Privatizing Social Security

As we all expected, the opponents of allowing people to have any control over their own retirement money are exploiting the stock market drop as an excuse to keep all of the power in the hands of our rulers in DC. As I have explained before, and Matt Moore discusses here, that is complete garbage.

KMK

Truth About The Reagan Tax Cuts

Jeff Jacoby has a good & accurate description of the very positive effects the Reagan tax rate cuts had on the country.

It makes me sick every time I hear those rate cuts blamed for the deficit, when that was completely the fault of rampant spending by Congress. It makes me doubly sick when even so-called Republicans, such as Warren Rudman, consistently parrot this liberal lie. When will the GOP stand up against this historical revisionism and smack down anyone who perpetuates this lie?

In fact, if Bush weren’t so afraid of offending the liberals, he would take steps to reduce tax rates right now and we would see the benefits to the economy very quickly. As I have explained on several occasions, he has the power to unilaterally chop the effective tax rate on capital gains by redefining the cost basis to include adjustments for the effects of inflation. Unfortunately, he is too wimpy to use that power, exactly as his father was.

KMK

Let Us Control Our Own Retirement

It is good to see that so many people want more control over their future retirement funding rather than trusting our rulers in DC. According to this recent Cato Institute Zogby poll, 68 percent of likely voters support allowing workers to invest a portion of their Social Security taxes in personal retirement accounts.

You can download the actual study in pdf. I noticed that it no longer includes the comparison between how many people believe in UFOs and the likelihood of actually receiving any SS benefits.

While this skepticism over the SS program is a good sign, I fear that too many people will take that as a sign that they don’t have to do anything on their own because our rulers will fix everything for them. Nothing could be further from the truth. In a best case scenario, our rulers are only discussing the possibility of allowing a small portion of the SS taxes to be diverted to privately controlled accounts. The major portion of the tax will still have to be sent to the SS Ponzi scheme. Also, any change in the current system is still several years away.

In the meantime, people who don’t take steps on their own to reduce the amount of SS taxes they are paying will just continue to flush thousands of dollars down that toilet every year. There are several ways to legally reduce or eliminate the requirement to pay in SS taxes. The easiest way continues to be by using a corporation.

KMK

Marxist California Governor

Picking on rich people is par for the course for Gray-Out Davis.

KMK

Tax Cuts Are Needed Now

In typical fashion, the leftists are telling their lies and trying to blame as many problems as they can (budget deficit, stock market crash, corporate bankruptcies, etc) on the supposedly huge & irresponsible tax cuts passed last year. Many are calling for a repeal of the cuts.

As Stephen Moore very eloquently explains, this is complete hogwash for several reasons. First is the fact that we have actually only seen a very tiny fraction of the tax cuts. The main parts aren’t going to take effect until 2005 & 2006. Blaming anything on a future promised tax cut is insane. This is why I have never trusted any tax break that is delayed. There is always the very real likelihood that our rulers will change their minds before the tax breaks kick in. It has happened too many times in the past to deny the probability.

I have to agree with Mr. Moore that the economy and market are suffering more due to the uncertainly surrounding the future tax cuts. The solution is to have our rulers pass a law making all of the tax cuts permanent and effective immediately.

KMK

Exposing Federal Creative Accounting

The only member of either house of Congress who truly respects the U.S. Constitution is Ron Paul, from Texas. It’s no coincidence that he was the Libertarian Party‘s 1988 Presidential candidate since the LP is the only political party that officially recognizes the Constitution as a sacred document.

Unlike his colleagues, who are getting a lot of face time with the media criticizing the creative accounting in large corporations, Mr. Paul explains that nobody is more creative and outright fraudulent with their bookkeeping than our rulers in DC.

KMK

Bill Simon’s Taxes

Journalists are crying about the limited time they had to review Bill Simon’s tax returns, looking for more dirt on him. Despite the ban on cameras & recording devices, I still say some were snuck in, and we’ll be seeing much more in-depth coverage of the tax returns soon. Have you seen how small cameras & microphones are nowadays?

KMK

Nailing Jello To the Wall

Here is a good explanation of how the complex tax code in this country makes improving & simplifying corporate accounting an impossible goal.

KMK

Income Redistribution

The Federal tax system is nothing less than income redistribution. Our all knowing and all powerful rulers take as much money as possible from the people who have it and then dole it out as only they are able to.

The Tax Foundation has statistics as to how all of the states do in terms of paying more to DC then they get back or vice versa. Some states, such as Tennessee, are net winners, while others send more money to DC than they get back.

KMK

Facing Reality

As I predicted back in April, Bill Simon had to cave in to the media hounding to release his personal tax return data to the press. It didn’t help things that some Clintonites inside the IRS broke the law and violated Bill Simon’s personal privacy by releasing charges that he was using questionable tax shelters.

While he is trying to limit that disclosure to a few hours, that won’t happen. I’m sure some of the reporters will be bringing digital cameras or small scanners with them. Politics is a dirty business and leftist journalists will stop at nothing to help their candidates.

KMK