Back to Basics

President Barack Obama campaigned on the notion that he wouldn’t raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000. Or was it $225,000? Or maybe it was $200,000. Anyway, that’s what he said, even though the figures changed from time to time… depending on his mood, I guess.

But of course we’re seeing that that was just one of his many li… er, deceptions. Because, as a recent Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) report revealed, there’s a “…Tax Tsunami On The Horizon.”

Beginning in 2011, when the tax cuts instituted under President George W. Bush expire, all sorts of tax increases will hit the American taxpayer—for those making more than $200,000 and for those making less.

Here are some of them, according to IBD:

• The Federal Estate tax goes from zero this year to 55 percent on estates of $1 million or more.
• The tax brackets change. The lowest bracket increases from 10 percent to 15 percent, the next increases from 25 percent to 28 percent and the old 28 percent bracket increases to 31 percent. At the higher end, the 33 percent bracket goes up to 36 percent and the 35 percent bracket increases to 39.6 percent.
• The marriage penalty returns.
• Capital gains taxes increase from 15 percent to 20 percent. The tax on dividends will go from 15 percent to 39.6 percent. That’s an astonishing jump of 164 percent. And both of these will increase more in 2013 as the healthcare reform bill adds a 3.8 percent Medicare tax for those making $200,000 and joint filers making $250,000.
• The tax credit for children decreases from $1,000 per child to $500.

According to IBD, letting the Bush tax cuts expire will cost taxpayers $115 billion next year alone, and $2.6 trillion through 2020, Congressional Budget Office figures show.

And this is just the first wave. The IBD article outlines billions of dollars of new taxes brought on by Obamacare that kick in over the coming years, such as the increase in the number of people affected by the alternative minimum tax (ATM) from 4 million families this year to 28.5 million next year.

The biggest con game of all is that tax increases are sold as necessary to fund the operations of government. Taxes do not to fund government. They are merely a means for government to steal more of your wealth.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reduces the money in our checking accounts when we authorize them to do so via our 1040 tax return. Do you wonder where the money goes that IRS removes from our pay checks? This money does not go to Washington as taxes to pay anything. It goes into the cyberspace of the IRS computers.

So what does the IRS do? It reduces our consumption by reducing the numbers (money) in our checking accounts. It is a system of economic regulation to conceal the fraud that modern money is numbers created without limit by government/bankers.

What else does this Orwellian system do? It transfers wealth to the “money creators.” Theft through fiat occurs when the VOLUME of numbers (money) exceeds the production of goods and services.

The Congressional Research Service has issued their report regarding the treatment of noncitizens in H.R. 3200. There has been a lot of debate over this topic, with the president and democrats saying illegals are not covered, while those opposed to the bill saying they are. A number of loopholes in the bill, including no provisions for checking immigrations status, prove illegal immigrants can and will be covered by the bill, at the taxpayers’ expense.  The Summary of the report is include below.  If you would like to read the entire report, please click on CRS Report.

August 25, 2009
Treatment of Noncitizens in H.R. 3200
Congressional Research Service

Summary

This report outlines the treatment of noncitizens (aliens) under H.R. 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009. In particular, the report analyzes specific provisions in H.R. 3200, and whether there are eligibility requirements for noncitizens in the provisions. Within the bill, noncitizens are treated differently in several provisions. In 2008, there were approximately 37.3 million foreign-born persons in the United States. The foreign-born population was comprised of approximately 15.1 million naturalized U.S. citizens and 22.2 million noncitizens.

H.R. 3200 includes an individual mandate to have health insurance, with tax penalties for noncompliance. Individuals who do not maintain acceptable health insurance coverage for themselves and their children would be required to pay an additional tax. Some individuals, including nonresident aliens, would be exempt from the individual mandate. “Nonresident alien” is a term under tax but not immigration law. For federal tax purposes, alien individuals are classified as resident or nonresident aliens. In general, an individual is a nonresident alien unless he or she meets the qualifications under a residency test. Thus, legal permanent residents, and noncitizens and unauthorized aliens who qualify as resident aliens (i.e., meet the substantial presence test), would be required under H.R. 3200 to have health insurance.

In addition, under H.R. 3200, a “Health Insurance Exchange” would begin operation in 2013 and would offer private plans alongside a public option. The Exchange would provide eligible individuals and small businesses with access to insurers’ plans, including the public option, in a comparable way. Individuals would only be eligible to enroll in an Exchange plan if they were not enrolled in other acceptable coverage (for example, from an employer, Medicare and generally Medicaid). H.R. 3200 does not contain any restrictions on noncitzens participating in the Exchange – whether the noncitizens are legally or illegally present, or in the United States temporarily or permanently. Nonetheless, only aliens who could be classified as resident aliens would be required under the bill to have health insurance.

In 2013, under H.R. 3200, some individuals would be eligible for premium credits (i.e., subsidies based on income) toward their required purchase of health insurance. To be eligible for the premium credits under H.R. 3200, individuals must be lawfully present in a state in the United States, excluding most nonimmigrants (i.e., those in the United States for a specific purpose and a specific period of time). The exceptions for nonimmigrants who could obtain premium credits under H.R. 3200 would be trafficking victims, crime victims, fiancées of U.S. citizens, and those who have had applications for legal permanent residence (LPR) status pending for three years.