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As Romney Releases Tax Returns, Fmr Senate Investigator Says: We've Got To Start Taxing Corporations

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Jan. 24 (Interview) - tax evasion could seriously cripple the already struggling economy. Blum appears in "We’re Not Broke," a documentary that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The film examines widespread corporate tax evasion in the United States and the increasing role of offshore tax havens. "Has [Romney] cheated? No," Blum says. "What he’s done is take full advantage of a system that has been structured the way it is because of political influence and a tremendous amount of lobbying money on Capitol Hill...

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Nobody Understands Debt

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

readersupportednews.org - By Paul Krugman - Jan. 02 (News Analysis) - 'In 2011, as in 2010, America was in a technical recovery but continued to suffer from disastrously high unemployment. And through most of 2011, as in 2010, almost all the conversation in Washington was about something else: the allegedly urgent issue of reducing the budget deficit. This misplaced focus said a lot about our political culture, in particular about how disconnected Congress is from the suffering of ordinary Americans. But it also revealed something else: when people in D.C. talk about deficits and debt, by and large they have no idea what they're talking about - and the people wh

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After the Deficit Committee, A New Propaganda Push from the War Profiteers

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Robert Greenwald ,Derrick Crowe: - Nov. 29 (News Analysis) - Failure of a special congressional committee to strike a deficit-reduction deal is expected to unleash desperate lobbying by U.S. arms makers to get lawmakers to block $600 billion in automatic cuts. Unfortunately for them, War Costs' new video exposes t

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Theft in progress: Big Ag raids the treasury—with help from Congress

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Grist - By Tom Laskawy. - Nov. 17 (News Analysis) - by Tom Laskawy. If the straight-up taxpayer swindle taking place in the supercommittee isn’t making you angry, you’re probably not paying attention. I’m talking about the attempt by agribusiness and a group of willing farm-state representatives to put billions of taxpayer dollars into the pockets of industrial farmers during the ongoing super committee Farm Bill negotiations. According to The Hill , the moment of truth is upon us: The supercommittee is indeed poised to rewrite the Farm Bill behind closed doors and with no input from reform-minded congresspeople, let alone the public. Many of us have knew this was going on, but the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found some new developments that are nothing short of shocking. EWG reports that the new “shallow loss” subsidy which would protect commodity growers from small price drops via a “taxpayer-paid guarantee of getting no less than 90%[!!] of their income.” This new subsidy is now considered ...

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Super Committee Democrats Offer To Scrap Bush Tax Cut Debate In Exchange For $650 Billion In Revenues

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Sam Stein - Nov. 11 (News Report) - Under their latest proposal to the deficit reduction super committee, Democrats would agree to undertake comprehensive tax reform that included a pledge to avoid letting Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy expire.

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Report: Military Blew $1 Trillion on Weapons Since 9/11

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Mother Jones - By Adam Weinstein - Nov. 02 (Opinion) - A new study suggests that defense hawks are crying crocodile tears over planned cuts to Pentagon spending. Capitol Hill conservatives and Pentagon brass fighting cuts to defense spending have argued that the military is limping off the battlefield

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Senate Democrats offer $3 trillion debt deal

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Lori Montgomery - Oct. 26 (News Report) - Senate Democrats are urging the debt-reduction supercommittee to pursue a far-reaching agreement to slice $3 trillion from the federal budget over the next decade through significant cuts to federal health programs, including Medicare, and as much as $1.3 trillion in new taxes.

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Taxation in the United States

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Wikipedia - Sep. 30 (Special Report) - The United States is a federal republic with autonomous state and local governments. Taxes are imposed in the United States at each of these levels. These include taxes on income, property, sales, imports, payroll, estates and gifts, as well as various fees. Taxes are imposed on net income of individuals and corporations by the federal, most state, and some local governments. Residents are taxed on worldwide income and allowed a credit for foreign taxes. Income subject to tax is determined under tax rules, not accounting principles, and includes almost all income from whatever source. Most business expenses reduce taxable income, though limits apply to a few expenses. Individuals are permitted to reduce taxable income by personal allowances and certain nonbusiness expenses, including home mortgage interest, state and local taxes, charitable contributions, and medical and certain other expenses incurred above certain percentages of income. State rules for determining taxable income often differ from federal rules. Federal tax rates vary from 15% to 35% of taxable income. State and local tax rates vary by jurisdiction, and many are graduated. State taxes are generally treated as a deductible expense for federal tax computation. Certain alternative taxes may apply. Payroll taxes are imposed by the federal and all state governments. These include Social Security and Medicare taxes imposed on both employers and employees, at a combined rate of 15.3% (13.3% for 2011). Social Security tax applies only to the first $106,800 of wages in 2009 through 2011. Employers also must withhold income taxes on wages. An unemployment tax and certain other levies apply.

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Progressivity in United States income tax

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Wikipedia - Sep. 25 (Special Report) - The United States federal income tax is considered to be progressive because rates of tax increase as taxable income increases. In general, the U.S. income tax is progressive, at least with respect to individuals that earn wage income. The lowest earning workers, especially those with dependents, pay no income taxes as a group and actually get a small subsidy from the federal government because of child credits and the Earned Income Tax Credit.[citation needed] "Progressivity" as it pertains to tax is usually defined as meaning that the higher a person's level of income, the higher a tax rate that person pays. In the mid-twentieth century, marginal tax rates (the rate applied to the last bit of income) in the United States and United Kingdom exceeded 90%. As recently as the late 1970s, the top marginal tax rate in the U.S. was 70%. In the words of Piketty and Saez, "... the progressivity of the U.S. federal tax system at the top of the income distribution has declined dramatically since the 1960s".[1] They continue, "... the most dramatic changes in federal tax system progressivity almost always take place within the top 1 percent of income earners, with relatively small changes occurring below the top percentile." Progressivity, then, is a complex topic which does not lend itself to simple analyses. Given the "flattening" of tax burden that occurred in the early 1980s, many commentators note that the general structure of the U.S. tax system has begun to resemble a partial consumption tax regime.[2]

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Contract labor: Pay, benefits often double that of feds

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

federaltimes.com - By Sarah Chacko - Sep. 19 (Investigative Report) - A new study says contractors cost more than federal employees doing the same work oftentimes, far more. The study, released last week by the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), is perhaps the most detailed look yet at the long-argued question.

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Violence Spikes in Iraq as U.S. Considers Ways to Extend Occupation Past December Deadline

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Aug. 19 (News Report) - Today, roughly 46,000 U.S. troops remain in the country, along with more than 64,000 private contractors. This week, as Iraq suffers its deadliest violence of the year, there is increasing speculation that the Obama administration will extend its occupation of the war-ravaged nation. Earlier this month, the Iraqi government authorized talks on whether to approve keeping thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq beyond a withdrawal deadline of December 31.

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Jon Stewart Takes On Fox News' 'Class Warfare' Claims

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Jon Stewart - Aug. 19 (Comedy News) - On Thursday night's "Daily Show" Jon Stewart took a break from speculating about the GOP presidential race and did a lengthy segment on conservative pundits'...

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The Economy Is Doomed Says Charles R. Morris

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 09:01:10 -0700

The Daily Beast - By Charles R. Morris - Aug. 11 (Opinion) - Over the last few days, global markets have been surging and collapsing like a teeny-bopper’s hormones. The Monday swoon was precipitated by the downgrading of the U.S. credit rating by one of the major credit agencies, while the Tuesday resurrection was in reaction to Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke’s promise to keep interest rates near zero in perpetuity if necessary. Neither of those was a real event. Treasury risk premiums fell after the credit action, and American banks and corporations are already sitting on some $3 trillion in cash that they can’t spend. More free money won’t change anything. Gloom descended again on Wednesday, this time because of credit worries in Europe, which is at least a real problem. A deeper reason for the high market anxiety, however, is the sad state of financial governance in both Europe and the United States. The paralyzing standoff between the two major American parties was dramatized by the idiocies of the debt-ceiling debate. President Obama’s Monday speech only added to the nervousness by underscoring how far apart the parties were.

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Fed tells worried stock market it will keep interest rate near zero for 2 years

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Associated Press - Aug. 09 (News Report) - The Federal Reserve guaranteed super-low interest rates for two more years Tuesday - an unprecedented step to arrest the alarming decline of the stock market and the economy. Wall Street roared its approval and finished a wild day with a 429-point gain. The rally was remarkably fast - the Dow Jones industrial average was still down for the day with less than an hour of trading to go - and enough to erase two-thirds of its decline the day before. The Fed set its target for interest rates near zero in 2008 as a response to the financial crisis that fall. Since then, it had said only that rates would stay low for an "extended period." On Tuesday, it guaranteed them until mid-2013.

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How the GOP lost on the debt deal

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Los Angeles Times - By Daniel Markovits - Aug. 03 (Opinion) - The deal reached by Congress eliminates the leverage that would have been created by another imminent default until after the next election, where it will be exercised by new and possibly differently constituted players.

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Debt drama takes political toll on Obama

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Los Angeles Times - By Peter Nicholas - Aug. 03 (News) - Though he succeeded in staving off a historic default, President Obama emerges from the debt talks in a weakened political position with limited influence over a divided Congress.

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After Months of Partisan Wrangling, Wall Street & Pentagon Emerge Victorious on Debt Deal

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman, Michael Hudson - Aug. 02 (News Analysis) - The deal includes no new tax revenue from wealthy Americans, provides no additional stimulus for the lagging economy, and will cut more than $2.1 trillion in government spending over 10 years, while extending the borrowing authority of the Treasury Department.

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Moody's confirms U.S. rating at Aaa, outlook negative

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Reuters - By Walter Brandimarte, Daniel Bases - Aug. 02 (Breaking News) - Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday confirmed its Aaa rating of the United States, citing the decision to raise the debt limit, but assigned a negative outlook that could pressure lawmakers to cut the U.S. deficit.

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Gabrielle Giffords returns to Congress for crucial US debt crisis vote

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Damien Pearse - Aug. 02 (News) - Congresswoman shot at rally earlier this year is applauded as Nancy Pelosi calls her the 'personification of courage' Gabrielle Giffords, the congresswoman who was shot in the head earlier this year during a political rally, was applauded by fellow politicians as she made a surprise return to the House of Representatives for the crucial vote. Giffords was hugged and kissed on the House floor, while those in the chamber cheered loudly as voting drew to a close. In a statement released by her office, the Arizona Democrat said: "I have closely followed the debate over our debt ceiling and have been deeply disappointed at what's going on in Washington. I had to be here for this vote. I could not take the chance that my absence could crash our economy." Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic minority leader, said Giffords was the "personification of courage".

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Looking back at trues and falses in debt ceiling debate

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

PolitiFact - By Louis Jacobson - Aug. 01 (News Analysis) - As the debt-ceiling debate slouches towards the finish line, we thought we’d offer readers a collection of links to our recent coverage of the debate.

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Debt Limit Debate Round-Up

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

FactCheck - By Lori Robertson - Jul. 29 (Fact Check) - The last few weeks have been filled with debate, accusations, stalemate and false claims about the debt ceiling and how -- and whether -- it should be raised. As the Aug. 2 default deadline looms, here's a look at the less-than-factual talking points ...

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Richard Wolff: Debt Showdown is "Political Theater" Burdening Society's Most Vulnerable

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Jul. 28 (Interview) - Republicans have agreed to a vote today on a budget plan they say will cut the deficit $917 billion over 10 years. The move sets the stage for showdown against unified Democratic opposition in the Senate and threats of a White House veto. To discuss the debt talks and economic austerity worldwide, we're joined by Richard Wolff, Emeritus Professor of Economics at University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and author of several books including, "Capitalism Hits the Fan: The Global Economic Meltdown and What to Do About It." "Politics in the U.S. have become as dysfunctional as our economic situation," Wolff says. "It seems almost like the Obama administration is seeking this [August 2] deadline to start moving in the more centrist direction economically that it has wanted ... but has been absent the type of crisis that would be able to convince the American public it needs to do [it]."

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Obvious compromise between Reid and Boehner debt plans

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Ezra Klein - Jul. 26 (Opinion) - When it comes to cutting the national deficit, the plans proposed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker John Boehner are much more similar than they are different. It’s on the issue of raising the debt ceiling that the consensus cracks.

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The Bush Deficit

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

New Republic - By Jonathan Cohn - Jul. 26 (Special Report) - 'Critics of President Obama never tire of blaming him for today's high deficits. But if blame belongs with one president, it belongs with Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush. The chart in this article, which the New York Times created based upon figures from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, illustrates this point very clearly. But it's worth reviewing the history here, because while it's familiar to most of us who follow politics it doesn't seem to get a lot of attention in the political debate.' Jonathan Cohn, The New Republic

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Smash the Ceiling

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - By James Surowiecki - Jul. 26 (Opinion) - 'The truth is that the United States doesn't need, and shouldn't have, a debt ceiling. Every other democratic country, with the exception of Denmark, does fine without one. There's no debt limit in the Constitution. And, if Congress really wants to hold down government debt, it already has a way to do so that doesn't risk economic chaos - namely, the annual budgeting process.' James Surowiecki, The New Yorker

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