Taxation

Taking a Strap to Congress on Tax Reform and Obamacare Repeal Part 2

Sep 132017

President Trump had been on a roadshow to promote tax reform, including visiting the home states of vulnerable democrat senators. The democrats predictably tried to close ranks.

Consistent with his immigration policies, his tax policies are also polling well:

Seventy-two percent of voters say the tax code is archaic and another 71 percent say they want lower taxes for middle-class American families, according to a survey from America First Policies.

These individuals said they thought the tax code should be streamlined to make navigating taxes easier to understand. Voters who said they wanted lower taxes believe the middle class can get ahead more when they can save for things they need like clothing, medicine, and school supplies instead of paying more to the federal government.

Sixty-one percent of voters are dissatisfied with the current system and 68 percent of voters said they wished the tax code were simplified so much that they could file on a single piece of paper.

This leads us to the Trump tweets embedded in both of these posts. He has been lighting up the US Senate leadership as nearly 300 bills are stalled and stagnated in the Senate awaiting consideration.

Then President Trump did the unthinkable. He cut a deal with the democrats on the budget debt limit.

Then former Speaker Newt Gingrich weighed in on the deal that President Trump cut:

Sure. I think you set up two good questions. Would I feel a bit irritated if I was Speaker Ryan? Yes. Would I cut the deal if I were President Trump? Yes. Both are true.

I think Trump saw a situation with everything he just saw in Houston, now looking at what’s coming in Florida, and I think his feeling was, we’ve gotta get some movement in Washington. “We spent eight months and we didn’t get big things done. I’m gonna cut a deal with somebody, I’m gonna get something done this week. I’m gonna get the money to Houston, and to do that I’ve got to get the debt ceiling taken care of,” and he cut a 90-day deal. … I don’t think this is some gigantic earthquake. …

So what should we look forward to on legislation? Since Republican Leaders can not deliver the votes to pass bills, there is this:

President Trump’s breathtaking deal struck with Democratic leaders to fund the government through early December, increase government borrowing and speed relief money to the victims of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma has upended the narrative in Washington.

His own party was left reeling, while Democrats face a new world where they have been enticed to work with the man they spent the past eight months vowing to resist, labeled a racist and introduced articles of impeachment against.

The White House says it expects more such deals going forward, including a possible agreement on immigration. Mr. Trump said he is eager to legalize Dreamers and is working with “Chuck and Nancy” — Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat.

“This is where the Trump presidency begins,” said Michael McKenna, a Republican Party strategist. “We’re going to see this again on health care, on tax reform, on infrastructure, on anything you want to name. Trump is now going to go to Schumer.”

I do also take note that two of the biggest losers in Congress (on the R side) Charlie Dent and Dave Reichert, both of whom opposed the Obamacare repeal, and de-funding planned parenthood, are retiring rather than face re-election and the wrath of the Trump movement. It is clear that the President is having to deal with both political parties in order to advance his agenda.

The GOP’s Suicide Pact – the Debt Ceiling “Deal”

Federal Spending, GOP Leadership, Taxation, Tea Party Comments Off

Aug 102011

Update: The Dow dove 521 points today – the 3rd time in the last five days that the market has lost 500+ points. Thanks to Washington D.C. we can all grab our ankles now – this is the debt deal rally.

He’s baaaaaack.

I remember watching the 2007, 2008 budget debates in California as the Republicans were self congratulating over passing a train-wreck budget because it didn’t raise taxes.

Then there was the Debt Ceiling Deal recently passed at the Federal Level – it is a deal that Jerry Brown would love. No spending cuts, lots of smoke and mirrors and was rewarded by Standard and Poors with an unprecedented downgrade of the USA’s credit rating.

What was the response from the Left? Arrest the leaders of S&P, it’s all Bush’s fault! What was the response from the Right? See – we didn’t raise taxes – you should love us for this.

Like someone with battered woman syndrome or Stockholm syndrome – the Republican leadership drinks the Kool-Aid again.

What was the response of real America?

62% believe spending cuts mean slowing the pace of spending. So does S&P and Moody’s who are ready to downgrade the USA again at the end of the year.

But the GOP leadership are still chugging the Kool-Aid.

67% favor spending cuts in all Government Programs. Not the GOP leadership.

Only three members of California’s Republican delegation agreed with 67% of America.

Yet the idiots in the media and in the halls of Government are acting like S&P and Moody’s are the bad guys – heck S&P and Moody’s were the nimrods that climbed in bed with the Obama bailouts and his government takeovers of several large US companies. Moody’s rated Lehman Brothers 4 stars the day before they collapsed.

If S&P, Moody’s and America can figure it out – why can’t the GOP leadership? If S&P and Moody’s all the sudden have recovered their integrity and 67% of America says cut spending – meaning a substantial number of Obama’s voters from 2008 are saying this too, it really does suggest that the GOP leadership are intent on snatching defeat from the jaws of victory again.

I close with a quote from Financial Guru Dave Ramsey:

“If the US Government was a family, they would be making $58,000 a year, spending $75,000 a year, & they’re $327,000 in credit card debt. They are currently proposing REALLY BIG spending cuts to reduce their spending to $72,000 a year. These are the actual proportions of the federal budget & debt, reduced to a level that we can understand.”

From this blogger to GOP leadership – STEP AWAY FROM THE KOOL-AID.

Latest Sacramento Stupidity – Tax the Internet

Big Government, Taxation Comments Off

May 262011

OK, folks – I am not a constitutional scholar, but the interstate commerce clause comes to mind. There are a few bills in the legislature and in the Democrats’ desperation to avoid cutting the ghastly, bloated welfare state – they are scrambling like street junkies to find more money to support their habits.

Solution – let’s shut down every Ebay business in the state. Why? They will be forced to collect taxes and carry a bond (Which is extremely expensive) to indemnify the state that they will do so. Oh, and did I forget to mention the punitive fines?

I had a BofE employee drop in on my office about 6 weeks ago to check and see if my INSURANCE AGENCY had a use tax permit! Why? The BofE is obsessed over internet commerce and trying to track down anything they can tax that may have been bought off the internet.

Quoting the Sacramento Bee Capitol Alert – and note the TEACHER’S UNION is in support of this! Surprise! (Remember, it is not about the kids – it is about six figure salaries and union dues for them…)

Elsewhere at the Capitol, Democratic Assembly members Nancy Skinner and Charles Calderon and Sen. Loni Hancock tout measures they say will level the playing field for California businesses competing with online retailers such as Amazon.com.

The lawmakers will be joined by Bill Dombrowski, president and CEO of the California Retailers Association; Dean Murakami, president of the Los Rios Community College Federation of Teachers; and others at the news conference, which starts at 11:30 a.m. on the Capitol’s south steps.

Skinner’s Assembly Bill 153 and Calderon’s Assembly Bill 155 may come up for a vote Thursday in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Hancock’s Senate Bill 234 passed the Senate 22-17 on May 5 and is now before the Assembly.

Here is the sinister thing – Hancock’s bill passed the State Senate. It is so bad that two of her fellow Dems voted against it. Hancock’s garbage is far less discussed than the Skinner bill… The hope of the Dems is that everyone is focused on the Skinner Bill and that Hancock’s slips through.

Even Better – Hancock tried to write her Internet Tax is such a way as to get around state law. (We’ve already seen Prop 25 circumvented – too bad California, you couldn’t get even with them even when you try…)

Bottom line – Brown will sign an internet tax and the tax will be enjoined, then tossed out by the court. Again, the Democrats kick the can down the street another couple years and the GOP continue to fight over their shrinking slice of the California Pie.

But – the police state is here to stay, if your a business like me… the BofE is watching you.

You can do something about this – never vote for a Democrat again.

P.S. The California Retailers Association apparently is a joke – they shill for left-wing Communists and have done so for years. Don’t let their name fool you.

Stupidity 101 – California’s Attempt to Tax the Internet

Taxation Comments Off

Aug 272010

Now, because Arnold Schwarzenegger is such a disaster of a governor, no one knows if he will sign this or veto it.

What am I talking about? Taxing the internet – specifically ads purchased on California based websites. (like this one)

But – it gets worse. The idea is an out-of-state company buys an ad on a California based website and that becomes a “Nexus” – meaning everthing that out-of-state company sells in California is now taxable. Nice, huh.

Rhode Island, North Carolina and New York passed such a law – so guess what, businesses closed their affiliates within that state causing job losses and <<POOF>> no new revenue for the tax and spend liberals.

Commentaries are springing up about this in some unlikely places.

Capitol Weekly

And people go in droves to affiliate websites. Affiliate marketers in California earned $1.6 billion in 2009, and they paid $124.5 million in California state income tax. For that same period, the advertising industry declined 18 percent but advertising through online affiliates rose 1 percent It is a small business success story in one of our worst economic downturns.

If the affiliate nexus tax is passed, out-of-state retailers will make the easy decision to terminate their California affiliates, devastating the incomes of 25,000 small businesses who rely on their advertising dollars. But those out-of-state retailers will still reach California consumers by advertising on affiliate sites located in different states. And those out-of-state retailers still won’t be collecting sales tax on those purchases. The state will gain zero new sales tax revenue.

San Diego Union-Tribune

Together, California affiliates generated about $123 million in income tax last year. The Amazon tax would generate about $48 million; however, it would also starve California affiliates to death, eliminating any income and taxes on that income that they would pay to the state. That would be another $75 million deficit putting us deeper into the red.

While the Legislature’s goal of finding ways to forestall additional cuts to essential state service is laudable, this just isn’t the way to do it. Rhode Island learned this lesson the hard way and is currently working to repeal a similar law because it simply did not generate the revenue proponents had hoped for. The last thing California needs now is less revenue for public safety and education, not to mention an additional 25,000 people on our unemployment rolls.

The second commentary is definately from a liberal who still is having a hard-time grasping SPENDING CUTS and CUTTING GOVERNMENT – but when liberal commentators are speaking out against taxes, it is amazing.

WOW! A new day, a new plan for the Democrats to Tax You!

California State Budget, Taxation Comments Off

Aug 232010

Am I talking about Obama?

Nope. AM I talking about Democrats? Yes, and some Republicans – including compromised Senator Roy Ashburn.

They want to tax the internet. You buy something on Amazon – they want to rip off state sales tax. You run a website – like this one – and you sell ads – they want to tax it.

Arnold says he will veto this tax. Really? I’ll believe that when I see it.

Big Government Covered this legislative brilliance:

Other opponents meanwhile are speaking out against the proposal, noting that California is unlikely to in fact collect additional tax revenue, should the plan move forward. In North Carolina, where such legislation was recently instituted, opponents say online retailers stopped advertising with in-state marketing affiliates, such as blogs and websites, rather than collecting and remitting the tax. That example has marketing affiliates themselves arguing that were this tax increase pushed through, not only would it damage their businesses, but it would actually have a negative, as opposed to neutral or positive, impact on the state budget.

Remember how businesses are bailing out to the Nevada and Arizona Desert?

And some more coverage popped up today. This internet tax may not even be constitutional. (Since when has THAT deterred the Democrats)…

Heaven forbid we cut spending – then the walruses from the Unions might get upset.