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Wednesdave Riff
Some quick-hit observations on the passing scene...
During the run up to the series finale of The Sopranos, I was one of the few that not only wasn't planning on watching the finale, but I had never even seen a single episode. I don't even subscribe to HBO. However, after it was all over, I decided to see what the fuss was about and added the Season 1 DVDs to my Netflix list. Big mistake, as I can see now I'm going to get hooked. Great acting, good direction, and compelling storylines. Good thing I don't like any current shows on TV, because I can see myself becoming hooked on this.
During the current presidential campaign, the mantra on the left is “raise taxes on the rich”. To do so requires no action on their part, as the Bush tax cuts phase out starting in 2010. But less well publicized is the fact that ALL the Bush tax cuts phase out, and that’s not just taxes on “the rich”. Among the changes:
- The bottom tax bracket, that is the income tax paid on the poorest taxpayers, will increase from 10% to 15%. Every other tax bracket will increase as well.
- Families with children will get a $500 per child per year tax increase, as the child tax credit will disappear.
- The estate tax will rise to 55%.
- Increase in taxes on small businesses, dividends, and capital gains.
Some
argue that the tax cuts on dividends and capital gains were also only
for “the rich”, but keep in mind what most pension funds invest in: stocks and mutual funds. So, even if you don’t own stock directly, your retirement is probably impacted by them heavily.
Of course, those areas mentioned are just the cost of doing nothing, and doesn’t count the taxes that need to be cut but weren’t. For instance, the top corporate tax rate in the US is 39.6%. In Ireland, which is booming with new business startups, it is 12.5%. Several countries throughout Eastern Europe have a flat income tax on individuals and investors. To the entrepreneur wishing to start or expand a business, the US is looking less and less like the winning location.
Chris Cooper is great at playing complex characters with a secret nasty side. In Breach,
his role is that of Robert Hansen, the FBI counter-intelligence agent
who was secretly a spy for the Soviets, later the Russians, and he
gives his usual steady performance. Likewise Ryan Philippe as Hansen’s assistant Eric O’Neill, showing that his great work in Crash was no accident. The movie builds great suspense, even though we know that in the end, Hansen gets apprehended. While
watching the movie, I just assumed that Philippe’s character was a
fictional one, added to give a viewpoint from which to tell the story,
but it was Eric O’Neill who wrote the story and consulted on the film. An excellent thriller, and don’t miss the bonus material that includes the 20/20 special on Hansen. **** out of 5.
In 1996, a Republican
Congress that claimed to be for limiting government passed a bill called Freedom to Farm. Its
purpose was to phase out government farm subsidies, price guarantees,
and crop planning, which lead to market distortions, higher food prices
for families, wasteful government spending, and inefficient product
distribution. Another, less well-publicized,
negative impact is on the environment – when there is a government
incentive to grow a certain crop at a guaranteed price, there is
incentive to grow the crop in otherwise hostile environment. This
requires more fertilizer and/or pesticides to grow those crops, the
runoff from which pollutes the environment (as well as the secondary
pollution from manufacturing the additional pesticides and fertilizers); government sugar subsidies led to the polluting of the
Everglades.
The
phaseout period came and went, with the Republican Congress deciding
that perhaps more corporate welfare wasn’t such a bad idea after all,
with of course Democrats going along in the name of the “family farmer”
who couldn’t be forced to respond to the cruel vagaries of the free
market. A hugely expensive, wasteful, Big
Government farm bill was passed in 2003, and while the government may
be under different control now, the results are headed in the same
direction.
Our tax money is to be wasted once
more on a bloated, statist farm bill that focuses on government
subsidies and centralized planning.
Ironically, two seemingly incongruous groups are working together to enact some semblance of reform: environmental
groups and limited government advocates both see the value in removing
price guarantees and large subsidies, albeit for different reasons. More power to them in this fight.
What an evil blog. Thanks Darth.
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