Higher Taxes

It's difficult to catalogue all the negative impacts of Obamacare in one place. Nevertheless, my readers deserve to know a few of the uglier details as the new year rings in one of the most expensive, convoluted policy experiments in American history. •Lost in the hysteria surrounding Obamacare's 20 new tax increases is the law's surcharge of 0.9 percent on wages and salaries and 3.8 percent on investment income. This is another levy directed at small business owners. You know - the ones who are supposed to ramp up hiring to spark our economic recovery.

It has been reported that House Speaker John Boehner is backing a compromise on taxing those "rich" Americans who make over $1 million a year. Unfortunately, that threshold, as well as President Barack Obama's proposal to increase taxes on those making over $250,000 at the Clinton era tax rate, is not going to solve the long term deficit problem, especially while spending remains out of control as it has been during Mr. Obama's presidency....

Forty-five years ago, I bought a set of electric curlers. They were made in America by Americans. They seemed expensive at that time. As it turned out, I was wrong about the price. After thousands of uses, they turned out to be a superb bargain - and then they died. As I tossed the old rollers into the trash bin, I felt like saying a eulogy to a bygone era when everyone could find a decent job, even if it were a boring, repetitive job on an assembly line, wiring a set of hair curlers for a young teenager.

Once again The Sun is out of touch with economic realities in proposing an increase in the state's gas tax ("Pump up the economy," Nov. 25). First, a gas tax is highly regressive and disproportionately impacts the poor. Second, according to Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot, who (unlike The Sun) actually knows all the financial details of the state, we already have ample tax revenues in Maryland, which is one the highest-taxed states in the nation. Third, the state needs to focus on creating an environment that encourages private sector investment and the creation of jobs.

In addressing the so-called "fiscal cliff" of tax increases and deep spending cuts, President Obama needs to hold firm in letting the tax breaks for the wealthy expire ("Obama talks tough," Nov. 15). This is a matter of fairness on tax policy that he stressed during the campaign. Exit polling showed that 60 percent of the electorate support higher taxes for the wealthy. That's where Congress should start in working out a balanced approach to keeping the country from going off the "fiscal cliff.

Anyone who wondered whether a vote for President Barack Obama meant something should have been reassured by his performance in today's news conference. In the central issue that faces the country right now, whether the resolution to the so-called fiscal cliff will involve higher taxes on the wealthy, he could not have been more clear. Republicans who think they can blackmail the president into backing down on that question, as he did two years ago, had better think again. Mr. Obama outlined several reasons why he was willing to accept an extension of all the Bush tax cuts, including those for the wealthy, at the end of 2010.

Nice try, John Boehner. On Wednesday, the House speaker announced a willingness to work with the newly re-elected President Barack Obama on a long-term solution to the nation's budget problems that avoids January's "fiscal cliff" - and if you didn't listen too closely, it sounded like he was even willing to budge on the GOP's no-new-taxes dogma. In reality, though, Mr. Boehner was more or less recapping the House's position from 2011, the last time he and Mr. Obama engaged in serious discussions on the issue.

At considerable taxpayer expense, Gov. Martin O'Malley convened a special session of the General Assembly last month to expand gambling to a sixth site in Prince George's County. If his proposal is approved by the voters in November, this legislation will result in no real financial gain to the citizens of Maryland, oversaturate the state with casinos, and seriously jeopardize the revenue that state and local governments are receiving from operations at the current casino sites. Question 7, as it is known, also sends a pernicious message to potential investors that the state of Maryland is an unreliable business partner.

Every four years we are subjected to the same liberal drumbeat of how the "rich" are somehow taking advantage of the poor and that even when our government takes 50 percent of their income in combined taxes, the rich are somehow still not paying their fair share. My question to those who believe that the rich need to be taxed even more than they currently are is how will this affect your life? Will taxing the rich put more money in your pocket? Will it allow you to take a vacation or help send your kids to college?

A House subcommittee has voted to amend the governor's gambling bill to give larger guaranteed tax breaks to casino operators in Anne Arundel County and Baltimore and to allow a casino in Cecil County to apply for a tax break. Del. Frank Turner, the subcommittee chair, said lawmakers examined financial impact studies commissioned by the General Assembly and felt the casinos would need the help if the state allows a sixth casino to open. "We looked at the venues and how they'd be affected," Turner said.