Dividend Tax to Hit Seniors and Retirees

The Great Dividend-Tax Mystery – Laura Saunders, The Wall Street Journal
When the Bush tax cuts expire on January 1, President Obama and the Democrats in Congress have three choices: extend them, allow them to expire entirely and force retired Americans to pay nearly 40% of their dividend income to Uncle Sam, or increase the rate only to 20%. Neither of the latter two options is great for retirees. They’re already getting hammered with taxes, and inflation is around the corner. An increase in the tax rate will be just one more way that the Obama administration is hanging seniors out to dry, just like the Medicare meddling. After all that, how could any senior or retiree vote for Obama, Reid, Pelosi, or the entire Radical Progressive Movement they represent? – Dick Young

Obamacare’s Danger Signs – Grace-Marie Turner, National Review Online
It turns out Nancy Pelosi was right—Obamacare had to get passed before we could find out what was really in it. The Obama administration’s own actuaries are saying that millions could actually lose their health care under Obamacare. What a surprise. Forty-two states, led by Florida, are fighting back against Obamacare and its onerous mandates. – Dick Young

Obama Assails Arizona Immigration Law – Laura Meckler and Miriam Jordan, The Wall Street Journal
This weekend President Obama decried the new immigration law in Arizona as “unfair.” What is really unfair is a group of over 11 million people coming to the United States without filing any paperwork, or paying social security, income tax, or any other payroll taxes. When my wife immigrated to the United States, we spent thousands of dollars doing things the right way. We didn’t hire a lawyer as most people do; we did it all ourselves and still ended up paying thousands of dollars in filing fees, trips to immigration offices, biometric scan fees, passport photo fees, fees for working papers, and fees to renew it all two years later. This doesn’t include all the payroll taxes my wife has paid while working in the U.S., which amount to even more than the fees. There is nothing “fair” about illegal immigration. Saying it’s only fair that you can come to the country illegally—and then expecting the government to pay for your catastrophic medical coverage and the schooling of your children, and then asking for citizenship too—is wrong. The president is wrong when he insinuates that it’s “fair” to give illegal immigrants a free pass. Legal immigration helps the United States by adding hard-working, taxpaying entrepreneurs to the population. Illegal immigration adds dependents to our system who don’t pay any payroll taxes. – Timothy Jones

Liberals Seek VAT to Pay for Big Gov’t – Brian Darling, Human Events
A VAT for the U.S. is simply a terrible idea. Any tax that is implied in such a way as to hide its cost from the taxpayer is simply not justified in the land of the free. The VAT is a sneaky form of sales tax that is levied on all levels of production of goods and works. Cato’s Dan Mitchell gives an example to illustrate how the tax works: “Consider a piece of furniture: The VAT would be imposed when the raw timber is sold, when the sawmill produces lumber, when the manufacturer builds a chair,… at the wholesaler level and then when a retailer sells the chair to a consumer.” The president’s refusal to disavow a VAT is concerning, to say the least. – Dick Young

Prosecution of Navy SEALs Unraveling – Rowan Scarborough, Human Events
After two exonerations, it seems that the trials of three Navy SEALs were simply the result of al Qaeda using its playbook to bog down the American military justice system with nonsense claims by terrorists. Congratulations to the SEALs for clearing their names. Prosecutor Major General Charles Cleveland should drop the final case before it wastes more time and money, both of which the country desperately needs. – Dick Young

Christie Beats the Teachers’ Union in Budget Battle – Mark Impomeni, Human Events
Chris Christie is hammering home his campaign promise not to raise taxes and to cut government spending in New Jersey. Christie is cutting spending in New Jersey’s education sector, which has grown much faster than the state’s population of students. Governor Christie asked teachers to share the sacrifice being made by students, but they declined. The union has been adamantly against any reform that Christie has proposed, with one union boss even sending an e-mail praying for Christie’s death. Drastic reform is needed in New Jersey, where Democrats like Jon Corzine have drastically fouled up the state’s balance sheet. – Dick Young

House Democrats, Out on a Limb for Obamacare, Hear a Snapping Sound – Jim Geraghty, National Review Online
Democrats have simply lied to Americans about what Obamacare means for them. The President’s own Health and Human Services department now says that Obamacare will add to the deficit, after he specifically said that it would not. A whole gang of congressional Democrats have told their constituents this bald-faced lie too, and each is up for reelection this year. Here’s a short list: Brad Ellsworth of Indiana, Baron Hill of Indiana, John Boccieri of Ohio, Charlie Wilson of Ohio, Suzanne Kosmas of Florida, Melissa Bean of Illinois, Bill Owens of New York, and Chris Carney of Pennsylvania. These representatives misled (to put it kindly) their constituencies regarding the costs of Obamacare and should be booted from office in November. – Timothy Jones