First Wave: Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief
In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for investors, small business owners, and families. These will all expire on January 1, 2011:
Personal income tax rates will rise. The top income tax rate will rise from 35 to 39.6 percent (this is also the rate at which two-thirds of small business profits are taxed). The lowest rate will rise from 10 to 15 percent. All the rates in between will also rise. Itemized deductions and personal exemptions will again phase out, which has the same mathematical effect as higher marginal tax rates. The full list of marginal rate hikes is below:
- The 10% bracket rises to an expanded 15%
- The 25% bracket rises to 28%
- The 28% bracket rises to 31%
- The 33% bracket rises to 36%
- The 35% bracket rises to 39.6%
Higher taxes on marriage and family. The “marriage penalty” (narrower tax brackets for married couples) will return from the first dollar of income. The child tax credit will be cut in half from $1000 to $500 per child. The standard deduction will no longer be doubled for married couples relative to the single level. The dependent care tax credit will be cut.
The return of the Death Tax. This year, there is no death tax. For those dying on or after January 1 2011, there is a 55 percent top death tax rate on estates over $1 million. A person leaving behind two homes and a retirement account could easily pass along a death tax bill to their loved ones.
Higher tax rates on savers and investors. The top capital gains tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 20 percent in 2011. The top dividends tax rate will rise from 15 percent this year to 39.6 percent in 2011. These rates will rise another 3.8 percent in 2013. http://www.atr.org/days-thebr-largest-tax-hikes-history-a5370#
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ABC News reports: Workers are paying 14 percent more for their employer-sponsored plans than they did last year as a bigger chunk of healthcare costs shifted from employers to employees, according to a new survey. Workers paid nearly $3,997 this year toward the cost of family healthcare coverage -- up $482 from the average employee share in 2009. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/HealthCare/healthcare-cost-burden-shifting-employers-employees/story?id=11555746
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National Review opines: Union bosses are still intent on pushing more workers into their forced-dues-paying ranks. The only thing that’s changing is their approach, which has shifted from congressional trench warfare to executive-branch power grabs.
The harbinger of this new strategy is Obama’s appointment of Craig Becker to the powerful National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the federal agency that dictates the contours of American labor law. Becker, a former Big Labor lawyer, is a walking conflict of interest — despite a career spent crafting SEIU legal strategies, he has refused to recuse himself from several cases before the NLRB involving that union’s local affiliates.
Becker has also suggested that card-check legislation could be implemented administratively, without congressional authorization. And from his new perch at the NLRB — an agency dominated by Big Labor–friendly appointees — Becker is in a position to do just that. http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/245671/big-labor-s-stealth-card-check-strategy-mark-mix
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From the NYT: Over the next six years,” Mr. Obama promised “we are going to rebuild 150,000 miles of our roads — that’s enough to circle the world six times; that’s a lot of road. We’re going to lay and maintain 4,000 miles of our railways — enough to stretch coast-to-coast. We’re going to restore 150 miles of runways and advance a next-generation air-traffic control system to reduce travel time and delays for American travelers — I think everybody can agree on that.”
Mr. Obama also used Monday’s appearance here to deliver a hearty defense of his policies and take a few whacks at Republicans. “They talk about me like a dog,” the president said. “That’s not in my prepared remarks, but it’s true.” And Mr. Obama repeatedly referred to the House Republican leader, Representative John Boehner, as “the man who wants to be speaker.” [Really? Well I for one have a whole lot more respect and love for any dog......] http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/us/politics/07obama.html?src=me&ref=us
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From Expose Obama: The cornerstone of Obama’s Labor Day speech before a union audience was a $50 billion transfer of wealth from taxpayers to Big Labor. Porkulus 3.0 will not create jobs for years (if at all), but it will raise gasoline prices
Aside from taking time to feel sorry for himself, Obama unveiled a proposal to spend $50 billion on roads and infrastructure, which he promised “will not only create jobs immediately, it’s also going to make our economy hum over the long haul.”
His administration immediately admitted he lied. A senior Obama official, who would speak only anonymously, said: “We’re not like trying to put out an idea today that in October 2010, this is going to create a lot of jobs. This is not what this is.”
The Washington Times added, “Senior administration officials said measures for economic progress will take effect mostly in the long run and likely will do little to lower the 9.6 percent unemployment rate anytime soon.” (Emphasis added.) Even if it is passed, “Congress might not authorize funding for the six-year plan until after November and that no more jobs will be created until 2011.”
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Posts
So...we're eventually going to have new roads and runways...but we won't be able to afford a car or an airplane ticket? Sounds like yet another colossal waste of money.
ReplyDeleteThanks for exposing another series of complete lies and misdirection by Obama and his gang of thieves...Do you think the liberal media will expose his actions/inactions that will cause us to endure the largest tax increases in our history ? What a total criminal fraud he has been and is...
ReplyDelete