Tax News Nov. 1-5

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News
FRIDAY
Voters to states: No new taxes
State residents aren't feeling very generous these days, even though now is when government officials say they need the tax money the most.
Obama signals openness to deal on tax cuts
Barack Obama has signaled he is open to extending the Bush-era tax cuts for the richest 2 per cent of Americans, although not to making them permanent as Republicans are demanding.
Fannie, Freddie Overhaul Could Cost $685 Billion
Fannie and Freddie have already cost taxpayers nearly $134 billion, but S&P analysts said Thursday that the government could ultimately be forced to inject $280 billion into the firms because of a slowdown in the housing market.

THURSDAY
Bush tax cuts: Obama seeks compromise
A few key Democrats -- such as Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad -- have said they could support extending the tax cuts temporarily for upper-income households. Others, including Senate Banking Chairman Christopher Dodd, have called for pushing the $250,000 threshold higher.

WEDNESDAY
The Tax Break Everyone Wants to Forget
Extending the Making Work Pay credit for one year, which would lower most people’s payroll taxes by $400, would cost the Treasury $80 billion next year. That price tag is higher than the $68 billion it would cost to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy for one year.

MONDAY
White House Considering New Tax Cut Plan, Washington Post Says
Administration officials are discussing “decoupling” the Bush-era tax cuts to allow permanent extension for families making less than $250,000 a year and temporary extension of cuts for those making more…
7 key money decisions facing lame-duck Congress
Incredibly, after unexpectedly letting the estate tax lapse for a year, lawmakers still have not resolved their differences over just how far-reaching the tax should be.

Economist Comments
FRIDAY
Joe’s Income Doesn’t Belong to Sam
The thing appropriately identified as being unaffordable today – the thing that is today too costly for the spender, given his income, to purchase – is not his reduced income but, instead, the goods and services he buys that he cannot afford.

THURSDAY
Entitlements Without Taxes? It Doesn't Add up
Maybe that's just human nature, but you can't have it both ways. Either you want the governmental services and have to pony up -- or dig into your own pocket and pay for it yourself.

WEDNESDAY
Government, get out of the way of business
We need incentives instead of penalties. We need tax reform, not new taxes. We need to reduce uncertainty so that the private sector can provide jobs — the only proven way to increase purchasing power. In doing this, we allow employees to take their families out to movies, get washers and dryers, buy gas for the cars that take them to work and back home. That's the way a revenue stream for the government is created, by creating more taxpayers — people with a J-O-B.
FEULNER: Red tape on the rise
Reports from government regulators show that Washington imposed 43 major new regulations in fiscal 2010 - an unprecedented number - at an annual cost of $26.5 billion. This is far higher than the cost in any other year for which records are available, according to a new report from the Heritage Foundation. That's $450 for a typical American family every year.
GM Could Be Free of Taxes for Years
The tax benefit stems from so-called tax-loss carry-forwards and other provisions, which allow companies to use losses in prior years and costs related to pensions and other expenses to shield profits from U.S. taxes for up to 20 years.

MONDAY
To Reduce Taxes, We Must Abolish Our Tax Breaks
Indeed, if we want the government to remove its greedy hands from our pockets, we must stop reaching into the pockets of our fellow citizens in order to reduce our tax bills.
A Defense of the Enterprising Rich
The true danger to our social fabric comes not from those able to purchase yachts and other such baubles, but from the political demagogues who promise the mob a redistribution of Other Peoples' Money as their road to power.
Outfoxing a Higher Tax on Gains
If the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire, the levy on capital gains will rise. Here are options plays from Oppenheimer to offset the reduction in returns.
Puerto Rico's Governor Channels Ronald Reagan
Luis Fortuño wants deep tax cuts to spur growth. Are Republicans in D.C. paying attention?

Blogs
THURSDAY
Competitive Government Watch: Washington Income Taxes
"Texas Gov. Rick Perry has sent letters to around 90 top employers and a few business associations in Washington urging companies worried about taxes to head on over to his state."
What taxpayers can do while lame-duck Congress mulls tax changes
If you’re taking distributions from an IRA, set up paperwork in advance to allow you to receive that income two different ways: before the new year and after. If Congress raises tax rates for 2011, you can take out more this year, while rates are still lower.
You can't get something for nothing
When the government promises no cuts to services, state pensions or entitlements and that only high earners will pay for continuation of such services, it's a promise that Americans can have more while someone else picks up the tab.

TUESDAY
Secondary Sources: Quiet Tax Increase, Rubin’s Plan, U.S. Threat.
Bob Williams wonders why amid all the sturm and drang about the Bush tax cuts, no one is talking about the expiring tax cuts in the stimulus bill.

MONDAY
One Billion of Your Tax Dollars Sent to Dead People
Sen.Tom Coburn (R-OK) put out a report today documenting one billion in your tax dollars given to dead people.
Abolition of the Corporate Income Tax
We don't know for sure who bears the burden but the larger the elasticity of the supply of capital to the United States, the lower is the percent of the burden borne by shareholders.

Reports
THURSDAY
GET TO WORK: Stop the Obama Tax Hikes
These will hit many Americans. These hikes include reducing the child tax credit, re-imposing the marriage penalty, raising taxes on small businesses (the American jobs engine), raising dividend taxes (draining seniors’ incomes), raising capital gains taxes (diverting money from job-creating investments) and raising some personal tax rates.