Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Bill clears Congress, heads off crisis with expiration of Bush, Obama tax cuts, plus new taxes.
Congressional action late Tuesday night ended months of the nation teetering on the edge of the so-called fiscal cliff, a significant tax increase set to begin Jan. 1 with the expiration of the Bush tax cuts and temporary tax cuts put through by President Barack Obama, as well as new taxes and automatic spending cuts. Many feared that had Congress failed to address the issue, the tax increases and automatic spending cuts would have pushed the nation once again headlong into recession. Politico reported that the bipartisan solution was approved in a 257-167 vote by the U.S. House. U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren, R-14th District, was one of those voting against the measure. “The lack of spending cuts in this package is indefensible, which is why I…
Monday, December 31, 2012
Reports: President Obama might be ready to make an announcement.
The Los Angeles Times and many other sources are reporting Monday that a deal is emerging in the Senate that could result in a short-term solution to the year-end “fiscal cliff.” In broad strokes, it looks like taxes would be raised on folks making $450,000 or more a year. Vice President Joe Biden stepped into the picture and has an agreement allegedly with Republican Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell that could pass Congress in the hours remaining before a midnight deadline. What do you think? Is it better to go off the cliff or make a deal? Is this proposal right for America and folks who live here in Geneva?
Friday, December 28, 2012
If Congress fails to pass an extension of the Bush era tax cuts by midnight Monday, American paychecks will get smaller. You can use the fiscal cliff calculator to see the impact on your paycheck.
With leaders of Congress becoming more and more skeptical that a deal will be reached before midnight Monday to avoid the fiscal cliff, it becomes increasingly likely that American paychecks will get smaller Tuesday, according to a story in today’s New York Times. “I have to be very honest,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in the New York Times article. “I don’t know time-wise how it can happen now.” The Senate reconvened today in an unusual session between Christmas and Jan. 1. Even if the Senate passes legislation, the House of Representatives will not come back into session until Sunday barely 24 hours before the deadline, according to a story today on Politico. If no deal is reached, a single person with two exemptions earning $…
Saturday, December 22, 2012
It ends up being much ado about nothing, and the ones most likely to benefit? The Mayans — well-played, Mayans. Well-played.
OK, Dec. 21, 2012, is over and if you’re reading this, you already are aware the world has not ended. Certainly it’s chilly outside, but we survived Thursday’s snow, there’s still Christmas shopping and wrapping to be done. If this were a movie, we could call it Apocalypse How? In short, it was the worst Armageddon, ever — well, except when the real one comes. That probably would be worse. But today there were no alien attacks, nor was there a sudden sudden spike in UFO sightings. There were no new wars or rumors of war, no earthquakes, no avalanches, no tsunamis, no four horsemen of the apocalyptic sort, as some biblical eschatologists would predict. Also missing: Giant asteroids or planets on an interstellar collision course with Earth. …
Monday, December 10, 2012
A peaceful demonstration Monday at Congressman Randy Hultgren's office in Geneva centers on keeping Social Security and Medicare from falling off a fiscal cliff that could happen in 22 days.
With 22 days remaining before $600 billion automatic tax increases and spending cuts kick in, demonstrators flocked Monday morning to U.S. Congressman Randy Hultgren's office in Geneva to tell Hultgren to keep Medicare and Social Security off the table. "I'm just totally irritated that somehow the fiscal bump in the road has become a fiscal cliff," said Jean Pierce of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva. "And I'd like Hultgren to understand that there are a lot of seniors in his district who vote." Demonstrators discussed a range of issues, from wind energy to the state of the economy to election promises, but the primary issue centered on protecting Medicare and Social Security in the context of lawmakers' solutions to the …
41.89581
-88.3297
1797 W State St, Geneva, IL
/articles/as-clock-ticks-for-fiscal-cliff-demonstrators-flock-to-hultgren-s-office-to-demand-answers
/locations/8382435
Sunday, December 9, 2012
The MoveOn political action group plans a "Tax the Wealthy" event at 10 a.m. Monday at 14th District Congressman Randy Hultgren's Geneva office at 1797 W. State St.
A political action group is planning to picket Monday in Geneva as part of 162 "Fiscal Showdown" events nationwide asking legislators "to vote to raise taxes on the wealthy to fix the deficit." MoveOn.org, one of the largest political action committees in the country, is making a local lobbying effort at 10 a.m. Monday, Dec. 10, at the Geneva office of Republican 14th District Congressman Randy Hultgren. The office is located at 1797 W. State St. "Congress faces a fiscal choice—not a 'cliff'—about whether to end tax cuts for the rich or cut vital programs and delay tax extensions for working and middle class people," the MoveOn.org website says. "The GOP is holding us hostage again, and we could slide back into a recession if they win." …
41.89581
-88.3297
1797 W State St, Geneva, IL
/articles/moveon-plans-fiscal-showdown-picket-monday-at-hultgren-s-geneva-office
/locations/8351999
We're first into the drink of red ink!
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
News Analysis: Recent articles indicate property values are declining, foreclosures are on the rise and a tax base is shrinking, while local government continues to collect more.
As Washington pundits and politicians debate a federal "fiscal cliff" at the end of the year, Genevans may be facing a similar crisis without realizing it: the one-two punch of declining property values and increasing property tax demands by local government. Anecdotal evidence and recent articles hint that at least some Genevans are being taxed out of their homes. An excellent article in Sunday's Daily Herald points out some staggering numbers, and the headline is more than enough to capture your attention: "Local property tax levies up $3.5 billion since '05." That number again: $3.5 billion. Meanwhile, the average price of a Geneva home fell by 23.8 percent year over year for the month of October. Obviously, that's just one month, but …
Monday, October 1, 2012
Bush, Obama tax cuts set to expire on Jan. 1, as new taxes are set to begin. The bite s expected to affect 84 percent of Americans.
Three months from Monday, Oct. 1, the nation will see the largest tax increase in history unless federal lawmakers act first to extend existing tax rates, U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren, R-14th District, said in a release Monday. The tax rates set to expire Jan. 1 are the Bush-era tax cuts, which would push taxes back to 2001 levels, and President Barack Obama’s temporary tax cuts — a 2 percent payroll tax holiday and the earned income credit. The combination of the expiration of those two sets of tax cuts and new tax increases set to begin on Jan. 1 has been dubbed by CBS as a “fiscal cliff.” The impact is expected to mean a tax increase for 84 percent of Americans, according to the CBS report, and CBS’ Moneywatch is advising taxpayers prepare …
Lou Pierce
1:17 pm on Monday, January 7, 2013
Ken, I hope you're comfortable in your bubble. The line-item veto is an interesting issue, worthy of lengthy debate. However, beware of blindly believing right-wing shibboleths such as describing the various news media as being "mostly left leaning." It doesn't take much investigating to discover that the vast majority of the news media are concentrated in the hands of just a few right wingers or… more ›