Income Brackets | InvestmentWatch

GOP: Extend Tax Cuts to Revitalize Economy

upi.com
December 1, 2012

Republicans Saturday said it was vital to the U.S. economy that tax breaks for the highest-income brackets be extended.

In the party’s weekly media address, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said the wealthy were the font of the nation’s job creation and allowing their tax bills to go up would have dire consequences on working folks.

“We should not raise these taxes, but we should enact comprehensive tax reform that will [...]

Taxmageddon 2013 – These Filers Are in the Crosshairs

From Money Morning:

As Taxmageddon 2013 looms against the back drop of Election 2012 one thing is for certain: upper-income filers will take a hit in 2013 even if no new taxes are imposed, as will owners of some small businesses.

In Part One of our series on the tax outlook for 2013, we described how scheduled tax-law changes will affect capital gains – boosting taxes on long-term profits from 15% to 23.8% for some taxpayers. And, in Part Two, [...]

[Israeli] Gov’t Approves Massive Tax Hikes, Spending Cuts

The government on Monday passed a sweeping measure to tighten Israel’s belt at a time when the world is facing another global financial crisis.

With a vote of 20 to 9, the Cabinet approved a package of austerity measures designed to raise some NIS 14.15 billion within a year, and reduce the budget deficit by 1.5 percent. Voting against the package were the Independence and Shas parties, as well as Likud [...]

Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) Providing Food Stamps and Unemployment Benefits Two ‘Most Stimulative’ Things for U.S. Economy

Is this what will become the norm in America for the upcomming Generation? Give them everything, so they dont have to work for it?? I mean the Gubment makes businesses with roads and shit right? Is there a school for Democrats only that teaches and preaches these idea’s?

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters on Tuesday that the two most “stimulative” things the government can do is provide food [...]

‘We were in freefall’: American families lost almost TWO DECADES in the Great Recession as median wealth fell 40 percent to levels not seen since 1992

A Federal Reserve survey found median family net worth fell from $126,000 in 2007 to just $77,000 in 2010
The collapse of the housing bubble, which sent home prices plummeting, was the biggest reason for the decline in wealth

The Great Recession shrank Americans’ wealth so much that in 2010 median family net worth was no more than it was in 1992 after adjusting for inflation, the Federal Reserve reported Monday.

Median net [...]

Debt Serfdom In One Chart: The essence of debt serfdom is debt rises to compensate for stagnant wages.

by Charles Hugh Smith from Of Two Minds

Debt Serfdom In One Chart

The essence of debt serfdom is debt rises to compensate for stagnant wages.

I often speak of debt serfdom; here it is, captured in a single chart. The basic dynamics are all here, if you read between the lines:

1. Financialization of the U.S. and global economies diverts income to capital and those benefitting from globalization/ “financial innovation;” income for the top [...]

NY courts typically award a max of $23,000 a year in child support. How one 5-year-old got $47,000 per month:

In most New York child support cases, courts award no more than $23,000 a year to cover a child’s basic needs.

Then there is the 5-year-old son of billionaire businessman Francois-Henri Pinault, whose companies include Yves Saint Laurent and Gucci, among others, and millionaire model Linda Evangelista.

On Thursday, the parents will appear in Manhattan Family Court to begin a trial over child support payments with staggering sums at stake: Ms. Evangelista [...]

WSJ: Romney said he would eliminate or limit for high-earners the mortgage interest deduction for 2nd homes

From WSJ:

PALM BEACH, Fla.—Mitt Romney, speaking at a private fundraising event on Sunday, offered the first details of deductions he would eliminate or limit in order to offset the income tax cut he has proposed for all taxpayers.

Mr. Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, said he would eliminate or limit for high-earners the mortgage interest deduction for second homes, and likely would do the same for the state income [...]

IRS chief urges Congress to act on tax legislation

IRS chief urges Congress to act on tax legislation
Reuters
3:32 p.m. CDT, April 5, 2012

The commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service warned on Thursday of “a real disaster” for taxpayers next year should Congress miss a Dec. 31 deadline to decide on billions in major tax provisions.

Congress is expected to wait until after Election Day, Nov. 6, to take up whether to extend the individual income tax cuts passed under former [...]

Non-partisan study shows Obama’s budget will raise taxes on a huge number of Americans

From Bloomberg:

President Barack Obama’s 2013 budget plan would raise taxes for 27 percent of U.S. households in 2013, far more than the administration estimates, according to a nonpartisan study. The study released today comes from the Tax Policy Center, a research group in Washington that analyzes proposals from presidential candidates in both parties.

Obama focuses the tax increases in his 2013 budget on corporations and the top 2 percent of individual [...]

DOUBLE DOWN: Obama to increase Volt subsidies

President Barack Obama looks over the new Chevy Volt, with Assembly Manager Teri Quigley, second from right, and others, as he tours the General Motors Auto Plant in Hamtramck, Mich., Friday, July 30, 2010, where the Volt, an electric car, will be assembled. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

The White House intends to boost government subsidies for wealthy buyers of the Chevy Volt and other new-technology vehicles — to $10,000 per buyer.

That [...]

$3 in tax hikes for every $1 in spending cuts

By Stephen Dinan – The Washington Times

** FILE ** President Obama delivers a speech to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2011. (AP Photo/Kevin Lamarque, Pool)

President Obama on Monday will propose a deficit plan that calls for about three dollars in new tax increases for every dollar in additional spending cuts as he seeks to [...]

Debunking The Myth of the Middle Class Mortgage Deduction

by Anthony Randazzo

The average tax savings for households with income between $40,000 and $75,000 is just $152 a year. That’s $12.66 a month. Compare that to the highest earners, those making $200,000 or more, who see an average of $1,862 a year off their tax bills.

Conventional wisdom has it that without the ability to deduct mortgage interest from federal taxes, homeownership rates and housing prices would tumble. [...]

Obama’s Support Among Poor Drops to All-time Low

(CNSNews.com) – President Barack Obama’s approval among the poorest Americans dropped to an all-time low of 48 percent last week, according to the Gallup poll, leaving the president with less-than-majority approval among all income brackets reported in Gallup’s presidential approval surveys.

Each week, Gallup publishes the president’s average approval rating for the previous week among four income brackets: those who earn $2,000 per month or less, [...]

Here is what my macro economics course taught me:

by Left of Right

1 If you PREVENT a tax INCREASE you PREVENT that money being liquidated into the economy.

2. One of the most common objections to letting the cuts expire for those in the highest tax brackets is that it would hurt small businesses. As Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) recently put it, allowing the cuts to lapse would amount to “a job-killinÂg tax hike on small business during tough [...]

It’s a great time to be rich: If the tax-cut extension becomes law, the next two years will be the best in living memory for many wealthy Americans to shield their income and fortunes. Reagan would be proud, Robert Reich writes.

via Businessweek:

“The climate we’ll have after this legislation is extremely favorable for wealthy families,” says Jeffrey Cooper, a professor at Quinnipiac University School of Law and a former estate planner who has studied the history of U.S. tax law.

Low Income Tax

The good news for the rich starts with income tax rates, which for top income groups would remain 35 percent , a rate enacted by [...]

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