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The governor has consistently described the mandate as a penalty…[President Obama] insisted publicly and to the members of Congress that the mandate was not a tax. After it passed the Congress, he sent his solicitor general up to court to argue that it was a tax. Now he is back to arguing that it’s not a tax.Romney senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom • During an interview on MSNBC, saying that President Obama has been the true flip-flopper on how the ACA individual mandate’s penalties should be classified. Following last week’s Supreme Court ruling on the matter, many conservatives have been quick to call the individual mandate a tremendous tax hike, with Rush Limbaugh going so far as to say it will be “the biggest tax increase in the history of the world.” While that’s since been proven untrue, it’s a bit surprising to see the Romney camp bucking the party-line on this issue, especially since they were falling in line just a few days ago. source (via • follow)
Former Fugees singer and solo artist Lauryn Hill faces federal charges for failing to file her taxes for three straight years, from 2005-2007. According to federal prosecutors, Mrs. Hill earned more than $1.6 million during that time. If convicted of the charges, Mrs. Hill could face up to $100,000 in fines and a maximum sentence of one year in prison. Hill, who has toured somewhat heavily in recent years, hasn’t released a new studio album since her 1998 debut. (Photo via TonyFelgueiras) source
But only $1 for every $10 cut. Let’s not get too crazy: The brother of George W. Bush isn’t afraid to break from his party on some issues, and one of those appears to be the hard stance that taxes could not raise in any circumstances whatsoever. “If you could bring to me a majority of people to say that we’re going to have $10 in spending cuts for $1 of revenue enhancement — put me in, coach,” he told the House Budget Committee Friday. In fact, Bush is one of those rare beasts who turned down Grover Norquist’s infamous pledge against all tax increases, at any time, ever. Whoa, this guy sounds like a moderate. Get him! source
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![reuters:
Amazon is working hard to limit the amount of states requiring the collection of sales tax on online purchases. The company recently struck a deal with the state of Texas in which the state agreed to delay the collection of sales tax. [REUTERS]
Anyone feel like Amazon should nip this problem in the bud for good?](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3ar76pZ5k1qmaoalo1_500.jpg)
Amazon is working hard to limit the amount of states requiring the collection of sales tax on online purchases. The company recently struck a deal with the state of Texas in which the state agreed to delay the collection of sales tax. [REUTERS]
Anyone feel like Amazon should nip this problem in the bud for good?
If you did, feel good/bad about waiting until the last minute?
» A dip from prior years: Obama’s taxes show a dip in income from his book sales — which earned him millions of dollars in prior years — to the point where it makes up roughly half of his income in 2012, with the other half coming from his presidential salary. The president, it turns out, made under the $1 million in income that would force him to pay higher taxes under his proposed “Buffett Rule.” Obama certainly isn’t struggling, though his income doesn’t compare to what his likely GOP competitor, Mitt Romney, has made in recent years. In other news, we’re betting this post is reminding you that you forgot to do your taxes. Better get on that!
In this week’s Newsweek, a little...
Tumblr this morning. [h/t anne]
#@#$%!.tumblr.com
Here’s a hidden feature that shipped in...
Watch: PCB gets a visual shout out on GMA’s Yahoo/Tumblr...
Wrote a thing.
Hat tip to this headline writer.
Well, this is out of left field: According to the Palmetto Public Record, the Governor of South Carolina will soon be indicted by the Department of Justice for tax fraud. While Haley generally keeps a low profile, she’s without question one of the GOP’s rising stars, and has been mentioned both by Republican strategists and Mitt Romney himself as a possible running mate. Details of the tax fraud allegations are still being put together, but they supposedly involve a Sikh temple run by Haley’s father, unpaid contractors hired to build said temple, and the possibility that the unpaid money made its way into Haley’s campaign coffers. But all that’s unconfirmed at this point. Stay tuned on this one. source
» Good news for Democrats: GOP leadership has indicated that they’ll pass a 10-month extension of the payroll tax without any offsets in spending. Democrats had wanted to balance the tax cut, in part, with higher taxes on the rich; Republicans wanted to do so, in part, with cuts to unemployment benefits. Ultimately, they couldn’t agree, and so it will be passed with no offsets at all. Why is this good news for Democrats? Well, the GOP took a hard-line against the payroll tax cut—which largely benefits the middle-class—last December, making the once-benign policy a partisan issue. Democrats, by and large, were okay passing it sans offsets—the suggestion to pay for it via tax cuts on the rich was more a general effort to increase taxes on the rich—and so the fact that the extension is going to pass is a political and legislative win for Democrats. But the extension expires in ten months—right around the presidential election—so this fight is only over in the short-term.
Obama vs. Romney on tax rates: As you can see, rates are largely the same—except for the nation’s richest and poorest. The poor would pay almost twice as much in taxes under Romney’s plan; meanwhile, the very richest in the country would be forced to cough up about 10% more of their income under Obama. The net effect? In short, Romney’s plan would reduce federal revenues to about 17% of GDP—down .9% from where they are now. Obama’s budget would raise revenues 19.2%, with most of that money coming from those making over $250,000 a year (Graphic and data courtesy of The Washington Post / Tax Policy Center).
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