Bill O’Reilly makes a convincing argument for raising taxes on the wealthy.

Over at Carpe Diem, University of Michigan Economics Professor Mark Perry put together this chart: All that comes from IRS data, and Perry reaches several important questions: 1. The U.S. federal income tax system is highly progressive (as it’s intended to be, and not regressive as Buffett wants us to believe from his “analysis” of [...]

Let’s take a look at the spending cuts in the plan the President’s plan. First, from The New York Times: Mr. Obama is seeking $1.5 trillion in tax increases, primarily on the wealthy and corporations, through a combination of letting Bush-era income tax cuts expire on wealthier taxpayers, limiting the value of deductions taken by [...]

The second half of the President’s political strategy is in place. Don’t mistake it for a serious legislative effort.

Some perspective on “soaking the rich.”

We won’t solve our fiscal problems by soaking “the rich.”

President Obama is proposing a special tax rate for millionaires.

The “how to pay for it” part of the President’s jobs plan seems destined to be rejected by the GOP. Which may be exactly what the President wants.

Karl Smith does the math and doesn’t see why the Federal government should be collecting ANY taxes right now.

Jon Huntsman is out with a tax and jobs plan that deserves a lot more attention than it’s likely to get.

Herbert Grubel pours some cold water on Warren Buffett’s idea of taxing people like him to pay down the national debt: Warren Buffett is known as the Sage of Omaha for a good reason: his outstanding ability to find profitable investments that took him from a small portfolio owner to one of the richest people [...]

Americans for Tax Reform’s Grover Norquist said yesterday that he doesn’t see any problem with extending the gas tax when it comes up for renewal in September: Anti-tax activist Grover Norquist says it’s fine with him if Congress extends the soon-to-expire gasoline tax for now — a statement that may allow room for lawmakers to [...]

Denying the Tea Party’s role in the downgrade of U.S. debt is to deny reality.

I already noted this in my round-up of the debate but this moment is worth reviewing again: Matthew Yglesias comments: One can say that this was merely politicians playing to their base and some of them know better. And perhaps it was, but it’s extremely difficult to turn around and break a promise like that. [...]

Any politician telling you that solving our problems will be easy is lying to you.

The immediate reaction among the political class to the debt downgrade was the play the same old stupid games.

The job approval numbers for Congress are at historic lows, but will that matter in 2012?

Has a precedent been set for future requests by the President to increase the debt ceiling?

You thought you’d seen the worst of Congress in July? Oh, you silly American you.

Congress failing to raise the debt ceiling would involve abrogating an enormous amount of power to the Executive.

How the reelection incentive and parliamentary procedure are affecting the debt ceiling debate in Congress.

In the 80′s it was yachts, today it’s private jets. The argument is the same, and it’s still without merit.

Even if we adopt the “Cut, Cap and Balance” plan, tax hikes are a necessity.

We need to have a serious debate on taxes and spending. And it would be nice if the debate was honest.

Stephen Green makes this observation: On Fox News Sunday, Mitch McConnell dropped a bit of trivia we don’t think of very often — but it’s still all too true. That is, “We don’t vote on 60% of the budget.” Congress doesn’t have a say over nearly two-thirds of all spending — that’s entitlements and interest [...]

This makes zero sense whatsoever. Mr. Obama suggested in Thursday’s meeting that leaders end tax breaks for ethanol producers, oil and gas companies and corporate jet owners, and offset those tax increases with an extension of the payroll tax credit for employees, a Democratic official familiar with the meeting said, but Republicans said they would [...]

Right now, it’s more prudent for the Federal government to borrow money than to pay cash.

This is interesting: WASHINGTON — In his press conference on Monday morning, President Barack Obama repeatedly insisted that he was willing to tackle some sacred cows as part of a larger package to raise the debt ceiling. Just how sacred, however, may surprise political observers. According to five separate sources with knowledge of negotiations — [...]

Do people who take advantage of tax breaks get a “government benefit”?

It was a largely fruitless weekend in the debt negotiations.

It’s still politics as usual in Washington.

What exactly is the GOP trying to accomplish in the debt ceiling negotiations?

The Ronald Reagan that Republicans lionize is very different from the one who actually served as 40th President of the United States.

House and Senate Republicans are pushing a Balanced Budget Amendment. It sounds like a good idea, but it isn’t.

This chart from a Felix Salmon column in December is worth considering: Salmon explains: This chart should be ingrained in the mind of anybody who cares about fiscal policy. The main things to note: Federal taxes are the lowest in 60 years, which gives you a pretty good idea of why America’s long-term debt ratios [...]

Ten years ago today, the Bush tax cuts passed. They were a landmark piece of legislation which definitively demonstrated the truth of supply side economics by pushing government revenues to all-time highs, keeping the budget in balance, and unleashing an unprecedented wave of economic growth that continues to this day. Oh, wait…. Never mind.

A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.

Bruce Bartlett, former adviser to President Reagan, runs some numbers on taxes in the United States and finds a result that is counter-intuitive given the state of debate: Historically, the term “tax rate” has meant the average or effective tax rate — that is, taxes as a share of income. The broadest measure of the [...]

Rand Paul has borrowed a bad idea from the 2008 Presidential campaign.

Washington is looking at the budget talk in Washington, and it doesn’t like what it sees: (Reuters) – A majority of top Wall Street bond dealers and money managers say spending cuts alone cannot solve the U.S. budget problems and tax increases must be part of the mix. In a Reuters survey conducted on Tuesday, [...]

Following up on his comments last night on negotiations to raise the debt ceiling, Speaker John Boehner drew another line in the sand this morning: Asked about the new line in the sand he drew Monday night on the debt limit and how he thought, given the contentious nature of the debate, both sides could [...]

Republicans seem to have realized that the Ryan Plan’s Medicare reforms aren’t going anywhere.

Ronald Reagan’s former budget director is unlikely to make any friends among the Grover Norquest crowd after his appearance on This Week today: FREELAND: You worked for Ronald Reagan. Do you think the American economy — so you’re, like, a red-blooded capitalist — could it sustain higher taxes than it has now? STOCKMAN: Absolutely. In [...]

There are signs that the Ryan Plan isn’t playing well with the public.

An interesting moment during yesterday’s Meet The Press: Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), arguably the most prominent fiscal conservative in the Senate, is declaring his independence from one of the country’s leading anti-tax groups, Americans for Tax Reform – and its fiery founder, Grover Norquist. Coburn, a member of the “Gang of Six” bipartisan group working [...]

There are few better illustrations of just how unwieldy our tax structure has become than the fact that the complete federal tax code rules, regulations, and IRS rulings is twice as big today as it was just under 30 years ago: H/T: Cato@Liberty

Tax compliance employs more workers than Wal-Mart, UPS, McDonalds, IBM, and Citigroup — combined.

According to one study the federal tax burden for individual Americans is at a level unseen since the 1950′s: For the past two years, a family of four earning the median income has paid less in federal income taxes than at any time since at least 1955, according to the Tax Policy Center. All federal, [...]

What? “Spending reductions in the tax code”? The tax code isn’t where we spend, it’s where we collect, and that…. ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I guess what you said is tax “code”, code for raising taxes. You managed to talk about a tax hike as a spending reduction. Can we afford that and the royalty checks you’re going [...]

The GOP seems to be telling President Obama that revenue increases are off the table. That’s a huge mistake.