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Trump Would Be ‘Ok’ With a Tax Hike on the Rich but Cautions Against It

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President Donald Trump said it would be “OK” with him if Republican lawmakers raised taxes on the rich, but in the same breath he cautioned against it.

Trump took to Truth Social to share his message as Republicans on Capitol Hill work to forge the “Big Beautiful Bill.” He argued that Democrats would likely seize on such an increase to try to score political points:

The problem with even a “TINY” tax increase for the RICH, which I and all others would graciously accept in order to help the lower and middle income workers, is that the Radical Left Democrat Lunatics would go around screaming, “Read my lips,” the fabled Quote by George Bush the Elder that is said to have cost him the Election. NO, Ross Perot cost him the Election!

He then cautioned against a tax hike on the rich, before saying he would be okay with it if Republicans move forward with one.

“In any event, Republicans should probably not do it, but I’m OK if they do!!” he added. (Read more from “Trump Would Be ‘Ok’ With a Tax Hike on the Rich but Cautions Against It” HERE)

The Spending Sequester Will Grow the Private Economy — Don’t Back Off

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Photo Credit: Tax CreditsYesterday’s report of a 0.1 percent GDP decline for the fourth quarter came as a surprise to most forecasters. But it actually masks considerable strength in the private economy. Namely, housing investment in the fourth quarter jumped 15.3 percent annually, business equipment and software spiked 12.4 percent, and real private final sales rose 2.6 percent. All in, the domestic private sector of the economy increased 3.4 percent annually — a very respectable gain.

And here’s one for the record books: Working ahead of year-end tax hikes, individuals shifted so much money to the fourth quarter at the 35 percent top rate that personal income grew by 7.9 percent annually — a huge number. And there’s more: In order to beat the taxman, dividend income rose 85.2 percent annually. You think tax incentives don’t matter? Guess again.

Now, all this private-sector strength occurred despite the fact that government spending — namely military spending — dropped 6.6 percent. Inventories also lost ground and the trade deficit widened.

But here’s a key point: Military spending has now fallen virtually to its lower sequester-spending-cut baseline. It did so in one quarter by about $40 billion. So the brunt of the impact over the coming years has already been felt. (Normally, as of recent years, military spending has been virtually flat.)

Read more on this story HERE.

Premiums Set to Rise This Year in Run-Up to ObamaCare Tax on Insurance Industry

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photo credit: stockmonkeys.com

While the most sweeping provisions of the health care overhaul have not yet gone into effect, plenty of Americans will still be paying higher insurance premiums this year — as insurance companies try to preemptively cover the cost of a tax increase included in President Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

That tax doesn’t take effect until next year, when other major provisions like the so-called “individual mandate” and insurance subsidies also kick in. But that hasn’t stopped insurance companies from charging higher premiums this year to cover the hike, as well as the cost of ObamaCare benefits such as free birth control and preventive care.

Premiums for individuals and small businesses are projected to increase due to the tax by roughly 2 percent this year and by as much as 3.7 percent in 2023, according to a widely cited analysis by the insurance industry.

Officials will argue about who is to blame for the hike — insurance companies for sticking customers with the cost, or the government for imposing the industry tax hike in the first place. But the projected increases are the latest sign that Americans, in exchange for expanding and strengthening insurance coverage, will in many cases be paying more.

Already, a pair of taxes has hit higher-income households to cover the law. Those making more than $250,000 are seeing a .9 percentage point increase in their Medicare tax, and another 3.8 percentage point hike on investment income.

Read more from this story HERE.

Brain-Lock Inside the Beltway: the GOP agonizes about the anti-tax pledge and Democrats do nothing.

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photo credit: gage skidmore

It’s at times like this I’m ashamed to admit I live inside the Beltway.

Well, that’s probably not specific enough, since I’m usually ashamed to admit I live inside the Beltway.

Still, the second you try to explain the stupidity of this “fiscal cliff” fiasco to a normal person, it makes William F. Buckley’s famous declaration that he’d rather be governed by the first few hundred people listed in the Boston phone book than by the faculty of Harvard seem all the more reasonable.

While there are some responsible politicians and policymakers in Washington, if you look at the whole place collectively, Uncle Sam starts to look like a junkie. The logic of addiction dictates that you make a deal that allows you to avoid all of your problems now and enjoy a quick high in exchange for a painful confrontation with reality down the road.

Almost exactly a year ago, during the famed debt-ceiling negotiations, Speaker of the House John Boehner boasted that he’d forced tough concessions from the Democrats, achieving the first real cut in government spending in ages. He claimed his “real, enforceable cut” amounted to $7 billion for fiscal year 2012. The Congressional Budget Office objected, saying the real savings were closer to $1 billion.

Read more from this article HERE.

Major League Baseball Front-loading Contracts to Avoid Obama Tax Hikes?

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photo credit: shashibellamkonda

Team executives and agents wandered into the Agave Sunset lounge at the resort where the general managers’ meetings were held in Indian Wells, Calif. Four of the six flat-screen televisions were showing election coverage, with the other two turned to sports.

President Barack Obama’s victory over Mitt Romney was of as much interest to baseball’s money men as the game scores, given the millions of dollars routinely guaranteed in player contracts these days.

As free agents negotiate deals this offseason, tax policy is an area that comes up along with the usual issues. Some players are wrangling for as much money as they can get before the end of the year to avoid a take hike in 2013.

“Front-loading would make sense if at all possible as tax rates will definitely go up on January 1st on all high-income taxpayers,” agent Greg Genske said in an email. “The only question is HOW MUCH will the rates increase????”

This much is known for now: Starting Jan. 1, there is an additional 0.9 percent Medicare tax on wages above $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for married couples filing jointly under the federal Affordable Care Act, a rise to 2.35 percent.

Read more from this story HERE.

Biden: Clear ‘Mandate’ to Raise Taxes

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Vice President Joe Biden told reporters on Air Force Two today that last night’s election represented a clear “mandate” to raise taxes.

“Where specifically do you think Republicans will be willing to compromise on issues of debt/deficit?” a pool reported asked Biden.

“Well look, I think — You guys have probably looked at the internals of the vote more than I have so far,” said Biden. “But from what it appears is that, on the issue of the tax issue, there was a clear, a clear sort of mandate about people coming much closer to our view about how to deal with tax policy. I think we can move, I’d like to see us, I think we can do something on corporate taxes sooner than later. That would be positive, be a little confidence-building. And you know I just think it’s going to take time for the Republicans to sort of digest what the consequences for them internally. But i just think there’s too much, I’ve been saying to you all along and I know I may be the only guy – well, I think Clinton shares this view, President Clinton, we talked about it. But I think the fever will break. And you know, Barack’s re-elected so this sort of cause to keep a second term from happening’s done. He’s there for four years. So I think there’s going to be – I hope there’s going to be some real soul-searching about, on Republican Party, about what they’re willing to cooperate on.”

Read more from this story HERE.