Posted under Economics & Environmentalism & Globalism & Politics & Taxes
Two very good articles from Front Porch Republic for weekend reading:
Patrick Deenen gives a good summnation of the deeper meaning of the Tea Parties which you won’t find on conventional political or opinion websites.
Bill Kauffman says to hell with Earth Day! Celebrate Arbor Day instead (which was the original date for Earth Day).
See it here at Conservative for Change. This was definitely Paul’s crowd.
HT: Ron Paul (A True Conservative) Facebook Group.
Posted under Conservatism & Taxes
There has been some debate on the paleo/alt right about whether these TEA Parties are going to be neocon/mainstream dominated affairs or more alternative right or a mix. Let us know your experiences if you attend one. Thanks.
Posted under Economics & Free Trade & Immigration & Obama & Taxes
In my previous two predictions about the coming Obama administration, I concentrated on the social issues and what his foreign policy will look like. In this posting, I will concentrate on what he is likely to do economically. Suffice to say, the Democratic majority in Congress is likely to push Obama farther to the Left as will be the case regarding the social issues. He will want to be perceived as governing from the center like Bill Clinton, but Obama doesn’t have a Republican-controlled Congress to keep him in check. That being said, there is plenty of evidence that he will be in conflict with his own party. Obama hasn’t even taken office yet, but he’s already threatened to veto a bill to block the release of the remaining bailout funds.
Whatever the situation may be, my predictions below are reflective of where he is likely to go on economic policy: Continue Reading »
Posted under Economics & Taxes
Response to:
David A. Hartman’s “Why the U.S. Needs Border Adjusted Consumption Taxation.”
Mr. Hartman of the Lone Star Foundation proposes a radical solution to the US trade imbalance: the Business Transactions Tax (BTT), a 21% border adjusted VAT that would replace the US income tax. The BTT is levied upon imports and rebated on
exports, effectively border adjusted to offset foreign VATs. Hartman explains:
It will be seen that the Business Transactions Tax (BTT) has the broadest tax base which results in the lowest marginal tax rate, 21 percent, required for “tax neutral” replacement of the current IRS tax code, retaining only the personal FICA income taxes, while the employer’s share of FICA is debited against the BT1. The BTT is a consumption tax that is rebated to all taxpayers based upon poverty level incomes; it ends double taxation of saving for investment; it can be visible; it equitably includes all sectors, embracing goods, services, government and NFP’s. Most important, it is border adjusted, as was called for by the President’s Panel on Federal Tax Reform’s Growth and Investment alternative. Continue Reading »
Posted under Conservatism & Election 2008 & Free Trade & Globalism & Immigration & Politics & Taxes
The thing that pushes spending at the federal level is mandatory spending. It’s two things really: medicare, social security. Now you can cut the entire budget, the discretionary budget, you can cut the whole thing out, and only come close to… well you’d cut the deficit pretty significantly but, frankly, you really want to do without funding for the armed services?
…
You better come up with a way to allow for private social security accounts and structurally fix both of those things, or forget the idea of ending deficit spending.
Posted under Taxes & Terrorism
Announcement 2007-70: Suspension of Tax-Exempt Status of an Organization Identified With Terrorism
This Announcement is just the latest example of the federal government’s, particularly the Presidency’s, expanding powers to “combat terrorism.”
Continue Reading »
Posted under Taxes
Here is an e-mail my Dad passed on to me. An interesting money saving idea.
Posted under Election 2008 & Politics & Taxes & The South
Here is Donnie Kennedy’s proposed platform. Not much to object to as far as I am concerned.
He proposes a cap of 10% on the total amount of taxes an individual would have to pay, with the Feds limited to 4% of that. I have heard it said that if 10% is good enough for God it ought to be good enough for the government. This is an interesting way of addressing the tax issue. Many people focus on how the tax is collected. Fair Tax, Flat Tax, etc. But how much is collected has always been more important than how it is collected.