A taxing choice – Can anyone stop the use of taxpayer money for buying votes?

Virginia Political Shocker: Republicans for High Taxes – We have a classic case of the RINOs versus the true conservatives.

From MSN Money:

Readers love refunds — but they’re wrong – As I’ve always explained, anyone bragging about getting a huge tax refund is just telling everyone how ignorant they are at handling money.

How many exemptions can you take? – The goal should be a breakeven on your tax return. Use the worksheet on the back of Form W-4 to refigure this any time things change. Contrary to popular belief, there is no maximum number of times you can submit a new W-4 to your employer.

What if you can’t pay the IRS? – The worst thing you could do is to hold off sending in a tax return just because you don’t have the money to pay it off in full. Besides the fact that the late filing penalties are much higher than the late payment penalties, if you don’t file a tax return and show IRS what your actual tax bill is, they will use the information they have (1099s and W-2s) to calculate a much higher tax than even the most incompetent tax preparer would come up with. A tax return is a self defense tool where you have a chance to declare what your actual tax obligations are and prevent IRS from accusing you of owing hundreds of times more than that.

Thanks again to Andrew Roth for the following:

John Kerry’s Math – Reflecting his education at the Karl Marx School of Finance

Tax Fairness versus Tax Morality – Two oxymorons in one headline. There is nothing fair nor moral about taxes.

Bush “Attax” in Kerryland – For some reason, it’s wrong for the Bush team to tell the truth about his opponent; yet it’s perfectly acceptable for the DemonRats to fabricate complete lies about Bush and the GOP.

I liked these quotes from Thomas Sowell

Some seem to think it is wonderful when super-rich people say that high taxes are not so bad. True, taxes are not so bad if you already have more money than you can spend in your lifetime, especially if you inherited it. But most people had to work for what they have and have things that they want to spend it on, rather than have politicians grab it to use to buy votes.

The fraudulence of the left’s concern about poverty is exposed by their utter lack of interest in ways of increasing the nation’s wealth. Wealth is the only thing that can cure poverty. The reason there is less poverty today is not because the poor got a bigger slice of the pie but because the whole pie got a lot bigger — no thanks to the left.

Bush Casts John Kerry As Tax Raiser in TV Ad – If the shoe fits…

Grand Jury Indicts Anti-Tax Author – It’s about time the government took serious action about tax protestor scammer Irwin Schiff, his support staff, and the people stupid enough to follow his lead.

I have no idea how many people keep track of all the taxes they pay during their lifetimes; but if such a tally were possible, I am certain we would see a lot less passivity in the face of constant tax increases, especially the hidden ones, such as on phone and utility bills.

Tax hawks cooling to Norquist – Dissension among the ranks of tax fighters.

Price gouging – The laws of supply and demand can be cruel at times. However, government attempts to stifle the natural market reactions usually leads to the inevitable shortages.

New Limits May Drive Away Used-Car Donations – This would be a law that makes a lot of sense, a rare thing in the fairy tale world of DC – limit the deduction for vehicle donations to the actual selling price rather than the inflated Blue Book figure. I’m just a big believer in the power of the market to set prices; so what a buyer actually pays for a vehicle is a much more reliable indicator of its true dollar value than some generic pricing guide.

Medicare to go broke by 2019, trustees say – There are a couple of key issues to consider when reading a story like this.

First is the erroneous use of the term “trust fund.” There is no such thing as a trust fund for any of the Medicare or Social Security taxes being paid in. All money taken in is spent immediately. In fact, as I’ve mentioned countless times, the kind of commingling of funds done by our rulers in regard to these supposed trust funds would put regular people in prison if they tried it with private sector insurance or retirement accounts. It’s always been a pet peeve of mine, and cause for low credibility towards anyone (in government or media) who refers to the existence of a trust fund when discussing Medicare or Social Security. Such people are either dishonest, stupid, or both.

The other big problem I have with stories like this is the implication that the bean counters in DC can predict with certainty such things as when the Medicare or Social Security system will go broke. Just as with their perpetual misses on predicting the annual budget deficit or surplus, those accountants can’t even get it close one year ahead of time, much less decades from now. Again, it’s another pet peeve of mine when any kind of financial figures are spouted by our rulers in DC and anyone takes them seriously instead of recognizing them as the WAGs (Wild Ass Guesses) that they are.

Maybe I’m being overly sensitive about the improper usage of the term “trust fund.” Perhaps it’s just more ignorance on the part of the media, like the story in our local paper a few weeks ago, where the reporter referred to a living trust as a trust fund. However, I am certain that the widespread pervasiveness of the “trust fund” concept among so many people is really an attempt to make taxpayers feel more financially secure than they really are and hide the fact that all of their tax payments are going right back out the door and not into any kind of bank account on their behalf.