October 20, 2008 12:34 PM | Permalink | The Effects of the Candidates’ Tax Plans on Households at Different Income Levels: ExamplesJohn McCain and Barack Obama both unveiled plans last week to deal with the economic crisis, and both include new tax cuts in addition to those spelled out in their tax plans. Read the […]
October 16, 2008 12:37 PM | Permalink | One of the most passionate, and most confused, debates taking place during this election season is the debate over federal tax policy. Both presidential candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain, are proposing large tax cuts that would reduce federal revenues that are needed to fully fund public […]
October 16, 2008 12:35 PM | Permalink | During a campaign stop earlier this week, presidential candidate Barack Obama answered a question about taxes put to him by Joe Wurzelbacher, an Ohio plumber who hopes to buy the business that he currently works for. Senator Obama has proposed to allow the Bush income tax cuts […]
October 15, 2008 12:39 PM | Permalink | Americans are in no mood to subsidize the well-off or Wall Street. Presidential candidate John McCain has proposed expanding a massive tax loophole that does both. The tax loophole for capital gains subsidizes people whose income comes from investments rather than wages, as well as the Wall […]
October 1, 2008 02:47 PM | Permalink | Americans are in no mood to subsidize Wall Street. This became clear Monday, when the House of Representatives rejected the financial rescue plan that was supported by leaders from both parties as well as the President. Reasonable people can differ on whether the government should step in […]
September 12, 2008 12:41 PM | Permalink | Presidential candidate John McCain’s campaign is running ads that say Senator Obama proposes “painful tax increases on working American families.” Senator McCain lately has been telling Americans that “Senator Obama will raise your taxes.” These statements show either a proud ignorance or a willful dishonesty. Citizens for […]
July 31, 2008 02:51 PM | Permalink | A recent Wall Street Journal editorial1 touts new figures from the IRS2 as evidence that the rich are actually paying a higher share of federal taxes under President Bush and that the tax code has, therefore, become more progressive over the past eight years. The Journal uses […]
July 18, 2008 12:45 PM | Permalink | Carly Fiorina, a surrogate for the presidential campaign of Senator John McCain, recently said that under the tax plan of McCain’s opponent, Senator Barack Obama, “23 million small businesses will see their taxes raised” because “23 million small businesses file their income tax as individuals.” Senator Obama […]
July 7, 2008 03:58 PM | Permalink | Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama has proposed increasing the Social Security payroll tax on wealthy Americans to enhance the program’s solvency for years to come. While several commentators and politicians have suggested that this would burden the middle-class, only around 1 percent of taxpayers would actually be […]
July 7, 2008 02:16 PM | Permalink | Representative Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee, introduced legislation on May 21 that would cut Social Security benefits and create private accounts, end Medicare as it is currently structured, dramatically reduce the revenues available to fund federal public services, and radically reduce […]
July 2, 2008 01:43 PM | Permalink | In the past month, lawmakers beholden to the oil industry blocked consideration of a bill (S. 3044) that would shift tax subsidies away from oil and gas companies to alternative energy investments. This legislation also included a windfall profits tax on oil companies. If Congress wants to […]
June 20, 2008 12:32 PM | Permalink | The House Ways and Means Committee approved a bill (H.R. 6275) this week that would temporarily prevent the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) from expanding its reach to families who are mostly well-off, but not as wealthy as those the tax was originally intended to target. Almost all […]
May 23, 2008 02:02 PM | Permalink | The White House has indicated that the President would likely veto a bill, recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, that would cut taxes by $54 billion because it includes revenue-raising provisions to offset the costs. The bill (H.R. 6049) was approved by the House on […]
May 15, 2008 02:30 PM | Permalink | The U.S. House of Representatives is expected today to vote on an emergency supplemental spending bill to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, to improve veterans’ education benefits and to extend unemployment insurance benefits to get jobless Americans through difficult times. The veterans’ provisions would improve […]
May 13, 2008 02:53 PM | Permalink | Presidential candidates, reporters and pundits have lately perpetuated two myths about tax cuts for capital gains and dividends. The first myth is that the middle class benefits from these tax cuts for investment income. The second myth is that these tax cuts, particularly the tax cut for […]
April 14, 2008 02:56 PM | Permalink | April 15 will mark the eighth “tax day” during the administration of President George W. Bush. How has tax day changed? The answer for most Americans is: very little. Despite claims made by the President and his supporters, the tax breaks enacted after 2000 provide little benefit […]
April 7, 2008 02:55 PM | Permalink | The Foreclosure Prevention Act introduced in the Senate last week includes several measures that lawmakers argue will address the home mortgage foreclosure crisis and the problems plaguing the home construction industry. Unfortunately, the bill includes tax provisions that are likely to help large corporate homebuilders and yet […]
March 20, 2008 04:02 PM | Permalink | Last week, the House and Senate both passed their own versions of the fiscal year 2009 federal budget resolution. There are some important differences between them that must be worked out by a House-Senate conference committee, which will negotiate a final resolution to be passed by both […]
March 6, 2008 02:02 PM | Permalink | The federal estate tax continues to have no effect on the vast majority of Americans. The most recent figures released from the IRS, combined with data on deaths in each state from the Center for Disease Control, show that less than one percent of deaths result in […]
February 8, 2008 02:05 PM | Permalink | President Bush’s proposed budget plan for fiscal years 2009 through 2013 envisions huge cuts in education, health, environmental and other programs. Most observers believe that such budget cuts are too draconian to ever be implemented. After all, Congress has rejected many of them before. However, they should […]
February 4, 2008 02:58 PM | Permalink | The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board is at it again. Their latest riposte in their ongoing duel with mainstream economics is an attempt to cast a normal upswing in a particular type of revenue, which always occurs in an economic cycle, as proof that cutting taxes actually […]
January 30, 2008 03:00 PM | Permalink | During his State of the Union Address on January 28, President Bush claimed that if his tax cuts are not made permanent, families everywhere will lose tax cuts worth an average of $1,800. This statement is highly misleading. In 2010, when all of the Bush tax cuts […]
January 16, 2008 03:02 PM | Permalink | Several Presidential candidates have proposed allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire for wealthy Americans. For Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, “wealthy” means those with income above $250,000, while for former Senator John Edwards, this means those who make more than $200,000. Read the Full Report […]
December 13, 2007 12:40 PM | Permalink | On Wednesday, December 12, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill, H.R. 4351, that would extend the exemptions that keep the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) from affecting most Americans and would replace the $53 billion in revenue that the AMT would otherwise collect. The revenue would […]
December 12, 2007 12:46 PM | Permalink | Letter from House Members to Leadership Demanding AMT Relief Cost be Offset, Citing CTJ Figures Read the Letter Want even more CTJ? Check us out on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, and Youtube!