Author Archive
The State of America’s Private Sector 29: December, 2011
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis recently released their monthly personal income data for December, 2011 (pdf). The chart below shows the private sector share of personal income from January 1959 to December2011. For December, the private sector share of personal income was 70.88 percent. While the private sector continues to claw it’s way back [...]
“The Penny Plan” to Eliminate the Federal Deficit
photo credit: Robert Couse-Baker We all know that Uncle Sam’s trillion plus dollar budget deficits are unsustainable. Debt is now larger than Gross Domestic Product and we are well on our way to Greece-level debt (and that excludes our “off the book debt,” see sidebar for our true debt levels . . . around $77 [...]
Are Taxes Forcing 2011 HGTV Dream Home Winners to Sell?
It was just announced that the winners of the 2011 HGTV Dream Home in Stowe Vermont have put their house up for sale . . . for a cool $3,795,000. However, this clip from the story makes you wonder if property taxes aren’t to blame: The annual taxes on the home are $27,720, according to [...]
Income Tax Consequences of Winning HGTV 2012 Dream Home in Midway, Utah
photo credit: Hammer51012 Another year and another HGTV Dream Home. This year’s HGTV 2012 Dream Home is a river-front home in Midway, Utah. According to the HGTV contest rules, it comes with a home and furnishings (valued at $1,500,000), cash ($500,000) and a 2012 GMC Terrain SLT2 ($38,755, shown above) for a grand package valued at a [...]
Intermission: Grandma Got Ran Over by TSA
Just in time for Christmas . . . Remy’s new song “Grandma Got Ran Over by TSA” from ReasonTV. Have a Merry Christmas (am I still allowed to say that?) . . .
Jon Stewart Nails TARP
I’m generally not a Jon Stewart fan, though I admit he can be very funny even when he doesn’t know what he is talking about. However, this one may just be his best ever as he exposes the dark side of the federal government’s role in the banking bailout. A must watch . . .
Intermission: Remy-Missing You, the Incandescent Light Bulb Song
For those of you who may still be in the dark (pun intended), Congress recently outlawed the venerable incandescent light bulb as a way to encourage the migration to newer, more energy-efficient, more expensive bulbs. Now, Remy has a new song poking fun at this ridiculous law . . . enjoy! Don’t get me wrong, [...]
Unions Win: Right-to-Work Fails in New Hampshire
photo credit: pweiskel08 Just moments ago, the New Hampshire House attempted to override Gov. Lynch’s veto on Right-to-Work. Unfortunately, the veto override failed 240-139, a mere 14 votes shy of the needed two-thirds. However, the supermajority vote in the Senate and near-supermajority vote in House shows that there is very strong support in New Hampshire for [...]
Illinois Policymakers say: “The deal is, they take three months of grocery money in exchange for chips and a sandwich”
photo credit: Ewan-M In a saga that falls into the category, “you just can’t make this stuff up” . . . Illinois policymakers recently enacted one of, if not the largest, tax hike in state history only to find themselves faced with threats of companies leaving the state. The response, give away special tax breaks [...]
The State of America’s Private Sector 28: October, 2011
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis recently released their monthly personal income data for October, 2011 (pdf). The chart below shows the private sector share of personal income from January 1959 to October 2011. For October, the private sector share of personal income was 70.8 percent. While a tad higher than September, it’s only because [...]
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