The lazy politician looks at deficits and screams, “soak the rich!”  But as CBO’s latest analysis of federal average tax rates shows, they are already paying a highly disproportionate share of taxes. The graphs above show that the highest earners are already paying considerably more in taxes than their share of total income due primary […]

Dan Mitchell recently appeared on MSNBC to explain why we should not be surprised to learn that more than $9 million dollars in home buyer tax credits were given to prison inmates who were clearly not new home owners.  This kind of waste is to be expected when Congress writes a 70,000+ page tax code […]

Shakespeare would likely describe the latest major legislation winding its way through Congress as a piece of legislation crafted by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.  Rather than address the systemic distortions created by prior government policies, and which caused the financial meltdown, policy makers are now “[putting] a lot of faith in […]

Campaigning in Wisconsin, Vice President Biden met his match in a local small business owner. It doesn’t have quite the snappy ring of “Joe the Plumber,” but it will do. Earlier today Joe Biden was in Wisconsin, trying to help Russ Feingold salvage his Senate run, and he stopped at a frozen custard stand. When […]

As if the residents of the Gulf Coast haven’t had it hard enough, the IRS is moving in to make sure they get their cut of any payouts from BP.  These government bureaucrats even have the chutzpah to pretend that their actions are benevolent and beneficial on the grounds that they are helping taxpayers understand […]

DeMint’s amendment to prevent the current rate on capital gains and dividends from increasing to 20 percent at the end of the year fell well short on Wednesday.  The only party defectors in the 40-57 defeat of the amendment were Democrat Ben Nelson, who supported the measure, and Republican George Voinovich, who opposed.  In a  […]

In today’s political climate of big government, big spending and big taxes, it’s important to recognize when someone in Congress stands up and gets it right.  Senator Jim DeMint did just that recently when he proposed an amendment, to the current tax extenders bill being debated, that would permanently extend the Bush tax cuts on […]

UK Chancellor George Osborne is expected to include a sharp increase in Britain’s capital gains tax when he unveils the emergency budget on Tuesday.  Preparing for this, British citizens are acting to take advantage of the lower rates while they still can: A string of share deals worth nearly £400m were disclosed yesterday as company […]

New Jersey’s $10.7 billion budget deficit is the second highest among all U.S. states.  With New Jersey already facing one of the worst economic outlooks in the country according to ALEC’s “Rich States, Poor States,” newly elected Governor Christie has promised not to raise taxes.  He’s already once vetoed a new tax on millionaires passed […]