tax policy

19 Stories

Tax Overhaul Scores Key Victory in Senate

Budget panel passes it, moving it on to full chamber

(Newser) - The Senate Budget Committee has advanced a sweeping tax package to the full Senate, handing GOP leaders a victory as they try to pass the nation's first tax overhaul in 31 years. The committee voted 12 to 11 to advance the bill. Two committee Republicans had said they were...

House, Senate Unveil Dueling Tax Plans

Senate plan calls for one-year delay in implementing major corporate tax cut

(Newser) - Senate Republicans revealed the details of their sweeping tax legislation Thursday, including a one-year delay in plans for a major corporate tax cut despite strident opposition from the White House and others in their own party. Their bill would leave the prized mortgage interest deduction untouched for homeowners in a...

Obama Zings 'Romney Hood'
 Obama Warns of 'Romney Hood'
Aug 7, 2012 4:15 AM CDT

Obama Warns of 'Romney Hood'

Mitt tax plan is 'Robin Hood in reverse,' he says

(Newser) - Mitt Romney and his merry men would take from the middle-class and give to the rich if elected, President Obama claimed at a campaign stop in Connecticut yesterday. Romney's tax proposals are "Robin Hood in reverse," he quipped. "It's Romney Hood." Romney would "...

Romney Tax Plan 'Mathematically Impossible'
Romney Tax Plan 'Mathematically Impossible'
Ezra Klein
Aug 3, 2012 11:41 AM CDT

Romney Tax Plan 'Mathematically Impossible'

Non-partisan analysis says numbers don't add up

(Newser) - Mitt Romney has said that he has an economic plan and he's "not afraid to put it on the table." But the truth is that "the only thing he has put on table is dessert," writes Ezra Klein on Bloomberg . Romney says he'll cut...

Wealthy in Our Lifetime? Americans Say 'No Way'

Nearly half reject the notion of getting rich: poll

(Newser) - A new poll about taxes has stumbled on a sad fact: 47% of American voters say they'll never get rich, and only 37% say they could. After that, The Hill 's survey of 1,000 likely voters found that 47% support President Obama's plan to extend the...

Obama Fires Volley in War Over Taxes

Mitt Romney's rep calls it a 'dishonest attack'

(Newser) - President Obama publicly made his case today for extending middle-class tax cuts and scorned Mitt Romney's tax plans for targeting the middle class, Politico reports. "We don't need a president who's going to give himself a tax break, we need a president who's going to...

Poor Spend 9% of Income on Lottery Tickets

Mega Millions jackpot inspires experts to take a closer look

(Newser) - The Mega Millions jackpot has inspired much media babble about lottery winners, losers, and what to do if you actually win . But how about the effect of lotteries on the poor? Apparently, it's a killer "hidden tax"—because households banking less than $13,000 a year spend...

Tax Policy Center: Rick Perry Flat Tax Plan Would Cost Feds $1T
 Perry Tax Plan 
 Would Cost Feds 
 $1T: Study 
in case you missed it
Nov 5, 2011 11:09 AM CDT

Perry Tax Plan Would Cost Feds $1T: Study

Plan 'redistributing income to top end,' says think tank

(Newser) - Under Rick Perry's flat tax plan , the rich will get richer, the federal government will get poorer, and the poor will stay pretty much where they are, according to the non-partisan Tax Policy Center. The center's study predicts that Perry's plan would cut government revenue by some...

New GOP Budget Would Cut $4T

Plan would drastically slash Medicare

(Newser) - In an attempt to reframe the budget debate, Republicans are proposing a 2012 budget that features $4 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade—and would end Medicare as we know it, reports the Wall Street Journal . Democrats won’t likely support the 2012 plan, helmed by House Budget...

Tax the Rich. It Won't Hurt (Them, or the Economy)
 Tax the Rich. It Won't Hurt 
 (Them, or the Economy) 
Eliot Spitzer
Feb 24, 2010 10:51 AM CST

Tax the Rich. It Won't Hurt (Them, or the Economy)

Marginal tax rates have nothing to do with GDP

(Newser) - Why doesn’t anyone argue for increased taxes on the rich anymore? Only a generation ago, American politicians had no problem calling for high marginal tax rates, but no one’s had the nerve to do it since Ronald Reagan argued that they penalized the rich for working hard—which...

Not-So-Green Seattle Voters Reject Grocery Bag Tax

(Newser) - The $1.4 million the plastics industry spent to defeat a grocery bag tax initiative paid off yesterday when Seattle voters defied their green reputation to reject the tax, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. The measure would have charged shoppers 20 cents per plastic or paper bag as an incentive to...

Time May Be Right to Talk Raising Taxes

In poll, less than half of Americans say they pay too much

(Newser) - If the administration must raise taxes, now could be its big chance, NPR reports. Only 46% of Americans in a recent Gallup poll said their taxes were too high—the smallest fraction since 1961. “Americans, relatively speaking, are more satisfied with the amount of taxes they pay than they...

'Nerd' Ron Paul Was Right After All
 'Nerd' Ron Paul 
 Was Right 
 After All 
opinion
Jun 19, 2009 7:23 PM CDT

'Nerd' Ron Paul Was Right After All

(Newser) - Boy, the winter of 2007-2008 seems like a lifetime ago. Back then, Ron Paul was "the class nerd" at Republican primary debates, eliciting eye-rolls and laughter with seemingly bizarre opinions. Now, Paul's "rants about the Federal Reserve, monetary policy and the devaluation of the dollar" are the...

Livid Wall Streeters See Themselves as Victims

(Newser) - Main Street doesn’t hold a monopoly on victimhood, Gabriel Sherman writes in New York. From AIG execs and their disappearing bonuses to Wall Street bankers who get dirty looks, the once-privileged feel like they’re shouldering too much blame. “It is difficult to sympathize with these people,”...

Madoff, Stanford Victims Can Get Break From IRS

Taxpayers may deduct up to 95% of Ponzi losses: commissioner

(Newser) - Victims of Ponzi schemes—including those perpetrated by Bernard Madoff and R. Allen Stanford—can claim big deductions on their taxes, the IRA commissioner told lawmakers today. The matter, unclear in the tax code, had been a concern for victims, the New York Times reports. The IRS “is issuing...

McCain's Final Strokes Paint Obama With Lefty Brush

Democrat's tax plans amount to 'welfare,' Republican charges

(Newser) - John McCain criticized Barack Obama’s economic plans yesterday as the Republican focuses on portraying his opponent as a tax-and-spend liberal with a socialist vision for America, the Los Angeles Times reports. McCain had hoped to iconic plumber Joe on his tour of central Florida, but Joe Wurzelbacher refused. Instead,...

With Economy Uncertain, So Is Obama's Plan
With Economy Uncertain, So Is Obama's Plan
ANALYSIS
Aug 26, 2008 1:55 PM CDT

With Economy Uncertain, So Is Obama's Plan

Presidential hopeful's top priorities would cost hundreds of billions

(Newser) - Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama promises change, but if he’s elected in the current uncertain economy, those changes may come later rather than sooner, the Wall Street Journal reports. Obama’s big economic priorities–government-sponsored health care for millions, greenhouse-gas reductions, and tax increases—leave the government with...

Candidates Differ Most Widely on Wealthy
Candidates Differ Most
Widely on Wealthy
ANALYSIS
Aug 21, 2008 3:58 PM CDT

Candidates Differ Most Widely on Wealthy

McCain says tax cuts for wealthy will fuel economy; Obama sees taxing as means to an end

(Newser) - John McCain and Barack Obama both target the very wealthy in plans to overhaul the tax code, to the opposite effect: Obama would raise their taxes and McCain would cut them. It's the most profound difference in their dueling proposals to stimulate the economy, the Los Angeles Times notes in...

McCain Outlines More Specific Fiscal Stance

Candidate looks to cut taxes, project fiscal responsibility

(Newser) - How would John McCain run the economy, really? In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the candidate tried to answer that question, positioning himself as a fiscally responsible defender of the Bush tax cuts. But the candidate’s tax proposals don’t quite add up, the Journal notes, and...

19 Stories