American Shareholders Association

Pic From "Tax Me More" Press Conference

Congressman
John
Campbell (R-CA)

Cong. John Campbell (R-CA) Introduces "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is" Act

Yesterday, Congressman John Campbell (R-CA) introduced the "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is" Act.  Oftentimes, rich liberals will complain about how they don't pay enough in taxes thanks to pro-growth conservative tax policies.

Campbell's bill would allow them to "put their money where their mouth is" by creating a new line of Form 1040 to voluntarily pay more in taxes.  If Hillary Clinton believes what she said (that she and Bill didn't need the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003), then she can give back the money.

Congress to Vote Against Cap Gains and Dividend Tax Hike Next Week

ASA has learned that early next week, House Republicans will be forcing a vote on preventing tax increases that Democrats have scheduled for January 1, 2011.  Specifically of interest to shareholders, the capital gains rate will rise from 15% to 20%, and the dividends rate will rise from 15% all the way to 39.6%.

Expect this to be one of the hot issues this Fall.

Pelosi Swats Down Columbia FTA

Earlier this week, President Bush submitted the Columbia free trade agreement (FTA) to Congress.  Under the law, Congress has 90 days to give the FTA an up-or-down vote.

Not surprisingly, Democrats change the law when it doesn't suit their needs.

At the behest of Speaker Pelosi, the U.S. House of Representatives just repealed the provision of the law requiring Congress to vote up-or-down in 90 days.

Profiles in courage.

Ways and Means Passes HSA-Killing Tax Hike

The Ways and Means Committee just passed a tax increase with a killer poison pill for HSAs on a nearly party-line vote.

HSA Under Assault This Week in Congress

Congressman Pete Stark (D-CA) is next in line to be the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.  He's probably also public enemy number one to health savings accounts (HSAs).  This week, he's tucking an earmark into a tax bill which would cripple and undermine HSAs.

First, some background: HSA funds can generally only be used for qualified medical expenses.  Taking money out for non-medical reasons generally results in taxes owed on the withdrawal, plus a 10% penalty.  Taxpayers assert that the withdrawal was for medical expenses (or not) on their tax return, under penalty of perjury.  Like any other deduction, liars and cheats are caught using the IRS's audit process.

But that's not good enough for Stark.  He wants to have HSA holders get independent verification that the withdrawals were qualified.  Not coincidentally, there is only one company (Evolution Benefits) that has the technology to do this, and it's the one lobbying for this provision.

This provision is a win for both Evolution Benefits (who gets to corner the market on third-party substantiation, for which they have a patent), and Pete Stark (since he knows this will scare off banks, businesses, and consumers from offering HSAs).  This is a mortal threat to the investor class.

President Sends Columbia Trade Bill to Congress

One of the biggest differences between the two political parties right now is the relative level of support for free trade.  With the exception of a few nativists, the GOP is largely free-trade.  Most Democrats are in the pocket of Big Labor and oppose even the most common-sense trade pacts.

So, when you have a GOP President, a Democrat Congress, and a good trade bill, sometimes the President just has to force the issue.

The U.S.-Columbia free trade agreement is decidedly in the U.S.' favor.  We already let in, duty-free, most Columbian goods.  All this FTA would do is open up Columbian markets to U.S. goods.  Big Labor (and their Democrat allies in Congress) oppose the measure for no substantive reason--they simply have a knee-jerk reaction against anything involving competition, free trade, etc.

Congress has until September to cast an up-or-down vote.  Shareholders are hoping that freedom wins.

Hillary Clinton's Turn to Release Tax Returns

In a classic "Take Out the Trash Day" move, Hillary Clinton released her old tax returns on Friday night.

The headline number is that the Clintons earned $109 million since 2000.  So much for the Bush years being hard on folks.

The Clintons were also big-time investors, providing a stark contrast to the probably stock-less Obamas.  No self-employed 401(k) plans, though.

The part that tells you what a robotic non-person Ms. Rodham probably is: in one year, she filed an amended return for neglecting to include $81 in interest.  This was in a year that the Clintons earned over $1 million.