Obama signs jobs bill, says more must be done

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clipped from news.yahoo.com WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Thursday signed into law a package of tax breaks and spending designed to give the nation a jobs boost by encouraging the private sector to start hiring again. It's the first of several such measures Democrats have promised this election year to address the public's top worry: jobs. The measure includes about $18 billion in tax breaks and pumps $20 billion into highway and transit programs. Under the new law, businesses that hire anyone unemployed for at least 60 days would be exempt from paying the 6.2 percent Social Security payroll tax through December. Employers also would get an additional $1,000 credit if new workers remain on the job a full year. Taxpayers will have to reimburse Social Security for the lost revenue. The new law also extends a tax break for small businesses buying new equipment and modestly expands an initiative that helps state and local government pay for transportation and infrastructure projects.

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Social Security to Start Cashing Uncle Sam's IOUs

clipped from www.foxnews.com This year, for the first time since the 1980s, when Congress last overhauled Social Security, the retirement program is projected to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes — nearly $29 billion more. PARKERSBURG, W.Va. – The retirement nest egg of an entire generation is stashed away in this small town along the Ohio River: $2.5 trillion in IOUs from the federal government, payable to the Social Security Administration. It's time to start cashing them in. For more than two decades, Social Security collected more money in payroll taxes than it paid out in benefits — billions more each year. "This is not just a wake-up call, this is it. We're here," said Mary Johnson, a policy analyst with The Senior Citizens League, an advocacy group. "We are not going to be able to put it off any more."

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OBAMA'S HEALTH PLAN -- TAXES, TAXES EVERYWHERE

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clipped from www.ncpa.org The White House recently released President Obama's health care reform proposal.  The plan incorporates a mixture of the many tax increases passed by the House and Senate, hiking taxes by almost $750 billion over ten years.  This is on top of $1.3 trillion in other tax increases the President recently proposed in his 2011 budget.  Not that there is ever a good time to raise taxes, but doing so as the economy is still emerging from a deep recession is particularly ill-advised and will likely prolong full recovery.  Moreover, the President's proposal deviates from his stated goal to address the soaring spending and debt problem the nation faces by piling on massive new spending and taxes, says the Heritage Foundation.  How will the president's plan affect payroll taxes?  How will seniors be affected by the Medicare payroll tax?  Seniors also sell assets to raise income, so raising the tax on capital gains further reduces their resources.

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Read His Lips: Obama Calls for Increasing Payroll Taxes on ‘Households’ Earning Less Than $250,000 Per Year

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clipped from cnsnews.com (CNSNews.com) - President Obama presented a new health care plan on Monday that calls for raising the Medicare payroll tax on some households earning less than $250,000, an apparent breach of his campaign pledge not to raise taxes on families earning less than that amount. The president’s plan also calls for increasing taxes on interest, dividends, annuities, royalties and rents. In a Sept. 12, 2008 campaign speech in Dover, N.H, Obama said: “And I can make a firm pledge: Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 will see their taxes increase—not your income taxes, not your payroll taxes, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your  taxes.” But the new health care plan released in summary form yesterday by the White House specifically calls for increasing the Medicare payroll tax on “households with incomes exceeding $200,000 for singles and $250,000 for married couples filing jointly.”

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