Thursday, January 3, 2013
Not addressing sequestration puts business growth, Northern Virginia economy in limbo, Fairfax County leaders say.
Fairfax County officials are disappointed Tuesday’s last-minute “fiscal cliff” bill does not address a solution for sequestration cuts that could endanger Northern Virginia’s economic well being. Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova said she was grateful Congress took action and passed the bill, which keeps the Bush-era tax cuts for individuals making less than $400,000 and couples making less that $450,000. It also makes permanent the fixes for the Alternative Minimum Tax and delays government spending cuts for two months. “Even though it’s not a comprehensive resolution to everything at least people are talking and at least things have gotten started,” she said. “But we’re disappointed that we still have waiting to do.” Bulova …
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Connolly says he planned to vote while "holding my nose."
The U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday night passed HR 8, the Tax Relief Extension Act, a permanent extension of many Bush-era tax cuts by a vote of 257 to 167. The late-night vote was taken at 10:57 p.m. Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-11th), whose district includes most of Centreville, voted for the measure but did so "holding my nose," he said Tuesday before the vote, in a news release. The legislation keeps the Bush era tax cuts for individuals making less than $400,000 and couples making less that $450,000. It also makes permanent the fixes for the Alternative Minimum Tax and delays government spending cuts for two months. Here's the breakdown of Northern Virginia's votes Tuesday on the so-called "fiscal cliff" legislation, which the…
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Virginia Democrat says he's "holding his nose," but wants to avoid fiscal cliff, sequestration and extend middle class tax cuts.
Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-11th) said Tuesday while he is "holding his nose," he is urging his colleagues to vote for a fiscal cliff deal the Senate passed in the early hours of the new year. “This is not a perfect package, but it is something that gets us by until we can tackle the larger issues in the next Congress,” Connolly said. “I pray God that the next Congress is more willing to compromise than this one.” It was not certain Tuesday when the House, controlled by Republicans, would take up the fiscal cliff legislation. The Virginia Democrat said the Senate-passed measure provides an opportunity to: “There is a lot of good in this package," Connolly said. "But there is also a lot that is not addressed at all." “We have a debt …
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Sequestration could hit Northern Virginia especially hard.
Sequestration—the scheduled spending reductions connected to the Jan. 1 "fiscal cliff" deadline—could hit Northern Virginia’s economy particularly hard. But for now, Virginia’s senators can just sit tight and wait for a call to vote on a deal before the New Year. On Jan. 1, a series of tax increases and spending reductions kick in automatically—an event some have termed going over the "fiscal cliff." Some economists and politicians are concerned the combined effect will send the United States back into a recession. Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat, told CBS News this week that he thought at this point any deal, if made, would be relatively small. “I think there’s unfortunately only going to be a small deal,” Warner said. “… We have …
Monday, December 24, 2012
Forty House members sign letter backing proposed program added to any end-of-the-year fiscal cliff deal.
A letter co-written by Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-11th), and signed by 40 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, urges Republican House Speaker John Boehner and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi to support an immediate $200 million gun buyback program in any end-of-the-year fiscal cliff deal. Connolly, whose district includes the national headquarters for the NRA, and U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch of Florida authored the letter to the House leaders. “Gun buybacks have proven successful in communities across the nation,” Connolly and Deutch said in a “Dear Colleague” to House members. “Adding $200 million to the final compromise on the fiscal cliff could remove as many as one million guns from our streets.” Including the gun buyback program…
Monday, December 10, 2012
President Obama wants to raise tax rates on those making $250,000 or more.
President Barack Obama hopes to raise taxes on Americans making $250,000, or approximately the upper 2 percent of incomes across the country. There are no hard and fast numbers for the Centreville area on how many people make more than $250,000, but the latest IRS data available shows that more than 1,800 households in Centreville filed tax returns showing adjusted gross incomes of more than $200,000, the highest level income category reported by the IRS. Obama's plan could raise $1.6 trillion in revenue over 10 years, partly by letting decade-old tax cuts on the country's highest earners expire at the end of the year, according to a report by the Associated Press. The president would continue Bush-era tax cuts for all except those earning…
joe brewer
9:18 am on Thursday, January 3, 2013
The chamber of commerce is only in it for business. Cut the bloated defense spending this nimby garbage by our leaders is just more in the way of obstacles and graft that will have to be paid for in order to get anything done. more ›