Pelosi Touts Tax Cuts

By Justine Rellosa- Talk Radio News Service

On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) addressed how the Recovery Act influenced 2010 Tax Day outcomes.

"It is important to note on this day that 36 percent of the Recovery Act went to tax cuts. Tax cuts for the middle-class, tax cuts for small businesses tax cuts for green energy jobs for the future," commented Pelosi. "Refunds are up 10 percent, averaging about $3,000 [per] tax payer and 98 percent of Americans will receive a tax cut for 2009."

The Speaker said the third quarter report given by President Barack Obama yesterday estimates that the Recovery Bill saved or created up to 2.5 million jobs. However, she says Democrats are waiting for more legislation to open up more jobs for Americans.

"There are many indicators of turnaround in our economy, but still, many people do not have jobs so our focus was on the legislation ... for further job creation," she said.

Pelosi echoed the sentiments expressed recently by Bruce Bartlett, a former Reagan Policy Advisor, on tax reductions under Obama.

"Federal taxes are considerably lower, by every measure, since Obama became President," she said.

IRS Chief Emphasizes Commitment To Helping Small Businesses

By Justine Rellosa
Talk Radio News Service

On the eve of Tax Day, IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman assured members of the House Committee on Small Business that his agency is working to lower the need for tax enforcement nationwide by helping educate individuals and business on compliance issues.

"The IRS's actions reflect our commitment to service, one of the IRS's most important goals as it goes about its mission of administering and enforcing the nation's tax laws," said Shulman.

He explained that the IRS has been moving swiftly during the past 15 months to implement new tax law provisions that are meant to help small businesses prosper.

"The Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act, which was signed into law last month, gives small businesses an important incentive to start hiring again and we're working to implement that quickly...We've already begun to mobilize and let small businesses know the new tax credit that's available to them to help buy health insurance for their employees," explained Shulman.

Under the HIRE Act, employers who hire unemployed individuals can qualify for a 6.2 percent payroll tax incentive and claim an additional general business tax credit.

Shulman said that the credit will particularly benefit small businesses and non-profits that employ low and moderate income workers.

Bachmann: Tax Day? More Like 'April Fools' Day

By Sofia Sanchez
University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

On the eve of Tax Day, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) called then-candidate Barack Obama's campaign pledge to not raise taxes on Americans an 'April Fools' joke.

“One piece of legislation we may want to be considering is combining April Fools Day with April 15th,” said Bachmann during a meeting with a handful of House Republicans and tax reform advocates on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

According to the much-maligned conservative, the American people were "fooled" by the Obama administration and House Democrats with their promises of no tax increases for families making under $250,000 a year.

The group Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) put out a statement saying that “Obamacare” is taxing American families that make under the set income of exclusion from tax hikes with seven violations.

Some of these tax increases include the medicine cabinet tax, which exempts Americans from using health savings accounts (HSA), as well as health reimbursement (HRA) and flexible spending accounts (FSA). Also, the group claims taxing Americans who use indoor tanning salons is also in violation of the earlier pledge.

“We were told that if we passed health care reform we’re going to save boat loads of money...how ironic in saving trillions of dollars we have to increase taxes trillions of dollars in order to quote ‘save that money’,” said Bachmann.