From the Emails Friday 022709
Hey folks,
I have several Emails I want to post today, so this one will be long. For those of you who keep asking why I do not just continuously post on Sundays, or like last Wednesday, and why do I start each one with Hey folks? here is why. But Instead of posting several different ones, I will just post all of them in a continuous method. I really need not comment on any of them, I think you will get the point.
First up, By Chris Gonsalves Posted at Newsmax.com
President Obama's $1 Trillion Tax Hike Plan
Looking to fund an ambitious healthcare program and put more money in the hands of the poor and the non-working, President Barack Obama wants wealthier Americans and businesses to pay nearly $1 trillion in higher taxes over the next decade.
In his proposed 2010 budget, released today, Obama suggests bringing back the top two Clinton-era tax rates of 36 percent and 39.6 percent for the nation’s highest earners. Those taxpayers currently pay 33 percent and 35 percent. More than 2.6 million Americans would be forced to pay the higher rates, according to Bloomberg News.
Tax rates on capital gains and dividends will rise to 20 percent for top earners, up from the 15 percent rate set by former President George W. Bush in 2003.
“It’s a clear repudiation of Bush’s policy,” Peter Morici, an economist at the University of Maryland in College Park, tells Bloomberg. “It’s more Obama Robin Hood.”
As if the rate changes weren’t enough, Obama also proposes punishing the rich by stopping the scheduled repeal of the controversial estate tax next year. The president suggests imposing a 45 percent tax rate on any family’s estate worth more than $7 million.
The Obama tax hikes also include new restrictions on itemized deductions for families that earn more than $250,000 per year. Deductions for things like charitable donations, mortgage interest and investment expenses will be capped at 28 percent for the wealthiest taxpayers, some 30 percent less than they currently get.
By 2020, taxpayers in the wealthiest households will pay $636.7 billion in additional taxes according to estimates in the budget proposal.
The changes would be phased in gradually over the next few years, according to an analysis of the budget by the Wall Street Journal. For the 2009 tax year, the 33 percent tax bracket starts with couples with adjusted earnings of $208,850. A taxpayer in the top bracket paying $1,000 of mortgage interest, for example, would see a tax break worth $350 reduced to $280.
According to estimates from Deloitte Tax, a married couple with 2 children under age 17 and income of $500,000 a year would owe approximately $11,300 more than under current law if all of the tax provisions in Obama's budget request outline were enacted, CNN reported.
The remainder of the $1 trillion tax hike would come from $353.5 billion in additional levies on businesses, especially U.S.-based multinational corporations. Obama’s proposal calls for significantly rewriting the rules on the taxability of profits earned overseas, increased enforcement of international tax collections and changes in accounting that would serve as a “windfall profits tax” aimed largely at the oil companies.
"This budget plan is once again a missed opportunity for American taxpayers — it raises taxes on all Americans, implements massive new spending and fails to make any tough choices to control the deficit," Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., the top Budget Committee Republican, told the Associated Press. Gregg was nominated by Obama to join his Cabinet as commerce secretary but later withdrew.
Next sent in by BG, from The Heritage Foundation,
Another $275 Billion Down the Drain
The House of Representatives is set to vote on a bill today that would round out the legislative authority necessary for President Barack Obama to institute his $275 billion mortgage bailout plan. Taken together the plans three main components (enabling some select borrowers to refinance their loans through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, enabling other select borrowers to modify their loans at the cost of taxpayers and lenders, and changing bankruptcy law to allow mortgage cram downs) will bailout the most irresponsible borrowers, raise the cost of borrowing for honest and prudent home buyers, and do nothing to stop the inevitable and necessary correction in housing prices.
Bailing Out the Most Irresponsible: Obama's mortgage bailout bestows new and costly benefits on those who took on more debt (including credit cards, auto loans, and mortgages) than they could handle. Worse, the value of the benefits vary in direct proportion to the degree borrowers were financially irresponsible. Borrowers with as high a debt service payment to income ration of 55% will be eligible for the taxpayer bailout.
Increasing Costs for Honest Borrowers: There are two ways Obama's mortgage bailout hurts honest home buyers. First, the portion of the plan that makes lenders responsible for half of all mortgage rate reductions will deter private sector investment in all but the best mortgages. Second, the mortgage cram down provisions would create additional risks for lenders who will be forced to compensate for that risk by making new mortgage rates more expensive for future home buyers. First time home buyers and those with moderate incomes would be hardest hit.
Failing to Stop the Housing Price Correction: Our current economic crisis was created by the inevitable popping of a housing bubble. Our financial system and economy will not recover until housing prices correct themselves. The sharp decline in housing prices is largely confined to just five states (Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, and Nevada). And the drop in housing prices in these localities is so steep that few borrowers will qualify for Obama's bailout. Hence home prices will only keep self-correcting. Also mortgage lenders are already at full capacity refinancing borrowers who do not need government aid. There is simply no way the existing industry has the capacity to refinance another 8 million homeowners in time to stop the market correction. Finally, the re-default rates on mortgages that have already undergone mortgage modifications suggest Obama's mortgage bailout will be, at best, just a temporary band-aid.
For over a year, first the Bush Administration and now the Obama Administration, have been throwing billions of taxpayer dollars at a problem that does not have a big, invasive, government solution. The road back to economic prosperity lies in an honest assessment of our future spending liabilities, cutting spending, and not raising the tax burden on the American entrepreneurs who have always been the true source of our economic growth.
Up next, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford
We live in perilous times. Jobs are hemorrhaging. Investments and retirement accounts are dwindling. Real estate values are plummeting. And what's the liberal Democratic leadership in Washington doing about it?
Pushing us further in debt with a trillion dollars in so-called "stimulus" money that is really little more than a social policy wish list of the Left. Throwing taxpayer dollars at one failing corporate giant after another with a "bailout-of-the-month" strategy that gets us no reforms, no accountability, and no job growth. And yes, now they're openly talking about raising taxes once again.
Where does this stop?
Unfortunately, it won't stop in Washington. It stops with the nation's conservative Republican Governors. I'm proud of the leadership of Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, and so many others, who have taken a stand for fiscal responsibility. But we need more of us, and you can help.
This year we have great opportunities to push back the Democratic bailout tide and win governorships in Virginia and New Jersey. And next year, there are a whopping 36 more governors races in every corner of the nation. With your help, we will stop the flow of red ink coming from Washington, and we'll do it by elected a new generation of conservative governors like Bobby Jindal, Sarah Palin, Haley Barbour, and so many others.
Please go to www.TheGOPComeback.com. Sign our petition to Congress to stop the move toward a bailout nation. And please donate whatever you can to the RGA efforts to win key governors races this year.
Sincerely,
Mark Sanford
Chairman, Republicans Governors Association
Sorry Gov. Sanford. I cannot get the link to work. I even tried to search for the website and it just will not go. However, I am posting it for the information in the actual Email.
OK. Just one more. This one from Bill Miller, Senior Vice President and National Political Director U.S. Chamber of Commerce:
Now is Not the Time to Raise Taxes
Dear Peter,
We've heard a lot about tax increases this week.
Bad idea.
The best way to stimulate our economy now is through tax cuts to put more money into the pockets of Americans and employers.
The evidence is clear: tax cuts spur economic growth and boost tax revenues.
Click here to sign the open letter to Congress telling them not to raise taxes.
In these challenging times, the last thing Americans need is an added tax burden on top of their other economic woes. Worse still, small businesses - the drivers of our economy - bear the burden of these increases. How are we going to recover if we are placing further burdens on the job creators in this economy?
Let's let them keep more of their hard-earned money to spend, invest and hire new workers.
Sign the open letter today to help make tax relief a reality.
Sincerely,
Signed
Bill Miller
Senior Vice President and National Political Director
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Need I really need to add anything? OK folks, I'm outta here. I have a conference call to attend and a doctors appointment to keep. See you Sunday.
Peter
Hey folks,
I have several Emails I want to post today, so this one will be long. For those of you who keep asking why I do not just continuously post on Sundays, or like last Wednesday, and why do I start each one with Hey folks? here is why. But Instead of posting several different ones, I will just post all of them in a continuous method. I really need not comment on any of them, I think you will get the point.First up, By Chris Gonsalves Posted at Newsmax.com
President Obama's $1 Trillion Tax Hike PlanLooking to fund an ambitious healthcare program and put more money in the hands of the poor and the non-working, President Barack Obama wants wealthier Americans and businesses to pay nearly $1 trillion in higher taxes over the next decade.
In his proposed 2010 budget, released today, Obama suggests bringing back the top two Clinton-era tax rates of 36 percent and 39.6 percent for the nation’s highest earners. Those taxpayers currently pay 33 percent and 35 percent. More than 2.6 million Americans would be forced to pay the higher rates, according to Bloomberg News.
Tax rates on capital gains and dividends will rise to 20 percent for top earners, up from the 15 percent rate set by former President George W. Bush in 2003.
“It’s a clear repudiation of Bush’s policy,” Peter Morici, an economist at the University of Maryland in College Park, tells Bloomberg. “It’s more Obama Robin Hood.”
As if the rate changes weren’t enough, Obama also proposes punishing the rich by stopping the scheduled repeal of the controversial estate tax next year. The president suggests imposing a 45 percent tax rate on any family’s estate worth more than $7 million.
The Obama tax hikes also include new restrictions on itemized deductions for families that earn more than $250,000 per year. Deductions for things like charitable donations, mortgage interest and investment expenses will be capped at 28 percent for the wealthiest taxpayers, some 30 percent less than they currently get.
By 2020, taxpayers in the wealthiest households will pay $636.7 billion in additional taxes according to estimates in the budget proposal.
The changes would be phased in gradually over the next few years, according to an analysis of the budget by the Wall Street Journal. For the 2009 tax year, the 33 percent tax bracket starts with couples with adjusted earnings of $208,850. A taxpayer in the top bracket paying $1,000 of mortgage interest, for example, would see a tax break worth $350 reduced to $280.
According to estimates from Deloitte Tax, a married couple with 2 children under age 17 and income of $500,000 a year would owe approximately $11,300 more than under current law if all of the tax provisions in Obama's budget request outline were enacted, CNN reported.
The remainder of the $1 trillion tax hike would come from $353.5 billion in additional levies on businesses, especially U.S.-based multinational corporations. Obama’s proposal calls for significantly rewriting the rules on the taxability of profits earned overseas, increased enforcement of international tax collections and changes in accounting that would serve as a “windfall profits tax” aimed largely at the oil companies.
"This budget plan is once again a missed opportunity for American taxpayers — it raises taxes on all Americans, implements massive new spending and fails to make any tough choices to control the deficit," Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., the top Budget Committee Republican, told the Associated Press. Gregg was nominated by Obama to join his Cabinet as commerce secretary but later withdrew.
Next sent in by BG, from The Heritage Foundation,
Another $275 Billion Down the DrainThe House of Representatives is set to vote on a bill today that would round out the legislative authority necessary for President Barack Obama to institute his $275 billion mortgage bailout plan. Taken together the plans three main components (enabling some select borrowers to refinance their loans through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, enabling other select borrowers to modify their loans at the cost of taxpayers and lenders, and changing bankruptcy law to allow mortgage cram downs) will bailout the most irresponsible borrowers, raise the cost of borrowing for honest and prudent home buyers, and do nothing to stop the inevitable and necessary correction in housing prices.
Bailing Out the Most Irresponsible: Obama's mortgage bailout bestows new and costly benefits on those who took on more debt (including credit cards, auto loans, and mortgages) than they could handle. Worse, the value of the benefits vary in direct proportion to the degree borrowers were financially irresponsible. Borrowers with as high a debt service payment to income ration of 55% will be eligible for the taxpayer bailout.
Increasing Costs for Honest Borrowers: There are two ways Obama's mortgage bailout hurts honest home buyers. First, the portion of the plan that makes lenders responsible for half of all mortgage rate reductions will deter private sector investment in all but the best mortgages. Second, the mortgage cram down provisions would create additional risks for lenders who will be forced to compensate for that risk by making new mortgage rates more expensive for future home buyers. First time home buyers and those with moderate incomes would be hardest hit.
Failing to Stop the Housing Price Correction: Our current economic crisis was created by the inevitable popping of a housing bubble. Our financial system and economy will not recover until housing prices correct themselves. The sharp decline in housing prices is largely confined to just five states (Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, and Nevada). And the drop in housing prices in these localities is so steep that few borrowers will qualify for Obama's bailout. Hence home prices will only keep self-correcting. Also mortgage lenders are already at full capacity refinancing borrowers who do not need government aid. There is simply no way the existing industry has the capacity to refinance another 8 million homeowners in time to stop the market correction. Finally, the re-default rates on mortgages that have already undergone mortgage modifications suggest Obama's mortgage bailout will be, at best, just a temporary band-aid.
For over a year, first the Bush Administration and now the Obama Administration, have been throwing billions of taxpayer dollars at a problem that does not have a big, invasive, government solution. The road back to economic prosperity lies in an honest assessment of our future spending liabilities, cutting spending, and not raising the tax burden on the American entrepreneurs who have always been the true source of our economic growth.
Up next, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford
We live in perilous times. Jobs are hemorrhaging. Investments and retirement accounts are dwindling. Real estate values are plummeting. And what's the liberal Democratic leadership in Washington doing about it?
Pushing us further in debt with a trillion dollars in so-called "stimulus" money that is really little more than a social policy wish list of the Left. Throwing taxpayer dollars at one failing corporate giant after another with a "bailout-of-the-month" strategy that gets us no reforms, no accountability, and no job growth. And yes, now they're openly talking about raising taxes once again.
Where does this stop?
Unfortunately, it won't stop in Washington. It stops with the nation's conservative Republican Governors. I'm proud of the leadership of Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, and so many others, who have taken a stand for fiscal responsibility. But we need more of us, and you can help.
This year we have great opportunities to push back the Democratic bailout tide and win governorships in Virginia and New Jersey. And next year, there are a whopping 36 more governors races in every corner of the nation. With your help, we will stop the flow of red ink coming from Washington, and we'll do it by elected a new generation of conservative governors like Bobby Jindal, Sarah Palin, Haley Barbour, and so many others.
Please go to www.TheGOPComeback.com. Sign our petition to Congress to stop the move toward a bailout nation. And please donate whatever you can to the RGA efforts to win key governors races this year.
Sincerely,
Mark Sanford
Chairman, Republicans Governors Association
Sorry Gov. Sanford. I cannot get the link to work. I even tried to search for the website and it just will not go. However, I am posting it for the information in the actual Email.
OK. Just one more. This one from Bill Miller, Senior Vice President and National Political Director U.S. Chamber of Commerce:
Now is Not the Time to Raise TaxesDear Peter,
We've heard a lot about tax increases this week.
Bad idea.
The best way to stimulate our economy now is through tax cuts to put more money into the pockets of Americans and employers.
The evidence is clear: tax cuts spur economic growth and boost tax revenues.
Click here to sign the open letter to Congress telling them not to raise taxes.
In these challenging times, the last thing Americans need is an added tax burden on top of their other economic woes. Worse still, small businesses - the drivers of our economy - bear the burden of these increases. How are we going to recover if we are placing further burdens on the job creators in this economy?
Let's let them keep more of their hard-earned money to spend, invest and hire new workers.
Sign the open letter today to help make tax relief a reality.
Sincerely,
Signed
Bill Miller
Senior Vice President and National Political Director
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Need I really need to add anything? OK folks, I'm outta here. I have a conference call to attend and a doctors appointment to keep. See you Sunday.
Peter
Note: "From The Emails" is a weekly segment in the Friday edition of the OPNtalk Blog. If you care to send in News Articles, Comments, Stories, or anything else you may wish to share, please feel free to send it to opntalk@aim.com As always, you never know what you are going to see here.
Links:
Newsmax.com - President Obama's $1 Trillion Tax Hike Plan
The Heritage Foundation - Website
Friends of the US Chamber of Commerce - Letter
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