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In 96 years we’ve only learned how to raise tax rates and tax more people

Oct 1st, 2009
by KRA ED.
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96 years ago:

By 1913, 36 States had ratified the 16th Amendment to the Constitution. In October, Congress passed a new income tax law with rates beginning at 1 percent and rising to 7 percent for taxpayers with income in excess of $500,000. Less than 1 percent of the population paid income tax at the time.

Today:

In 2009, roughly 47% of households, or 71 million, will not owe any federal income tax, according to estimates by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.
…
Of course, income taxes don’t tell the whole story. Workers are also subject to payroll taxes, which support Social Security and Medicare.

When considering federal income taxes in combination with payroll taxes, the percent of households with a net liability of zero or less is estimated to be 24% this year, according to the Tax Policy Center’s estimates.

The Soldier’s Experience: Iraq vs. Afghanistan

Sep 27th, 2009
by KRA ED.
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Soldiers who have served in both Afghanistan and Iraq compare the two countries. They say there is one key difference:

See the answer by clicking on this link (video is just under 6 minutes long after a short ad plays).

That’s just a taste, you can check out more of JD Johannes’ work here.

Buy health insurance or go to jail. We can’t make this up folks, it’s just too incredible.

Sep 25th, 2009
by KRA ED.
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Buy health insurance, pay a fine if you don’t, or go to jail?

Politico reports:

Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) received a handwritten note Thursday from Joint Committee on Taxation Chief of Staff Tom Barthold confirming the penalty for failing to pay the up to $1,900 fee for not buying health insurance.

Violators could be charged with a misdemeanor and could face up to a year in jail or a $25,000 penalty, Barthold wrote on JCT letterhead. He signed it “Sincerely, Thomas A. Barthold.”

note to Senator Ensign

note to Senator Ensign

Politico goes on to say the note was a followup to a question during markup. Ah, yes, the question as to whether or not the IRS would come after you if you didn’t buy health insurance. Here’s what he was told about that:

Under questioning from Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), Barthold said the IRS would “take you to court and undertake normal collection proceedings.”

Ensign pursued the line of questioning because he said a lot of Americans don’t believe the Constitution allows the government to mandate the purchase of insurance.

“We could be subjecting those very people who conscientiously, because they believe in the U.S. Constitution, we could be subjecting them to fines or the interpretation of a judge, all the way up to imprisonment,” Ensign said. “That seems to me to be a problem.”

If it looks like a tax increase and talks like a tax increase and walks like a tax increase…

Unfortunately an amendment from Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) to eliminate the individual mandate was rejected.

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) was the only Republican to vote with Democrats to preserve the mandate.

Lawmakers Request AG Investigation of SRS Funding Decisions

Sep 24th, 2009
by KRA ED.
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Kansas lawmakers are asking the Kansas Attorney General to investigate SRS funding decisions. When this story began to come to light earlier this year, we did some background investigation on the firm in question and found more questions than answers regarding how one firm was chosen to receive money and what they did with your tax dollars. You can read it here: Firm receiving extra Medicaid funding from Sebelius administration makes nearly $1 million in improvements to property

State Representatives Peggy Mast (R-Emporia) and David Crum (R-Augusta) sent a letter this week to Attorney General Steve Six, requesting that his Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Unit conduct a formal investigation to determine whether SRS violated Medicaid funding rules when it directly awarded $712,000 in extraordinary funding to Community Living Opportunities (CLO) in November, 2008.

Rep. Mast chairs the House Social Service Budget Committee and serves on the House Health and Human Services Committee as well as the Joint Committee on Home and Community-Based Services Committee.

Rep. Crum is Vice-Chairman of the House Health and Human Services Committee and serves on the House Social Service Budget Committee.

Rep. Brenda Landwehr (R-Wichita), who chairs the House Health and Human Services Committee, said she was pleased Reps. Mast and Crum requested the investigation.

“Kansans deserve a determination whether SRS has again violated Medicaid funding rules through its funding decisions.  If the Attorney General’s investigation does find SRS at fault, those responsible for and involved with the additional funding decision should be held accountable for their actions,” Chairman Landwehr said.

Kansas Liberty is also covering this story and has additional background information. AG Six has said he’ll look into it but won’t comment during the investigation.

In Obama’s world you get to make up your own definitions

Sep 20th, 2009
by KRA ED.
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Remember this? President Bill Clinton: “it depends upon what the meaning of the word is is” (longer version here)

George Stepanopoulos looks up the definition of tax

STEPHANOPOULOS: I — I don’t think I’m making it up. Merriam Webster’s Dictionary: Tax — “a charge, usually of money, imposed by authority on persons or property for public purposes.”

And he’s told using the dictionary is stretching

OBAMA: George, the fact that you looked up Merriam’s Dictionary, the definition of tax increase, indicates to me that you’re stretching a little bit right now. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have gone to the dictionary to check on the definition.

Mr. President, I submit it’s not George who’s stretching things.

See it for yourself here (short ad plays first).

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