Tag Archives: Taxes

We Win

Posted on December 3, 2010 | Leave a comment

Obama Seeking Aid for Jobless in Any Deal on Tax Cuts

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is holding out for an extension of unemployment assistance and of a variety of expiring tax breaks for low-wage and middle-income workers as part of a deal with Congressional Republicans to extend all the Bush-era tax cuts.

But it is unclear how much leverage the White House has in the tax negotiations, given the drubbing Democrats took in the midterm elections, the tight Congressional calendar and a threat by Senate Republicans to block any legislation until the tax fight is resolved.

It is ironic that my biggest complaint about an Obama Presidency has turned out to be my favorite thing about him.

He’s an incompetent ass.

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Posted in Politics: National

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Brad and Britt Are Back At It

Posted on December 1, 2010 | 2 comments

The guys in Greensboro are back at it.

Today they’re discussing the tax situation as we get closer and closer to December 31st.  That’s the date, of course, that the “Bush Tax Cuts” are set to expire.

Everyone I know of agrees that we need to make permanent those cuts to folks making less than $250,000 a year.  The question is what to do with the folks making more than that.

The rich.

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Posted in Economics, Economy, Politics: National

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Son of a Bitch

Posted on November 24, 2010 | 2 comments

Didja know that politicians have been lying to us for years now?!?

Serious.

What they call one thing you and I would call another.

And because they use words differently than the rest of us, they have been able to shape how we think about the things they are talking about.

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Posted in Economics, Politics: National

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Lack of Education: Infuriating

Posted on November 23, 2010 | 2 comments

They do this all the time.

When budget cuts come, and they almost always do come, people make it sound like the whole frackin’ world is about to end.

As if ALL of us don’t, every single day, make budget decisions of our own in our private lives.

But jeepers, and I mean JEEPERS, why oh why do they report it like it’s a surprise?

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Posted in Education, Politics: North Carolina

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Tax Hikes and Tax Cuts

Posted on November 16, 2010 | 1 comment

Let’s get one thing straight.

We ALL agree that we ALL should pay SOME tax.

The government needs money to pay for things that governments do.

We can disagree about what a government should do and how much it costs that government to do it, but serious, we have to pay some form of tax.

That said, what we tax and how much we tax is a whole conversation that needs to be had.

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Posted in Economics, Politics: National

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Where I’d Start Cutting Budgets

Posted on October 6, 2010 | 2 comments

Look, I get it.  The new popularity of the conservative movement is that we have to reduce the size of the government.  We have to Spend Less, Tax Tess.  Reduce spending and reduce taxes.

I get it.  I do.

But we can NOT reduce taxes right now UNLESS we reduce spending.

Now, I AM a proponent of the idea that when taxes are raised it acts as an economic inhibitor.  That businesses will grow slower or even shrink.  That as taxes rise, the amount of money we bring in is actually less than the amount we could have brought in.

But there is a limit.

So, where would you cut?

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Posted in Politics: National

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The Single Best Method to Stabilize Home Prices

Posted on October 4, 2010 | Leave a comment

Here’s a note to Obama:

The single best method to stabilize home prices—-

Do nothing:

(Reuters) – Single-family home prices dipped in July, and are seen stabilizing near the lows without the homebuyer tax credit that ended in April…

This is surprising.

When left alone, people will normally buy and sell things at some market level.  When you pay people $8k to buy a house, don’t be surprised when the price of houses fluctuates between $1 and $8,000.

Econ 101.

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Posted in Economics, Politics: National

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The Walls Have Been Breached and the Inmates are Running the Asylum

Posted on August 23, 2010 | 3 comments

Free.  Freedom.  Liberty.

Ever stop to consider what those words mean?

And what “life” would mean without them?

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Posted in Liberty, Politics: National, States Behaving Badly

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The Upside to Paying Taxes in California

Posted on August 18, 2010 | Leave a comment

Serious.  There seems to be an upside.

California is going broke.  And how.

They tax the rich out of their state.  They tax the businesses out of their state.  They’ll tax anything that moves and now, they’ll tax half of that stuff that doesn’t.

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Posted in Politics: National, States Behaving Badly

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Unemployment and Benefits

Posted on July 1, 2010 | 6 comments

Once upon a time I became unemployed.  And I registered for benefits.

Now, I looked for a job; kinda.  But after not very long, it became apparent what I was up against.

My benefit was something like $150.00 a week.  If I found work, the first $50 I earned didn’t count against my benefit.  However, after that each dollar earned meant one less dollar in benefit.

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Posted in Economics, Economy, Elections 2010, Politics: National

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