Senator Schumer is playing to his softer, more rural side, again. First, he proposed subsidies to stimulate maple syrup production in upstate New York. Now, he wants to reduce the taxes paid by producers of hard cider.
Walter Russell Mead writes that “Francois Hollande really can’t catch a break. One of the most memorable election promises he made was to raise marginal tax rates on the very rich—those making €1 million or more—to an eye-popping 75%. His government has, alas, finally decided to scrap that particular pledge.”
In a statement released at 5 a.m. today, Senator Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, blasts the budget the Senate passed very early this morning. Sessions's main concern is that the budget "has zero real deficit reduction" and "never balances."
“The content of the plan the majority has now approved demonstrates why they were unwilling to reveal it for so long: their proposal, once accurately understood, cannot be publicly defended," says Sessions.
The Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee claims the budget released today by Senate Democrats will raise taxes by $1.5 trillion. Before being released today, it had been reported that the Democrats' budget would raise taxes by $1 trillion, but number appears to have been far enough.
The minority side of the Senate Budget Committee releases this chart to back up its claim:
Nonprofit organizations (NPO), often referred to as the “independent sector,” are an essential part of America’s vibrant, pluralistic civil society. Their activities span a wide range of public and private purposes—philanthropic, cultural, religious, professional, educational, scientific. The public as well as private interests that NPOs represent add vitality as well as fractiousness to American society.
Nonprofit organizations (NPO), often referred to as the “independent sector,” are an essential part of America’s vibrant, pluralistic civil society. Their activities span a wide range of public and private purposes—philanthropic, cultural, religious, professional, educational, scientific. The public as well as private interests that NPOs represent add vitality as well as fractiousness to American society.
Jack Lew, who has been nominated as the next treasury secretary, oversaw up as many as a hundred Cayman Island investments when he worked at Citi Bank as chief operating officer of the alternative investment services unit, SEC disclosures reveal. It has previously been reported that Lew himself had been invested in a fund that was based in the Cayman Islands.
Senate minority leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, asks for another tax hike this morning:
"Democrats believe we should replace this harsh austerity with a balanced approach that targets wasteful spending and tax loopholes," said Harry Reid, "and ask the wealthiest among us to contribute a little more to reduce the deficit."
In a short web ad released today, ahead of Barack Obama's State of the Union Address, the Republican party mocks the president for always wanting to raise taxes:
In the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama called Cayman Island investments "the biggest tax scam on record." Now, in 2013, President Obama has nominated Jack Lew, who had $56,000 in Cayman Island investments, to be the next secretary of Treasury.
Obama for America continued its metamorphosis this week into Organizing for Action (OFA), an independent organization that will advocate for various "progressive" causes, including immigration reform and gun control. The BarackObama.com website, home of the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, has been changing as well, but the transition has not been without its missteps.
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