CORRECTION, IT'S NOT AN OBAMA PHONE!

CORRECTION, IT'S NOT AN OBAMA PHONE

As promised when I started this blog, I will always admit it if I have posted incorrect information. I try to do extensive research and haven't had to clarify or change anything so far, but here goes my first clarification.

In my post on this subject I said I couldn't track down where this program came from. Turns out this free phone nonsense was started under Reagan (it's nonsense no matter who started it), and it has been expanded upon and changed over the years. So I apologize, it should not be called the Obama Phone. It could be called the Reagan Ringer or the Government Gabber, but no matter what it is called with a multi-trillion dollar deficit it shouldn't be happening. Cuts need to be made everywhere. We no longer have the money to frivolously spend here, there and everywhere.

One other fact? It is administered by phone companies and partially paid for by federal and state fees attached to your phone bills. So we are still footing the bill. The phone companies who administer this program? They outsource their customer service to India. Too bad that the "fees" we pay are not used to provide Americans with jobs.

TAX TSUNAMI #3, THE GREAT BUSINESS BASHER

TAX TSUNAMI #3 will destroy job creation for hundreds of thousands of business. The AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax) currently affects 4 million taxpayers who earn enough that they have to calculate their tax burdens twice and pay taxes at the higher level. This was established in 1969 to catch a handful of taxpayers. With the coming Tax Tsunami #3 this tax will increase the number of affected families to 28.5 million, and you could be one of them. This prediction comes from the Tax Policy Center, a left-leaning think tank.

Small businesses will no longer be able to expense business purchases in the year purchased. Right now businesses can expense (write off the entire cost) equipment rather than depreciate (slowly deduct) it over a period of years. This is a great tax break that allows businesses to use their dollars to hire people and expand their business. But not after January 1, 2011. What it means to a business is that their taxable income will go way up, thus causing them to pay more money to the government rather than retain those funds to HIRE PEOPLE AND CREATE JOBS.

There are hundreds of tax hikes on businesses that will take place on January 1.

There are also scores of changes in hundreds of other taxes and deductions, such as the following:

The deduction for tuition and fees will not be available.

Tax credits for education will be limited.

Teachers will no longer be able to deduct classroom expenses.

Coverdell Education Savings Accounts will be cut.

Employer-provided educational assistance is curtailed.

Student loan interest deduction will not be allowed for hundreds of thousands of families.

The Charitable Contribution from IRAs deduction will not be allowed. (Currently a retired person with an IRA can contribute up to $100,000 per year to a charity with no tax consequence).

This is just scratching the surface of the major tax increases rolling our way on January 1.

But Hold on to your Hats, Folks, there's more in the upcoming Tax Tsunami #4.