Tax Cuts

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Republicans will oppose any effort to renew soon-to-expire Bush administration tax cuts if upper income taxpayers are excluded from the reductions. A spokesman for Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday that every Senate Republican has pledged to oppose President Barack Obama's tax-cutting plan. Obama would renew the tax cuts for most people, but let the top income tax rate rise back to almost 40 percent on family or small business income over $250,000.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a sweeping tax package that would save millions of Americans thousands of dollars in higher taxes while also reducing their Social Security taxes and extending jobless benefits. The $858 billion package now goes to the House, where many Democrats are unhappy with a provision that allows estates as large as $10 million to pass to heirs tax-free. Democratic leaders, however, say they expect the bill to ultimately pass and become law. A wide array of tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bush is scheduled to expire on Jan. 1 — just two weeks away — affecting taxpayers at every income level.

In 1997, Pennsylvania voters approved the most sweeping change in state taxation since 1948. But the constitutional amendment, designed to allow local governments to craft their own mix of taxing options, still needs local voters' approval, and not one of the 500 school districts affected is expected to put it on the ballot this fall. This is a complicated issue that demands voters' patience and attention. The key to the legislation is a provision that would allow the local taxing authorities to offer a "homestead exemption.

A representative of the Maryland governor said Wednesday that a middle-class family of four could expect to see its annual taxes increase by $2,200 if Congress doesn't act by the end of the year to avoid the fiscal cliff. Dana J. Thompson, director of federal relations for the Office of Gov. Martin O'Malley, told about 60 people who attended a breakfast at the Ramada Plaza hotel in Halfway that it was critically important for Congress to extend middle-class tax cuts. “If Congress doesn't act before the holidays, every family in Hagerstown's taxes will automatically go up, including 98 percent of all of those who make less than $250,000 a year, and 97 percent of small businesses that earn less than $250,000 a year,” Thompson said.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Vowing that property-tax relief will come in the next few years, state Rep. Patrick E. Fleagle, R-Franklin, said Republicans decided to delay a vote on the bill before them Wednesday because it wouldn't have reached "a broad range of our constituency. " A yes/no vote on Special Session House Bill 39, which touted property tax cuts through gambling revenue, was postponed until at least June just one day after being approved 40-9 by the Pennsylvania Senate. The measure, released by legislative negotiators Monday, was championed by Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell and would have favored senior citizens and residents of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Scranton, critics said.

ANNAPOLIS - When the Maryland General Assembly convened in January, it seemed certain that the state's inheritance tax would be repealed this year. Assembly leaders tagged it as their top priority and Gov. Parris Glendening put money in his budget to pay for it. cont. from front page But with a week to go in the session, lawmakers are trying to figure out the best way to salvage a meaningful inheritance tax cut. Many members of the Washington County Delegation are disappointed.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Tax cut proposals and stadium proposals are likely to come before the Pennsylvania General Assembly during the legislative session beginning next week, according to area legislators. [cont. from news page ] At a December budget briefing, Ridge told legislators he'll request tax cuts in the 1999-2000 budget proposal he unveils Feb. 2. Ridge, whose inauguration is Tuesday, has not said which taxes he favors cutting. "I think the General Assembly is slightly more in favor of a cut in the personal income tax," 90th District State Rep. Pat Fleagle of Waynesboro, Pa., said Monday.

Nobody wants tax cuts. So says Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening, who said Monday the people he's talked to want the state's $1 billion surplus spent on education. And that, along with health and transportation issues, will be his focus this year. We don't disagree with the broad outline of what the governor has in mind, but believe that if taxes can't be cut in this era of plenty, they never will be. In fact, the governor has said he'll go along with legislators' plan to eliminate the state's inheritance tax, which yields $50 million a year.

Glendening's proposed budget would cancel tax cut By LAURA ERNDE laurae@herald-mail.com Maryland taxpayers will not get an income tax cut and public schools will see a smaller increase than anticipated under Gov. Parris Glendening's proposed 2003 operating budget. continued Glendening said Tuesday his $22 billion spending plan adds money for Medicaid, the environment and so-called safety net areas such as mental health. Otherwise, it maintains current state services.

HARRISBURG, Pa. ? Gov. Ed Rendell's budget chief says Pennsylvania is on schedule to cut homeowners' property taxes next year with revenue from slot-machine gambling. Budget secretary Michael Masch says a special state property-tax relief fund had a $506 million balance as of Friday. Masch is required to certify in April whether the fund has reached the $570 million threshold required for the state to distribute the money for tax cuts in the 2008-09 fiscal year. The money also will be used to cut taxes for people who pay Philadelphia's wage tax. Masch discussed the property-tax relief fund during a midyear briefing on the current state budget.

When Del. Andrew A. Serafini, R-Washington, introduced a bill during the 2013 session of the Maryland General Assembly seeking to reduce the state's corporate income tax from 8.25 percent to 4 percent, he suggested that his bill might be a way to start a conversation around the issue. During the session, Serafini also co-sponsored three other measures that would reduce the state corporate income tax in various ways. None of the measures passed. But the conversation that Serafini is seeking - to make the state more business friendly - might be beginning in earnest.

Members of The House of Representatives worked past 11 p.m. Tuesday night to pass legislation to avoid the “fiscal cliff,” but many area residents still remained unsatisfied with Congress on Wednesday. “I think what we did was just a Band-Aid,” Hagerstown resident Marty Tashgy, said. “It did little or nothing to create growth, address deficit spending, or address entitlements.” The bill maintains tax cuts for individuals making less than $400,000 a year as well as couples making less than $450,000 a year, with those above that threshold seeing their taxes rise from 35 percent to the Clinton-era rate of 39.6 percent.

A representative of the Maryland governor said Wednesday that a middle-class family of four could expect to see its annual taxes increase by $2,200 if Congress doesn't act by the end of the year to avoid the fiscal cliff. Dana J. Thompson, director of federal relations for the Office of Gov. Martin O'Malley, told about 60 people who attended a breakfast at the Ramada Plaza hotel in Halfway that it was critically important for Congress to extend middle-class tax cuts. “If Congress doesn't act before the holidays, every family in Hagerstown's taxes will automatically go up, including 98 percent of all of those who make less than $250,000 a year, and 97 percent of small businesses that earn less than $250,000 a year,” Thompson said.

There is no question that our country is at the crossroads of some profoundly important budget decisions - with far-reaching and long-lasting impacts on our economy, our families and our fiscal standing as a nation. The made-up term “fiscal cliff” paints a pretty menacing picture and, in my view, is unnecessarily dramatic.  The issues we're facing are certainly very serious and they must be addressed - which is why I'm working at it full time - but our country will not come to a grinding halt on Jan. 1 if there isn't a final agreement by then.

Sometimes, the reaction to an election is more interesting than the election itself. And that's what is happening right now, because never in the history of Earth has an entire race of people gone from outcasts to celebrities with such alacrity. Wasn't it just yesterday that we were trying with all our heart and soul to keep the children of Latinos out of college? And yet today, the people being championed as Republican (Republican!) presidential nominees in 2016 have names like Cruz and Rubio.

The 2012 general election campaign officially begins late next month with the opening of the Republican National Convention, followed a week later by the Democratic Convention. The parties' presumed presidential nominees, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, are already hard at work on the campaign trail, telling voters that this November's election is a pivotal choice between contrasting philosophies of government. So far, the American electorate has not pivoted toward either the Republicans or the Democrats: Polls show the contests for both the White House and control of Capitol Hill are wide open.

“Congratulations to The Herald-Mail on the two articles about the post office and the local fire and rescue money. Good articles, you did a good job. Now let's make sure they're all held accountable. Reference to the post office, the free lunch is over. We have to make sure we close post offices, reduce hours and keep paying their benefits, because one of these days we won't have the money to pay the benefits. Thank you for reporting it. Good job, Herald-Mail.” - Leitersburg “Have you ever noticed how many people want tax cuts and want prices held down, but only if it doesn't affect themselves?

“Once again, the Republican Party is showing their idea of compromise is do exactly what we want. We won't even discuss anything else. And they're putting their richest constituents ahead of the good of this country.” - Waynesboro, Pa. “To the Hagerstown, Washington County BOE teacher complaining about their children not doing the work when they send them home to the parents to do, that the parents are supposed to make sure they...