HT: TaxGuru

You can take a look at NTUF's analysis of Obama's and McCain's spending platforms here.

The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which happens to write your tax code, had a little trouble figuring out exactly how much he owed Uncle Sam.

Over the past twenty years Charlie Rangel (yes that Charlie Rangel) has earned about $75,000 by renting out a villa he owns in the Dominican Republic. That's all fine and dandy, except for one problem, he never reported it on his income tax returns.

According to Rangel's attorney, Rangel didn't realize he had to declare the income from the villa as income. Which begs the question: if the guy who writes our tax code can't figure it out, how the heck are we supposed to do it?

John McCain gave his acceptance speech last night at the Republican National Convention, but the highlight of the night, for me, was watching Andrea Mitchell's report from the floor.



I don't know if it was a concerted effort by convention attendees to bury her in red, white, and blue mylar (Republicans have been less than pleased with NBC's coverage of their convention/candidates), but one thing is for sure: it was HILARIOUS.

This fall Minnesota voters will consider a sales tax hike (equal to about $300 million annually), with the higher taxes slated to go toward public bankrolling of conservation and the arts.

Sounds nice, but let’s consider what public funding for the arts already goes toward in my home state.

Yesterday, I took this photo of an installation found at the Franconia Sculpture Park (near my parents’ home). Apparently, the locals call it “The Big Poo.” You can see why.




The Park’s own website says “This activity is made possible in part by a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature and a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts." According to the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Franconia Sculpture Park received almost $53,000 in “institutional funding” grants over the past five years.

Do more Minnesotans really need to pay higher sales taxes in order to fund projects like this? I'm going to guess that most taxpayers would prefer to a) see their tax dollars go to other functions of government (e.g., improving roads), or b) keep their tax dollars for personal use.

When my family goes to vote on the sales tax hike ballot question this fall, they’ve told me “The Big Poo” will be at the forefront of their minds as they vote no. If you need more reasons to turn this tax hike down, here are more than a few.

Apparently, the US economy is doing better than most people expect. According to the BBC, "The US economy has been faring better than thought, according to figures on productivity and the service sector....figures suggest the world's largest economy is in better shape than had previously been thought." Always good to get some positive, if surprising, economic news now and then.

An idealist is a person who helps other people to be prosperous. -- Henry Ford

Here we go again: New Hampshire is poised to add itself to the list of states who have chosen to raise taxes on cigarettes. Nevermind the lesson learned in Maryland in July, when a tax increase led to a revenue decrease.


For more on cigarette taxes, see Kristina Rasmussen's Issue Brief.

Derek Brigham, blogging for True North, has a photo and highlights from our Pit Bulls and Pigs reception last night. I’ll have more photos to share soon.

On both the federal and state level, governments are now facing the unpleasant prospect of having to pay the piper for years of irresponsible and wasteful spending. So what’s the answer? If you believe many of the lawmakers that got us into this mess, the “solution” is to boost your taxes even higher!

At NTU, we have a different answer: Don’t Vote for Tax Hikers! We’re launching a website called www.NoTaxHikers.org, where you can join your fellow citizens in pledging not to vote for politicians who seek to raise taxes.



In return for signing up, we’ll send you a FREE bumper sticker declaring, “I Don’t Vote for Tax Hikers.” You can display the sticker on your car or in your home as an eye-catching way of showing your fellow voters that you’ve had enough! No one should have to pay higher taxes to fix the mess politicians made.

The election this November will be extremely important. In it, we’ll choose the officials who will control the public purse strings. Many candidates would try to stuff that purse with more of your hard-earned dollars. If you’re sick of the same old tax-and-spend mentality, then you need to let your politicians know it! So log on today to be a part of this important effort and receive your free bumper sticker.

Visit www.NoTaxHikers.org to say it loud and say it proud: I Don’t Vote for Tax Hikers!

Peder Jensen, a “transportation expert” for the EU’s European Environment Agency in Copenhagen had this to say about stubborn motorists who insist on driving even with high fuel prices:

One had hoped that these prices would deter driving, but people have coped better than we hoped they would."

Coped better than we hoped they would?!? It’s sad to see EU bureaucrats root against their parents, friends, and coworkers as they try to get on with their daily lives with the convenience of a car. I can attest that lugging bulky packages around Copenhagen's bus system is not a fun experience.

Instead of funding these EU agency guys, perhaps taxpayers in Europe can skip Brussels and directly hire some naysayers, worrywarts, and cynics to sit around and disparage the lifestyle choices of everyday folks. At least it would save on the pension costs.

The Washington Post sums up in two paragraphs why I'm excited about Sarah "Barracuda" Palin stepping onto the national stage:

One of Palin's first official acts as governor was to sell on eBay a gubernatorial jet that [Republican Governor Frank] Murkowski had bought.

But she has angered two of Alaska's leading Republicans -- Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young -- by refusing to support their decades-long practice of securing federal money for the state, including Young's effort to obtain $233 million for a structure dubbed the "Bridge to Nowhere" by critics because it would have connected a small town with an island populated with 50 people. In her short time in state office, she has repeatedly thwarted Stevens's and Young's interests and, at times, challenged their candidates -- including their children.

(Alexandria, VA) -- A review by the 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU) of an online database listing Missouri’s public expenditures found more than $2.4 million of taxpayer money spent for questionable purposes over the past eight years, including purchases made at bakeries, beauty salons, bra stores, coffee shops, and picture-framing galleries, among others.

So says the press release we issued this morning about expenditure information NTU found on the Missouri Accountability Portal (MAP).

We discovered that the state of Missouri spent $15,482.57 at Ann’s Bra Shop from 2000 to 2008 for “professional services” and “clothing supplies.” Over the same period, government employees spent more than $1.6 million at coffee shops, $387,210.14 at framing stores, $278,053.46 at florists and nurseries, and $70,849.02 at donut bakeries. In 2000, $12.00 was spent at Ann’s Hair & Nail Shop for “other professional services.” Twelve dollars was the going rate for a manicure at the time.

Taxpayers should never be forced to finance bureaucrats’ “I love me” walls of framed awards and photos, nor should residents be shelling out for floral bouquets, beauty treatments, or caffeine fixes. Period.

Unfortunately, MAP only goes so far in telling you what was actually behind the expenditures. Often, the spending record data will dead-end at “professional services,” “supplies,” or “non-contract purchases.”

While it’s possible that some of these purchases are fairly innocuous, the name of the vendor alone gives reason for taxpayers to at least question the expense. The next step for MAP should be posting line-item information from purchase receipts on the spending portal.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin received kudos from spending transparency reformers when she posted the state’s check book online via the Alaska's Division of Finance Government Expenditure Database earlier this year.

The database provides info on:

• All vendors and grantees who received at least one payment of $1,000 or more in the current fiscal year through the end of June 2008.
  
  
• Information presented includes the name and location of the vendor or grantee, the purpose of the payment, and the department that requested it.

If only all governors would follow her lead on this issue.

John McCain has done quite a lot to rile up free-marketers. But one thing no one can question is his credentials as a verifiable porkbuster.

With the apparent addition of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to the ticket I think it's safe to say the duo anti-pork from top to bottom. Palin after all is the woman who killed the Bridge to Nowhere, when no one in Washington could (or rather would), and has led the fight to find Don Young (Porker-AK) another line of work.

Obviously, this shouldn't be construed as an endorsement, but if you love pork, you'll hate this ticket.

HT: TaxGuru