Category Archives: Taxation

Treason Lobby

Left-Liberalism And Progressivisim, Private Property, Taxation

If you’ve worked smart and hard and are making more than a million dollars a year, you’ve lucked out: Garrett Gruener, leader of the Orwellian “Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength,” is lobbying Capitol Hill today on your behalf, to have your taxes increased. You’re working way too hard; you can’t take time off to defend private property. Not so Gruener; who is very very rich. Gruener has all the time and money in the world to bend the president’s big ear. And, naturally, lap dog to the left, NPR’s Jeffrey Brown, is all ears:

JEFFREY BROWN: First, I want you define this group. Who are you, how many, and where do you come — where do the members come from?

GARRETT GRUENER: These are about 200 folks so far who make a substantial amount of money and who believe that the — it’s time to roll back the Bush tax cuts, that essentially what we need to do for the sake of the country is to tax folks like ourselves more.

JEFFREY BROWN: And is there a consensus on how much more when you talk about — you’re talking about the marginal rate?

GARRETT GRUENER: That’s right.

We are talking about moving back to the marginal rate that prevailed under President Clinton of 39.6 percent on, in this case, folks who make more than a million dollars a year.

JEFFREY BROWN: What’s the argument? Why?

GARRETT GRUENER: Well, simply, first of all, the country needs the money, and we think it’s the right thing to do.

We think that, you know, like other Americans, we love this country, and that those in the upper 1 percent essentially have been treated too good for their own sake, too good for the sake of the country. We have all done very well, and it’s time to give back. …

[SNIP]

AND perhaps Gruener’s biggest non sequitur: “…the relentless desire on the part of the Republicans to push down marginal rates was causing us to have an excessive deficit, which we believe is a big problem, and to under-invest in things that we think are critical for a good society.”

In other words, merely thinking about leaving more private property with its original owners can collapse the welfare state (“which is critical for a good society”). Is there anything more repulsive than a left-liberal man, as he dreams up ways to give what’s not his away?

MORE.

UPDATED: Rick Gets Rabid; Ron Paul Endures

Economy, Elections, Political Philosophy, Politics, Private Property, Ron Paul, Taxation

The following is from my new WND.COM, “Rick Gets Rabid; Ron Paul Endures”:

“CNN must be desperate for the ratings the network receives whenever it hosts a Republican presidential debate. As moderator of the Tea Party Debate in Tampa, Florida, last month, Wolf Blitzer worked it. And not once did leftist activist-cum-anchor Anderson Cooper mention bullying in Las Vegas, Tuesday night: Viewers of the Western Republican Debate got off lightly. The excuse for a newsman known as Anderson Cooper did only one stupid thing: Demonstrate to the seven presidential contenders how to introduce themselves.

CNN was on its best behavior, which is more than one can say about Governor Rick Perry (R-TX). He sounds a lot like a slightly less stupid ‘W,’ which is still plenty stupid (and cunning to boot). The man is so much like The Decider in demeanor that it’s unsettling.

In bashing Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 tax-reform plan, Perry persistently called Cain ‘brother’ (‘I love you, brother, but…’). This phony, patronizing touch was plainly insulting.

For colorful metaphors that capture the tapped arteries of taxation in the Cain plan—destined to balloon with the lifeblood of the taxpayer—it’s hard to beat Grover Norquist. The president of Americans for Tax Reform likened 9-9-9 to putting ‘tapeworms in your tummy to try and maintain your weight.’ And to ‘having three needles in your arm drawing blood instead of one.'” …

Read the complete column, “Rick Gets Rabid; Ron Paul Endures,” now on WND.COM.

My book, “Into the Cannibal’s Pot: Lessons for America from Post-Apartheid South Africa,” is available from Amazon.

A Kindle copy is also on sale.

Barnes and Noble is always well-stocked and ships within 24 hours.

Still better, shipping is free and prompt if you purchase Into the Cannibal’s Pot from The Publisher.

UPDATE: Barely a Blog participants and readers, please “Like” “Rick Gets Rabid; Ron Paul Endures” on WND.COM. Remember to “Like” the “Return to Reason” column on WND.COM, every week. Thanks.

UPDATE II: 999 Or 666?

Economy, Elections, Politics, Republicans, Taxation

“When you take the 999 plan and turn it upside down (666); the devil’s in the details.”—Michele Bachmann.

Here’s Bachmann’s brilliant quip in it entirety, excerpted from “The Hanover Economic Debate.” [YouTube of the beautiful Minnesota Congresswoman follows.]

BACHMANN: “I would have to say that the 999 plan isn’t a jobs plan, it is a tax plan. And I would say that from my experience being in Congress, but also as a federal tax lawyer, when you — the last thing you would do is give Congress another pipeline of a revenue stream. And this gives Congress a pipeline in a sales tax. A sales tax can also lead to value-added tax. The United States Congress put into place the Spanish-American War tax in 1888. We only partially repealed that in 2006. So once you get a new revenue stream, you are never going to get rid of it.

And one thing I would say is, when you take the 999 plan and you turn it upside down, I think the devil is in the details.”

UPDATE I (Oct. 15): Peter Schiff says 999 offers a substantial reduction in the corporate rate of income tax which is a positive thing (naturally). Schiff also credits Cain with intending to move toward the abolition of tax on income and toward replacing the income tax with some tariff-like national sales tax. So far so good, says Schiff. However, corporations will have to pay a 9 percent tax on profits as well as on their payroll. 999 is a hidden payroll tax. That’s a new thing. And it’s bad, says Schiff.

UPDATE II (Oct. 16): More about the 9-9-9 plan from Bruce Bartlett (whom I once praised for aiming a shot across the bows of Bush’s bastardized “conservatism” before it was allowable).

No mention is made on the site of a tax cut for those now in the 10 percent, 15 percent or 25 percent brackets. This means that the only people who would get a tax rate cut are those now in the 28 percent, 33 percent or 35 percent brackets. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, only 4 percent of taxpayers pay any taxes at those rates.
As for corporations, Mr. Cain’s proposal is primarily going to benefit those with revenues of more than $1 million a year, because they account for 98.7 percent of all receipts by C corporations. (A C corporation is a legal entity separate and distinct from its owners that is taxed as a corporation; its shareholders pay taxes individually on their gains.) Those companies with receipts over $50 million account for 88.8 percent of total receipts.
Other business entities — sole proprietorships, S corporations (which have between 1 and 100 shareholders and pass through net income or losses to shareholders) and partnerships — would not benefit because they are not taxed on the corporate schedule. But they represent 92 percent of all businesses.
Second, Mr. Cain would eliminate all taxes on profits earned by multinational corporations outside the United States. It’s hard to know the impact of this provision, but according to Martin Sullivan, an economist with Tax Analysts, the 50 largest corporations in the United States generated half of their profits in other countries.

Read the rest of Bartlett’s substantive analysis of 999.

UPDATE II: Republican Thrust And ‘Perry’ (Perry Feels Your Pain, NOT)

IMMIGRATION, Outsourcing, Politics, Regulation, Republicans, Ron Paul, Taxation, The State

I thought the CNN/Tea Party Debate in Tampa, Florida, was far and away better than the Republican spat in Des Moines, Iowa, last month. Perhaps the network is desperate for the ratings Tea Party sponsorship affords because Wolf Blitzer worked it—even if the focus was placed on the Big Two, Rick Perry and Mitt Romney.

Michelle Bachmann showed that, like her or not, she’s a force of nature. Would that the woman’s eloquence, attractiveness, and the fact that she is seldom fazed could be harnessed in the service of liberty. Like a bulldog, Bachmann latched onto Perry and refused to let go over the governor’s Body Snatcher Program—the forcible invasion of the bodies of little Texan girls. Perry was man enough to apologize for requiring the vaccination of girls as young as 12 against cervical cancer. But a man who would mandate such a thing should never be trusted. Perry is almost as shifty as Bush, although more intelligent than The Shrub.

Jon Huntsman generally came over as the most statist among the Republican contenders. A young man asked him poignantly, “How much of what I earn do you believe I should be able to keep?” Rep. Paul would have replied, “All of it.” Huntsman belabored an incoherent tax plot.

Huntsman managed, however, to brilliantly commandeer Ron Paul’s argument for divesting from Afghanistan. This in response to a question about what he intended to do, as president, for the women and girls of Afghanistan. Nothing, basically, was Huntsman’s retort. Unlike Fox News on whose website there are more images than words, CNN is sure to post debate transcripts by tomorrow, at which time I’ll excerpt Huntsman’s excellent thrust and parry over the need to bring the troops home, look after the homeland, and act as an example to the world by, once again, shining.

However, Huntsman, like most Americans (except for us immigrants), proved that he knows close to nothing about America’s labyrinthine visa programs. He advocated for fixing the immigration system so that the US could import many more brilliant, highly skilled individuals, as if there was a limit on, or an impediment to, such immigration.

THERE are no limits on the number of geniuses American companies can import.

America already has an “Extraordinary Ability” Visa. In exchange for my spouse’s exceptional abilities and qualifications, he was awarded the O-1 visa. And we, in short order, gained green cards.

The primary H-1B hogs—Infosys (and another eight, sister Indian firms), Microsoft, and Intel—are forever claiming that they are desperate for talent. But, in reality, they have unlimited access to individuals with unique abilities through the open-ended O-1 visa program.

I believe that before “Why Aren’t The H-1B Hogs Satisfied With The O-1 ‘Extraordinary Ability’ Visa?” was written, no immigration expert had made the simple point above.

That’s right: The O-1 visa program enables the importation of as many geniuses as a company can find, from every corner of the world. Yet, not even Ron Hira (Ph.D., P.E. Chair, Research & Development Policy Committee The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers – United States of America), advocate for local talent, bothers to point this out in the course of his many media appearances.

UPDATE I (Sept. 13): Tom, the criteria for Sean were quite rigorous. As I mentioned in the article, the authorities do make it even easier for guys who’re more gifted than my guy; they are given green cards on the spot. “A one-of-a-kind Afrikaner RF engineer we know, who possesses a PhD, publications galore, patented software programs and products, and a company, was told to hop on a plane, family in tow.” He came and left; he and the family didn’t like the USA.

Super models can also get the O-1 ‘Extraordinary Ability’ Visa, I believe. And if they are wealthy and beautiful, why not? Heidi Klum has a unique talent or two—and has generated an industry for the locals.

UPDATE II: PERRY FEELS YOUR PAIN, NOT. JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: “Rick Perry, the anointed front-runner at least at this hour, would have us believe he is a country boy at heart, a down home country cornpone that can relate to the plight of the ordinary American. There’s another side to the Texas governor. ‘Politico’ reports that for years, Perry, who makes $150,000 a year as governor, has enjoyed additional lavish perks and travel mostly funded by wealthy supporters. Imagine that.”

“Texas donors have paid for the governor and his family to travel around the world sometimes on private jets, paid for them to stay at luxury hotels, resorts, vacation in Colorado ski towns, and attend tons of sporting events and concerts. Rick Perry has also accepted a wide range of very expensive gifts, including 22 pairs of cowboy boots, some of them costing $500 a pair. Somebody else even pays his cable TV Bill. Taxpayers pay his rent, $8,500 a month for Perry’s 4,600 square foot mansion in Austin. The governor and his family have been living in the five bedroom seven bath mansion since 2007 while the governor’s mansion undergoes repair. Four years? What sort of repairs are those, do you imagine?”

“It’s all copacetic down there in the lone star state which has some of the loosest ethics and campaign rules in the country. Nonetheless, it is tough to imagine supporters aren’t buying influence when they lavish those perks on the governor. Of course they are. Some donors have wound up with appointments to state commissions, million dollar state grants to businesses they are involved in.”

Perry’s camp insists it is all on the up and up. A spokeswoman told ‘Politico’ the governor fully discloses all gifts and travel in his financial disclosure statements. But that don’t make it cricket.”

Here’s the question — does Rick Perry’s lavish lifestyle, mostly paid for mostly by taxpayers and wealthy friends and donors, match his downhome, awe shucks country boy image?”