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In this photo, George Steinbrenner's coffin is driven by hearse during funeral services Saturday, July 17, 2010, in Trinity, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Unless Congress acts to extend its repeal, the death tax is scheduled to return in 2011– a tax that liberals and conservatives alike seem to agree is designed only to attack the “pockets” of the wealthy.
A moratorium on the tax expires after Dec. 31, 2010, and the tax will return in 2011 taxing inheritances at a rate of 55 percent with only a $1 million exemption unless Congress changes the tax law.
On a 39-59 vote, the Senate on Wednesday rejected a measure sponsored by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) that would have permanently repealed the tax.
DeMint’s measure, which came in the form of an amendment to a small business bill, would have made permanent the repeal of the federal estate tax, which is set to expire on Dec. 31.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) scored another in a series of major political victories, signing a bill capping the growth of property taxes and municipal spending at 2% annually. The bill replaces the Garden State’s previous cap, at 4%, which the governor assailed as ineffectual due to 14 exemptions that allowed local governments to virtually ignore the law. The new cap, which Christie pushed the Democratic-controlled legislature to enact, requires municipal councils to get approval from the voters before going over the lower limit.
The bill is the result of a compromise between Christie and Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Camden). Christie had proposed a 2.5% cap as part of a package of 33 bills, which he dubbed a “toolkit” for local government to get skyrocketing spending and property taxes under control. Christie’s proposal would have amended the state constitution to include the 2.5% limit and mandated the approval of a supermajority of 60% of voters for a local council to exceed the cap, with debt service as the lone exception.
Sweeney and Senate Democrats favored a non-constitutional 2.9% cap. Sweeney’s bill would have provided automatic exemptions for a broad set of items such as pension obligations, healthcare premiums, and natural disasters and other emergencies. The bill would also have allowed local school boards to apply for a waiver for spending necessary to meet core curriculum standards, and for towns to seek waivers for items related to “public safety, health and welfare.” Democrats in the House and Senate passed this bill and sent it to Christie for his signature.
How fitting that the state that produced the profligate corruptocrat-in-chief is now collapsing under the weight of its own fiscal irresponsibility. The same union-coddling, welfare state-expanding, pay-for-play politics that wrought the current misery in Illinois are wreaking havoc for us all. And to think: If President Obama, Mrs. Obama, Valerie Jarrett, and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley had had their way, they would have shoveled billions more in taxpayer funds down the drain for their Olympics folly. As I’ve noted here before, you can take Obama out of Chicago, but you can’t take the Chicago out of Obama.
Even by the standards of this deficit-ridden state, Illinois’s comptroller, Daniel W. Hynes, faces an ugly balance sheet. Precisely how ugly becomes clear when he beckons you into his office to examine his daily briefing memo.
He picks the papers off his desk and points to a figure in red: $5.01 billion.
First Wave: Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief
In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for investors, small business owners, and families. These will all expire on January 1, 2011:
Personal income tax rates will rise. The top income tax rate will rise from 35 to 39.6 percent (this is also the rate at which two-thirds of small business profits are taxed). The lowest rate will rise from 10 to 15 percent. All the rates in between will also rise. Itemized deductions and personal exemptions will again phase out, which has the same mathematical effect as higher marginal tax rates. The full list of marginal rate hikes is below:
- The 10% bracket rises to an expanded 15% – The 25% bracket rises to 28% – The 28% bracket rises to 31% – The 33% bracket rises to 36% – The 35% bracket rises to 39.6%
Higher taxes on marriage and family. The “marriage penalty” (narrower tax brackets for married couples) will return from the first dollar of income. The child tax credit will be cut in half from $1000 to $500 per child. The standard deduction will no longer be doubled for married couples relative to the single level. The dependent care and adoption tax credits will be cut.
How some Republicans are preparing to walk right into it.
“‘Next year when I start presenting some very difficult choices to the country, I hope some of these folks who are hollering about deficits step up. Because I’m calling their bluff.”
That was President Barack Obama, the heretofore unknown deficit hawk, all but announcing the other day the tax trap that he’s been laying for Republicans. From what we hear about intra-GOP debates, more than a few will be happy to walk right into it.
You don’t need a Mensa IQ to figure this one out. Mr. Obama’s plan has been to increase spending to new, and what he hopes will be permanent, heights. Then as the public and financial markets begin to fret about deficits and debt, he’ll claim that the debt is “unsustainable” and that the only “responsible” policy is to raise taxes.
White House officials even talk privately about the galvanizing political benefit of a bond market crisis, which would force panicked Members of Congress to accept a big new value-added tax. The President’s two looming tax reports—one from his deficit commission and the other from Paul Volcker’s economic advisory group—are intended to propose a VAT and other tax options. Whatever their initial reception, the proposals will be there to be pulled from the shelf when the political moment is right.
Phoenix taxpayers earned a great (and rare) win on Tuesday when the Phoenix City Council voted unanimously to hold the property tax rate and to make up the expected deficit with spending cuts, innovations and structural changes.
“This is a huge victory for Phoenix taxpayers, but it’s only one step on the long road to fiscal stability for Phoenix,” said Councilman Sal DiCiccio, who supported holding down the rate. City staff originally had recommended a series of secondary property tax rate increases in out years that would have meant higher property tax rates in the city from 2013 until 2028.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie wasted no time yesterday in vetoing two tax increases passed by the Democratic legislature. Christie signed his disapproval of the measures reinstating an expired surcharge on “millionaires” almost before the ink was even dry on their pages.
State Senate President Steve Sweeney, who is also a private sector union boss, let his thuggish ways show just a bit after Christie rejected the bills. Sweeney taunted the governor from the back of the room. “We’ll be back, Governor.”
Christie dismissed him, “Okay. We’ll see,” he said.
Your property tax is about to go up. In the last four months, the City of Phoenix has imposed on you and your family:
A new food tax (up $50 million per year)
Increased water rates ($30 million per year; a 40% increase over 5 years)
Increased sewer rates ($3 million this year)
Increased fees on small business
And now the City of Phoenix wants to raise your property tax rate, even though your property values have gone down.
All of these fees and taxes were imposed to afford an average cost of $100,000 per city employee – that’s for all 14,000 employees. This could all be fixed if Phoenix simply would restructure operations. My office has asked Phoenix to address the high cost of labor at City Hall. Instead, the city has chosen the easy route of raising taxes and fees on you, the public; all of which I opposed.
At 2 p.m. May 25, Phoenix will consider raising your property tax rate under the guise of a “floating rate.” That means your taxes will “float” up.
I need your help. Phoenix taxpayers need your help. Please call or e-mail my office and let me know we don’t need anymore taxes. I will pass your information along to the rest of the Council.
Please help get the word out and pass this information along.
Respectfully,
Sal DiCiccio Phoenix Councilman Council.district.6@phoenix.gov 200 W. Washington St. 11th Floor Phoenix , AZ 85003 (602) 262-7491
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