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No April Fools’ Joke, U.S. Now World’s Highest Corporate Taxer

James Pethokoukis

If only it were an April Fools’ Day prank. With Japan officially cutting its corporate tax rate as of today, America now has the highest rate among advanced economies. Even its effective tax rate is way above average despite the likes of General Electric spending billions to game the labyrinthine code. A smarter approach would be to substitute a business consumption tax.

Now the United States might cling to second place if Japan cancels the rate reduction to help pay for the tsunami and earthquake devastation. After factoring in state taxes, America’s top rate of 40 percent would still exceed the average of 26 percent for the rest of the OECD.

Headline rates, of course, are like sticker prices on new cars. The real numbers are lower, thanks in part to the $40 billion companies spend annually to comply with, and often sidestep, the maximum levy. GE, for example, has taken heat for consistently paying less than what the U.S. tax code would imply it should.

But even taking into account the efforts of attorneys and lobbyists, the average effective U.S. rate in 2010 was 29 percent against 21 percent for international counterparts, according to the  American Enterprise Institute. And before the recession, corporate tax revenue as a share of U.S. GDP was at its highest since the 1970s.

Politicians of all stripes have been talking about lowering corporate taxes and eliminating loopholes to pay for a sharp rate reduction.  A sharply lower rate —  Canada’s will be just 15 percent in January 2012 — would boost worker wages, investment, productivity, jobs and growth. Such reforms, though a big improvement, would still leave in place a flawed and unwieldy structure.

Read the rest here.

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Huffington Post Silences Conservatives After Pressure from Van Jones

Lee Stranahan

The Huffington Post is certainly doing a spectacular job of keeping their readers completely in the dark about the entire story of their caving to pressure from the group Color of Change and banning Andrew Breitbart from their front page. This story has been covered by Slate, Mediaite, the New Yorker and a host of conservative sites but there hasn’t been one single word mentioned about it in the Huffington Post, which has an entire section devoted to covering Media. (Paging Jason Linkins.) Not a peep. No stories, articles, statements of clarification.

As far as Arianna and her bosses at AOL are concerned THIS NEVER HAPPENED.

Furthermore, they are now in full hush-up mode to the outside world, too. Huffington Post’s poor flack Mario Ruiz has gone from simply giving nonanswers when pressed to explain this new policy to completely ignoring his emails on the subject.

You think the Arianna Huffington and editor Roy Sekoff don’t know what the reaction of their readers would be if they told them that they both knew Andrew Breibart wasn’t a racist? Do you think they don’t know the reaction of the anyone fair minded if they made it clear that they had ALWAYS known this but still let HuffPo serve as the platform for attack after attack on him?

Read the rest here.

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Shock: More Americans Work for the Government than in Manufacturing, Farming, Fishing, Forestry, Mining and Utilities Combined.

We’ve Become a Nation of Takers, Not Makers

By STEPHEN MOORE

If you want to understand better why so many states—from New York to Wisconsin to California—are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, consider this depressing statistic: Today in America there are nearly twice as many people working for the government (22.5 million) than in all of manufacturing (11.5 million). This is an almost exact reversal of the situation in 1960, when there were 15 million workers in manufacturing and 8.7 million collecting a paycheck from the government.

It gets worse. More Americans work for the government than work in construction, farming, fishing, forestry, manufacturing, mining and utilities combined. We have moved decisively from a nation of makers to a nation of takers. Nearly half of the $2.2 trillion cost of state and local governments is the $1 trillion-a-year tab for pay and benefits of state and local employees. Is it any wonder that so many states and cities cannot pay their bills?

Read the rest here.

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Foreign Banks (including Libya) Tapped Fed’s Secret Lifeline Most at Crisis Peak

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s two-year fight to shield crisis-squeezed banks from the stigma of revealing their public loans protected a lender to local governments in Belgium, a Japanese fishing-cooperative financier and a company part-owned by the Central Bank of Libya.

Read the rest here.

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Bill Gross: Congress’Promises are Skunked Up

“Every two to six years, they dress up in full makeup pretending to … change, vowing to correct what hasn’t been corrected, promising discipline as opposed to profligate overspending and under-taxation, and striving to balance the budget when all others have failed,”

Full Article – CNBC

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Who Benefits from Corporate “Loopholes”?

The results may surprise you.

If nothing else, the statistic that “…only about 8 percent of corporate tax expenditure benefits are targeted to specific industries such as renewable energy, insurance, oil and gas, and coal” is worth adding to your mental quiver, just in case you’re having a discussion about corporate tax loopholes at a party or something.

Read the research here.

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Congressional Report Details AARP’s Financial Gain From Health Care Law

“Washington, DC – Ways and Means Committee Members Wally Herger (R-CA), Dave Reichert (R-WA) and Charles Boustany (R-LA) today released “Behind the Veil: The AARP America Doesn’t Know,”  a new report exposing the conflict between AARP’s drive for profits, the best interests of its members and the organization’s tax exempt status.  The report, which is the culmination of more than a year-long investigation, concludes that AARP stands to make upwards of one billion dollars over the next ten years as a result of the new health care law through the sale of their endorsed-Medicare insurance products.  The Members have now turned over their findings to the IRS to determine if AARP has abused its tax-exempt status, and whether or not that status should be revoked.”

Read the rest here.

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American Terrorist Bill Ayers Admits He Wrote Obama’s Book Dreams

And the media goes wild and rabidly attacks Obama…Right? A terrorist wrote his book?

March 27, 2011

Ayers affirms he wrote Dreams from my Father

Jack Cashill

Last Thursday evening at Montclair State University, with a video camera rolling, Bill Ayers volunteered that yes indeed he had written the acclaimed Barack Obama memoir, Dreams from My Father.

Unprompted, Ayers also noted that while Dreams deserves its praise, Obama’s second opus, Audacity of Hope, is “more of a political hack book.”

Not surprisingly, Ayers retreated into irony as he ended the session. “Yeah, yeah,” he said after confirming again that he wrote Dreams, “And if you help me prove it, I’ll split the royalties with you. Thank you very much.”

With his final comment, the Ayers-friendly audience laughed in relief.  The media will laugh nervously upon seeing the video as well.  The White House will not.

Read the rest and see the video here.

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Cuomo Strikes Tentative Deal on N.Y. Budget With Big Cuts

Well hell, where are all the protesters? Cuomo is is cutting education, health care, and lowering taxes on high-income New Yorkers, and the people aren’t going bonkers in the streets and at the state capitol?

By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE and THOMAS KAPLAN

Published: March 27, 2011

“Culminating weeks of secretive negotiations and intense political jockeying, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and leaders of the Legislature announced on Sunday the outlines of a $132.5 billion budget that would cut state spending, impose no major new taxes and begin a long-term overhaul of the state’s bloated Medicaid programs.

The agreement comes five days before the March 31 budget deadline, offering the prospect of Albany’s first on-time budget in five years, in what Mr. Cuomo and his counterparts in the Legislature said they hoped would signal a new day of responsible budgeting and effective government in a Capitol long criticized for its gridlock and dysfunction. The deal would end a temporary income tax surcharge on high-income New Yorkers, which some have called the “millionaire’s tax” even though it affects incomes starting at $200,000 annually.

Mr. Cuomo’s aggressive and strategic approach to negotiations appeared to have yielded significant victories, including a year-to-year cut of more than $2 billion in spending on health care and education, the two largest drivers of New York’s ever-growing budget. Mr. Cuomo and the Legislature also agreed to create a new Department of Financial Services by merging the existing state banking and insurance agencies, as well as other consolidations.”

Read the rest here.

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Obama’s Unconstitutional War: Bringing US Closer to Imperialism than Bush Ever Did

By unilaterally going to war against Libya, Obama is bringing America closer to the imperial presidency than Bush ever did.

BY BRUCE ACKERMAN | MARCH 24, 2011

“In taking the country into a war with Libya, Barack Obama’s administration is breaking new ground in its construction of an imperial presidency — an executive who increasingly acts independently of Congress at home and abroad. Obtaining a U.N. Security Council resolution has legitimated U.S. bombing raids under international law. But the U.N. Charter is not a substitute for the U.S. Constitution, which gives Congress, not the president, the power “to declare war.”

Read the rest here.

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The Paranoid Style in Liberal Politics: The left’s obsession with the Koch brothers

Apr 4, 2011, Vol. 16, No. 28 • By MATTHEW CONTINETTI

“David Koch’s secretary told him the news. This was in February, during the rowdy standoff between Wisconsin governor Scott Walker and demonstrators backing 14 Democratic legislators who’d fled to Illinois rather than vote on a bill weakening public employee unions. Koch’s secretary said that an editor for a left-wing website, the Buffalo Beast, had telephoned the governor posing as David Koch and recorded the conversation. And Walker had fallen for it! He’d had a 20-minute conversation with this bozo, not once questioning the caller’s identity. But then how could Walker have known? Sure, David Koch was a billionaire whose company had donated to his campaign. But Koch (pronounced “Coke”) had never talked to Walker in his life.

Yet here were the media reporting that he and his brother Charles were behind Walker’s push against public employees. Anger washed over David like a red tide. He’d been victimized by some punk with a political agenda. “It’s really identity theft,” he told me a month later, during an interview at Koch Industries’ headquarters. “And I think it’s extremely dishonest to misrepresent yourself. I think there’s a question of integrity. And the person who would do that has got to be an incredibly dishonest person.” Up until Walker’s showdown with the Democratic state senators, Koch had never seen a photograph of the governor. He didn’t know him at all. But now the protesters occupying the Wisconsin state capitol were calling Walker a “Koch Whore.”

Why? Because the Koch Industries PAC had given $43,000 to Walker’s campaign. That was less than one half of one percent of Walker’s total haul—but still enough for the left to tie Koch Industries to the battle royal in Wisconsin. David found the whole affair disturbing. “One additional thing that really bothered me,” he said, “was that the press attacked me rather than the guy who impersonated me! And I was criticized as someone who’s got a death grip on the governor and his policies. And that I control him—I mean, that’s insane!”

Read the rest here.

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Coming Soon to a City Near You: 500K British Protest Spending Cuts

Do government employees work to support Americans, or do Americans work to support government employees? If this question is not dealt with soon, look for similar protests in a city near you.

“Organisers of a huge protest against the Government’s public spending cuts tonight hailed the demonstration a “fantastic success” after hundreds of thousands of people joined the biggest event of its kind for over 20 years.

Between 400,000 and 500,000 teachers, nurses, firefighters, council and NHS workers, other public sector employees, students, pensioners and campaign groups from across the UK marched through central London to a rally where union officials and Labour leader Ed Miliband condemned the “brutal” cuts in jobs and services.”

Read the rest here.

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The Price of Taxing the Rich

“As Brad Williams walked the halls of the California state capitol in Sacramento on a recent afternoon, he spotted a small crowd of protesters battling state spending cuts. They wore shiny white buttons that said “We Love Jobs!” and argued that looming budget reductions will hurt the Golden State’s working class.

Mr. Williams shook his head. “They’re missing the real problem,” he said.

The working class may be taking a beating from spending cuts used to close a cavernous deficit, Mr. Williams said, but the root of California’s woes is its reliance on taxing the wealthy.”

Read the rest here.

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How Does Your State Compare? Tax Foundation Releases 70th Anniversary Edition of Facts & Figures

“Gives Taxpayers, Lawmakers a Guide to Their States’ Rankings on Vital Tax and Fiscal Measures

Washington, DC, March 1, 2011-Today the Tax Foundation is releasing the 2011 edition of Facts and Figures: How Does Your State Compare?, a pocket-sized guide ranking all 50 states on 32 different measures of taxation and fiscal policy. Topics include individual and corporate income tax rates, business tax climates, state-local tax burdens, and excise tax rates. Facts & Figures is edited by Mark Robyn, staff economist at the Tax Foundation.”

The 2011 edition of Facts & Figures: How Does Your State Compare? is available here.

Read the rest here.

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Oh Big Brother: The Gov’t Wants to Track and Tax Miles Driven

How long before a trip to the 7-11 costs more in taxable miles than a trip to say, a GM dealership?

“The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this week released a report that said taxing people based on how many miles they drive is a possible option for raising new revenues and that these taxes could be used to offset the costs of highway maintenance at a time when federal funds are short.

The report discussed the proposal in great detail, including the development of technology that would allow total vehicle miles traveled (VMT) to be tracked, reported and taxed, as well as the pros and cons of mandating the installation of this technology in all vehicles.”

Read the rest here.

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U.S. Corporate Tax Rate Soon to Be #1

American Businesses Falling Behind while Policy Stands Still

Washington, DC, March 11, 2011-The U.S. corporate tax rate will soon become the highest in the industrialized world, and is already in its 20th year of being above the average for similar economies, according to a new analysis by the Tax Foundation. As other nations enact reforms and rate cuts, the U.S. corporate rate will continue to stand out as a hindrance to economic growth and competitiveness unless lawmakers move to lower the tax burden for businesses.

The combined federal and state rate of 39.2 percent of corporate profits is exceeded only by Japan, whose rate stands at 39.5 percent. When Japan enacts planned cuts next month, however, the United States will have the highest rate of all of the economies in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the group of 34 advanced countries with economies most comparable to the U.S.

“Of course, OECD nations have not been the only countries reducing their corporate tax rates to remain competitive,” said Tax Foundation president and study author Scott A. Hodge. “Since 2006, some 75 nations have cut their rates, many multiple times.”

Read the rest of the article here.

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