PayPal Not For Everyone

I have frequently touted PayPal as the most convenient and efficient manner by which to send money over the Internet.  I have no plans to stop using it, but according to this article, there are several types of transactions for which payments will not be allowed through the PayPal system. As of May 12, the rules will kick in to make eligible transactions for PayPal restricted for the same kinds of things as for eBay, PayPal’s owner. 

Are Higher Taxes and Fees Discouraging Air Travel?

Taxes do affect behavior.  According to this article, direct taxes add an additional 26% to most travel costs.  I like his idea that, instead of giving the airlines billions of dollars in taxpayer bailout money, reducing or removing some of the taxes would do a lot more to stimulate more customer support.

One-Third of Federal Work Force May Quit

Too good to be true; but this would be a step in the right direction of reducing the cost of government and taxes to fund it.

What if IRS employees were compensated in the same way as waiters and waitresses?

Our Deficit-Averse Politicians Should Target Waste

Of course, one person’s waste is another person’s pork and payoff to campaign contributors.

A Setback, But All Is Not Lost

An optimistic fellow, that Larry Kudlow. He thinks we may end up with a 50% exclusion for dividend income.  That means corporate income will only be taxed one a half times.  At least it’s a step in the right direction.

Senate Slashes Bush Tax Cut Package

A lot of good having the majority is doing for the GOP if some of them vote along with the DemonRats.

I do have to admit that, because of the stupid way in which the tax reduction proposal has been described, it is very awkward to ask for tax cuts at the same time as more funds are being requested for the Iraq war.  While such a thing seems irresponsible on its face, it really isn’t.  However, it is just one more example of the problems of using static analysis to describe the effects of tax law changes.

The tax reduction proposal is constantly being described as costing $726 billion, with the implication that the Federal government will be out of pocket that much money if the law is passed as President Bush is requesting.  That is just not the case.  However, the truth about the effects of tax rate reductions is consistently distorted by the DemonRats and their propagandists in the media, who like to use their class warfare strategy of calling it a tax cut for the evil rich.

While I don’t have a crystal ball, I feel very confident in predicting that, if Bush’s tax rate cuts and elimination of double corporate taxation are allowed to become real, the results will be the same as after Ronald Reagan’s tax rate cuts of the early 1980s.  There will be more economic activity, resulting in more taxable income and overall much higher tax dollars to the Federal government.  It will not cost the government anything, but will stimulate more revenue.  However, that is based on the more realistic dynamic analysis of tax law changes, which is taboo and not allowed to be part of the discussion.  I am certain that Bush, as a fellow MBA, understand this.  However, he is not doing a good job overcoming the left-wing media bias to explain this very well to the American public, who have a terrible understanding of basic economics.

KMK

American Royalty

I get a lot of grief from fellow Libertarians and conservatives over my support for term limits for all politicians.  They claim that we already have term limits via the ballot box.  I wish that were true.  The fact of the matter, as described in this article, is that once elected, the powers of incumbency are practically insurmountable, with almost 99% reelection rate.  They become rulers for life. 

I maintain my belief that if our founding fathers had predicted that future generations would not heed their examples of serving a few terms and then moving on to normal civilian lives, with a constant turnover, they would have included maximum terms of office in the Constitution. They did their best to prevent against being ruled by royalty; but failed to anticipate the addiction to power that would set in with incumbents.  Career politicians, who are not required to abide by the rules we little people have to, are dangerous. Without mandatory limits on their time on the throne, things just continue to get more unbalanced.  They continue to increase the size and cost of government, with increasing size of extorted campaign donations from their victims.

KMK

Some Social Security Myths

When out of ideas, the lefties can always revert to telling lies about the Social Security system and trying to scare more old folks.