Libertarians call for permanent government shutdown

As elected officials put on a dog-and-pony media show about a temporary shutdown of small parts of the federal government, the Libertarian Party calls for a permanent shutdown of most of the federal government.

Libertarian Party Executive Director Wes Benedict said, "Just think how a permanent government shutdown would allow so many Americans to regain the blessings of liberty.

"Education would blossom as the Department of Education ended its War on Learning, no longer wasting our money and preventing educational innovation with one-size-fits-all centralized mandates.

"Job opportunities at companies big and small would multiply, providing opportunity and choice for American workers.

"The world would enjoy peace as we withdrew our forces from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya. Our government spends almost as much on the military as the rest of the world combined. Millions of industrious men and women who work for the military and its contractors could be focusing on building up our economy, rather than tearing down others'.

"Crime would plummet as the government's War on Drugs ended, no longer sustaining a giant violent black market and overfilling our prisons.

"The life of many poorer Americans would improve as welfare programs stopped, no longer trapping low-income families in an endless cycle of government dependency.

"All Americans would feel a huge burden lifted every April, as they were no longer required to wrestle with a byzantine and oppressive IRS.

"But most importantly, Americans would once again be free of unjust and unconstitutional violations of their unalienable rights."

Benedict added, "We're not talking about eliminating the federal government. We want to end all federal activities that are not authorized by the Constitution, and we want to cut everything else as much as we can. In 2000, the federal government spent $1.8 trillion. This year it's expected to spend $3.8 trillion. Things are going the wrong way -- fast."

-----
Community News You Can Use
Click to read MORE news:
www.GeorgiaFrontPage.com
Twitter: @gafrontpage & @TheGATable @HookedonHistory
www.ArtsAcrossGeorgia.com
Twitter: @artsacrossga, @softnblue, @RimbomboAAG @FayetteFP

CCH Briefing Details House Estate Tax Measure

/PRNewswire/ -- Following passage by the House of Representatives on December 3, 2009 of the Permanent Estate Tax Relief for Families, Farmers, and Small Business Act of 2009, CCH has issued a Special Tax Briefing on its provisions which, if adopted by the Senate, will provide certainty for estate taxes and estate planning, largely by freezing the status quo as of this year. Read the Briefing at http://tax.cchgroup.com/Legislation/2009-Estate-Tax-Relief.pdf.

"The House bill provides for a $3.5 million estate tax exclusion with no portability, a top estate tax rate of 45 percent, a continuation of stepped-up basis and ratifies the permanent repeal of the state death tax credit," said CCH Senior Estate Planning Analyst Bruno Graziano, JD, MSA.

The measure moves on to the Senate, where the bill's lack of indexing for inflation may pose a difficulty, but many observers believe some kind of estate tax "fix" is imperative this year.

"Without some new legislation in place, 2010 would see the complete abolition of the estate tax - for that year alone - but also a move to a 'modified carryover basis' system for valuing inherited assets that could increase the income tax burden of beneficiaries and would be very difficult for executors and accountants to deal with," Graziano said.

The Briefing also details the impact of the House bill on the gift tax and generation-skipping transfer tax.

CCH Tax Briefings

To read the Briefing, visit http://tax.cchgroup.com/Legislation/2009-Estate-Tax-Relief.pdf. Timely, current analysis of this and other tax legislation can be found at CCH Tax Legislation Coverage (http://tax.cchgroup.com/Legislation/Briefings).

----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page