The Price Of Vodka Is About To Double In Russia

Everyone Should Pay Income Taxes

It's bad for our democracy to exempt half the country. It's also what's called redistribution of income, and it is getting out of hand. 

Contrary to the myth that Mr. Bush cut taxes only for the wealthy, the 2001 tax cut reduced taxes for every income-tax payer in the country. He reduced the bottom tax rate to 10% from 15% and increased the refundable child tax credit to $1,000 from $500 per child, both cuts that President Barack Obama says we should keep. In so doing, millions of lower income taxpayers were removed from the tax rolls, shifting the remaining burden to those at the top, even after their taxes were cut. Congress should start by refusing to go along with Mr. Obama's promise to cut taxes for 95% of the country, no one should have their taxes cut -- no one.

read more | digg story

Ouch! Moving violations just got more expensive!

Politicians hard at work in Sacramento have added some unrelated charges to the cost of a moving violation ticket.

Here's the breakdown of the tab for failing to stop at a red light up in the Bay Area:
$100 -- the base fine
$70 -- for various state programs
$30 -- Alameda County general fund
$70 -- county fee for automated fingerprint ID and other programs
$20 -- fee for state DNA crime evidence collection program
$55 -- fee for court construction
$20 -- assessment for county's emergency medical system
$20 -- court security fee
$20 -- surcharge for state's general fund
$35 -- fee to help cover revenue bonds for courthouses
$1 -- night court fee
$49 -- fee for the privilege of signing up for traffic school
-------
$490 for rolling through a stop sign. However you have the option to pay the courts on the installment plan or defer payment. With a $30 penalty fee, of course. Read the full story at the SF Chronicle.

How Obama Will Change Your Taxes

The $787 billion stimulus package passed in February and President Barack Obama's budget plan released on Thursday contain a confusing assortment of changes to the tax code.

Some will see their taxes go down this year, especially those earning less than $100,000 a year. Beginning in 2011, when Obama hopes the recession will be a fading memory, some people, especially those earning more than $200,000 a year, will see their taxes go up.

read more | digg story

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

Why Cigarettes Should Cost $10 a Pack

As the U.S. government throws tax money on the banking bonfire, you have to wonder how many billion-dollar notes are left in the Washington ATM machine for health-care reform. If an income-tax hike isn’t in the cards for 95% of Americans, there will surely be a revenue hunt elsewhere. Why not cigarettes?

Why pick on tobacco even more?
According to data from R.J. Reynolds, total tobacco taxes in 2007 were $22.4 billion. The company is outraged about that, but consider this November 13 statement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): “Smoking in the United States causes 443,000 deaths annually and costs $193 billion.”

Now 443,000 is one of those hideous death counts that numbs the mind. But I’m betting we’re all a bit better these days at processing numbers like $193 billion. And if that’s what smokers are costing the economy, shouldn’t they—so to speak—help bail out health care?

read more | digg story