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A Tax Hike Roundup

Another great week of reading to share. This week one of the topics that was discussed was the expiration of the Bush tax cuts. My tweep Kay Bell broke the news about the White House tax reform panel report to be issued on Aug. 27. Let’s see what tax overhaul they will offer us.

Another article, The Bush tax plan vs. the Obama tax plan in one chart, by Ezra Klein in the Washington Post (I know, not a PF blog, but one beautiful chart) showed the impact by income level for each proposed tax plan.

In a fascinating article Hauser’s Law posted by the Hoover Institute, offers a chart that shows total tax revenue to be tied not to top rates, or even marginal rates, but to GDP. Tax revenue is about 19.5% of GDP and has been flat to that level for the duration of the time period studied, 1950 to present.

My friend Kevin at Out of Your Rut asked Will Social Security Be There When You Retire? A nice, detailed analysis of whether social security will still be around, a great read.

Matt about Money discussed How Much Would It Take To Feel Rich? The numbers really vary by individual, but I’m guessing a lump sum of 25-30X one’s current income is enough for anyone to retire, and that’s the answer I’d give Matt.

Jeff Rose discussed What Near Record Low Treasury Yields Mean. As a practicing CFP, Jeff knows his stuff, the yield curve and its implications are one piece of Jeff’s explanation of where the economy is right now.

And last this week, in Len Penzo’s Black Coffee Edition, Send in the Clowns, a bit of a satirical look at this past week.

Joe

{ 7 comments… add one }
  • Augustine August 15, 2010, 1:30 pm

    Joe,

    I think that using a link that you provided, I entered my 2009 tax return data and, according to it, my income tax would increase by over $3000 if the Bush tax cuts expire. Yet, I make much, much less than $250000.

  • JOE August 15, 2010, 1:56 pm

    So much for the pledge of not raising taxes on under $250K. Many will be hurt by this.

  • Kevin@OutOfYourRut August 15, 2010, 1:56 pm

    Joe, Thanks for mentioning my post on Social Security. It requires a bit of a strong stomach since it raises the possibility of some ugly outcomes.

  • Elle August 15, 2010, 3:37 pm

    If you look up the alleged quotation above, you will find the full Obama quotation is, “Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.”

    From [Kay’s link above] it is written: “President Barack Obama has asked the panel not to consider policies that would increase taxes on families making less than $250,000.”

  • Jim August 16, 2010, 1:42 pm

    the post that Ezra made showed some good information. when you really look at it the numbers are very similar, except when you hit the $1MM mark.

    its hard for me to say that one plan is better than the other when they are so similar.

  • Augustine August 23, 2010, 2:10 pm

    FWIW, here’s the site that I mentioned above: http://www.mytaxburden.org

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