Taxation Archives - Page 9 of 9 Voice For Liberty

Mar

Affording Tax Cuts, or Whose Money Is It, Anyway?

The logic of paygo for taxes is backward, in that it starts from the assumption that all tax revenue is Washington's in the first place and thus any tax cuts must be "offset" so Congress can be made whole. But of course the money belongs to the taxpayers who earned it, and the burden ought to be on the politicians to spend less so Americans can keep more. Republicans claim to believe this. ("Budget Irresolution," The Wall Street Journal, March 14, 2005) "Paygo" refers to the "pay-as-you-go" budget rules, which require that any tax cuts be offset by other tax…

Mar

Testimony in Opposition to Senate Bill 58

From John Todd. Members House Taxation Committee State Capitol Topeka, Kansas 66612 Subject: Testimony in OPPOSITION TO SENATE BILL #58 (Sales Tax Increase For The Proposed Downtown Wichita Arena). My name is John Todd. I am a self-employed real estate broker from Wichita, and I come before you in opposition to the enabling legislation that would allow Sedgwick County to raise the local sales tax 1% to fund a new Downtown Arena in violation of current state law. Under current state law, Counties in Kansas are not authorized to raise county sales taxes for projects like the proposed Downtown Wichita…

Mar

Testimony regarding House Bill No. 2132

Written testimony of Bob Weeks regarding House Bill No. 2132. A pdf version is available here: http://wichitaliberty.org/files/House_Bill_2132_Testimony_by_Bob_Weeks_2005-03-10.pdf March 10, 2005 Thank you for allowing me to present this written testimony. I realize that the voters in Sedgwick County voted for the arena sales tax increase. I believe, however, there is ample reason why you should vote against the tax. The idea of the taxpayer-funded arena came about so fast in the summer of 2004 that there was little thought given to the underlying issues. I wish to present what my research has uncovered. WSU Study Not Complete On of the…

Mar

GOP and ex-GOP Legislators Promoting Higher Kansas Taxes

From Karl Peterjohn, Executive Director Kansas Taxpayers Network In a March 4 report on Democrat Washington Day events in Topeka, Hawver News Editor Martin Hawver told about two well known Republicans involved in this statewide Democratic Party event. First is former state representative and former house majority leader Joe Hoagland, ex-Rino Johnson County, who told Democrats that, "I'm never going back," to the KS GOP. Hoagland also claimed that there were a number of fellow GOP "moderates" aka as liberals who would be joining him on becoming Democrats. None were named in this article. Hoagland briefly flirted last year with…

Mar

By Bob Weeks

KNEA Tax Plan Would Hurt Kansas

From our friends at the Kansas Taxpayers Network. KANSAS TAXPAYERS NETWORK P.O. Box 20050 Wichita, KS 67208 316-684-0082 FAX 316-684-7527 www.kansastaxpayers.com March 1, 2005 Editorial For Immediate Release KNEA TAX PLAN WOULD HURT KANSAS By Karl Peterjohn The powerful and left-wing National Education Association's Kansas affiliate is working hard to raise your taxes. In a February Olathe News article Terry Forsyth, one of the Kansas National Education Association's (KNEA) lobbyists, is quoted claiming that there is no correlation between taxes and job growth. Obviously Mr. Forsyth seems unfamiliar with high tax and high spending states like New York that have…

Feb

By Bob Weeks

Increase our awareness of taxes

As the annual tax season is upon us, we should take a moment to examine our level of awareness of the taxes we pay. First, very many families don't pay any federal income tax. According to a study by the Tax Foundation (link: http://www.taxfoundation.org/ff/zerotaxfilers.html) 58 million households, representing some 122 million people or 44 percent of the U.S. population, pay no federal income tax. For those who do pay taxes, they often aren't aware, on a continual basis, of just how much tax they pay. That's because our taxes are conveniently withheld for us on our paychecks. Many people, I…

Feb

By Bob Weeks

Abuse Of Tax Funds Must Stop

The following is from the Kansas Taxpayers Network. It shows how government-funded organizations participated in the campaign to increase Sedgwick County taxes. Taxpayers' funds are being used to promote higher taxes in Kansas. Tax funds are also being used to lobby for higher taxes (see VI. and 1. above). This is an egregious mess that the legislature should stop. Tax funds are also used for "informational" campaigns by taxpayer funded groups. This includes a variety of local units like school boards but is not limited to any local units. How bad is this problem? Public campaign donation and expense records…