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Just What is the “Fiscal Cliff?”
As we approach the end of 2012, you’ve likely heard lots of talk among politicians and the media about the impending “fiscal cliff.” This term refers to a combination of tax increases and spending cuts that are slated to take effect in January 2013 if Congress fails to take action. But how will this affect you?
Payroll Tax – 2013 will bring the expiration of the payroll tax cut enacted by Congress in 2011. Starting next year, the current employee payroll tax rate of 4.2 percent will go back to 6.2 percent.
The Criminal State by Gerard N. Casey… (” If it weren’t for the state’s enforcing contracts, protecting property rights, keeping the peace, printing currency, preventing monopolies, and so on, you or anyone else wouldn’t be able to go about your daily business. So, the argument goes…”)
States are criminal organizations. All states, not just the obviously totalitarian or repressive ones. The only possible exceptions to this sweeping claim are those mini-states that are, in effect, swollen bits of private property, such as the Vatican.
I intend this statement to be understood literally and not as some form of rhetorical exaggeration. The argument is simple. Theft, robbery, kidnapping and murder are all crimes.
Those who engage in such activities, whether on their own behalf or on behalf of others are, by definition, criminals. In taxing the people of a country, the state engages in an activity that is morally equivalent to theft or robbery; in putting some people in prison, especially those who are convicted of so-called ‘victimless crimes’ or when it drafts people into the armed services, the state is guilty of kidnapping or false imprisonment; in engaging in wars that are other than purely defensive or, even if defensive, when the means of defence employed are disproportionate and indiscriminate, the state is guilty of manslaughter or murder.
For many people, perhaps most, these contentions will seem both shocking and absurd. Some will immediately object that taxation is clearly not theft. They may say, as Craig Duncan does [1] , that since you don’t have legal title to all your pre-tax income the state commits no crime in appropriating that part of your income to which it is entitled. The problem with this objection is that it completely begs the question – is the state entitled to part of your income?
The libertarian contention that taxation is the moral equivalent of theft can be true, Duncan believes, only if people have a moral right ‘to keep and control all their earnings’ [2] but this claim, he thinks, is beset with fatal problems. To illustrate this point, he rehearses the tragedy of Annie, the antiques dealer, who has to hand over 20 per cent of her earnings to the owner of the premises she rents to conduct her business.
If Annie were to claim that she had a right to all her earnings and shouldn’t be obliged to fork over the 20 per cent, the building owner will respond that without his premises, she wouldn’t have been able to make any sales in the first place.
‘Something similar,’ says Duncan, ‘is true of government taxes.’ [3] If it weren’t for the state’s enforcing contracts, protecting property rights, keeping the peace, printing currency, preventing monopolies, and so on, you or anyone else wouldn’t be able to go about your daily business. So, the argument goes, by analogy the state has a moral entitlement to a portion of your earnings, presumably to at least an amount sufficient to cover the costs of these services.
Congress Considers Taxing Internet Sales
Some Republicans are siding with Democrats around the proposition that online sales should be taxed. Now, Congress is adding a rider to the National Defense Authorization Act that would allow such a tax. The so-called Marketplace Fairness Act, which also has a House counterpart, the Marketplace Equity Act, will allow states to collect sales taxes on retailers who are located out of state.
This would be a fundamental expansion of states’ power to tax; it arguably violates the privileges and immunities clause, allowing states to set up tariffs against other states’ businesses…
3.8% Tax: What’s True, What’s Not
Rumors about the 3.8% Medicare tax continue to circulate. Here’s the definitive word on what’s true and what’s not on how the tax impacts real estate.
Ever since health care reform was enacted into law more than two years ago, rumors have been circulating on the Internet and in e-mails that the law contains a 3.8 percent tax on real estate.
NAR quickly released material to show that the tax doesn’t target real estate and will in fact affect very few home sales, because it’s a tax that will only affect high-income households that realize a substantial gain on an asset sale, including on a home sale, once other factors are taken into account. Maybe 2-3 percent of home sellers will be affected.
Pastors pledge to defy IRS, preach politics from pulpit ahead of election
More than 1,000 pastors are planning to challenge the IRS next month by deliberately preaching politics ahead of the presidential election despite a federal ban on endorsements from the pulpit.
The defiant move, they hope, will prompt the IRS to enforce a 1954 tax code amendment that prohibits tax-exempt organizations, such as churches, from making political endorsements. Alliance Defending Freedom, which is holding the October summit, said it wants the IRS to press the matter so it can be decided in court. The group believes the law violates the First Amendment by “muzzling” preachers.
Destroying Internet Freedom by Taxation :
Government taxation is as old as the first brute using force to steal from those intimated by threats. So why should it be any different for the internet? In today’s political environment of choosing winners and losers, the rush to tax online sales is gathering steam.
FCC eyes tax on Internet service
FCC eyes tax on Internet service
The Hill ^
Posted on Sunday, August 26, 2012 11:45:26 AM by Sub-Driver
FCC eyes tax on Internet service By Brendan Sasso – 08/26/12 06:00 AM ET
The Federal Communications Commission is eyeing a proposal to tax broadband Internet service.
Some California ‘Meter Maids’ Are Making Nearly $100K a Year
Back in July, experts said California only saw the “tip of the iceberg” after three of its cities were forced to declare bankruptcy. Though the budget is as large as a number of small countries, lawmakers in the state
have made a habit of spending everything they have, and then some. With Governor Jerry Brown proposing to raise taxes even higher to bridge the gap, some are wondering how the state is spending its existing funds.
Pelosi Threatens Media: ‘Maybe The People Writing These Stories’ Should Release Their Tax Returns
Pelosi Threatens Media: ‘Maybe The People Writing These Stories’ Should Release Their Tax Returns
Posted on Friday, July 20, 2012 1:06:39 AM by lbryce
Chief Justice Roberts: It’s Not A Tax, It Is A Tax; It’s Law, But It’s Not ‘Unlawful’ to Break It
In his deciding opinion in the cases challenging the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare), Chief Justice John Roberts first says the mandate in the law requiring individuals to buy health insurance is not a tax.
Then he says it is a tax.
The Daily Bell – Capital Controls Have No Place in a Free Society By: Ron Paul
By: Ron Paul
The characteristic mark of a tyrannical regime is that it eventually finds it necessary to erect walls to keep people from leaving. This is why we should be troubled by the “Ex-PATRIOT Act,” an egregiously offensive bill recently introduced in the Senate. Following a long line of recent legislation and regulations attempting to expropriate more and more wealth from hard-working Americans, this new bill spits in the face of overburdened taxpayers and tramples on the Constitution.
Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin was a U.S. taxpayer, not a traitor
Eduardo Saverin, the co-founder of the social network and Facebook Inc., stands accused of violating the social contract — the idea that government is based on an agreement among its citizens to ensure mutual protection of person and property.
Gunny G: Sounds Like Just Another Big Government Tax To Me…. « CITIZEN.BLOGGER.1984+ GUNNY.G BLOG.EMAIL
Sounds Like Just Another Government Tax To Me….

Looks like everybody wants to get into the act…the “taxing you” racket, that is!
Now, merchants selling Armed Forces branded merchandise must obtain a license to do so and pay royalties to the military.
US Citizens Now One Step Closer To Becoming Permanent Tax Slaves (Take a look at the Ex-PATRIOT Act)
This week, the universally stupid brainchild of US Senators Chuck Schumer and Bob Casey known as the Ex-PATRIOT Act inched a bit closer towards becoming law.

WASHINGTON – FEBRUARY 3: United States Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) listens as U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during a meeting of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee at the Newseum February 3, 2010 in Washington, D.C. Obama spoke on a range of topics including the state of the economy and healthcare reform. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
(“Imagine 80 MPG? Don’t…government will never allow such a drastic reduction in its tax-haul, says Eric Peters.”) Is the Government Really Concerned About ‘Gas Mileage’? by Eric Peters
Recently by Eric Peters: The Truth About New Technology X
There is a big problem with high-mileage cars – from the point-of-view of the government.
Less revenue.
Imagine an 80 MPG car – which could be built right now, easily, with existing technology. (Several current European models are already pretty close to the 80 MPG bar.)
Such a car could cut the average person’s fuel costs by two-thirds – in effect, putting things back the way they were circa 1986, when gasoline still cost about $1 per gallon. It would do a great deal to ease the economic pressure bearing down on the average person. But if tens of millions of Americans were suddenly using two-thirds less fuel, they’d also be paying two-thirds less in motor fuels taxes.
You don’t have to be a conspiracy nut to wonder what effect contemplation of this possibility has had on government policy.
GOODBYE, AMERICA: Billionaire Facebook Cofounder Renounces Citizenship (Your taxes are not for me)
Billionaire Facebook cofounder Eduardo Saverin is renouncing his citizenship ahead of the company’s IPO at the end of next week.
Saverin is the cofounder who got booted from the company WAY back in 2005. They made a movie about it.
His 4 percent stake is worth about $4 billion and he’s going to save a boatload on taxes with the move.
Singapore, where Saverin lives, does not have a capital gains tax.
He will have to pay an exit tax on his holdings, but it will be at Facebook’s valuation now, not after the IPO.
They Call Him Comrade
Dear Comrade Roy,
To paraphrase the movie Billy Madison, I think we are all a little dumber for having listened to your question here today. Your question is another shining example why liberals should NEVER have anything to do with our economy.
Corporations may pass along corporate taxes to customers, but that doesn’t mean that the tax has no effect on them. When a corporation is saddled with high taxes, they raise the price of the products they sell, which means that they sell fewer products and they do so at a lower profit margin.
Corporations write checks to the government all the time to pay for taxes on their profits.
Prison Planet.com » IRS To Revoke Passports of 30,000 U.S. Troops?
“About 30,000 active-duty troops and a similar number of reserve-component members owe the Internal Revenue Service a collective $390 million in back taxes, according to IRS data,” reports WTLX.A new law buried within a transport bill that has already passed the Senate and is expected to pass the House shortly would empower the IRS to revoke passports of Americans accused of tax delinquency.
“There is no requirement that the tax payer be guilty of or even charged with tax evasion, fraud, or any criminal offense — only that the citizen is alleged to owe the IRS back taxes of $50,000 or more,” reports the Daily Economist.
‘Nobody Considers That a Tax’ (Americans need to expand our idea of what a tax is)
We Americans need to expand our idea of what a tax is. Some may contend that an expenditure is only a tax when government labels it as such and there’s a rate or assessment attached to it. Those people are sophists. Provided that it is not a penalty for an illegality, any government-caused expense that must be paid should be regarded as a tax.
When government policies make the prices of essentials higher than they would be in a free market, we’re talking taxes. We hear journalists talk about rising oil prices as a tax hike. If such prices are due to government energy policies, like not drilling in ANWR or not building the Keystone XL pipeline, then the journalists are right, the higher prices are a tax. Whether he understands it or not, President Obama was talking about tax hikes in a videotaped interview with the San Francisco Chronicle when he said:
“Under my plan of a cap-and-trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket … Coal-powered plants, you know, natural gas, you name it, whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.”
OBAMA Oil sets $7 a gallon gas price target
OBAMA Oil sets $7 a gallon gas price target
MensNewsDaily.com ^ | March 3, 2010 | Roger F. Gay
Posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 8:33:00 AM by RogerFGay
To meet the Obama administration’s targets for increasing fuel taxes, researchers say that Americans will have to pay $7 for a gallon of gasoline; about 17 percent more than drivers in green-conscious and generally highly taxed Sweden.
In their study, researchers at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs devised several combinations of tax increases to address 70 percent of the oil used in the United States. The combinations were selected to match fuel consumption reduction targets. Most of their models assumed an economy-wide carbon dioxide tax starting at $30 a ton in 2010 and escalating to $60 a ton in 2030. In some cases researchers also factored in tax credits for electric and hybrid vehicles, taxes on fuel or both.
Fuel Taxes Must Rise, Harvard Researchers Say
(THE DE FACTO NATIONALIZATION OF THE US ECONOMY) USA Slipping and Sliding Towards Fascism – The Dollar Vigilante Blog -
I never watch the State of the Union in the US. I just can’t stand someone looking into my eyes and lying to me for an hour. But I sometimes like to skim the transcripts after, mostly for entertainment, to see how they spin everything.
But the one thing I’ve noticed is there are never any tangible plans or strategies laid out. It’s pure demagoguery. But, behind the scenes, the US Government is working to transform the country in leaps and bounds… and not for the better.
Buried deep in Barack O’Bomber’s 2013 budget is actually a plan to all but outright nationalize the US Economy.
EXCERPT
Prison Planet.com » Chart of the Week: Nearly Half of All Americans Don’t Pay Income Taxes
This year’s Index of Dependence on Government presented startling findings about the sharp increase of Americans who rely on the federal government for housing, food, income, student aid or other assistance. (See last week’s chart.)
Another eye-popping number was the percentage of Americans who don’t pay income taxes, which now accounts for nearly half of the U.S. population. Meanwhile, most of that population receives generous federal benefits.
“One of the most worrying trends in the Index is the coinciding growth in the non-taxpaying public,” wrote Heritage authors Bill Beach and Patrick Tyrrell. “The percentage of people who do not pay federal income taxes, and who are not claimed as dependents by someone who does pay them, jumped from 14.8 percent in 1984 to 49.5 percent in 2009.”
OBAMA Oil sets $7 a gallon gas price target (ReBlog)
GUNNY G: Pacific Wrecks…
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Happy New Year
Thank you for your visit to Pacific Wrecks during the past year. As 2011 comes to a close, I am proud to share a very special story with you, and appeal to users to make a donation to help our mission of preserving the history of the Pacific War. Stay tuned for many new surprises upcoming in 2012. Be sure to visit: PacificWrecks.com | Facebook Pacific Wrecks | Twitter Pacific Wrecks
Why Would the IRS Hold a Secret Meeting?
On Thursday, December 8th, the IRS held a secret meeting regarding a new tax policy. The hearing was required by law, as the IRS was proposing new legislation, but the IRS did everything in its power to keep it from the public. It only announced the meeting on the 7th, one day earlier, and only allowed people who signed up in advance to attend. Even then, they were not allowed to speak.
Why we should consider a per-mile road tax
READER RESPONSE: Gunny G…
Yeah, and in addition, they want to get into the actual mechanix of “monitoring” those miles…..and at the same time every other little thing you do/don’t do no matter how slight!!!!!
Newtie by Eric Peters
Newtie last night admonished the public to be “humane” when it comes to illegal aliens. He, like all modern statists, is very generous – with other people’s money.
The main objection probably most people have is not that people come here from places such as Mexico and Central/South America. What they object to is the way our system spreads out an endless buffet line of benefits for them. All of these treats – including “free” education and health care – funded by an onerous tax system that squeezes them mercilessly while doing little to force the illegals to pay their (cough) “fair share.”
Ron Paul Warns GOP Not To “Capitulate” On Taxes, Won’t Rule Out Indy Bid (Hannity radio interview)
Ron Paul Warns GOP Not To “Capitulate” On Taxes, Won’t Rule Out Indy Bid (Hannity radio interview)
realclearpolitics.com ^ | Nov.18, 2011
Posted on Friday, November 18, 2011 7:43:24 PM by Free ThinkerNY
Ron Paul with Sean Hannity discussing the economy and the election. Paul talks about the lack of attention he receives, if he is not ignored altogether. Paul says he and his staff were “annoyed” by the fact that he only received 89 seconds to speak at the last Republican debate.
Paul warned his Republican colleagues in the Congress that they better keep their pledge to not raise taxes. He says if they do “capitulate” on taxes then people will make them pay.
“I have no intention of doing that,” Paul says of a third-party run if he doesn’t get the Republican nomination. However, when asked several times by Hannity to rule out an independent bid, he would not.










































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