President Barack Obama plans to name a task force to review and overhaul the U.S. tax code, a spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget said today.
Obama will ask the Economic Recovery Advisory Board, led by former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker, for a top- to-bottom review of the 96-year-old law in an effort to "rebalance the federal tax code," spokesman Tom Gavin said in an interview. That makes me feel good after the way he handled that UN Oil for Food scandal.
"The goal is a tax system that works better for the American people," Gavin said. "The president's going to ask the board that they find ways to simplify the tax code, protect progressivity in the revenue base, close tax loopholes and find ways to reduce tax evasion and that they reduce corporate welfare."
Austan Goolsbee, the president's senior economic adviser, will be named staff director of the tax-review panel. Members of the panel will include Harvard's Martin Feldstein, former chief economic adviser to President Ronald Reagan; Laura D'Andrea Tyson, professor of economics at the University of California at Berkeley and former economic adviser to President Bill Clinton; Roger Ferguson, chief executive of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association and former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve; and William Donaldson, former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Martin Feldstein is a token that will be thrown off immediateley - As a member of the board of AIG Financial Products, Feldstein was one of those who had oversight of the division of the international insurer that contributed to the company's crisis in September, 2008.
A date for the formation of the task force hasn't been decided, Gavin said.
Obama plans to ask Volcker, Goolsbee and the panel for a package of recommendations to be on his desk Dec. 4. That would leave enough time for decisions to be made and included as proposals in the White House budget for fiscal 2011, to be submitted to Congress in February 2010.
There will be two restrictions imposed on the tax review task force, Gavin said. There should be no increase in taxes on families earning less than $250,000 per year, and taxes should not be increased in 2009 or 2010, he said.
Continuing the tax cut beyond 2010 "remains a major pillar of the president's budget," Gavin said. The review panel will be charged with consulting "a pretty wide range of tax-policy experts and other public voices" before recommendations are made to the president, Gavin said.
The tax-review plan comes as Obama faces opposition in his own party as he pushes for approval of a $3.6 trillion budget that Republican critics say would pile a mountain of debt on taxpayers for years to come.
The president scheduled a meeting with congressional leaders on Capitol Hill today to persuade them to back his long- range plans for an overhaul of health care, energy programs and education to revive the U.S. economy.
House and Senate lawmakers are struggling to work on the 2010 non-binding spending blueprint amid a worsening deficit. Lawmakers are tentatively scaling back on some domestic programs, including curbing greenhouse gas emissions. Senator Kent Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat who heads the Budget Committee, has drafted a spending plan to generate a smaller deficit than Obama's plan, with next year's shortfall totaling $1.2 trillion. Obama's budget would generate a $1.4 trillion deficit next year, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Conrad's plan deletes an Obama budget proposal that called for $250 billion to aid the banking industry. His plan pledges to reduce the deficit from a forecast $1.7 trillion this year to $508 billion in 2014.
Tax credits, under the "Making Work Pay" program, which lead to $400 tax cuts for most workers and $800 to couples, would expire at the end of 2010.
#4
That will keep potential informed critics busy with a project that will accomplish absolutely nothing, even should the participants actually come to agreement. After all, it is Congress that has the power to tax... or not tax. Therefore it is Congress that would have to vote to change the tax laws, but this Congress is majority Democrat in both houses, the same Democrats that had so happily laden both the Stimulus bill and the budget with so many pet special interest concessions. This one should be followed for its amusement value alone.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With many U.S. newspapers struggling to survive, a Democratic senator on Tuesday introduced a bill to help them by allowing newspaper companies to restructure as nonprofits with a variety of tax breaks.
"This may not be the optimal choice for some major newspapers or corporate media chains but it should be an option for many newspapers that are struggling to stay afloat," said Senator Benjamin Cardin.
A Cardin spokesman said the bill had yet to attract any co-sponsors, but had sparked plenty of interest within the media, which has seen plunging revenues and many journalist layoffs.
Cardin's Newspaper Revitalization Act would allow newspapers to operate as nonprofits for educational purposes under the U.S. tax code, giving them a similar status to public broadcasting companies.
#1
Strangely enough, an alternative perspective from Skidmark...
A fellow I met in asia one day saved me many years later in England. We ran together for 20 years. He grew up in Oregon, in a little smudge of a town south of Tacoma on the river.
He would tell me tales of hot tubbing in the woods (its all woods), racing mudders on the plains, picking hops to sell to Olympia and water skiing on the river they drank from, just downstream from THE PAPER MILL, and how sometimes, most times, his father taped the windows shut to keep out the dead fish/acid fumes smell they learned to live with because the mill was the only local employer.
He died a while back from something he picked up in DSII that compounded his life on that river. Took him 2 years.
The financial crisis is sad. I hope these people rot like he did.
#3
Most of them already have the non profit results down cold. Watch out for tax credits, subsidies, stimulus, or whatever other ways the govt. can transfer cash to them.
#9
Basic tenet of liberalism at work. The conservative view of 'charity' is to give from your own pocket. The liberal view of 'charity' is to tax others to support your giving. Notice no clarion call among the [Name That] party to support their organization's mouthpiece. Nope. Nada. Get the serfs to underwrite them directly or indirectly.
#10
Has anyone noticed that as of 0900hrs EDST, there has been no comments posted on WoT except for the standard GBUSMC and Deacon Blue. But the Seedy's and the Opinions are full of them. Obama, has succeeded in one way to focus our attention away from national security onto financial security. Unfortunately, he is incompetent to handle either.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
03/25/2009 9:05 Comments ||
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#11
Or maybe the Bush strategy worked. Wait till al-Q pulls off it's welcome mission for Bambi. The focus will shift.
#12
U.S. bill seeks to rescue faltering buggy whip manufacturers
2009-03-25
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With many U.S. buggy whip manufacturers struggling to survive, a Democratic senator on Tuesday introduced a bill to help them by allowing buggy whip manufacturers to restructure as nonprofits with a variety of tax breaks.
"This may not be the optimal choice for some major buggy whip manufacturers but it should be an option for many buggy whip manufacturers that are struggling to stay afloat," said Senator Benjamin Cardin.
A Cardin spokesman said the bill had yet to attract any co-sponsors, but had sparked plenty of interest within the buggy whip manufacturing community, which has seen plunging revenues and many whip maker layoffs.
Cardin's buggy whip manufacturers Revitalization Act would allow buggy whip manufacturers to operate as nonprofits under the U.S. tax code.
They pretended to report the news but they were just a pack of hounds all chasing the same ambulance. There was no depth. No investigation. No integrity. There was no objectivity because they were beholden to their advertisers.
Hopefully their death will make room for something more relevant.
#3
I'm sorry but this is beyond pitiful. And this guy claims to have been a law professor at some point?
Future generations are prolly going to retroactively convict all of us for treason for not just electing this idiot, but allowing it to happen. I can't say I'll blame them for it either.
STRASBOURG, France -- A top European Union politician on Wednesday slammed U.S. plans to spend its way out of recession as "a way to hell."
Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, told the European Parliament that President Barack Obama's massive stimulus package and banking bailout "will undermine the stability of the global financial market."
A day after his government collapsed because of a parliamentary vote of no-confidence, Topolanek took the EU presidency on a collision course with Washington over how to deal with the global economic recession. Most European leaders favor tighter financial regulation, while the U.S. has been pushing for larger economic stimulus plans.
Topolanek's comments are the strongest criticism so far from a European leader as the 27-nation bloc bristles from recent U.S. criticism that it is not spending enough to stimulate demand. They also pave the way for a stormy summit next week in London between leaders of the Group of 20 industrialized countries.
The host of the summit, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, praised Obama on Tuesday for his willingness to work with Europe on reforming the global economy in the run-up to the G-20 summit.
The United States plans to spend heavily to try and lift its economy out of recession with a $787 billion economic stimulus plan of tax rebates, health and welfare benefits, as well as extra energy and infrastructure spending.
To encourage banks to lend again, the government will also pump $1 trillion into the financial system by buying up treasury bonds and mortgage securities in an effort to clear some of the "toxic assets" -- devalued and untradeable assets -- from banks' balance sheets.
Topolanek bluntly said that "the United States did not take the right path.".
He slammed the U.S.' widening budget deficit and protectionist trade measures -- such as the "Buy America" -- and said that "all of these steps, these combinations and permanency is the way to hell."
"We need to read the history books and the lessons of history and the biggest success of the (EU) is the refusal to go this way," he said. "Americans will need liquidity to finance all their measures and they will balance this with the sale of their bonds but this will undermine the stability of the global financial market," said Topolanek.
Obama insisted Tuesday that his massive budget proposal is moving the nation down the right path and will help the ailing economy grow again. "This budget is inseparable from this recovery," he said, "because it is what lays the foundation for a secure and lasting prosperity."
Obama also claimed early progress in his aggressive campaign to lead the United States out of its worst economic crisis in 70 years and declared that despite obstacles ahead, the U.S. is "moving in the right direction."
With Congress pushing back against his proposals for energy, taxes and other matters, President Barack Obama is taking a bend-but-don't-break posture. He will compromise on certain details if he must, he signaled at his news conference Tuesday evening, but not on the heart of his key initiatives. How traditional.
His strategic retreats are a nod to political reality. He is angling to avoid confrontations he probably can't win, but to sacrifice no more than is absolutely necessary. This is hope and change? Or hype and dodge?
On energy, for instance, influential Democratic lawmakers have joined Republicans in opposing Obama's bid to reduce greenhouse gases through a program that would let companies buy and sell a limited number of permits to pollute. Bipartisian stupidity.
"When it comes to cap and trade," the president said, using the proposal's nickname, "the broader principle is that we've got to move to a new energy era. And that means moving away from polluting energy sources towards cleaner energy sources." "I think cap and trade is the best way," Obama said, but he stopped well short of insisting on it.
He did not retreat on contentious issues on which he holds the upper hand. Lifting a federal ban on embryonic stem cell research, he said, was the "right thing to do" despite criticisms from various quarters. Asked why he hasn't asked Americans to do more to weather the economic crisis, he said, "I think folks are sacrificing left and right."
Obama was less certain and dismissive on topics in which he faces potentially bruising battles with Congress. For example, he minimized a Senate leader's proposal to end Obama's signature tax cut for most working families after 2010. "When it comes to the middle-class tax cut," the president said, "we know that that's going to be in place for at least the next two years." Big tax increases come after the mid-term elections.
"If Congress has better ideas in terms of how to pay for it, then we're happy to listen," he said.
Obama said the main thrust of his massive budget proposal is moving the nation in the right direction to turn around the ailing economy. "This budget is inseparable from this recovery," he said, "because it is what lays the foundation for a secure and lasting prosperity." Zero questions on Iraq or Afghanistan. He did preselect his questioners, reading from a list at the podium. I guess he can't use a teleprompter at a news conference. The teleprompter was a big LCD screen at the back of the room, safely out of the way of the cameras.
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03/25/2009 06:11 ||
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#1
"When it comes to the middle-class tax cut," the president said, "we know that that's going to be in place for at least the next two years."
Big tax increases come after the mid-term elections.
Not if people wise up and GET RID of these thieving democrats. Notice the lack of "gallows humour" last evening? Barry has obviously experienced a recent rush of blood to his head and realized no one outside the beltway is laughing. Watching smirking Rahm on the sidelines with his index finger positioned virtically over his lips in the signaling position was disgusting. An uninspiring, 58 minute softball game. I was hoping a few people would turn around and watch his script on the big screen. We deserve better, much, much better.
#4
When plans meet the enemy. This is getting to be like watching your five year old trying to catch a baseball for the first time or trying to ride his bike without training wheels. Except there is more at risk here than a scrapped knee or bump on the head.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
03/25/2009 9:08 Comments ||
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#5
At one point during his news conference, responding to a question regarding deficit projections, President Obama lead into his answer with
I'm not going to lie to you
Anyone who has experience in negotiation or interrogation should instantly recognize that tell. Its not dissimilar to a misbehaving child responding to a parents question with To be honest
Democrats are Keeping Madoff Money While Demanding the Return of AIG Bonuses They Voted to Make Legal. You Can't Make This Stuff Up, Folks.
Washington Times reporter and friend of RedState Amanda Carpenter has a front page story in tomorrow's paper on the Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee's (DSCC) refusal to return $100,000.00 in donations made by disgraced and indicted ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff.
The DSCC, led by Democratic New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, received four payments of $25,000.00 from Madoff between 2005 and 2008, with the most recent coming in September of the latter year -- just three months before his $64 billion fraud was exposed.
"We have not returned the money yet," Carpenter reports DSCC communications director Eric Schultz as telling The Washington Times, despite the fact that most "lawmakers quickly purged Madoff cash from their campaign accounts after the news broke in December that Madoff bilked his investors."
The vast majority of that cash -- 88% of it -- was returned by Democrats, who benefited from Madoff's illegal dealings to the tune of $210,000.00 since 1991, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. "The couple donated $238,200 to federal candidates, parties and committees since 1991, and Democrats received 88 percent of those donations," Carpenter writes. "Madoff gave $11,400 to nine Republicans in the same time period."
How ironic is this? A national Democratic campaign committee is holding on to donations tainted by the second-biggest known Ponzi scheme of the modern era (behind only Social Security), while Democratic members of Congress are bouncing off the walls in an effort to recoup bonuses paid to AIG executives that were not only legal, but that were legal only because Democrats voted to make them so, in the face of united Republican opposition.
#10
Just curious. Is this sort of imagery supposed to appeal to anyone aside from Christians? And are Christians really going to support this guy -- despite his outright hostility to everything Christians believe in -- just because of some subliminal, Bammo-is-Jesus photos? Serious, who is the target audience for this crap?
MEXICO CITY - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday that America's "insatiable" demand for illegal drugs and inability to stop weapons smuggling into Mexico are fueling an alarming spike in violence along the U.S.-Mexican border.
Clinton said the United States shares responsibility with Mexico for dealing with the violence. She said the administration will work with Mexican authorities to improve security on both sides of the border. How about we concentrate the majority of our efforts on OUR side?
"Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade," she said. "Our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the deaths of police officers, soldiers and civilians." I guess the Hildebeast could speak with some authority relative to "insatiable desires."
"I feel very strongly we have a co-responsibility," she told reporters accompanying her to Mexico City a day after the administration of President Barack Obama said it would send more money, technology and manpower to secure the United States' southwestern frontier and help Mexico battle the cartels. Southwestern frontier? Quite an interesting term of reference.
So now Hilde thinks we ought to police the border? Anyone tell her friends at La Raza?
Obama himself said Tuesday that he wanted the U.S. to do more to prevent guns and cash from illicit drug sales from flowing across the border into Mexico. "That's part of what's financing their operations. That's part of what's arming them. That's what makes them so dangerous," he told a news conference. "And this is something that we take very seriously and we're going to continue to work on diligently in the months to come."
And do what exactly? How 'diligent' are we going to be? You'd better be able to turn water into wine if you're going to solve the drug problem 'in the months to come' ...
Clinton's remarks, delivered ahead of her arrival in Mexico City, appeared more forceful in recognizing the U.S. share of the blame. Mexican officials have in the past, particularly under the administration of former President George W. Bush, complained that Washington never acknowledged the extent that the U.S. demand for drugs and weapons smuggling played in fueling the violence. Messico good, USA bad, bad, bad.
"These criminals are outgunning the law enforcement officials," Clinton said, referring to guns and military-style equipment such as night vision goggles and body armor that the cartels are smuggling into Mexico from the United States. Of course none of this gear is available in Central or South America.
It's a canard and yet another attempt to set the stage for gun control and registration.
"Clearly, what we have been doing has not worked and it is unfair for our incapacity ... to be creating a situation where people are holding the Mexican government and people responsible," Clinton said. "That's not right."
Aren't they responsible? At least in part? Doesn't the Mexican government have a responsibility to police the border on their side? Don't they have a responsibility to jug the cartel leaders? If we're going to be responsible, well okay, but won't that in the end violate Mexican sovereignty (something they're touchy about on their side of the Rio Grande)?
She said she would repeat her acknowledgment as loudly and as often as needed during her two-day visit to Mexico City and the northern industrial city of Monterrey during which she will brief Mexican officials on the administration's plans for the border and counter-narcotics aid to Mexico.
The administration announced Tuesday that it would increase the number of immigrations and customs agents, drug agents and antigun-trafficking agents operating along the border. It will also send more U.S. officials to work inside Mexico.
How 'bout a fence?
In addition, it will allow federal funds we don't have to be used to pay for local law enforcement involved in southwestern border operations and, at the same time, U.S. prosecutors will boost efforts to go after those smuggling guns and drug profits from the U.S. into Mexico.
The measures fall short of calls from some Southwestern states that troops be deployed to prevent further spillover of the violence, which has surged since Mexican President Felipe Calderon stepped up his government's battle against the cartels. The States and citizens don't know what they need, only Barry and the Hildebeast know.
What this says is that the violence is a symptom: the issue is that Calderon, correctly, is trying to get the cartels under control, and the cartels are responding. Yes, we should help, but it isn't out fault. And it isn't Calderon's.
In her discussions, Clinton plans to stress Obama's commitment and encourage Calderon and his top aides to boost efforts to combat rampant corruption by promoting police and judicial reform, according to senior U.S. officials.
#1
Another run on guns in America by the anti-gunners. Recently, General Wesley Clark was interviewed by Geraldo. The BO administration, contrary to what was said before the election, is virulently anti-2nd Amendment. On the NRA website:
3/23/2009
When General Wesley Clark was recently on Geraldo Rivera's Fox News show, he said that the United States needs to impose a new "assault weapons ban," and said that if Americans want machine guns, they should join the military.
I dont know how many times it has to be said, but the so-called "assault weapons" that Attorney General Holder wants to ban aren't machine guns. They're the same semi-automatic firearms that have been around for more than 100 years. General Clark is deliberately misleading the American people.
Clark also said that the problem we have isn't sealing the border from south to north, but from north to south. The Los Angeles Times recently reported the opposite. The paper says military weapons, including machine guns, anti-tank rockets, RPGs, grenade launchers and grenades are the new weapons of choice for the drug cartels. Sorry, General, but they're not getting that kind of weaponry at a gun show in Arizona.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
President Barack Obama plans to name a task force to review and overhaul the U.S. tax code, a spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget said today. 
