The third rail – Good overview of the Social Security house of cards by George Will.

DeMint calls for tax changes – If anyone needs a concise explanation of why many corporations have shifted operations out of the US, it’s this:

America’s corporate tax rate — about 35 percent — is the second-highest in the world, DeMint said. That makes it more expensive for U.S. companies to export products than it is for companies in other countries to export them, he said.

Our rulers think they can just raise taxes on businesses and they will just gladly pay them without making any changes in how they conduct their operations. The truth with businesses is the same as it is for everything else in life. When costs go up, management looks for less expensive alternatives. It’s not rocket science; but such common sense evades our rulers who are driven to raise taxes and then are shocked when their targets take steps to avoid paying them.

I’ve never kept it a secret that I have little patience or sympathy for people who whine about having terrible jobs, or no jobs at all, as if they are entitled to being handed a well paying career on a silver platter. Whether it’s the salary, the fringe benefits, the retirement plans, or the work location, the only way you can be sure it’s to your liking is if it’s your own business. Of course, it has always been very obvious that many people are just not cut out to be more than worker bees in the business world.

How to Stop Receiving Credit Card Offers – These steps should reduce the volume of snail mail solicitations; but won’t do much about the millions of offers sent out by spammers because those scumbags don’t obey any rules or do-not-solicit lists.

Former Harrison Abstract owner faces theft charges – Dian Brown’s trial for stealing a million dollars from escrow funds is currently scheduled to begin next week, March 12. It will probably be postponed again for any number of procedural or technical reasons.

States Bent on Collecting Internet Taxes – States are trying to get their residents to voluntarily report purchases made via mail order and pay the Use Taxes on them, which are the same rates as normal Sales Taxes paid in the buyers’ local jurisdictions. Here in Arkansas, I noticed the DFA has put out news releases asking people to do this; but they aren’t making it as easy to do as many other states are. Rather than add a schedule that can be attached to individuals’ annual income tax returns to report the untaxed purchases, DFA is requiring people to obtain a completely different tax form. If they are truly serious about making it easy for people to volunteer those taxes, the DFA needs to make it a routine part of the annual income tax filing, as several other states are already doing. That way, we professional tax preparers can add a question to our annual tax organizers to capture that info.

As Al Capone and other gangsters have learned over the years, murder and other violent crimes take a back seat to what is considered the most heinous offense that can be perpetrated against our society – tax evasion.

It is also an ironic fact that most of the tax scofflaws, such as some reformed tax protestors and delinquents with whom I have worked, end up owning much less in taxes when they voluntarily file their professionally prepared returns than by letting the IRS and State tax agencies do the calculations based on the one-sided information they have for non-filers. In many cases, there have even been overpayments that had to be forfeited because of the statute of limitations on claiming refunds.

IRS allows tax deduction for doctor-approved weight-loss – But not for the cost of the diet food – a common misconception I have encountered.

Remember; we are trained professionals. Do not try this at home.

As Virginia mulls a tax hike, all Americans should guard their wallets.

Isn’t That Rich? – Good review by Neil Cavuto of how multi-millionaire elitists like John Kerry & John Edwards try to pretend to be just like average Americans.

Ex-governors slam Virginia tax boosts

Some GOP Lawmakers Aim To Scale Back Bush Tax Cuts – It’s bad enough, and to be expected, that the DemonRats would oppose tax cuts and want to raise taxes as much as possible; but now we have to worry some more about about RINOs joining them.

Cutting Social Security benefits isn’t the answer – Jack Kemp weighs in on the SS mess.

Dr. Kevorkian’s Social Security Solution: Cut Seniors, Not Benefits – I’ve long thought that it would make a great plot for a thriller for someone in power to try “fixing” the Social Security mess by killing off older people. Since uncollected benefits are forfeited at death, it would work miracles at balancing that system the way it is currently set up. Letting people control their own money and leave it to their heirs would avoid such motivation by over-zealous budget balancers in DC.