Cave News

Soda pop tax to help pay for ObamaCare

Congress is considering new federal taxes on soda pop and other sugar drinks to help pay for ObamaCare.

The taxes would pay for only a fraction of the cost to expand health-insurance coverage to all Americans and would face strong opposition from the beverage industry.

They also could spark a backlash from consumers who would have to pay several cents more for a soft drink.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based watchdog group that pressures food companies to make healthier products, plans to propose a federal excise tax on soda, certain fruit drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and ready-to-drink teas. It would not include most diet beverages.

On one side of the debate are those who say that sugar drinks are harmful and the government should discourage its use.

Others say such a tax would unfairly hit lower-income Americans and wouldn't deter consumption.

The main beverage lobby that represents Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo Inc., Kraft Foods Inc. and other companies said such a tax would unfairly hit lower-income Americans and wouldn't deter consumption.

"Taxes are not going to teach our children how to have a healthy lifestyle," said Susan Neely, president of the American Beverage Association.

Link

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IRS would become ObamaCare enforcer

There will be new and powerful federal agencies that would be created by the passage of ObamaCare.

The Health Choices Administration, the Health Benefits Advisory Committee, the Health Insurance Exchange — there are dozens in all.

If the plan envisioned by Obama and Congressional Democrats is enacted, the primary federal bureau responsible for implementing and enforcing national health care will be an old and familiar one: the Internal Revenue Service.

Under the Democrats' health care proposals, the already powerful — and already feared — IRS would wield even more power and extend its reach even farther into the lives of ordinary Americans, and the presidentially-appointed head of the new health care bureaucracy would have access to confidential IRS information about millions of individual taxpayers.

In short, health care reform, as currently envisioned by Democratic leaders, would be built on the foundation of an expanded and more intrusive IRS.

The IRS would assume several new rolls under ObamaCare:

1. The IRS would become the main agency for determining who has an acceptable health insurance plan.

2. The IRS would be charged with finding and punishing those who don't have an acceptable plan.

3. The IRS would subsidize individual health insurance costs through the issuance of tax credits.

4. The IRS would enforce the rules on those who attempt to opt out, or “abuse” the rules.

The article at the link below says a substantial portion of H.R. 3200, the House health care bill, is devoted to amending the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 in order to give the IRS the authority to perform these new duties.

More of the story here.

www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Health-care-reform-means-more-power-for-the-IRS-56781377.html

The change Obama promised

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2 Obama officials won’t guarantee no tax hike for middle-class

An Associated Press report at the link below says that two Obama administration officials have said they can't guarantee middle-class Americans won't see tax hike.

Translation: there will be a tax hike for middle-class Americans to go along with the promised tax hike for higher wage earners.

As the White House sought to balance campaign rhetoric with governing, officials appeared willing to extend unemployment benefits.

With former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan saying he is "pretty sure we've already seen the bottom" of the recession, Obama aides sought to defend the economic stimulus and calm a jittery public.

If the Obama administration must rely on Alan Greenspan’s opinion that the we have seen the bottom of the recession, we are surely in deeper trouble than we thought.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National Economic Council Director Larry Summers both sidestepped questions on Obama's intentions about taxes.

Geithner said the White House was not ready to rule out a tax hike to lower the federal deficit; Summers said Obama's proposed health care overhaul needs funding from somewhere.

More at the link below.

We wonder if the old Democrat label tax and spend liberal should be changed to tax and squander liberal?

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Stimulus checks sent to dead people

Antoniette Santopadre (pictured) of Valley Stream, New York was expecting a $250 stimulus check. But when her son finally opened it, they saw that the check was made out to her father, Romolo Romonini, who died in Italy 34 years ago. He'd been a U.S. citizen when he left for Italy in 1933, but only returned to the United States for a seven-month visit in 1969.

Romonini was never on the Social Security system, which didn’t begin until after he left for Italy in 1933.

The Santopadres are not alone. The Social Security Administration, which sent out 52 million checks, says that some of those checks mistakenly went to dead people because the agency had no record of their death. That amounts to between 8,000 and 10,000 checks for millions of dollars.

Click here for the story and a short video of the Antoniette Santopadre interview.

Thousands rally at Cincinnati Tea Party

Thousands of Tri-State residents gathered Sunday on Fountain Square in downtown Cincinnati to voice their opposition to government spending bills recently signed by President Barack Obama.

The group called itself the Cincinnati Tea Party, modeled after the Boston Tea Party of 1773.

Some protestors wore Revolutionary War-era costumes. Many carried signs and banners.

One sign said Got Tea? A young child carried a sign saying: Stay out of my piggy bank. An 8-year-old held a Stop spending my allowance sign.

Protesters argued that the government shouldn't be spending money it doesn't have and they fear taxes and deflation will follow.

Organizers said they planned to gather again on April 15 and march the petition to city hall.

Link

Illinois income tax could jump 50 percent

Illinois residents earning more than $56,000 per year may wish Rod Blagojevich was still in the governors mansion.

Gov. Pat Quinn (pictured) confirmed Friday that he plans to raise taxes on some Illinois residents to combat deficits in a difficult state budget, and called for broader tax reform.

Quinn said Friday that he plans to hike taxes for families that make more than $56,000 a year.

But Quinn contends his income tax proposal would amount to a tax cut for millions of Illinoisans by increasing the personal exemption to let them shield more income from being taxed.

Link

Tax tip - save your receipts

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Here comes ANOTHER one just like the other ones

Former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk (pictured) was selected for the post of U.S. Trade Representative.

Kirk is the fifth tax cheat selected by Obama to be part of his administration.

Timothy Geithner, Nancy Killefer, Hilda Solis and Tom Daschle were the other tax cheats selected by Obama.

Killefer and Tom Daschle withdrew their names. Timothy Geithner was installed as Treasury Secretary and Solis is now the Secretary of Labor in the Obama administration.

Link here and here.

Tax Tip #2 - avoid the Honest Mistake exemption

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