As you may have heard, Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has a tax proposal he calls the "9-9-9 plan."
For many in Washington, it's an article of faith: Tax reform = economic growth.
State budgets have taken a beating since the recession began. But guess what their latest problem is? Too much money.
The deficit reduction plan that President Obama's bipartisan commission will vote on tomorrow is drawing sharp fire from ideological groups on both the left and the right. To bring federal spending in line with revenues, the proposal released by co-chairmen Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles inflames liberals by slashing spending on social programs and conservatives by raising taxes.
U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-New York, under fire for alleged financial wrongdoing and harming the credibility of Congress, renewed his demand Thursday for a hearing before the House ethics committee.
Congressional corruption scandals are dominating headlines just as campaign season is heating up -- and Democrats might get beaten back by the same tide that swept them into office in 2006.
updated: Wed Aug 04 2010 08:59:00
CNN's Candy Crowley asks reporter Dan Balz and Peter Baker about the ethics charges facing Democrats.
updated: Mon Aug 02 2010 08:14:00
CNN's Don Lemon talks to the Rev. Al Sharpton about the investigations into Reps. Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters.
The House Ethics Committee will hold a formal hearing on alleged violations by Rep. Charles Rangel, the New York Democrat forced to step aside as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee earlier this year over ethics questions.
Here's a list of the names and affiliations of the 18 members sitting on President Obama's Bipartisan National Commission of Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.
The Senate left town for its spring recess without taking up a bill that would patch funding for unemployment benefits and other programs.
Taxpayers may still be able to deduct last-minute donations to Chile earthquake relief from their 2009 taxes, if a bipartisan bill introduced in the House on Tuesday is signed into law.
updated: Thu Mar 04 2010 16:21:00
Rep. Charles Rangel says he will temporarily step down as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
Rep. Sander Levin, D-Michigan, has been named acting chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, a committee spokesman said Thursday.
Rep. Charlie Rangel temporarily stepped down as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday, a decision forced by a growing storm of ethics controversies threatening the longtime congressman.
The Senate unanimously passed legislation Thursday that will allow taxpayers to deduct cash donations to Haiti earthquake relief on their 2009 tax returns instead of having to wait to file the claims next year.
The House unanimously approved a measure Wednesday that will allow taxpayers to deduct cash donations to Haiti earthquake relief on their 2009 tax returns instead of having to wait to file the claims next year.
Taxpayers may be able to deduct cash donations to Haiti earthquake relief on their 2009 tax returns if Congress passes a measure expected to be taken up this week.
Lawmakers will start 2010 with a hefty to-do list thanks to a lot of unfinished tax business they left on the table in 2009. The chief example: the estate tax.
Senate Democrats failed to reach a deal on Wednesday with Senate Republicans to temporarily extend the estate tax into 2010, when it is scheduled to be repealed for one year.
The Internal Revenue Service detailed plans on Monday to weed out wealthy, international tax cheats with renewed urgency.
The jury that convicted former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson on 11 counts of corruption said Thursday that he should forfeit almost half a million dollars in assets derived from criminal activity.
updated: Thu Aug 06 2009 18:27:00
Former congressman William Jefferson was convicted of corruption in a case where $90,000 was found in his freezer.
Former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana was convicted Wednesday on 11 of the 16 corruption charges against him in a case that included the discovery of $90,000 in his freezer.
Jurors in the corruption trial of former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana deliberated for a third day Monday without reaching a verdict.
Jurors in the corruption trial of former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana ended their second day of deliberations without a verdict Friday, said a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Alexandria, Virginia.
The definition of "rich" may be going up should lawmakers choose to impose extra taxes on the wealthy to pay for health reform.
Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee on Friday proposed a graduated tax on wealthy Americans to pay for health care reform, several Democratic sources told CNN.
The debate over whether to have a government-backed insurance plan is fast becoming the most divisive health care reform issue.
With Congress about to take up sweeping climate-change legislation, expect to hear more in coming weeks from John Christy, director of the Earth System Science Center at University of Alabama-Huntsville.
The House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday to try to recoup bonuses paid to Wall Street executives with taxpayer money.
House Democratic leaders said they would introduce legislation Wednesday night to try to recoup bonuses paid to Wall Street executives with taxpayer money.
The Democratic leadership of the Senate Finance Committee on Friday released a $275 billion proposal of tax cuts aimed at reviving the economy.
Nine-term Democratic Rep. William Jefferson, who has been battling scandals and a federal indictment for the past three years, lost his bid for re-election on Saturday.
Governors and mayors disagreed Wednesday on whether the U.S. government should stimulate the economy by bailing out states with battered budgets.
Stocks slipped Wednesday morning as investors retreated following the previous session's massive rally and geared up for an expected rate cut from the Federal Reserve.
The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee is under fire over a series of recent disclosures that have some calling for him to resign
Rep. Charles Rangel, a New York Democrat, said Wednesday he will not step down as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee in the face of a call from the Republican leader in the House for him to do so.
The IRS says it's still trying to reach some 5 million Americans -- primarily seniors and veterans -- who have not filed the tax returns needed to qualify for their stimulus checks.
About 5 million people who do not normally file income-tax returns have yet to apply for their stimulus checks, Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Douglas Shulman told the House Ways and Means Committee Thursday.
The House on Thursday quickly passed a Senate-approved economic stimulus package and sent the bill to the president's desk for his signature.
Ever been zapped by the alternative minimum tax? You're hardly alone. This parallel tax system, originally designed to prevent the ultrawealthy from dodging taxes, will ensnare 4 million filers this spring, few of whom consider themselves rich.
The storm over the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) hasn't passed, but a final bill providing one year of tax relief for 21 million taxpayers finally has after months of debate.
With just days to go before the IRS starts printing its 2007 tax forms, top tax writers on the Hill promised a temporary fix to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) by year-end.
Lawmakers are looking to pass $71 billion worth of tax-break extenders this year. Most politicians support the extensions, but how to pay for them is another matter entirely.
No one actually expects lawmakers to overhaul the tax code this year, but House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) planted his flag Thursday morning by unveiling a bill that he calls the "mother of all tax reforms."
A bill representing the "mother of all tax reforms" is set to be revealed Thursday, according to House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY).
Homeowners who have part of their debt forgiven by lenders to avoid foreclosure won't get stuck with a tax bill under legislation approved Wednesday by the House's tax-writing panel.
The Dow pops into uncharted 14,000-point territory. An economy pummeled by the 9/11 terrorist attacks has grown for 22 quarters straight. Unemployment stands at 4.5 percent - lower than any average decade from the 1960s through the 1990s. And Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson declares: "This is far and away the strongest global economy I've seen in my business lifetime."
Picture this: A rotund, theatrical politician from Harlem and a wiry, introverted policy-wonk from Shreveport sitting elbow to elbow on the House floor, shuffling between each other's offices, passing paper between staffs. Two men from opposite ends of the political spectrum, they are joined in secrecy on a project that just about everyone else in Washington considers doomed to failure. Charlie Rangel and Jim McCrery are on a mission to rescue Social Security from bankruptcy.
House Democrats on the tax writing committee may have come to a consensus on how to reform the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), according to a report Wednesday in Tax Notes, a trade publication published by Tax Analysts. The proposal would give the biggest tax break to middle- and upper-middle income households.
Mr. and Mrs. Middle Class went to Washington last week and delivered a direct message to lawmakers: Kindly get on the stick about the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). We don't feel like being punished because you guys keep punting the problem.
A House Ways and Means subcommittee held hearings on the fixing the alternative minimum tax this afternoon.
Middle-income taxpayers have become more vulnerable than millionaires to the alternative minimum tax, which was originally designed to prevent tax avoidance by the rich, according to testimony given Wednesday before a House panel.
Eight months after Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson was ousted from the powerful House Ways and Means Committee for allegedly chilling stacks of dubious cash in his freezer, his Democratic colleagues voted to give him a seat on the Homeland Security Committee.
You don't need an 800 score on your math SAT to know that college sports is big business. But just how big a business might still surprise you.
Rep. William Jefferson, who on Friday was stripped of his seat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, said the House minority leader singled him out because she wants to be speaker of the House one day.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - After a meeting of key tax writers Monday evening, the word is lawmakers are making progress but still are not ready to seal a deal on the final details of a tax reconciliation bill that has been hotly debated for months.
President Bush's tax cuts for investment income have significantly lowered the tax burden on the richest Americans, reducing taxes on incomes of more than $10 million by an average of about $500,000, according to a report Wednesday.
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - After postponing its vote three times in less than a week, the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday looks set to vote on a proposed tax bill that has one big change from the original.
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The Senate Finance Committee on Thursday postponed its vote on a $68.8 billion, five-year tax reconciliation bill, according to published reports.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, BEHOLD THE GREATEST excuse in recent history. Hurricane Katrina seriously and even tragically harmed millions of people, thousands of businesses, and hundreds of local governm...
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - As expected, the Internal Revenue Service on Thursday eased restrictions for Hurricane Katrina survivors who wish to take loans or make early withdrawals from their 401(k)s and other workplace retirement plans.
The Social Security Administration allowed the FBI to search its files as part of the terrorism investigation after the September 11, 2001, attacks, according to government documents released Wednesday by a privacy group.
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Two things became clear listening to lawmakers and policy experts debate Social Security reform at a hearing held by the House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday.
A sharply divided Congress began debating the Bush administration's $2.6 trillion budget for fiscal year 2006 Tuesday, with Democrats sniping at administration officials on topics such as the nation's Social Security system and the deficit.
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - In the first solo news conference of his second term, President Bush on Wednesday said he's "open to good ideas" from lawmakers about Social Security reform.
The well-dressed disrupter at the recent premiere of "Stolen Honor," a documentary film attacking John Kerry's role as a Vietnam War protester, has been identified as a Kerry campaign and Democratic National Committee staffer who had served time for manslaughter in a fatal shooting.
Former ImClone CEO Samuel Waksal admitted in March to evading sales tax on $15 million worth of art. He joins an exclusive club of celebs busted for crimes that--relative to the perps' prominence ...
What's so strange about the battles over the economic stimulus legislation is that President Bush has been largely absent from them. Yes, we know there's a war in Afghanistan and an anthrax scare a...
In most ways, mutual funds make investing a whole lot easier. The one glaring exception: Each year, when a mutual fund distributes its capital gains, shareholders whose accounts are not tax deferre...
The time couldn't be riper for a tax cut. The federal budget surplus is expected to total $3 trillion over the next decade, and both political parties are clamoring to reduce taxes. Next year would...
Could the national debt soon be an endangered species? Although $7.5 trillion in outstanding notes and bonds won't fade away quickly, the capital is agog with the notion that both the deficit and t...
Last June, Rep. Bill Archer (R-Texas), head of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, vowed to give "David the tax payer an arsenal of powerful slingshots to use against Goliath the IRS." ...
THIS MONTH:
"THIS MUCH IS CLEAR: SOMETHING HAS TO CHANGE." WITH THOSE words, I attempted to express your profound displeasure with our convoluted income tax code while testifying on your behalf before the Hous...
The tax bill winding its way through Congress could cause a bunch of takeovers reminiscent of the Greedy Eighties. This time around, you may be able to get in on the act by identifying likely acqui...
THIS MONTH:
If you're still mourning the three-martini lunch, get your chin off your chest. Two bills making their way through Congress would restore the business meal deduction to 80%, the percentage corporat...
Many of this year's tax software bestsellers make doing your taxes so easy that even technophobes like House Ways and Means chairman Bill Archer (see Q&A, below) should check them out. The most arr...
People who pay their own bills have an incentive to make sure they aren't overcharged. This simple logic underpins Medisave (short for medical savings) accounts, sure to be a central plank in any h...
Watch out: To keep the Social Security retirement trust fund from running in the red, House Ways and Means Committee chairman Dan Rostenkowski has just lobbed the biggest grenade yet in the battle ...
Choose sides, then duck. May's Editor's Notes reported that House Ways and Means chairman Dan Rostenkowski had reacted negatively to your letters urging repeal of the new 20% withholding tax on cer...
As the presidential campaign truly gets under way this month, look for lots of tax-cut promises. Key dates: Feb. 3 (Bush's budget deadline); Feb. 4 (House Ways and Means Committee begins tax-relief...
Q I am a contrarian investor who would like to invest in gold via a mutual fund. Any recommendations? Might the easing of trade sanctions against South Africa affect my decision? Stephen J. Emery C...
AT&T, Berkshire Hathaway, Honeywell, J.P. Morgan, Pfizer, Xerox, and some 70 other corporations have invested $263 million in low-income housing projects since 1987, creating 8,000 homes. In return...
''That dog won't hunt.'' That's the way a senior strategist for the House Ways and Means Committee assesses the prospects for an Administration proposal to raise taxes on upper-income taxpayers by ...
A low-deficit dinner is being prepared and despite wide Republican protest, increased taxes are on the table. President Bush has agreed to meet with congressional leaders for a budget summit, sayin...
Suddenly, Washington is abuzz about raising taxes to curb the budget deficit, estimated at as much as $200 billion for 1990 and $165 billion for 1991. No one knows whether income or sales taxes wil...
You've got to feel a mite sorry for Jack Kemp, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. HUD's name is mud, splattered by allegations that under Kemp's predecessor, Sam Pierce, the department's p...
We have been following the latest big issue to agitate the country's senior citizens -- the issue being who should finance the cost of their catastrophic medical coverage -- and have a forecast abo...
Which party has the better bullets? When the Democrats tried to push the Reagan Administration to support Midgetman missiles, the President responded by proposing to put MX missiles on railway trac...
Investors this fall will look for buy and sell signals from the House Ways and Means Committee, where the future of the capital gains tax will be hotly debated. Most committee members support Georg...
CHARLES T. MUNGER, 65, longtime associate of Warren Buffett and chairman of California's Mutual Savings & Loan Association, on why his S&L is pulling out of the U.S. League of Savings Institutions:...
You might think that the worst possible experience for a taxpayer is already behind you -- filing your 1987 return under tax reform's complicated new rules. But you'd be wrong. Far worse will be th...
Starting pay for attorneys at New York's Cravath Swaine & Moore, often a bellwether for pay at other firms, has risen 8.7%, to $71,077. Price Waterhouse has upped its accountants' average starting ...
Tax-exempt hospitals make money peddling pharmaceuticals and hearing aids, universities sell computers and refrigerators and sponsor trips abroad, and YMCAs offer low-cost workouts. Their for-profi...
WHEN RONALD REAGAN launched his tax reform crusade in November 1984, top congressional tax writers did not rush to enlist. That he ultimately won the war is due mostly to the two fellows pictured a...
IF COMPANIES clipped by the new tax reform act were to follow the standard drill in responding to changes in the tax code, they would proceed as follows: First they would aim to get some redress in...
''They said it couldn't be done. Well, we've done it.'' -- REPRESENTATIVE DANIEL ROSTENKOWSKI, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, exulting after the Senate-House Conference Committee v...
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