So much surrender to choose from. Bailout-palooza. Dems in a froth over a change in Barry’s Iraq 16 month pullout plan. Dems in a froth over Barry wanting to shift troops to Afghanistan. Dems in a froth over Barry’s political appointments. And so much more. Yet, here we have a quiet surrender, from the New York Times: Tax Break May Have Helped Cause Housing Bubble
“Tonight, I propose a new tax cut for homeownership that says to every middle-income working family in this country, if you sell your home, you will not have to pay a capital gains tax on it ever — not ever. — President Bill Clinton, at the 1996 Democratic National Convention
Ryan J. Wampler had never made much money selling his own homes.
Starting in 1999, however, he began to do very well. Three times in eight years, Mr. Wampler — himself a home builder and developer — sold his home in the Phoenix area, always for a nice profit. With prices in Phoenix soaring, he made almost $700,000 on the three sales.
And thanks to a tax break proposed by President Bill Clinton and approved by Congress in 1997, he did not have to pay tax on most of that profit. It was a break that had not been available to generations of Americans before him. The benefits also did not apply to other investments, be they stocks, bonds or stakes in a small business. Those gains were all taxed at rates of up to 20 percent.
The different tax treatments gave people a new incentive to plow ever more money into real estate, and they did so.
Sounds like a good deal, right? People not being taxed to death on their property by the government. Not in Liberal World
By itself, the change in the tax law did not cause the housing bubble, economists say. Several other factors — a relaxation of lending standards, a failure by regulators to intervene, a sharp decline in interest rates and a collective belief that house prices could never fall — probably played larger roles.
But many economists say that the law had a noticeable impact, allowing home sales to become tax-free windfalls. A recent study of the provision by an economist at the Federal Reserve suggests that the number of homes sold was almost 17 percent higher over the last decade than it would have been without the law.
And the hit parade goes on and on, making a case that reduced capital gains taxes are baaaaaaaad! Of course, any reduced taxes are baaaaaad in Liberal World, and, isn’t it funny that The Messiah wants to raise the capital gains tax in total up to about 28%? Anyone want to bet that we see many more stories about low taxes causing problems, particularly as Barry takes office and pushes for higher taxes?
