Your Tax Dollars At Work

[TrainTrac]

Wow, the current Congress (Democrat-controlled since the 2006 elections) has been really productive! They've done such a great job so far, I can't wait to see how

The Democrats clean it up and the economy will bounce back.

after "the first of the year".:wacko:

As U.S. Economic Problems Loom, House, Senate Sweat the Small Stuff



Members of Congress Love a Good Resolution; Watermelons and Undertakers Fit the Bill



By ELIZABETH WILLIAMSON



WASHINGTON -- The 110th Congress, whose term officially ends in January, hasn't passed any spending bills or attacked high gasoline prices. But it has used its powers to celebrate watermelons and to decree the origins of the word "baseball."



Barring a burst of legislative activity after Labor Day, this group of 535 men and women will have accomplished a rare feat. In two decades of record keeping, no sitting Congress has passed fewer public laws at this point in the session -- 294 so far -- than this one. That's not to say they've been idle. On the flip side, no Congress in the same 20 years has been so prolific when it comes to proposing resolutions -- more than 1,900, according to a tally by the nonpartisan Taxpayers for Common Sense.



With the mostly symbolic measures, Congress has saluted such milestones as the Idaho Potato Commission's 70th anniversary and recognized soil as an "essential natural resource." As legislation on gasoline prices, tax fixes and predatory lending languish, Congress has designated May 5-9 as National Substitute Teacher Recognition Week, and set July 28 as the Day of the American Cowboy.



The resolutions, which generally don't carry the force of law, can originate in either the House or Senate. However, some types of resolutions establish the federal budget, authorize the president to go to war, or condemn actions such as the genocide in Darfur. Even among the 294 laws passed thus far, many were symbolic in nature. Many of the post offices named by this Congress honor servicemen and -women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the 435-member House, fully one-quarter of the workweek is typically devoted to debating and passing symbolic measures.



Watermelon Month



Democratic Rep. Charlie Wilson of Ohio, a fourth-generation undertaker, sponsored a National Funeral Director and Mortician Recognition Day. Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss, whose home state of Georgia has 24,000 acres planted in watermelon, pushed a resolution establishing July as National Watermelon Month.



"As Mark Twain once said, 'When one has tasted watermelon he knows what the angels eat.' I encourage my colleagues to join me in acknowledging the wisdom of Mark Twain by supporting this resolution," Sen. Chambliss said on the Senate floor. The only problem: July is about 14 days late for a Watermelon Month. The crops come in in mid June.



Democrats say the 294 public laws represent a solid record of achievement. Since the party took control of Congress in 2007, they've led passage of the largest expansion in college aid in 60 years, increased the minimum wage for the first time in a decade, and extended unemployment benefits. They passed the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.



Congress has passed a $168 billion economic-stimulus package, a housing-rescue package providing as much as $300 billion to refinance mortgages for people in danger of losing their homes, and the most sweeping product-safety legislation in a generation.



"We also recognize that we have more to do, and we will do so, both in the remaining weeks of this year's Congress and next year when we will have expanded Democratic majorities in the House and the Senate, working with President Barack Obama," says Brendan Daly, spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California.



Congress, which won't return to session until September, has yet to pass a

 

[Rich Stern]

The less laws they pass, the better off we are.



I was shockled when I read the bill titled "Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008." That bill has about one page of law, for very minimal AMT changes, raising the ceiling before you get hit with AMT by a whopping 5%.



The rest of the bill, about twenty times as long as the AMT "relief," has the following:



- New, more complicated accounting rules for LLC partnerships

- Tax changes to penaltize oil companies for domestic oil exploration and production

- New IRS reporting requirements for electronic funds settlement companies (Paypal and such), so the IRS can figure out whether or not you are making money via such mechanisms and should be paying more taxes...basically, Paypal and Google Cash and all these other payment mechanisms are going to be used to spy on your financial transactions

- Changes to tax treaty benefits for foreign corporations

- Increased corporate estimated tax payment requirements



Even though this bill was marketed as "relief," it is barely that, and much more so, a perfect example of the continued manipulation of the tax laws for the purpose of controlling people and limiting freedom.



Good thing Thomas Jefferson is already dead. If he read this bill, it surely would have killed him.

 

[A K]

Rich:



Preaching to the choir. After taking two semesters of tax in various forms, burying my face in the actual code, etc., I am a huge proponent of a flat tax (individual and corporate). No deductions, credits, relief years, holidays, etc. The current system is inefficient, illogical, confusing, and wholly inadequate in its applied inequalities.

 

[TrainTrac]

Adam,



Have you looked at the FairTax? A consumption tax would be much better. A flat tax is still an income tax. With the FairTax, each individual has the freedom to determine exactly how much they pay in taxes based upon their consumption. Check it out if you haven't already done so.

The less laws they pass, the better off we are.

I agree, Rich. I just pointed this out to illustrate to those who look to gov't to make their lives better that their "saviors' haven't done squat for them since regaining control of the Congress.

 

[TomT]

ALL congressmen have lost touch with reality.

 

[EddieS'04]

ALL congressmen have lost touch with reality.

More so they have lost touch with us, I say vote them all out, rep and dem..:angry:

 

[Alan Peters]

I agree to a point with Rich, but Congress has failed to "do" anything to curb any cirsis in the U.S. Congress creates the bills, president signs them. Yet the president gets a negative wrap when all said and done.

 

[Ron Dacher]

I agree with Rich in this point that we are better off with less bills. Instead of staying in Washington and dealing with high fuel costs, Congress goes on a 5 week vacation. I guess Peolsi needs the time to recover from another face lift! On the plus side, they can't do any more damage while they are gone.

 

[Ryan Schaecher]

Peolsi needs the time to recover from another face lift!

She's trying to get her book to break into the Top 1000 on Amazon.com:lol: