Thread: Going Galt: Tax hikes have consequences

Going Galt : Tax hikes have consequences
March 2, 2009 06:22 PM

There’s a new report on ABCNews.com about how upper-income business owners are looking for ways to reduce their earnings to deny the government their tax dollars. This is exactly what Dr. Helen was talking about in October and on our PJTV panel this weekend – the producers of this country choosing to “Go Galt.” It’s the sentiment you saw in the “Atlas Will Shrug” sign at the Denver anti-pork rally two weeks ago and at many of the Tea Party protests. And it’s the sentiment you see in the rise of Ayn Rand novel sales.

Tax hikes have consequences. Incentives matter. Only self-deluded wealth redistributors living in la-la-land believe otherwise.

Read: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Econo...6975547&page=1

President Barack Obama’s tax proposal which promises to increase taxes for those families with incomes of $250,000 or more — has some Americans brainstorming ways to decrease their pay, even if it’s just by a dollar.

A 63-year-old attorney based in Lafayette, La., who asked not to be named, told ABCNews.com that she plans to cut back on her business to get her annual income under the quarter million mark should the Obama tax plan be passed by Congress and become law.

So far, Obama’s tax plan is being looked at skeptically by both Democrats and Republicans and therefore may not pass at all.

“We are going to try to figure out how to make our income $249,999.00,” she said.

“We have to find a way out where we can make just what we need to just under the line so we can benefit from Obama’s tax plan,” she added. “Why kill yourself working if you’re going to give it all away to people who aren’t working as hard?”

***

The nationwide Tax Day Tea Party is April 15. I’ve just signed on as a sponsor. Make your voices heard.

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/03/02...-consequences/

Priceless:
Tax cheat Treasury Secretary to chase after
…tax cheats


Trying

To

Type

Between

Snorts


Sides

Splitting

Fresh from the AP wire: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...LwQJQD96MN08G1

Geithner: Obama to fight international tax dodgers
By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER – 3 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's Treasury secretary says the administration will unveil a series of rules and measures in the coming months to limit the ability of international companies to avoid U.S. taxes.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday that Obama will propose legislation to limit U.S. companies' ability to shelter foreign earnings from taxation in the U.S. He also said the administration will try to limit wealthy Americans' ability to use tax havens to avoid taxation.

He did not immediately provide details.

No, of course not. “Immediately providing details” is not something Obama Cabinet members do.

President Obama likes the idea of globalization of government, but apparently not the globalization of business.

Taxation has consequences.

...to limit the ability of international companies to avoid U.S. taxes.

... propose legislation to limit U.S. companies’ ability to shelter foreign earnings...

Which is it? International companies or U.S. companies?

Some corporate inversions are tax driven. Some reflect the changing economy and face of many Fortune 500-esque companies.

One can only speculate what this means now since Geithner never has any details, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were dusting off their attacks on corporate inversions (with no consideration for the fact that they helped drive many of those companies to that solution).

I suggest Inspector Clouseau be placed in charge of the investigations... to begin audit all democrat elected officials; his staff proves 30 - 40% don’t pay until caught.

An excellent wealth producer’s manifesto from Laura at Pursuing Holiness. http://pursuingholiness.com/2009/03/going-john-galt/

Like Robert Stacey McCain, my frustration with the “moderates” who voted for Obama in the desperate hope that he was not what the evidence - and by evidence, I mean his words, his associates, and even his extremely limited legislative track record - clearly proclaimed him to be: a far left Chicago thug politician whose goal was to move us into a more socialist state. David Brooks, Christopher Buckley, Peggy Noonan, Kathleen Parker, Doug Kmiec… you led the RINO cheerleading squad that helped this man become our President. Serious scrutiny of Obama’s admittedly scant record would have told you all you need to know.

Now people begin to feel sorry, and are deservedly mocked. But in the meantime, we’re going further and further down the socialist rabbit hole, and taxpayers like me who are net contributors to the federal government - instead of the 60% of taxpayers who receive more in government services than they put in - are going John Galt.



http://pursuingholiness.com/wp-conte...opaystaxes.gif

Gas lines, unemployment, inflation, problems with terrorists… we have all this and more to look forward to, right down to the guy in the Oval Office lecturing us that we can’t keep our homes at the temperature we like. At least Carter had the decency to put on a sweater and give the appearance of suffering right along with the rest of us. President Obama can’t even do that. These things are going to happen eventually anyway because the 40% cannot carry the rest of the country, nor should a moral society expect us to do so. My goal is to not extend the misery; to hasten the inevitable crash so we can recover quickly.

Do I want Obama to fail? Aren’t I, as a Christian, required to pray for our president? I do pray for him. But I don’t pray for his success, where his success means implementing policies which harm the country’s security, kill babies, increase poverty, and decrease freedom. The Alinskyite game playing is pathetic, trying to divide us with “have you beat your wife lately?” questions designed to “catch” conservatives in being “disloyal” to the President. Are you now, or have you ever been, a fan of Rush Limbaugh? Grow up! I’m not hoping for economic failure. I’m experiencing economic failure, and I’m hoping to return to economic success.

As the natural consequences of these disastrous polices - foreign policy based on magical thinking, energy policy designed to increase costs and cause shortages, economic policy that has already stolen big chunks out of people’s retirement funds by sending the stock market back to Clinton administration levels, with no floor in sight - the country is going to suffer. I welcome that, to the extent necessary to cause people to re-think their attitudes and comprehend the results of their entitlement mentality. By going John Galt - reducing my income to the point that I no longer subsidize anyone else via government imposed wealth transfers - I hope to hasten the inevitable collapse. The H.E.N.R.Y.’s feel the same way; people who are in the dreaded eeevil, mean capitalist pig $250,000 bracket are cutting back on their productivity. As they should - where does society get the right to enslave these people? The faster the 40% opts out, the sooner the collapse, and the sooner we can correct the situation.

Think of it as praying the alcoholic in your family will hit rock bottom sooner, rather than later. It’s time to stop enabling the entitlement mentality. It’s time to let go of our co-dependency and desire to be liked. It’s time for an intervention. It’s time to go John Galt.

Related: A great catch from Dr. Helen on how the MSM treats rational business owners as tax “dodgers” while tax cheat Tim Geithner gets a pass. http://drhelen.blogspot.com/2009/03/...r-not-for.html

I love the negative spin by ABC news when they pose a question to readers about Obama's proposed tax increase on those making over $250,000 : http://abcnews.go.com/Business/popup...00000000000000

Lawyers, dentists and entrepreneurs are among some high-earning professionals brainstorming ways to decrease their pay to dodge [my emphasis] a proposed tax increase on incomes over $250,000.

Is it fair for people to reduce high salaries to sidestep President Obama's tax proposal?

Last time I looked, involuntary servitude was outlawed by the Thirteenth Amendment (but maybe not for long!). No one in the US (yet) can be forced to work just so they can keep paying money to the government and programs they may not want to support. I remember reading an article about an artist who decided to cut back on his hours and live on almost nothing because he did not want to pay taxes to support the war in Iraq under Bush. The article never questioned whether what this man was doing was "fair" or constituted "dodging" taxes.

Now the tables are turned and there are Americans who do not want to support Obama's socialist agenda or who simply do not want to work more for less and less money.

It is their right. We must fight to keep it that way.[/quote]

[quote]Is it fair for people to reduce high salaries to sidestep President Obama's tax proposal?

No. The rich have had too many tax breaks.
They should be ashamed for finagling the system. (551)

No. I have to pay high taxes and so should that
high-income bracket. They can afford it. (268)

Yes. I also would find ways to decrease my salary to avoid taxes. (5,934)

Yes. Why should ordinary folks, even those making $250K,
pay when big corporations get bailed out. (2,183)

Total Vote: 8,936[quote]



Read the comments that follow the article ....

Newsflash: Wonderboy Treasury Secretary is in over his head

They said he was uniquely qualified. A wunderkind. The Man with the Plan. Too big to fail.

Now we learn from the on-the-ball MSM that tax cheat Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is flailing about and in over his head.

Who’s shocked?

For five weeks, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has battled the worst economic crisis in generations with no key deputies in place. That’s made for a rocky debut for the man President Barack Obama put in charge of addressing the financial crisis.

With an awkward first television appearance, a bank rescue plan that lacked promised specifics and two restructured bailouts that raised taxpayer risk, Geithner has failed to calm financial markets desperate for answers.

Critics say part of the problem is that Geithner is flying solo: Not one of his top 17 deputies has been named, let alone confirmed. And without senior leadership, lower-level Treasury employees can’t make decisions or represent the government in crucial conversations with banks and others.

As Geithner strives to address the financial crisis, advance Obama’s agenda and work with foreign leaders to stave off economic disaster, he’s assembled a 50-person “shadow cabinet” of would-be appointees. Those people have received hall passes and can advise Geithner, but they lack any authority.

“Everyone would think it’s a travesty if the Defense Department didn’t have a lot of their people in place, because you’re in a crisis fighting a couple of wars,” said Tony Fratto, who was a Treasury spokesman under President George W. Bush. “But Tim Geithner is fighting wars on a few fronts himself, and he doesn’t have the generals there to help him.”

So, he’s chasing after international tax avoiders by himself.

And now, the tax cheat is assailing oil and gas companies for taking advantage of the legal tax loopholes. No wonder he can’t get anyone to staff up underneath him. Everything he does is a punchline:

U.S. oil and natural gas producing companies should not receive federal subsidies in the form of tax breaks because their businesses contribute to global warming, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Congress on Wednesday.

It was one of the sharpest attacks yet on the oil and gas industry by a top Obama administration official, reinforcing the White House stance that new U.S. energy policy will focus on promoting renewable energy sources like wind and solar power and rely less on traditional fossil fuels like oil as America tackles climate change.

“We don’t believe it makes sense to significantly subsidize the production and use of sources of energy (like oil and gas) that are dramatically going to add to our climate change (problem). We don’t think that’s good economic policy and we think changing those incentives is good for the country,” Geithner told the Senate Finance Committee at a hearing on the White House’s proposed budget for the 2010 spending year.

The Obama administration’s budget would levy an excise tax on oil and natural gas produced in the Gulf of Mexico, raising $5.3 billion in revenue from 2011 to 2019.

This new 13 percent tax on all oil and gas production in the Gulf would only affect those companies enjoying a loophole that allows them to avoid paying royalties on the energy supplies they drill..

The NYPost editorial board chuckles:

... here was Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, boldly testifying Tuesday before Rep. Charlie Rangel’s Ways & Means Committee - promising that the Obama administration intends to propose “a series of legislative and enforcement measures to reduce . . . tax evasion and avoidance.”

Did he look Chairman Rangel in the eye when he said this?

Can he look himself in the eye at the shaving mirror each morning?

A crackdown on “tax evasion and avoidance”? Oh, the irony.

I could do a better job than Geitner and I know how to use Turbo Tax!

And now we have National healthcare in the name of the economy. Guess what? Healthcare stocks are tanking now. Doesn't help when the gov goes to them and says "I don't care what we've negotiated with you. You will be giving us a 10% discount"

What other CRAMDOWNS will the gov force down business' throats?

And yes, when Geitner was talking about catching tax evaders, I needed my barf bucket. This is all absolutely ridiculous!!

Timothy Geithner, alone and working night and day

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is practically alone on the job, working night and day to cope with the worst economic downturn in decades.

Of the 15 key Treasury Department positions that require Senate confirmation, only one has been filled. Stuart Levey, a leftover from the previous administration, who as under secretary of the treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, is not central to the crisis management however.

Unemployment figures which revealed Friday that 651,000 jobs were lost in February, showed the recession is running ever deeper, but Geithner, who started work in late January, has no deputy secretary, no under secretaries for international affairs and no deputy under secretaries.

Annette Nazareth, who had been expected to be chosen as deputy secretary -- Geithner's top aide -- has withdrawn her name, the Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition, citing people familiar with the matter.

The former Security Exchange Commission head "withdrew in large part because of the long vetting process" President Barack Obama has put in place to choose members of his government, the daily said.

Geithner's choice for undersecretary for international affairs, Caroline Atkinson, also took her name out of the running, only weeks ahead of the April 2, Group of 20 developed and developing nations summit in London.

To help Geithner on international financial matters, Treasury has provisionally hired Ted Truman, an economist at the Peterson Institute of International Economics in Washington, according to a Treasury official.

Truman was Geithner's assistant at Treasury when he served as under secretary for international affairs in the late 1990s.

The 47-year-old Geithner, a former head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, was involved with the economic recovery efforts by President George W. Bush, but some experts think his plate may be too full this time.

President Barack Obama's chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, Christina Romer, told CNBC on Friday that Geithner "is putting together a team as fast as he can ... work is going on night and day."

Paul Volcker, former Federal Reserve chairman and now head of the newly formed Economic Recovery Advisory Board, told a February 26 Congress hearing that it was "shameful" Geithner had no assistants.

"He shouldn't be sitting there alone ... it really is an unfortunate situation."

At a Senate Finance Committee hearing Thursday, Senator Tom Carper told Geithner, "obviously, you need help," eliciting from the treasury secretary that he saw his family "less than I would like."

Treasury spokesman Isaac Baker denied there were "vetting problems or delays in the process" for nominees at his department.

"With more than 50 political appointees already hard at work, the department is ahead of staffing levels from previous administrations" in the same time frame, he said, highlighting the "unprecedented level of action to strengthen our economy" already taken by the Treasury Department.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php...show_article=1

Another unhinged Democrat to taxpayer: “Get the f**k out of my office!”
By Michelle Malkin • March 9, 2009 01:23 PM

It is arrogance like this that has prompted thousands of taxpayers across the country to take to the streets:

A Chicago taxpayer went to his 22nd Ward alderman, Ricardo Munoz, to protest the Democrat’s support for tax-increment financing. (I reported years ago on how these “public-private partnership” scams siphon off tax dollars to subsidize developers/builders who then reward politicians with big campaign donations.) The constituent wants to present Alderman Munoz with a petition. http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=702

Munoz physically shoves the voter and yells: “Get the f**k out of my office!” (Hat tip - Jim Hoft). http://flyingdebris.blogspot.com/200...at-is-rod.html

Send Ricardo Munoz a teabag!

• Ward Office: 2500 S. St Louis
Chicago, IL 60623

• Ward Phone: 773-762-1771

• E-Mail: rmunoz@cityofchicago.org

• City Hall Office: 121 N. Lasalle St.
Room 300 Chicago, IL 60602

• City Hall Phone: 312-744-9491

Move over, Charlie “Mind Your Goddamned Business” Rangel. You’ve got company:
Tax cheat Rangel caught on tape:
“Why don’t you mind your goddamned business?”



Our intrepid Hot Air TV special correspondent Jason Mattera is back on Capitol Hill! You’ve watched him corner smear merchants Jack Murtha and John Kerry, ask William “Cold Cash” Jefferson for bribe-freezing tips, and roam the Democrat National Convention in an orange Gitmo suit exposing far Left insanity. This time he catches tax cheat Charlie Rangel and confronts him about his mounting ethical and financial scandals.

Charlie Rangel’s message for Jason - and for all you bothersome taxpayers wondering about his shady rental property deals, publicly-subsidized Cadillac, and unpaid taxes:

“Why don’t you mind your goddamned business?”

Because, you damned corruptocrat, you are a servant of the public — not the other way around.

Geithner: Can’t get taxes straight, can’t get dates straight…

Can he get anything straight? TurboTax failed him. So, apparently, did Outlook calendar.

Hapless Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner claims he didn’t find out about the AIG bonus issue until March 10. This was contradicted by AIG president Edward Liddy’s testimony before Congress earlier this week. Liddy was right. Geithner was wrong. And it’s all on videotape. DealBlog this morning referenced a House hearing on March 3 in which Geithner was directly questioned about the specific bosnues http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/20...t-aig-bonuses/ a full week before Geithner claims he was made aware of the impending controversy.

C-SPAN archives has the clip (also now on YouTube): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65VlHPJihAM

And here’s the transcript now circulating on the Hill:

Full Question From House Ways And Means Committee Hearing, 3/3/09:

Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-NY): “Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Welcome to the committee, Mr. Geithner, and thank you for your responses so far. It never ceases to amaze me the level of apparent amnesia some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have had about how we got to this problem in the first place, and I thank you for answering Mr. Heller’s question in particular.

“By the line of questioning, you’re almost led to believe that because of a last month and a few days of a presidency we had the problem we have today, and thank you for setting the record straight. This didn’t happen overnight. This took eight years in the making of stagnant, at best, growth. But yesterday, Mr. Secretary, the Treasury and the Federal Reserve announced a new fourth plan to rescue troubled financial services giant AIG. I do agree that AIG’s sustainability is the lynchpin for some of our recovery efforts, and it’s important for the federal government to work to keep it afloat. However, I must demand that AIG increase the accountability and transparency, something that was not done during the previous administration.

“For example, just last month, AIG paid 343 employees of AIG FP — their Financial Products division that created the financial hole that AIG is in, and in turn a multibillion-dollar bill for American taxpayers — $56 million in bonuses and are slated to pay an additional $162 million in bonuses to 393 participants in the coming weeks. And there’s more. Further bonus payments totaling approximately 230 million (dollars) are due to 407 participants at AIG’s Financial Products division in March 2010.

“This makes no sense to my constituency. And I’m not here to bash compensation — we can go a little overboard as well — but this company claims to be on the brink of disaster and it’s handing out bonuses. I would like to work with you in structuring tough, commonsense compensation limits at AIG and this new government loan, which would include voiding these bonuses to AIG FP employees as well as claw back $56 million in bonuses already paid to AIG FP employees December 2008 and 2009, some of whom are not even American citizens but who are living large on taxpayer funds. Can you please share with us, this committee, your thoughts on taking these actions.”

Secretary Geithner: “Congressman, thank you. I just want to point out that compensation practice across the financial services industry over the last years and decades just got out of whack with basic fundamentals, and people were paid for risks that weren’t captured in compensation, and part of what we do to make sure this kind of crisis doesn’t happen in the future is to change those basic incentives, and there’s going to be a role for government in doing that.

“Now, it’s very important that we make sure that we’re providing exceptional assistance to these firms, that that assistance is going, again, to achieve the objectives of these programs, not to reward the kind of executives that got us in this mess. I’m deeply committed to that objective.

“The president laid out some very comprehensive conditions in his proposals last month. Congress passed as part of the recovery act a set of additional provisions. We are now in the process of designing regulations, guidelines to apply those provisions and we’re going to be as careful and responsive as we can to the concerns you have, so many Americans have about how these resources have been used. And I just want to say that the judgments made by these boards of directors and senior executives across parts of the financial have just caused a lot of damage to public confidence and the quality of their judgment, and they have a deep responsibility and obligation to make more careful judgments going forward.

“But we’re not going to be able to depend on them to do it. We’re going to make sure that there’s conditions that come with our assistance to assure that. So we’re going to figure out how to apply these new provisions in a way that’s as carefully designed as possible. Obviously, we want these businesses — we want to achieve the objectives of what we did in the IT. We want them to be able to run their business and restructure so that we’re in a better position going forward and that’s going to — that’s why this is sort of hard to do. But we’re going to be very careful in doing it and very much share your concern.”

How much longer does Geithner “take full responsibility” for his failings without suffering any consequences?


Side note: One of the congressional offices circulating the info comes from a GOP lawmaker who voted FOR the cover-their-backside confiscatory AIG bonus tax yesterday. :