Tag: tax hike

Democrats to run on tax hikes.

Democrats because whoever the nominee ends up being is gonna have to go down that road:

Hillary Clinton is going to propose “revenue enhancements,” which is a term that means tax hikes.

Clinton campaign press secretary Brian Fallon said on Twitter that the campaign will propose “revenue enhancements” to raise money for various government programs including universal preschool.

Mind, by ‘have to’ I’m referring to the expectations of the Democratic base. The rest of us are already well aware that our taxes are too high, and too complicated, already.  Unfortunately for the Democrats, they’ve avoided explaining fiscal reality to their own side for just a little too long…

Moe Lane

PS: Thanks, Democrats!  Every little bit helps.

Gov. Paul LePage (R, Maine) wants to impose property taxes on colleges, nonprofits, other Democratic party affiliates.

I don’t know whether this is demonic, inspired, or both: “A sweeping proposal to cut taxes for Maine families and businesses could upend one of the most widely accepted practices in the country: the property-tax exemption for nonprofit organizations… A recent budget plan by Republican Gov. Paul LePage calling for an overhaul of individual, corporate and sales taxes also would make Maine the first state in the nation to require colleges, hospitals and other large charities to go on the property-tax rolls in their municipalities.” This proposal – which specifically exempts “churches and government-owned entities” – would be the first of its kind in the country, and will probably not pass without a bloody brawl in the state legislature.

Is it a good idea, though? Depends. On the one hand, it’s a tax hike. On the other hand, it’s a tax hike that would be part of a more comprehensive series of tax simplification and reform (which is the way to get conservatives to sign off on a tax hike). On the gripping hand, it’s a tax hike that is aimed squarely at academics and NGOs… which is to say, it’s aimed at people who typically instinctively get upset when a Republican wins an election. There’s no real reason for us to pretend that that last point isn’t a legitimate one for consideration.  Hey, some people like governmental intervention and oversight, right?  … So, here: have some.  Right between the eyes. Continue reading Gov. Paul LePage (R, Maine) wants to impose property taxes on colleges, nonprofits, other Democratic party affiliates.

#rsrh Democrats vote to hike taxes on middle class.

There was going to be a completely different post here, but it got preempted by the news that House Democrats have decided to defy the American people and raise your taxes.  I’d put this up directly at RedState, except that over there I can’t use the word that best describes the Democratic leadership:

Dumbasses.

Anyway, it’s an iconic end to the 111th Congress: creating a mess for the grown-ups to clean up.  Hope you didn’t need that $3K/year!

‘The Trillion Dollar Fix.’

I hope you meant that as a drug reference, Megan.

R.S McCain summarizes Megan McArdle’s post about our current economic strategy in three words: “It won’t work.” Which is a fair assessment, both in what Megan’s analysis and in her conclusions. Personally, I would have preferred it if Stacy could have been able to summarize both with one word, though: “Oops.”  Not to be a broken record about this, but I didn’t need Megan to tell me that we enjoy, ah, suboptimal economic oversight. I already knew. Or that the current administration seems to default to style over substance. I already knew that, too. Or even that we are going to have to raise taxes on the lower and middle class to pay for all of this. A lot of us knew this already.

But apparently, we just weren’t trendy enough to satisfy a sufficiently large portion of the electorate.  To those of them reading this and smirking, at this point: real quick.  You know that tax cut that some of you college kids received?  Yeah, the $13 dollars a week thing that didn’t even register with most people.  Anyway, turns out that the IRS messed up:

— A single college student with a part-time job making $10,000 would get a $400 boost in pay. However, if that student is claimed as a dependent on a parent’s tax return, she doesn’t qualify for the credit and would have to repay it when she files next year.

Continue reading ‘The Trillion Dollar Fix.’

Woonsocket Tea Party group stops supplemental tax increase.

It was originally expected to pass, no problem. But then a bunch of people showed up and… well. 6-1 for became 4-3 against.

WOONSOCKET — Faced with a heavy outpouring of opposition from property owners, the City Council last night narrowly defeated a supplemental tax bill to wipe out a School Department deficit of $3.7 million.

[snip]

The measure would have given the city authority to hike all classes of taxes — residential, business and business equipment — about 10 percent. The average homeowner would have paid roughly an extra $231 this fiscal year.

Though the hike would have been about the same on small businesses percentage-wise, they would have paid significantly more since they are already taxed at a higher rate.

(H/T: Michelle Malkin, Glenn Reynolds, and check out this Jim Geraghty piece). Continue reading Woonsocket Tea Party group stops supplemental tax increase.