My View

Random thoughts from a warped and fevered mind...

Who pays the majority of taxes in America? According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), middle class households that earn between $34,300 and $141,900 py 50.5% of all federal taxes. Expand that top level to $352,900, and the percentage is 66.7 of all taxes paid. The top 1% of income earners- those earning more than $352,900- paid 28.1% of the total federal tax collections. Furthermore, the CBO, in a study released this past Thursday, states that federal tax collections have been getting more progressive, with the tax burden getting lighter on lower income households and increasing significantly on upper income households. In their study, the CBO divided the 116.9 million American households into five quintiles: $0-20,500; $20,500-34,300; $34,300-50,000; $50,000-74,700; and $74,700 and above. The CBO study found that the share of taxes paid by the first four quintiles has consistently declined since 1979, while the share of taxes paid by those in the fifth quintile- those earning more than $74,700 has consistently grown. So if you earn more than $74,700 and you hear a politician say that we need to "tax the rich" or have the "rich pay their fair share", know that they are talking about you.

Don't you think the absolute worst time to have a heart attack would be during a game of charades?

The tax cuts that were enacted in 2002 are set to expire at the end of this year. If Congress does not extend these cuts, taxes will go up across the board- income taxes, taxes on investment income, and estate taxes. The dilemma for our government is how to pay for the massive amounts of debt that our nation has taken on in the past few years. Last Tuesday, Democratic House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said that extending these tax cuts and making them permanent would be "too costly" for our country. President Obama has proposed making the cuts permanent for any family earning less than $250,000 per year, but is meeting opposition not only from Republicans but from members of his own party. Congress faces a significant challenge in determining how to pay for the growing deficits and mounting debt in this country, and raising taxes seems to be their only solution. And perhaps it is because of their profligate spending. Small business owners and wage earners should be aware that discussions are going on that will have a significant impact on the amount of taxes that we will pay. As taxpayers, we should demand accountability from our elected leaders for their spending. Because we are going to be paying for it. At higher rates, and for a very long time.

They say that when you wish upon a shooting star, your wish will come true. Unless it is a meteor about to destroy the earth. Then you are pretty much dead no matter what you wished for.

The Gulf oil spill is being used to promote a renewed push for cap and trade and switching the U.S. to more green energy. On the surface, that sounds great. Until you begin to examine the costs involved. Spain is a country that has made a push toward more green energy jobs. Are they cost effective? No. Each green job created in that country has required, on average, a government subsidy of $774,000. An expensive proposition, to say the least. Furthermore, according to a study by the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs says that enacting cap and trade measures as proposed by Washington would increase the price of gas at the pump to "greater than $7 per gallon by 2020". The impact on our lifestyle and the economy would be devastating if this happens. No one can deny the disaster that is the BP oil spill in the Gulf. To use this disaster to crush the American economy is misguided and wrong. Cap and trade has no bearing on what has happened in the Gulf and should not be linked in a way that ruins our economy.

My mind is like a steel trap- rusty and illegal in 37 states.

And that, my friends, is my view.