“Tax reform” on The Daily Caller

While much attention has been turned to Newt Gingrich’s catastrophically mistaken attack on Mitt Romney’s work at Bain Capital, a potentially much more significant development occurred in the New Hampshire debate Saturday night. For the first time, Mitt Romney embraced a bold tax reform plan. (more)

During a hearing before the House Committee on Small Business, small business owners had clear advice for the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction — the so-called Super Committee — as it meets to consider budget fixes. They want lower taxes and consistent tax policy. (more)

Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio says he hasn’t formulated an opinion on Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain’s “9-9-9” tax reform plan, but praised the Georgia businessman for stepping up and offering a specific proposal to reform the tax system. (more)

Republican staffers tell The Daily Caller that new tax cuts and regulatory reforms aimed at jumpstarting the economy will be on the agenda in the House of Representatives when it returns from recess after Labor Day. (more)

Live Like A Canadian! Did the home mortgage interest deduction help cause the prolonged housing bust?  They’ve got neither in Canada, which is suggestive. …  Another reason to end the most un-endable deduction as part of a rate-lowering tax reform.  (And it’s relatively easy to do. You could even compromise at allowing 80% of the deduction this year, with it losing 5% or so each year. Easier, anyway, than winding down Fannie Mae, which is another issue discussed in the linked piece.) … [via Newsalert] (more)

For decades, Democrats have insisted on taxing profits generated by U.S. companies in foreign countries, because they think that doing so will force businesses to keep their investments in the U.S. (more)

Did the big March jobs report put President Obama back on the road to reelection? If so, he can thank the GOP, whose tax cuts saved him from himself. (more)

Over the past couple of years, the federal government has spent well north of $1 trillion in a failed effort to stimulate the economy and create jobs. President Obama assured us that, if we spent all that borrowed and printed money, the unemployment rate would remain below 8% or so. (more)

It has become clear that this Congress is not going to be one that passes fundamental tax reform. Anything that would pass the Democrat Senate or be acceptable to President Obama would be a net tax increase, and that is unacceptable to the House of Representatives and their 237 Taxpayer Protection Pledge signers. Attempts thus far at tax reform — the Simpson-Bowles commission and “Gang of Six” efforts come to mind — have been tax increases disguised as rate-cutting tax reform. Nevertheless, that does not mean that a significant opportunity isn’t there on an aspect of fundamental tax reform — namely, doing another round of low-tax repatriation of foreign corporate profits. (more)

Last night President Obama gave a perfectly fine speech. He certainly looked, sounded and seemed presidential. So he may well get a significant bump in the polls, as some analysts predict. (more)

In last week’s commentary I announced the formation of my presidential exploratory committee. The majority of the responses I have received have been very positive and encouraging, and the responses to the common-sense solutions I have discussed at dozens of town-hall-style meetings have been outstanding. (more)

As if Illinois weren’t already steadily chasing businesses and citizens away with policies of economic destruction, Illinois lawmakers are poised to raise taxes by as much as 75%, effectively wiping out the benefits of Obama’s recent extension of the Bush tax cuts for citizens of his home state. What’s more, Chicago machine boss and Democrat House Speaker Michael Madigan is pushing a faux TABOR (Taxpayer Bill of Rights) to give his members and on-the-fence Republicans cover to pass this job-killing, prosperity-stifling plan. My colleague Kristina Rasmussen was lined up to testify against this bill at a hearing this past week but the only testimony allowed was by the Speaker himself. I suppose it was a hearing in a way — Illinois lawmakers heard marching orders from the powerful Speaker. (more)

For the first time, the president listened to the majority of the people and was willing to extend the existing tax rates for everyone. Many people do not like the backdoor welfare that he attached to the so-called deal that Congress is now considering, nor did we like extending unemployment benefits for another 13 months without identifying the off-sets in spending. (more)

My apologies for combining a common phrase from Presidents Obama and Nixon. You rarely see that done, for good reason. (more)

Finally, President Obama said something I can agree with: that Americans do have differences of opinion, that not everyone agrees with him and the Democrats, and that compromise is part of our political system. So in the interest of compromise and deficit reduction, I note that conservatives can certainly throw some new tax proposals on the table in order to throw some Americans under the bus who richly deserve it. Normally we cringe when the usual assortment of “progressive” senators bitch and moan about why the “rich” aren’t paying taxes at a higher marginal rate. We instead favor a flatter tax code and don’t wish to punish success. However, we are willing to make an exception. (more)

Unemployment jumped to 9.8 percent in a very disappointing November jobs report. Nonfarm payrolls increased by only 39,000 and private jobs expanded by just 50,000. This is way below what the economy needs. Most discouraging, the smaller-business household employment number fell for the second time in a row, down 173,000 in November after a 330,000 drop in October. This is the nineteenth straight month with unemployment above 9 percent. (more)

If you need proof that being wealthy does not mean that you necessarily understand economics and public policy, consider a letter to President Barack Obama signed by a group of rich folks urging him to hike their taxes. (more)

Three of the “Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength,” a group of 90 plus millionaires who signed a letter to President Obama asking him to allow the tax cuts on people with an income of $1 million or more each year to expire, say that despite their call to raise taxes, they will not pay the government more than they are required to, nor will they cut the government a personal check. (more)

(CNN) – One of the top Republicans in the House wants to overhaul the country’s tax code and implement a flat tax. (more)

As the lame-duck session of Congress starts to heat up, debates will rage over which tax cuts and credits to keep, which laws to try to ram through and how best to slap unethical members of Congress on the wrist so as to not really impose anything resembling punishment while appearing to not tolerate corruption. It’s a full plate. (more)