Taxation

Recognizing that taxes and economic growth affect each other and go hand-in-hand, the Norfolk Area Chamber of Commerce supports legislation which:
  • Promotes equity in Nebraska’s tax structure while maintaining and enhancing Nebraska’s competitive business environment.
  • Provide taxation necessary to fund a desired level of government and education services.
  • Promotes collaboration, partnerships and continued emphasis on improving efficiencies in government and education services.
  • Promotes broadening the tax base to achieve equity and fairness for Nebraska’s tax payer.
  • Promotes equitable assessment of property values. 

News

Sep 3, 2010 For Democrats, Economy Fuels Election Fears (New York Times) Many are embracing the stimulus package enacted soon after Mr. Giffords.Representative Walt Minnick, Democrat of Idaho, boasts at home that he opposed the stimulus package and Mr. Obama to get more engaged in the fight to end the tax cuts for the wealthy.    more...  
Sep 3, 2010 Op-Ed Contributor: How to End the Great Recession (New York Times) Even though the American economy kept growing, hourly wages flattened. The economists Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty examined tax returns from 1913 to 2008. Much of this was paid for with a 70 percent to 90 percent marginal income tax on the highest incomes.    more...  
Sep 1, 2010 Bond yields down to 1960s levels (Omaha World Herald) Municipal bonds are especially favored by high-income investors because the bonds generally are exempt from federal taxes. For highest earners paying a 35 percent federal rate on income, a 2.60 percent return on such securities is equivalent to a 4 percent taxable yield. Firms selling municipal...    more...  
Sep 1, 2010 Survey indicated support for Fed (Omaha World Herald) “The survey shows the uncertainty about the current state of the economy and how weak it truly is,” said Lynn Reaser, NABE’s president and the chief economist for Point Loma Nazarene University. Reaser stressed that the economists surveyed are looking for more clarity on future tax and...    more...  
Sep 1, 2010 Wonkbook: Jobs bill details sketched; unions target boardrooms; new oil reg rules (Washington Post) Meanwhile, an SEC decision expanding shareholder power over corporate boards has led unions to consider installing their supporters on target companies' boards. It's not clear what those tax breaks would target or how much they might cost in lost revenue to the government. That the Reagan and...    more...  
Sep 1, 2010 EDITORIAL (The Kansas City Star) So Let Voters Decide--has gathered enough signatures to ask Missourians on Nov. 2 to decree the once-every-five-years votes in the two largest cities. Again, they have no clue. Ellinger and Charton are especially blank on the impact on Kansas City's fees, taxes or basic public services if voters...    more...  
Aug 31, 2010 Bond yields down to 1960s levels (Omaha World Herald) Municipal bonds are especially favored by high-income investors because the bonds generally are exempt from federal taxes. Firms selling municipal bonds mark up the price an average of 0.50 percent to 1 percent, said Thomas Doe, CEO of Municipal Market Advisors, a Concord, Mass.-based research...    more...  
Aug 31, 2010 Survey indicated support for Fed (Omaha World Herald) Reaser stressed that the economists surveyed are looking for more clarity on future tax and regulatory policies that could help improve the job picture. Of the 242 economists surveyed, nearly 59 percent of respondents characterize the Fed’s policy of keeping interest rates near record lows as...    more...  
Aug 29, 2010 The Holdouts (New York Times) They smoked at their desks, or, later, in a smoking lounge. The nicotine patch did nothing; he smoked while wearing it. Davila smoked a few when he went out with friends.    more...  
Aug 28, 2010 O'Malleys on pace to earn $1.2M during 4 years in Annapolis (Washington Post) Most of that money came in wages from law firm Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice. If anybody wants to know what the governor and first lady makes, they can look it up on the Internet.    more...  
Aug 28, 2010 Social Security payback option may disappear (Washington Post) The Social Security Administration (SSA) is moving to eliminate the do-over strategy. Then the SSA will send you a letter telling you how much you need to repay (including any spousal benefits). That process may take several weeks or even months. But once that 12-month deadline passed, they would...    more...  
Aug 28, 2010 Op-Ed Columnist: Mr. Simpson Has a Cow (New York Times) In it, Carson criticized Simpson’s support for reducing Social Security benefits. He picked Simpson for the job because he is a Republican willing to talk about Social Security tax increases, a breed rarer than the ivory-billed woodpecker. Right now, only the first $106,800 in annual income is...    more...  
Aug 27, 2010 Research Desk investigates: Do the rich spend less of new income than the poor? (Washington Post) In "Do the Rich Save More?", economists Karen Dynan, Jonathan Skinner and Stephen Zeldes found a strong relationship between personal savings and income. What's more, it does not debunk the idea that services to the working class can be stimulative. See Zandi's multiplier figures for food stamps...    more...  
Aug 27, 2010 Quinn suggests tax switch (Chicago Tribune) Monique Garcia and Rick Pearson Aug. 27, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Gov. Bill Brady, of Bloomington, who favors unspecified budget cuts over any tax increase to ease the state's cash crunch.    more...  
Aug 27, 2010 The Kansas City Star, Mo., Mike Hendricks column (The Kansas City Star) Mission's City Council did, and levy a special tax to fix roads, rather than jack up the property tax, you're demonized by talk radio screamers. E-mailers and bloggers say, "How dare you tax someone's driveway." "I've been accused of destroying small businesses," McConwell said. "This has been...    more...  
Aug 26, 2010 Quinn suggests tax switch could happen down the line (Chicago Tribune) Monique Garcia and Rick Pearson Aug. 26, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Gov. Bill Brady, of Bloomington, who favors unspecified budget cuts over any tax increase to ease the state's cash crunch.    more...  
Aug 26, 2010 ‘Wheel fee' fuels outrage (Omaha World Herald) Because he is a city employee who commutes in from outside the city, a city ordinance requires him to pay Omaha's existing vehicle registration fee, which was increased Tuesday.    more...  
Aug 26, 2010 Questions About Setting Up a Will (New York Times) She had several questions: Is a revocable trust better than a will? Randolph, who helped create the Quicken and Nolo programs. Many Californians choose to use revocable trusts for that reason, she said.    more...  
Aug 26, 2010 Dan Seals and Robert Dold disclose finances in 10th District House race (Chicago Tribune) His parents bought the Kenilworth house that Dold said he rents from them for $10,000 a year, plus property taxes. His mother, Judy, is chairwoman. In 2004, Dold bought a Racine exterminator business. The Dold family paid about $52,000 in federal income taxes, and the Seals family about $30,000.    more...  
Aug 26, 2010 'Those of us who work on children's issues are very depressed' (Washington Post) Most industrialized countries have a child care system. I saw some new figures from the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (NACCRRA). They keep studying child care in America. They have these child care centers in federal buildings all over the country.    more...