The Tricky Tax System

Today was the deadline for 2011 tax returns and a recent poll says that most people believe the revenue system benefits the wealthy and is unfair to average workers. 68% said it benefits the rich while 29% disagreed. About taxes being too high, it is mainly those between the age of 35 and 65 that think their taxes are too high. Younger Americans who have lower paying jobs and senior citizens who are fixed on a set income don't complain nearly as much as those who are in their peak earning years. However, people like David Levine (the former chief economist for the investment-management firm Sanford C. Bernstein) are actually asking for higher taxes. As you can see, taxes are a tricky area. From the mouth of Nixon, "We shall never make taxation popular but we can make taxation fair."

Santorum will suspend his campaign

In very recent news GOP candidate Rick Santorum will suspend his campaign indefinitely. Santorum said he will stay involved in the next couple months but will temporarily withdraw from the race. Sources say that Santorum spoke with other candidate Mitt Romney the day before he announced his suspension. This brings up many undecided questions like will Santorum stay in the running or will he completely drop out of the race? Will Santorum faithful turn to Romney, Gingrich, or Paul? Or could Mitt Romney have a qualified running mate with Santorum? Also many family issues surround Santorum as one of his daughters was just released from the hospital.

The Buffet Rule

Today the White House laid out its case for the Buffett Rule, arguing that it would make the tax code fairer and make it harder for the very rich to lower their tax bills. The Buffet Rule, a proposal that would ensure the wealthiest Americans pay at least 30 percent of their income in federal taxes, is a key point in Obama's re-election bid. The general principle behind it is that millionaires and billionaires like investor Warren Buffett shouldn't pay a lower percentage of their income in federal taxes than middle-class households.

Over five decades, the average tax rate paid by the wealthiest Americans has dropped much more than the rate for middle-income taxpayers, even as the income of those at the top of the scale has grown significantly more than for everyone else.

Republican front-runner Romney, “opposes the Buffett Rule – he thinks millionaires and billionaires should keep paying lower tax rates than middle-class families," the statement said. "In fact, Romney himself isn’t paying his fair share – in 2010, Romney paid a tax rate of only 13.9 percent, well below the rate paid by many middle-class Americans."

Obama Holds Key Leads in Polls Over Romney

A recent Washington Post-ABC News Poll conducted by phone April 5-8 revealed some disconcerting news for those seeking a Republican President in 2012--Barack Obama leads in key categories, especially those which pertain to his character, his likability, and his ability to inspire people. As said by the Washington Post, "he has a better than 2-to-1 advantage as the more friendly and likable of the two, and nearly that margin as more inspiring." In addition to his lead in terms of his character, Obama "has double-digit leads over the likely Republican presidential nominee on who would do a better job of protecting the middle class, addressing women’s issues, handling international affairs and dealing with health care." In sum, unless there is a drastic change in the opinions of voters (which is certainly possible considering the major swings from candidates in the GOP nominee race), Barack Obama seems highly likely to gain a second term in the oval office.

Source: Washington Post

Romney - Most Likely the GOP Nominee

Recent polls show that 3/4 of people view Romney as the GOP nominee, that Romney is trailing Obama, and that voters favor Romney on economic issues but like Obama more. As of now 51% of people would vote for Obama and 44% of people would vote for Romney. Santorum, who is still in the race, had to cancel some of his campaign events yesterday and today because of his daughter being in the hospital. On April 24th Pennsylvania will hold its primary. Santorum must win this primary or there is no hope for his candidacy. One main thing that has helped Romney create his lead over Santorum is how much money he has been able to spend. The Romney campaign and the superPAC supporting it have spent millions of dollars on negative ads. Santorum has less than half of Romney's delegate total. However, the primary races after April 24 have blocked for Santorum so far. 231 delegates are up for grabs after April 24 in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. Gingrich, who only has 140 delegates, has said he will stay in the race until the Republican National Convention in August. It looks as if the goal for both Gingrich and Santorum is to prevent Romney from reaching 1,144 delegate threshold before the Convention.

Romney Takes Three More Primaries

Tonight, as of around 10 PM, Romney has gained yet more ground on Rick Santorum in the race for the GOP nomination. Primaries in Maryland, Wisconsin, and Washington D.C. all look to be ending in convincing victories for the former Governor from Massachusetts, even further cementing his place as the front-runner for the GOP nomination. With each primary, it seems more and more likely that Romney will be the eventual nominee, especially considering the increase in support Romney has seen in just the past couple of weeks. As of around March 18th, according to Gallup, Romney had 34% of Republican support, compared to 30% for Rick Santorum. As of yesterday, however, Romney possessed 41% of Republican support, while Santorum possessed only 25%. The next major primary in the race will be the Pennsylvania primary, which occurs on April 14th. Santorum has much riding on his former state, and if he's able to gain a victory there, he would still have a chance against Romney, although his chances at the Republican nomination seem increasingly smaller with each day at this point.

Sources: Washington Post, Gallup.

Romney Wins Maryland, others will be closer

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will win the Maryland GOP primary as predicted. Primaries are also being held today in the District of Columbia and Wisconsin. However the primaries in Wisconsin and DC will be much closer in deciding who will win. Romney is hoping to pull out another victory where as Gingrich is in desperate need of a victory. There also has been speculation that Ron Paul, the hopeful candidate will drop out of the running soon. This could cause a shake up with the votes if this happens. We will see as time is running out of the race for the nomination.