“Tax reform” on The Daily Caller

There’s one message from the 2010 elections that many so-called policy makers, political elites and analysts did not hear. Namely, the American people are not as uninformed and stupid as they think we are. (more)

When the Simpson-Bowles Obama Commission “chairman’s mark” came out last week, there were far too many conservatives who were too quick to say nice things about it. Blinded by lower marginal tax rates and some entitlement reforms, they chose to ignore the fact that the plan is a ten-year tax hike of over $1 trillion, and would saddle taxpayers with a taxes-to-GDP ratio of 21 percent, the highest in American history. A week later, the Rivlin-Domenici commission released their report with a $500 billion tax hike. Americans for Tax Reform actually produced our own (balanced) budget plan that cuts spending and cuts taxes in a reasonable way. But it’s worth reflecting on what too many on the Right said about the “higher taxes” plans for almost-balanced budgets. (more)

Couched in the vernacular of equity and transparency, the Obama administration has enacted or proposed policies that divert small businesses’ energy and resources from job creation to bureaucratic compliance. The effect of these policies is to hamstring America’s small businesses through onerous reporting requirements, punitive penalties, and higher taxes. Often touted as the anchor of America’s economy, small businesses have generated 65 percent of the net new jobs created over the past seventeen years. (more)

The biggest issue in the coming lame-duck session (and perhaps the next Congress) is what to do with the 2001 and 2003 tax relief expiring at the end of next month. (more)

It’s been a week since the great electoral tsunami of 2010, and the exit polling is coming in.  This bi-annual ritual allows us to dig into the real thoughts and feelings of voters.  ATR commissioned a poll by Kellyanne Conway’s The Polling Company, inc./Woman Trend to see what voters thought about a value-added tax (VAT).  The results are a stunning rejection of a VAT for America. (more)

In March 2009, President Obama signed an Executive Order creating the White House Council on Women and Girls. At the signing ceremony, he stated that the purpose of the Council was to “ensure that American women and girls are treated fairly in all matters of public policy.” Nineteen months later, his goal has been achieved — women entrepreneurs are just as impacted by his economic policies as male entrepreneurs are. (more)

It’s that time of year again when students head back to the classroom to embark on the joys of learning.  Parents will assume the arduous chore of back-to-school shopping to ensure that their children are well equipped for their learning endeavors.  This task hits Americans’ pocketbooks and wallets hard. (more)

Congressional Democrats’ ineffective economic policies prove that we need to go back to the drawing board to find economic policies that work. The economy and job creation still remain my top priorities, as this month our country has an unyielding 9.5 percent unemployment rate. I have three solutions that will bring us closer to economic recovery. (more)

With momentum growing behind a GOP bill to repeal a new tax-reporting mandate on businesses, Democratic leaders on Thursday offered an alternative. (more)

Contained within the mammoth Obamacare legislation that Pelosi instructed legislators to pass in order to find out was in it later, one finds a seemingly innocuous change in the conditions that require a business to submit a Form 1099 to the IRS. However minor this change may seem, it makes doing business prohibitively expensive, and, worse, it lays the groundwork for a Value-Added-Tax (VAT). (more)

Congressional Democrats don’t always legislate as though they understand human nature. In fact, legislation in theory often deviates from its practical implementation. Senator John Kerry’s recent attempt to avoid the high boat-use tax rates of the Bay State shows that when a legislative body aims to alleviate its fiscal morass by imposing ever-higher tax rates on its people they often only succeed in producing unintended consequences. Those advocating the expiration of the Bush tax cuts should take note. (more)

Jobs are hard to come by. Our economic future is uncertain.  Faced with this situation, President Obama and the Democratic controlled Congress have a proposal for the American people: higher taxes and more government spending.  Unfortunately, the president and Democrats in Congress have been trying this method, and failing, for the last eighteen months.  And it now looks like they will only make matters worse by dramatically raising taxes on all taxpayers in January. (more)

Erskine Bowles, co-chair of President Obama’s fiscal commission, said Wednesday that while he wants most of the government’s budget deficits to be closed by cutting spending, he also thinks a value-added tax is called for. (more)

We all know, liberals and conservatives, that the growth of the U.S. national debt is, to use a favorite word of our time, unsustainable. (more)

This Thursday will mark the beginning of a series of tax increases on the American people in order to pay for Obamacare. Over the next several years, about twenty new or higher taxes will go into effect. Many of these tax increases are well-known. There are the “individual mandate” and “employer mandate” excise taxes. There is the infamous “Cadillac plan” tax. There’s a new surtax on capital gains and dividends. There’s new taxes on health savings accounts (HSAs) and flexible spending accounts (FSAs). The list goes on. (more)

Earlier this month, President Obama announced his desire for a second bailout of state governments to the tune of $50 billion. The president argued that the “emergency package” was necessary to stabilize state budgets and avoid cuts to public employee payrolls. Conservatives rightly rejected the proposal, citing the need for states to operate under the “new normal” – smaller, more efficient government reflective of the fact that overspending in periods of economic growth led to budget growth of unsustainable proportions. Spending cuts, public employee compensation reform, and targeted privatization are the proper methods for bringing state spending in line with reality. Allowing the federal government to artificially prop up state budgets merely kicks the can down the road to the next crisis. (more)

By Rep. Joe Pitts and Rep. Jim Gerlach (more)

There is an “emerging consensus” that we are headed for a value-added tax (VAT) in the United States. But the more optimistic among the experts and pundits believe it won’t come until after the 2012 election and then only if President Obama is reelected. There is no doubt that something will have to be done about the financial crisis and the federal debt—even if ObamaCare is repealed—and many believe the “hidden” VAT is the politically viable solution. Many openly say that the VAT, with its costs hidden in the price of commercial products, is the only way to get the money to pay for ObamaCare. (more)

As someone who has run a manufacturing company, I’ve seen the many stages of production that go into a finished product. I understand how taxing each stage of production will add to the end cost of the product, and how that will kill jobs and increase costs for families, and that’s why I’m opposed to implementing a European-style value-added tax (VAT).
In simple terms, a VAT is an invisible type of national sales tax. Instead of being collected at the cash register, it is imposed on the value added at each stage of the production process. The VAT dramatically adds to the cost of everything from food, clothing to housing. For example, under a 15 percent VAT—the minimum standard amount allowed for members of the European Union—a $3.70 gallon of milk would sell for $4.30; a $2,000 MacBook Pro would cost $2,380. A 15 percent VAT would pump nearly $750 billion into the government’s coffers, taking thousands from every American family and raising production costs for manufacturers. (more)

More than two thirds of Americans oppose the imposition of a Value-Added Tax, according to a new poll released Tuesday which also shows that voters, by a two-to-one margin, think the government needs to rein in its rate of spending. (more)