[shepard-for-congress-discuss] April 15 Brings Great On-Line Stuff

Tue Apr 15 22:32:35 UTC 2008

Today was a great day for on-line articles and information, I don't often do
this but wanted to share some items.  Also, I've had several people ask if
I'm running again for the November election and the official answer is ... I
don't know yet.  But onto some stuff I enjoyed reading today or I felt
otherwise reinforced points made during the special election campaign...

TAXES

Some of you have heard me talk about how the U.S. Corporate tax rate is the
highest out of the top 20 developed countries, that's being kind apparently
...  Glenn Beck joins the bandwagon today with this great and sometimes
humorous article (on CNN no less!?)

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/14/beck.taxday/index.html

AND MORE TAXES

Even John McCain found a clue or two today and is talking about
restructuring our ridiculous tax system.  I'm not a fan of this plan
necessarily, but hey a politician actually talking about freezing some
spending and simplifying taxes.  Of course, we've all heard the "talk"
before but it beats being flat out ignored while the veto stamp lays
collecting dust somewhere for oh say, maybe five or six years like the
current guy?

http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/15/news/economy/mccain_economic_plan/index.htm?
postversion=2008041514

Word out this past week that food prices are rocketing and, I have
previously mentioned a potential downside to turning our food into fuel,
especially when the economics don't work out (at least not yet)...  

From: http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080414/inflation_squeeze.html?.v=4

The other reasons are more complex. Rapid economic growth in China and India
has increased demand for meat there, and exports of U.S. products, such as
corn, have set records as the weak dollar has made them cheaper. That's
lowered the supply of corn available for sale in the U.S., raising prices
here. Ethanol production has also diverted corn from dinner tables and into
fuel tanks. 

Soybean prices have gone up as farmers switched more of their acreage to
corn. Drought in Australia has even affected the price of bread, as it led
to tighter global wheat supplies.

ONTO LOCAL MATTERS

There is a local race for State Senate (district 30) that has gotten really
interesting.  The seat is currently held by Teresa Lubbors who many feel
didn't really jump on the cut and/or repeal property tax wagon nearly quick
enough and now she has a challenger in the Republican primary, Ken Morgan.
Steve Keltner is the Libertarian candidate and is as impressive a fellow as
you will find running for political office anywhere. His health care
background has allowed him to talk about the "health care crisis" in ways
you won't hear many polticos do
(http://votekeltner.com/uploads/my_view_on_Lawmakers_149C26.pdf) 

Hoosiers for Fair Taxation has a GREAT post on this race today:
http://hoosiersforfairtaxation.blogspot.com/2008/04/what-did-state-senator-t
eresa-lubbers.html

I know Ken and Steve and believe them both to be good, honorable men and
while I support Steve for the General Election in November, I'm sure Ken
would appreciate any consideration on the Republican Primary ballot.  

AND SINCE IT'S APRIL 15 LET'S END WITH MORE ON TAXES 

Lastly, for those who are still reading at this point, Downsize DC is a
favorite organization of mine and the following is an excerpt from a message
they sent out today.  I encourage like minding folks to sign on to their
e-mail list at http://www.downsizedc.org/.

Subject: A message from the Unknown Taxpayer

We received a message from a DC Downsizer over the weekend. This person
wishes to remain anonymous, but has agreed to let us share the message . . .

****

"I work for a charity, doing something I love that I think is important. But
I don't earn much. I grossed $35,000 last year. According to an entry in
Wikipedia, that makes me lower middle class, but I just did my tax returns,
and now I feel poor. 

"I believe my federal with-holding was done correctly, but I still had to
write a big check to the federal government, and my situation with my state
government is an even worse problem. 

"I had more than $12,000 in medical expenses last year, mostly dentistry.
But after spending the better part of two days reading through tax
instructions, applying all the rules, and adding up all the numbers, I just
missed having enough qualifying expenses to itemize. 

"It doesn't seem that it would have made much difference anyway, even if I
had barely qualified. 

"I also found, in one small paragraph in the tax instructions, something
indicating that I probably qualify for a fine for not doing enough federal
withholding. But everyone I've consulted seems to agree that my with-holding
was done correctly. I just owe more money. And somehow, when I do the
numbers, it still seems that I qualify for this fine.

"The situation with my state taxes is even worse. My state has no mechanism
for doing my with-holding because the non-profit for which I work is
headquartered in another state. The company that does the payroll for my
employer expressed despair when they learned where I live. Apparently my
state is notorious for this problem. And the tax collection bureaucrats in
my state won't do anything to help fix it. As a result . . .

"No state with-holding is done for me. I have to pay it all in one lump sum
at the end of the year, or make quarterly estimated payments. The forms
involved are mind-numbingly complex, the worst I've ever seen. And I can't
help fearing that the state will fine me for all this, even though the
problem is theirs, and not mine. 

"I suppose I'm at the point where I need to hire professional help. But
that's expensive, with no guarantee that I'll actually owe less tax as a
result. I can barely pay the bills I already have . . .

"When I added my total tax payments for the year and my total medical
expenses, the result was shocking. These two expenses consumed more than
half of what I made in 2007. And it wasn't as if I had any really serious
medical problems. Plus, I actually have health insurance, but my
out-of-pocket was still huge, and most of it had to be paid with credit
cards, at a very high rate of interest. 

"I can't help thinking that this whole set-up is a backdoor corporate
welfare scheme for the credit card companies. 

But it gets worse . . .

"What if I added up my sales taxes, and my property taxes? My net income
would look even worse. And what about all the hidden tariffs and excise
taxes and corporate taxes that are passed on to me in the cost of the things
I buy? Then there's the inflation tax. I know the government has been
expanding the money supply. All of my costs are rising, but my income isn't.

"I also know that the government has distorted the health care market,
causing costs to soar, and I know that the government was responsible for
the housing bubble too, making housing unaffordable for me, even though I'm
supposedly middle class.

"At this rate, how will I ever save for retirement? Social Security isn't
enough to live on, and it's in trouble anyway. 

"The politicians constantly claim they're doing things to help people, but I
feel like they're crushing me.

"All of this makes me see the value of Ron Paul's health care bill. His tax
credit would make a huge difference for me. And I'd like to be able to save
more in my HSA for when I have real health care problems, and not just the
minor things I had last year.

"I hope Downsize DC can get this bill passed, and cut the size of government
in general. I really need it."

****

Well, we think that says it all. Please send another message
<http://action.downsizedc.org/wyc.php?cid=90> to Congress asking them to
pass Ron Paul's health care bill.

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