Budget and Taxation

On Measuring The Extraction Costs Of Taxation

By Lawrence A. Hunter
September 7, 2007

This study proposes a more complete measurement of the costs of extracting reveune under the existing Internal Revenue Code and for alternative tax systems, including a national retail sales tax.  Read complete study here. . .

Developing consistent Tax Bases for Broad-Based Reform

By Fiscal Associates, Inc.
Draft, September 2011

Interest in far-reaching tax reform will begin again as the nation confronts financing entitlement growth. There will be a need to simplify the tax system and to promote increased saving, investment, and growth. Tax reform fever will intensify during the 2012 Presidential election cycle because many contenders and others will be proposing some combination of spending cuts and tax changes to close future deficits. Simply cutting spending and raising taxes is unlikely to succeed. As taxes are raised, growth will necessarily slow as the economy adjusts to a lower level of output. Lower output will mean lower tax revenues, setting off yet another round of spending cuts and tax increases. This vicious cycle will only end if the tax system becomes more efficient and growth-oriented.

This paper computes the tax bases for the following three tax reform proposals: a business transactions tax; a comprehensive factor income tax (flat personal income tax); an expanded retail sales tax (Fair Tax). In this paper, we find the revenue neutral tax rate, assuming no growth effects, and assuming no exemptions, deductions or credits. Recognizing that relief for low income taxpayers will inevitably be part of any tax reform, we also estimate tax rates assuming that each plan will provide a refundable credit equal to the tax rate times the poverty level. (This amounts to subtracting the identical amount from each tentative tax base.) Finally, we will combine the three bases to examine four hybrid proposals that split the rate between each of the combined bases. Specifically we will examine a variant of the Laffer/Moore Tax that combines the business transactions tax and a flat personal income tax and a plan that combines all three bases.
Read More. . .

The Minimum Wage Increase And Unemployment 

Originally Posted At Republican Study Committee
July, 2009

On January 4, 2007, when the Democrats took control of the U.S. House of Representatives, the minimum wage stood at $5.15 per hour and the unemployment rate was 4.6%. On May 25, 2007, the Democrats enacted a plan to raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 over three increments. As evidenced by the above chart, rising unemployment since 2007 has coincided with minimum wage increases. So Chairman Miller was right: life has dramatically changed for millions of people. 
Read More...

A New Small Business Surtax = New Small Business Job Killer 

By The J.E.C.
July 15, 2009

Larry Summers, director of the White House National Economic Council, recently opined: “I don’t think the worst is over... It’s very likely that more jobs will be lost. It would not be surprising if GDP has not yet reached its low.”i This is cause for concern at a time when unemployment, at 9.5%, stands at its highest level in 26 years. An additional 2.6 million American workers have lost their jobs since President Obama took the oath of office. More jobs were lost in June than in May. Against this backdrop, congressional Democrats want to increase taxes on the engines of job growth and innovation for our economy – small businesses. 
Read More...



Taxpayers in 39 States Could Pay a Top Tax Rate Over 50%

Originally Posted At Tax Foundation
By TF Staff
July 15, 2009

Fiscal Fact No. 178
New taxes to fund the federal government's plan for higher health insurance spending continue to be debated in Washington. According to a new Bloomberg report, the top surtax rate will be 5.4 percent in the House plan.[i] That will be the top rate in a three-tiered surtax aimed at high-income tax returns...
Read More...







  

Urgent Petition

Sign the petition to stop Social Security Cuts and send a fax to every Member of Congress demanding they cut other spending, NOT SOCIAL SECURITY.
First Name

Last Name

Phone Number

Email

Recent News

Senior poverty is much worse than you think

Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Source: WashingtonPost.com
If you’re an unmarried senior with no dependents, make $15,000 a year, and spend $10,000 of it on medical care, under the official poverty measure you’d most likely not count as poor, as $15,000 is above the 2012 poverty threshold for a single senior ($11,011).
Read Full Story

Medicare Drug Program Senior Health Risk

Sunday, May 12, 2013
Source: Huffington Post
An analysis of four years of Medicare prescription records shows that some doctors and other health professionals across the country prescribe large quantities of drugs that are potentially harmful, disorienting or addictive. Federal officials have done little to detect or deter these hazardous prescribing patterns.
Read Full Story

GOP's Duffy & Gingrey Oppose Social Security Cut

Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Source: Huffington Post
Two House Republicans have told constituents they oppose proposed cuts to Social Security and veterans benefits by reducing the cost of living adjustment. President Barack Obama included the plan, known as chained CPI, in his annual budget.
Read Full Story

Diabetes Advice for the Elderly: Relax

Friday, April 26, 2013
Source: New York Times
Treatments and their risks and benefits play out differently in the elderly population. Diabetes is rarely the only ailment affecting people in their 70s and 80s; most must cope with several chronic conditions, along with their associated medications. That makes keeping blood sugar at reasonable levels a complicated business involving lots of tradeoffs.
Read Full Story

5 Common Misconceptions That Destroy Computers

Thursday, April 11, 2013
Source: Cracked.com
If you have a parent, grandparent, or child just getting into computers for the first time, do the world a favor and teach them these basic misconceptions before you end up getting the call to come over and clean the horse manure out of their processor.
Read Full Story

Salt In The Rationing Wounds

Sunday, April 21, 2013
Source: Land Destroyer Report
The US has announced that it will provide militants in Syria, now openly admitted to being Al Qaeda terrorists, with $123 million in military aid - while cancer care for seniors at home is being rationed.
Read Full Story

He Lied

Friday, April 12, 2013
Source: Huffington Post
(VIDEO) Obama vowed he would never cut Social Security.  Now he is proposing a change in the cost-of-living measure (the so-called "Chained CPI") to do just that, all the while he denies it will cut benefits for current retirees. 
Read Full Story

Oppose Tax Increases To Prevent Social Secutrity Cuts

Source: 
With Obama pushing for cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, the best chance of stopping those spending reductions could be the GOP’s blanket opposition to higher taxes. Although GOP leaders insist that entitlement cuts should be a big part of any sweeping deficit deal, they also have been unwilling to concede to Obama’s demand for higher taxes to get them, which could be a deal killer.
Read Full Story

Obama Ready To Cut Social Security

Friday, April 5, 2013
Source: The Hill
President Obama will propose cuts next week to Social Security and other entitlements as part of a renewed effort to strike a long-term deficit-reduction deal with Republicans, the White House said Friday. Obama will embrace a plan — known as chained CPI — that would reduce cost-of-living increases for Social Security recipients through a more restrictive measure of inflation, according to officials first cited by Reuters and The New York Times.
Read Full Story

Congresswoman Mocks Senior Citizen

Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Source: Breitbart TV
At a recent Denver Post editorial board public forum on gun legislation, U.S. Rep Diana DeGette was asked by a male senor citizen how he could defend himself under the new Colorado gun laws. DeGette said, “The good news for you, you live in Denver. The Denver PD would be there within minutes. (laughing) You’d probably be dead anyway.”
Read Full Story
Read All Recent News

Get in the Know Now
Get SSI Email Alerts

First
Last
Zip Code
*Email

Social Networks

 

Action Center