In my most recent column for Fox New’s opinion page, I explore why Paul Ryan may be a popular choice with the conservative base — but is a disastrous choice for mainstream voters and America. Here’s an excerpt:
Paul Ryan is clearly intended to appeal to the conservative Republican base. As the activist Ilyse Hogue put it, Ryan is most likely to be “voted prom king at Tea Party High.” Conservative leaders still chafing about Romney are practically giddy about Ryan. Glenn Beck called his selection “tremendous news.” Rush Limbaugh said, “We now have somebody on the ticket who’s us,” alluding to Ryan’s right wing authenticity.
And yet, with this choice, Mitt Romney has fully wrapped his campaign’s arms around Paul Ryan’s budget, which Romney previously praised and called on the Senate to adopt. And while the conservative base may be thrilled at the prospect of gutting government to fund more tax breaks for billionaires and oil companies, ordinary Americans are not.
You can read the entire piece here, including details of the Romney-Ryan plan to raise taxes on 95% of Americans to pay for even more tax breaks for the rich.
This was a fun panel. I chime in around the 3:00 mark and then at the end.
In my latest column for Fox News, I address attacks on President Obama’s taken-out-of-context remarks about the role of public infrastructure alongside individual effort in creating private sector success in America. I tell the story of my grandfather, a small business owner, and how he worked hard and also relied on public schools and roads and laws to build his business.
By grandfather was not rich, certainly not by today’s standards. But when Ronald Reagan was president, my grandfather paid almost 50% of his income in taxes to help make sure that good public schools and safe streets and the things we all need to succeed in America would be available for the next generation. Today, hedge fund managers and big business CEOs pay lower tax rates than middle class families. In fact, the tax rate for the very wealthy is the lowest it’s been in over 60 years.
That’s what this debate is about. Everyone agrees that hard work and entrepreneurship are key to business success. But government also plays a vital, supporting role. A generation ago, those who did well in America did their part, paying even more than the rest of us to ensure that infrastructure was available to the next generation. But today, those who are succeeding the most in our country are paying the least. It’s not right.
I hope you’ll read the rest of the essay here and share it widely.
Democrats want to keep student loan rates low and raise taxes slightly on millionaires and billionaires. Republicans voted to let student loan rates *double* — and voted to *cut* taxes for the super-rich. There’s your class warfare, folks!
Just in time for Tax Day, I wrote a piece for Time Magazine online about why conservatives are absolutely nuts to say Warren Buffett should voluntarily pay higher taxes — instead of passing the Buffett Rule to raise taxes on all millionaires and billionaires. I write:
If we relied on voluntary taxes, donors would begin insisting that they could earmark their donations—say, to the military or to Medicaid and food stamps. But the reality is that national defense helps all of us, so those not contributing to the military would become “free riders” in economic terms. Voluntary taxation is also a slippery slope—if, instead of raising taxes on millionaires and billionaires we just decided to make it optional for them to give more, then why would we ever raise taxes or close corporate loopholes?
I also explore the core America values and founder’s philosophy around taxation — and why even Adam Smith supported redistribution.
Read the essay here and please share it around!
One of the most successful corporations in America is extorting tax breaks from Texas to relocate part of its business to Austin. In exchange, the government wants Apple to agree to employ some “economically disadvantaged” folks from the community — in other words, the folks footing the tax break! Seems like a simple return on investment!
Here’s a fun clip from my latest appearance on FoxNews.com LIVE online:
My most recent appearance on Cashin’ In, in which I argue that short term we need to put money in the hands of consumers. Then we can worry about paying down the debt.
How do you solve a problem like the EU…? Here’s my latest opinion piece for CNN. An excerpt:
It’s as though profligate countries such as Greece, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States went on a decades-long bender and are just now being reined in by the moral fiscal authority. Never mind that in most civilized societies, we’ve long decided that spanking our children is an unacceptable form of punishment, not to mention ineffective. Spanking nation-states is becoming a global fad.
Click here to read the full piece and comment: http://bit.ly/tGmdPY
Discussing why, like it or not, the time has come to raise taxes on the rich. On Fox Business Channel’s Follow the Money with Eric Bolling.
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