» The “duh” sentence in this story: ”His tax bill is significantly higher than the amount paid by most Americans.” What tipped you off, Wall Street Journal, the fact that there’s “million” in the amount?
Speaker Gingrich had a good week. It was not a great week for me. We spent a lot of time talking about tax returns and the changing result in Iowa.Mitt Romney • Discussing his loss in South Carolina and revealing that he would finally release his tax forms after much goading. His dad, George, famously released his own tax returns when he ran for president in 1968. “I’m not going back to my dad’s year,” Mitt said, but he would (on Tuesday) release his 2010 return and an estimate of his 2011 taxes. We will not be happy until he tells us where his money pit is. source (via • follow)
Mitt Romney has been given a second chance to address his failure to release his tax returns, and he’s done a bit better than last time, though the core of his argument is still an uncomfortable admission. He insisted he’d release them in April, and explained when pressed that he was reluctant to release the information for fear the Democrats would try to produce campaign issues around it. Which isn’t exactly what one would consider a slick political evasion; he all but admitted this is a purely political calculation, purely to protect his own interests.
More debate coverage: ShortFormBlog | DC Decoder
Payroll Tax Cut Impact: What If It’s Not Extended? | CNN Money
House Republicans on Tuesday rejected the the two-month payroll tax extension passed by the Senate. But they did so indirectly.
Rather than bring the bill to the floor for a direct vote — and risking the measure actually passing — they voted to instruct House negotiators to push for a year-long extension in a conference with the Senate.
The problem is that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said there would be no further negotiations until the House passes the temporary two-month extension to insure the tax cut doesn’t lapse after Dec. 31.
Welcome to the latest, completely willful congressional standoff.
$1,000 is a big chunk for people who make $50,000 a year.
Today in gaining support: The “Robin Hood tax” on financial transactions to big banks. Take from the rich and give to the poor. Think it’s a good idea? Think it’d actually prove beneficial?
» Hitting the road: A group of OWS protesters have embarked on this lengthy walk, expecting to arrive in Washington DC on November 23rd, the congressional committee deadline on whether to keep the Bush-era tax cuts extensions President Obama agreed to last year. The Occupy movement, obviously, would like to see these cuts expire; while this would raise the tax burden of middle-income Americans to a remote extent, it would also cause a very large influx of revenue from the class most buoyed by the Bush tax policy — that vaunted 1%. The march consists of a mere dozen or so protesters right now, but they expect (we suspect rightly) to gain large numbers as they work their way towards the capitol.
» And some companies don’t even pay: Two notably large companies that don’t pay any taxes … and in fact owe less than nothing somehow? General Electric and Pepco. (On a side note: DC residents looooooove Pepco, because the power goes out all the time around here.) Both companies defend their businesses practices.
Herman Cain didn’t pay his state taxes in 2006: The Daily Beast just scored an exclusive about the 999 Plan advocate, which shows that he was a couple years late in paying off his taxes in the state of Georgia. He had an understandable reason, however: He was getting treated for cancer at the time. He filed for an extension on his federal taxes, but never paid off his state taxes, forcing the state to later put a tax lien on him. Cain’s lawyer at first fought the allegations, but finally settled in late 2008. “The experience serves as an example of how broken our federal and state bureaucracies are with respect to the collection of revenue,” said Cain’s spokesman, J.D. Gordon. “The entire process is driven by automated letters generated in response to deadlines.”
And I’m gonna be getting a bushel basket with apples and oranges in it, cause I’m gonna pay both taxes.
Mitt Romney, taking his own shot at Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan, suggesting he’d have to pay both a state and federal sales tax. Romney challenged Cain on specific policy aspects of his plan, and Cain’s response was, essentially, “look at our analysis.” Romney looked good here; he seemed confident and in command of specific policy nuance.
Be sure to check out all the further debate coverage over at DC Decoder!
With this weekend of arrests, this seems like a great way to end it. Warren Buffett knows the score. Love how the reporter is like “it won’t do anything,” and he just drops the $20 billion number off the top. Can’t get anything past him. (via Percolate)
Watch: PCB gets a visual shout out on GMA’s Yahoo/Tumblr...
Wrote a thing.
Hat tip to this headline writer.
Congrats Tumblr!
Don’t screw this up Yahoo.
In 2007, I was...
I started tumblr when I was at one of the lowest points of...
We can’t afford these special rates for the wealthy. They were meant as temporary measures.Obama • Explaining his reasoning for the “Buffett Rule.”
(Source: CNN)
Coming soon: Obama’s press conference where he reveals his $3 billion trillion debt-reduction plan, including the “Buffett Rule.” Watch live at the link above.
Edit: He’s speaking now.
“Out of every dollar I earn, how much do you think I should be allowed to keep?” Great question; looking forward to hearing the candidates avoid it.
Who is this Grover Norquist dude, and how did he manage to score so much influence amongst Republicans in the debt-ceiling debate? Alan Simpson — a Republican who helped head Obama’s bipartisan deficit committee earlier this year — called out Norquist for seemingly forcing the GOP into a no-compromise corner on tax increases. “If Grover Norquist is more powerful than the President of the United States and the Congress,” Simpson told Lawrence O’Donnell, “he should run for President.” Harsh words, bro.
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