California politicians are stupid. Faced with a budget deficit of their own making, rather than make across the board cuts and put a halt on excessive (and in many cases unscrupulous) spending programs, California legislators of both parties have agreed on a massive tax hike to help overcome a $40 billion budget shortfall. Led by […]

Some things are repeated so often that they become accepted as truth, despite the fact that there is little reality attached to them. In politics, one of these “truths” is that Democrats will always raise taxes and Republicans will always try to reduce taxes. But how true is this really? And maybe more importantly, what […]

Now that you’ve finished your taxes for the year, I thought a little refresher on where those tax dollars are being spent would be in order. So without further adieu, here is where your federal tax dollars are spent: MOST TAX DOLLARS SPENT ON MILITARY Out of every tax dollar collected by the US government, […]

If I have to listen to another Republican complain about how a new Democratic president is just going to raise their taxes and increase the size of government I might just put my foot right up their ass. After all, it’s precisely because of the Republican party, the Republican Congress, and an asshat of a […]

As Congress struggles to pass legislation that will keep SCHIP (State Children’s Health Insurance Program) funded, they once again turn to tobacco taxation as the key. Depending on which bill you look at (House or Senate) the proposed federal tax increase on tobacco would be 45 or 61 cents (per pack of cigarettes). Tobacco taxation, […]

President Bush presented his 2008 budget recently, and the numbers don’t lie- to pay for his massive tax cuts for the wealthy and his ongoing war on whomever he considers a terrorist this week, Bush proposed cuts to programs that actually help the poor, needy, disabled and America’s veterans. How’s that for compassionate conservatism? In […]

As President Bush prepares to ask Congress to throw another $1.2 billion dollars into the gaping maw that is the Iraq Reconstruction Fund, a recent report from the independent Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction shows that at least $3 Billion has been wasted in such efforts since US demolition reconstruction efforts began in 2003. […]

It was 241 years ago today that King George III and the English parliament enacted the Stamp Act on the American colonies, further setting the stage for our eventual Revolution and Independence. For those who don’t remember high school history (or were never taught it in the first place) the Stamp Act was enacted by […]

It is often said that the only things you can really count on are death and taxes. Of the two, death is probably easier to accept. Death, at least, is fairly applied to everyone. Taxes, on the other hand, are a complicated, unequal, seemingly arbitrary and often manipulated endeavor. And while we all can accept […]

Nothing puts a glaze into the eyes of average citizens quite like discussing economic theory. At best, it’s a confusing topic. Start injecting things like gross domestic product, prime interest rate, futures pricing, trade subsidies, and compound interest and you’ve pretty much lost most of your audience. But talk to the average person about money, […]