demographics. Second, the program is a very bad deal for younger workers, making them pay record amounts of tax in exchange for comparatively meager benefits. This video explains how personal accounts can solve both problems, and also notes that nations as varied as Australia, Chile, Sweden, and Hong Kong have implemented this pro-growth reform. www.freedomandprosperity.org
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Regular readers know I’m fairly gloomy about the future of liberty, but this is one area where there is a glimmer of hope.
The Chairman of the House Budget Committee actually put together a plan that addresses the two biggest problems (Medicare and Medicaid) and the House of Representatives actually adopted the proposal.
The Senate didn’t act, of course, and Obama would veto any good legislation anyhow, so I don’t want to be crazy optimistic. Depending on how things play out politically in the next six years, I’ll say there’s actually a 20 percent chance to save America.
Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute has some great videos and I have posted lots of them on my blog. I like to go to Dan’s blog too. Take a look at some of them below and then the links to my blog.
It’s Simple to Balance The Budget Without Higher Taxes
Politicians and interest groups claim higher taxes are necessary because it would be impossible to cut spending by enough to get rid of red ink. This Center for Freedom and Prosperity video shows that these assertions are nonsense. The budget can be balanced very quickly by simply limiting the annual growth of federal spending.
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Six Reasons Why the Capital Gains Tax Should Be Abolished
The correct capital gains tax rate is zero because there should be no double taxation of income that is saved and invested. This is why all pro-growth tax reform plans, such as the flat tax and national sales tax, eliminate the capital gains tax. Unfortunately, the President wants to boost the official capital gains tax rate to 20 percent, and that is in addition to the higher tax rate on capital gains included in the government-run healthcare legislation. http://www.freedomandprosperity.org
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Keynesian Economics Is Wrong: Bigger Gov’t Is Not Stimulus
Based on a theory known as Keynesianism, politicians are resuscitating the notion that more government spending can stimulate an economy. This mini-documentary produced by the Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation examines both theory and evidence and finds that allowing politicians to spend more money is not a recipe for better economic performance.
___________________
Obama’s So-Called Stimulus: Good For Government, Bad For the Economy
President Obama wants Congress to dramatically expand the burden of government spending. This CF&P Foundation mini-documentary explains why such a policy, based on the discredited Keynesian theory of economics, will not be successful. Indeed, the video demonstrates that Obama is proposing – for all intents and purposes – to repeat Bush’s mistakes. Government will be bigger, even though global evidence shows that nations with small governments are more prosperous.
____________
Big Government Is Not Stimulus: Why Keynes Was Wrong (The Condensed Version)
The CF&P Foundation has released a condensed version of our successful mini-documentary explaining why so-called stimulus schemes do not work. Based on a theory known as Keynesianism, politicians are resuscitating the notion that more government spending can stimulate an economy. This mini-documentary produced by the Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation examines both theory and evidence and finds that allowing politicians to spend more money is not a recipe for better economic performance.
_________________
Eight Reasons Why Big Government Hurts Economic Growth
This Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation video analyzes how excessive government spending undermines economic performance. While acknowledging that a very modest level of government spending on things such as “public goods” can facilitate growth, the video outlines eight different ways that that big government hinders prosperity. This video focuses on theory and will be augmented by a second video looking at the empirical evidence favoring smaller government.
___________________
Now that I have been critical of the Democrat President, I wanted to show that I am not concerned about taking up for Republicans but looking at the facts. President Clinton did increase government spending at a slower rate than many other presidents. Here are two videos that praise both Reagan and Clinton for both accomplished this feat.
Spending Restraint, Part I: Lessons from Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton
Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton both reduced the relative burden of government, largely because they were able to restrain the growth of domestic spending. The mini-documentary from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity uses data from the Historical Tables of the Budget to show how Reagan and Clinton succeeded and compares their record to the fiscal profligacy of the Bush-Obama years.
______________
Spending Restraint, Part II: Lessons from Canada, Ireland, Slovakia, and New Zealand
Nations can make remarkable fiscal progress if policy makers simply limit the growth of government spending. This video, which is Part II of a series, uses examples from recent history in Canada, Ireland, Slovakia, and New Zealand to demonstrate how it is possible to achieve rapid improvements in fiscal policy by restraining the burden of government spending. Part I of the series examined how Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton were successful in controlling government outlays — particularly the burden of domestic spending programs. www.freedomandprosperity.org
Here are some posts that include videos from Dan Mitchell:
In this post I have gathered several videos from the Cato Institute concerning the subject of failed stimulus plans. _____ Government Spending Doesn’t Create Jobs Uploaded by catoinstitutevideo on Sep 7, 2011 Share this on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/qnjkn9 Tweet it: http://tiny.cc/o9v9t In the debate of job creation and how best to pursue it as a policy […]
It’s Simple to Balance The Budget Without Higher Taxes Steve Brawner in his article “Safer roads and balanced budgets,” Arkansas News Bureau, April 13, 2011, noted: The disagreement is over the solutions — on what spending to cut; what taxes to raise (basically none ever, according to Boozman); whether or not to enact a […]
Dan Mitchell did a great article concerning the affect of raising taxes in these two areas and horrible results: How Can Obama Look at these Two Charts and Conclude that America Should Have Higher Double Taxation of Dividends and Capital Gains? Posted by Daniel J. Mitchell As discussed yesterday, the most important number in Obama’s […]
Why raise taxes when you are trying to expand the economy?
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“Common sense told us that when you put a big tax on something, the people will produce less of it. So, we cut the people’s tax rates, and the people produced more than ever before.”In Reagan’s farewell address he touted the historic tax cuts passed under his administration in 1981.
Rep Dennis Ross noted on facebook:
While we all wrestle with the best solution for fiscal restraint, here is an article addressing the impact on the top taxpayers.
(Next Rep Ross provided the link to this story below.)
Chris Conover, ContributorI explode myths that pervade health policy debates.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its latest tax data this month. The report details who contributed how much to federal revenues in 2009. The figures raise the question: why do so many in this country seem so eager to berate the ‘one percent’ rather than thank them for their extraordinary contributions to federal coffers?
According to the report, those in the top one percent had an average pre-tax income of $1,219,700 in 2009. Of this, they paid $353,000 federal taxes. Despite having earned 13.4 percent of the nation’s income, these individuals paid 38.7 percent of federal income taxes that year. To put it more starkly, this group makes less than 16 times as much as the average household but pays more than 40 times as much in federal income taxes.
Sure, the picture looks a little different when all federal taxes are included. With payroll, corporate, and excise taxes thrown into the mix, the top one percent contribute “only” 22.3 percent of all federal taxes. But in raw dollar terms, the average one percent household pays 23 times as much in total federal taxes as the average household—a difference of $337,700. Despite this, some politicians and activists claim with a straight face that our country’s top earners don’t pay their “fair share.”
Consider a world without such individuals—a world in which we have so taxed and vilified the most prosperous Americans that they all elect to follow Denise Rich and foreswear their U.S. citizenship in search of greater economic freedom. French President François Hollande is already learning this the hard way, as many of his country’s wealthiest individuals pack up and leave as a result of his proposed tax hike on French millionaires. Indeed, the U.S. itself has seen an eightfold increase in the number of Americans abandoning their citizenship (most, apparently for tax-related reasons). Since U.S. lawmakers have yet to show any ability to curtailing their spending, Uncle Sam would be looking to the remaining 99 percent of taxpayers to make up what would be a massive gap in income tax revenues due to the sudden emigration of the top one percent.
As a matter of simple arithmetic, everyone’s federal income taxes would have to go up by at least 63 percent to compensate for this lost revenue should the top earners depart. Such a gargantuan increase in taxes would rather substantially reduce work effort among the remaining 99 percent. The best evidence suggests that the economy loses 52 cents in output (lost work effort) for every dollar increase in individual income taxes. That means Congress would need to nearly double the rates for everyone else in order to cover the revenue gap.
Moreover, there’s a major discrepancy between the one percent’s financial support of government and its consumption of the resulting services.
If our population lost the top one percent, government could theoretically shrink spending on defense, courts, etc. by one percent to account for reduced need for services. However, since most federal payments for individuals are means-tested (ie. entitlement programs such as Medicaid and food stamps), loss of America’s top earners wouldn’t translate to a proportional reduction in these areas of the budget. And those payments accounted for more than 60 percent of federal spending in 2010.
Of course, losing the top one percent would mean far more than the loss of hundreds of billions in tax revenue. According to Federal Reserve data, this group also accounts for 30 percent of philanthropic giving. Many in the top one percent are business owners who employ many workers. In fact, nearly two thirds of those making over half a million dollars a year personally bear the risks of owning a company on their own or with just a few other shareholders. And losing the top one percent would translate to the departure of nearly 200,000 physicians—something a nation facing a doctor shortage could ill afford.
Like most Americans, I do not expect to enter the ranks of the top one percent (which in 2009 included one-person households with incomes exceeding $282,900, two-person households above $400,100, etc.). Perhaps I am totally deluded, lacking in class consciousness, or simply a victim of the Stockholm syndrome. But the way I look at it, I’m eminently grateful for those who have worked to attain this lofty status. I wish the current political elite felt the same way.
Thank you so much for your time. I know how valuable it is. I also appreciate the fine family that you have and your commitment as a father and a husband.
Sincerely,
Everette Hatcher III, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002, ph 501-920-5733, lowcostsqueegees@yahoo.com
(Emailed to White House on 12-21-12.) President Obama c/o The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President, I know that you receive 20,000 letters a day and that you actually read 10 of them every day. I really do respect you for trying to get a pulse on […]
(Emailed to White House on 12-21-12.) President Obama c/o The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President, I know that you receive 20,000 letters a day and that you actually read 10 of them every day. I really do respect you for trying to get a pulse on what is […]
(Emailed to White House on 12-21-12) President Obama c/o The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President, I know that you receive 20,000 letters a day and that you actually read 10 of them every day. I really do respect you for trying to get a pulse on what is […]
The federal government has a spending problem and Milton Friedman came up with the negative income tax to help poor people get out of the welfare trap. It seems that the government screws up about everything. Then why is President Obama wanting more taxes? _______________ Milton Friedman – The Negative Income Tax Published on […]
I was sad to read that the Speaker John Boehner has been involved in punishing tea party republicans. Actually I have written letters to several of these same tea party heroes telling them that I have emailed Boehner encouraging him to listen to them. Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ),Justin Amash (R-MI), and Tim Huelskamp (R-KS). have been contacted […]
Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute in his article, “Hitting the Ceiling,” National Review Online, March 7, 2012 noted: After all, despite all the sturm und drang about spending cuts as part of last year’s debt-ceiling deal, federal spending not only increased from 2011 to 2012, it rose faster than inflation and population growth combined. […]
Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute in his article, “Hitting the Ceiling,” National Review Online, March 7, 2012 noted: After all, despite all the sturm und drang about spending cuts as part of last year’s debt-ceiling deal, federal spending not only increased from 2011 to 2012, it rose faster than inflation and population growth combined. […]
Some of the heroes are Mo Brooks, Martha Roby, Jeff Flake, Trent Franks, Duncan Hunter, Tom Mcclintock, Devin Nunes, Scott Tipton, Bill Posey, Steve Southerland and those others below in the following posts. THEY VOTED AGAINST THE DEBT CEILING INCREASE IN 2011 AND WE NEED THAT TYPE OF LEADERSHIP NOW SINCE PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS BEEN […]
I hated to see that Allen West may be on the way out. ABC News reported: Nov 7, 2012 7:20am What Happened to the Tea Party (and the Blue Dogs?) Some of the Republican Party‘s most controversial House members are clinging to narrow leads in races where only a few votes are left to count. […]
Rep Himes and Rep Schweikert Discuss the Debt and Budget Deal Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute in his article, “Hitting the Ceiling,” National Review Online, March 7, 2012 noted: After all, despite all the sturm und drang about spending cuts as part of last year’s debt-ceiling deal, federal spending not only increased from 2011 […]
The Daily Hatch 