Pennsylvania-Palin promises tax-cut during Scranton visit

Visiting Northeast Pennsylvania for the first time, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin touted the new economic plan running mate John McCain unveiled Tuesday...... The new economic plan would get the nation “through a time of testing” and put “the economy back on track,” she said.
“Under this plan, we’ll help American families keep their homes and save family neighborhoods and bring stability to our housing market,” Mrs. Palin said.The plan seeks to reduce to 10 percent the tax on senior-citizen withdrawals from retirement accounts in 2008 and 2009, reduce to 7.5 percent the capital gains tax in 2009 and 2010 and quintuple deductions of capital losses. It is meant to supplement Mr. McCain’s call last week for a $300 billion government purchase of troubled mortgages.Mrs. Palin’s 29-minute speech was frequently interrupted with applause or chants of “Sarah! Sarah! Sarah!” ........... Full Report:The Times Tribune

Irelands Harshest Budget in living memory-Taxpayer and Consumer blues.

This budget was set against the background of a horrific deterioration in the public finances caused by the bursting property bubble in Ireland and by international factors. In the two budgets prior to the 2007 general election the FF/PD government allowed public expenditure to grow by 25%. This growth in public expenditure was supported by huge tax inflows from the property sector. Now that these have largely dried up the Government was left high and dry. The Government is now heist on its own petard.
This was an accident waiting to happen. Taxes from the property market are notoriously unreliable.

This is the harshest budget in living memory. Even to outline some of the harsh measures sends a chill through the bones.
There are some minor beneficial changes in Social Welfare Payments and Tax Bands allied to provisions geared towards innovation and R and D. There are some aids for the property market. However this is a TAKE budget which will raise an extra €2 billion in taxes. Government Borrowing is forecast at 6.5% of GNP. This is much too high. The EU requirement is 3%. In essence the Government must borrow €13 billion.

Income tax has been increased. A levy of 1% has been placed on all income up to €100,000 and at 2% on earnings over €100,0000. This is an income tax rise by another name. The PRSI ceiling has been raised also. Mortgage relief for non-first time house buyers has been cut from 20% to 15%. A €200 tax has been introduced on all benefiting from employer provided car parking in urban areas. Motor Tax rises by 4%/5%. Those who own a second property face a new € 200 tax. DIRT ,Capital Gains Tax and VAT have been raised.

The government has cut back financial support to local authorities so a massive hike in commercial rates and water rates will filter through.

Automatic entitlement to a Medical Card for all over 70s has been withdrawn. There is to be a 20 % increase in private and semi-private bed charges in public hospitals and Accident and Emergency charges are to increase by 50% from €66 to €100 for non medical card holders who attend A&E departments without a letter from their GP. The Drug Payment Scheme (DPS) threshold is being increased from €90 to €100 per month which, the Government says, will lead to savings of €15 million in drug costs.

The Registration Charge for Universities has been raised from €900 to €1500. The pupil teacher ratio in schools has been increased.
Petrol will rise by 8 cent per litre.
The budget will cost middle-income families an average of €2,500 per annum. There will be a €10 airport charge for passengers.
There are also some social welfare cutbacks.
The hair-shirt is back in Irish politics with a vengeance. It is likely that consumer confidence has been severely dented. In addition it is probable that two more harsh budgets may be in the offing.

Obama cannot deliver tax cuts to middle class (Sums do not add up)

Already Barack Obama has made promises totalling 1,000 billion dollars. In addition the bailout just agreed will cost an extra 700 billion dollars. Now he promises substantial tax cuts for the middle class. Quite simply these cannot be funded with an overhang of 1,700 billion dollars. This is political smoke and mirrors-loony bin economics. Such an economic policy will produce economic Armageddon.

Tax cuts can only be introduced by a freeze on government spending. Such a freeze would make resources available to fund such tax cuts. This is the McCain approach. McCain has advocated a freeze (excluding military spending). He has promised a war on waste and pork barrel spending. He has a strong track record in opposing pork barrel spending. Obama on the contrary has been a strong proponent of pork barrel spending and has voted for 94 tax increases.

When challenged on a public expenditure freeze-in the first debate-Obama ran for cover and fudged the issue.
Obama’s plans to double the capital gains tax is a further ingredient in the current instability. The likelihood of an Obama victory could trigger a further massive sell off on the stock market as investors seek to avoid higher capital gains tax rates.

Obama Dupes The Middle Class On Income Tax Cuts (Effective Tax Rate under Obama would hit 60%)

Throughout this campaign Barack Obama and Joe Biden have continuously campaigned on the basis of providing a middle class tax cut. Unfortunately Obama has a strong record of voting to raise taxes. In fact Obama has voted 94 times to raise taxes. Obama has made promises totalling 1000 billion dollars. In addition the bailout of the banking system will conservatively cost another 700 billion dollars.

How will Obama fund the propose tax cuts and the huge expansion in socialised medicine? Quite simply the figures do not add up. Obama is not levelling with the electorate. He is a proponent of loony bin economics. Quite simply his promises will require a massive hike in taxes. He would double the capital gains tax to 28%. The net affect of this is that you will get far less when you sell your home or your 401K or your stock plan. He would double the dividends tax. That means that those who clip coupons from corporate stocks get less money.

He intends to increase the limit on Social Security taxes, which means that instead of paying 12 1/2 percent of the first $100,000, you pay it on everything that you're making.
The real tax rate is then 60 percent. See Dick Morris

In essence Obama's tax proposals are a massive con trick.

Video -Barack Obama the Tax and Spend Liberal

Obama and Biden preach the politics of envy and class warfare at Springfield, Illinois

The selection of Joe Biden as Obama's running mate was the final insult to Hillary Clinton who had won 18 million votes in the primaries whilst Biden amassed the "huge" total of c9,500.

A large segment of Biden's speech was devoted to talking down the US economy. The word disaster was used. Certainly there are some severe economic problems not alone in the US but also throughout the world. But since when is a 5/6% unemployment rate a disaster? Biden and Obama preach about the loss of 3 million jobs and attack free trade. A return to protectionism will drive unemployment closer to 10%. In general low paid industrial jobs in Europe and the US are moving to low cost destinations. This is a fact of economic life. An Obama /Biden Presidency using protectionism will not stem the flow. To pretend otherwise is just dishonest.

Today Obama and Biden preached a policy of class warfare -a policy beloved of Marxists and extreme left Socialists. This is anathema to most Americans.
Demonising John McCain on the basis of the number of residences which he owns is cheap gutter politics designed to stir up envy. Are Biden and McCain advocating a policy of confiscation of assets belonging to those who have done well? A cursory glance at the Democrat's tax policies indicates that those who work hard to build up businesses are to be penalized with higher taxes. This is a recipe for higher unemployment and economic stagnation. So much for an enterprise culture.
Incidentally Obama earned $4 million in 2007 whilst Biden is not exactly poor.

Obama and Biden favour a windfall profits tax on oil companies and bemoan petrol at 4 dollars a barrel. Yet they are opposed to off shore exploration, which would provide the extra oil supplies to force down prices and reduce the dependency on unstable regimes in the Middle East. Falling prices would soon curb the excesses of the Russian bear. Russia has flexed its military muscles buoyed up by a huge inflow of oil revenue.

Biden attacked what he termed the Bush/McCain foreign policy. Is not Biden the man who voted for the Iraq war? This is the ultimate in hypocrisy. Is this not the politician who stated in 2007 that he would not serve as a Vice President and who in reference to Obama stated that “the White House is no place to learn on the job”. Biden also said that “I would be honored to run with or against John McCain, because I think the country would be better off.” Now Biden the attack dog is at odds with himself. He is living in a political glasshouse.

Both Obama and Biden express concerns for the middle class yet favour the doubling of capital gains tax and a public expenditure splurge of $1,000 billion. The middle class will fund this.

Biden the Catholic agrees with Obama’s principles. His support for abortion and the appointment of pro abort judges to the Supreme Court is an insult to Catholic voters.
An Obama /Biden presidency will cripple taxpayers. Their taxation policy is based on envy and is designed to attack the coping classes.

Obama will cost you

This image summarises Obama's economic policy. His plans to double the tax on invested capital and to push up the top tax bracket to an effective 60%, will cripple the economy. His proposal to raise capital gains tax to 28% could trigger a stock market crash and will hit middle income earners very hard. He intends to increase spending by €1000 billion over four years. This is voodoo economics.

His policies of higher taxation and redistribution of wealth are akin to those of the French Communist Party. They are certainly to the left even of most European Socialist Parties. They are a recipe for economic stagnation and increased poverty. So deeply embedded are such policies in European countries such as France and Germany that conservative governments when elected to power can only tinker at the edges. To introduce the radical reform necessary is to court political destruction.
Will the American voters learn from the mistakes of their European friends?

Ireland-Exchequer deficit is €5.65bn for first six months as recession looms.

The Exchequer returns show a deficit of almost €5.65bn for the first half of the year (2.75% of GDP). Tax Receipts at €19.127 billion are €1.45bn lower than anticipated for the first six months of the year. The lower tax receipts are due mainly to the poor performance of VAT and capital gains tax. The tax shortfall for the full year is expected to come in at €3bn. The collapse in the house-building sector has impacted strongly on tax receipts. Only 40,000-45,000 new houses will be built this year. The folly of over reliance on this sector is plain for all to see.

Total current receipts in the first half of 2008 were €19.525 billion compared to receipts of €21.124 billion for the same period in 2007.
Non-tax revenue in the first six months of 2008 was €398 million. This compares to €310 million for the same period last year.

Brian Cowen’s Government must administer some harsh medicine. The country faces swingeing public expenditure cuts and huge rises in stealth taxes as Finance Minister Brian Lenihan attempts to grapple with the problem. Increased exchequer borrowing will also help plug the gap. In addition interest rates will remain high as the European Central Bank grapples with inflation. Increasing interest rates at this time is economic lunacy and will serve to strengthen the Euro further. This will reduce exports from the Euro zone. Irish exports have begun to lag. Much of the Euro inflation has resulted from higher oil prices. So it is arguable that interest rates should not be increased.
Tightening of lending policies by the banks will hinder investment.

Pay rises below the rate of inflation will take further steam out of the economy. There is a danger of stagflation if public expenditure cuts are too severe.
In addition unemployment has risen rapidly in recent months. It broke the 200,000 barrier last month and currently stands at c207,000. Where is the purchasing power to come from if the consumer lacks sufficient disposable income?

In recent tears public expenditure has galloped out of control. It rose by 13% in 2007 in the run in to the General Election and by 50% over four years. Huge tax receipts from the then booming building sector funded much of this. The FF/PD Government erred in not restraining public expenditure. Excessive public expenditure fuelled inflation in an economy that was already growing strongly.
It threw petrol on the fires of economic growth. Restraints in public expenditure in good times would have provided the Government with some leeway.

There has been a tendency to dump on economists who warned that this scenario would unfold. David McWilliams, Alan Aherne and George Lee in particular have come in for strong criticism. Richard Bruton FG Spokesman on Finance has long criticised Government policy. Critics were accused of talking down the economy. Of course this is utter nonsense
Interestingly George Lee was referred to today on an RTE programme as George Gloom. Attack the messenger when you do not like the message. What utter nonsense. It is time for realism.
Some debate has cantered on the dreaded “R” word. The country is either in recession or about to enter a recession. It can weather the storm.

John McCain Won't Raise Your Taxes-Obama will

The following are some of Obama's Taxing proposals :

• He will create a 60 percent tax bracket for upper-income Americans and raise the top bracket to 40 percent. He will apply FICA taxes to all income, not just that under $100,000 as at present. ( 40 %+ FICA’s 12.5 % + Medicare’s 2 % + state and local taxes averaging, after deduction, at 5-6 %=60 %. (Source-Dick Morris )


• He will double the capital gains tax. The likelihood of an Obama Presidency could trigger a Stock Market Crash as investors rush to sell shares to avoid the higher rates of capital gains tax.


• He will double the dividend tax.



• His opposition to nuclear power and extra oil drilling means that energy prices will remain high. America's over reliance on oil imports will continue.

Obama plans to raise spending by $800 billion over 4 years. The Tax Payer will fund the Socialist policies of a President Obama.

Obama's Spending Plans involve a smash and grab raid on American Taxpayers

Many voters are besotted with the rhetoric, oomph and personality of Barack Obama. All this comes with a price tag. Unfortunately most of his supporters have failed to delve into the specifics of his taxation policy.
Obama’s taxation policies are a mirror image of the failed taxation policies of the French and Swedish Socialist parties.

He has promised to raise the capital gains tax from the current 15% to 28%. This is a recipe for disaster. Lower rates of capital gains tax bring in higher revenue yields. Reganomics proved the veracity of this statement.
Obama’s capital gains tax increase will hit 100 million American tax payers. Investors are likely to move in advance of an Obama Presidency- to sell shares. This may trigger a stock market crash.

He is a strong believer in higher Government spending. His promises so far amount to $800 billion over four years.

He intends to allow the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts to expire in 2010. This will raise taxes on millions of Americans by many billions of dollars.

He intends to tamper with the $102,000 FICA payroll tax cap. A President Obama will ensure that anyone making over $102,000 will pay an additional 7% in taxes on earned income.
He also intends to target the loan dividend tax rate implemented by George Bush.

Obama’s rhetoric may hypnotise many voters but his taxation policies leave a sour taste. He is on the extreme left of the Democratic Party and is no more than a tax and spend liberal. He is the darling of the Democratic Socialists of America .This group was formed from an amalgamation of Trotskyites, Communists and extreme left elements.