Adventures of an Opera-Singing CEO

Ok, this pretty much tanks my vote for Huckabee.

Not that I would vote for him anyway, seeing as I live in IL.

Under his new tax plan, families would pay one federal tax, which would be applied to everything from health care, insurances, new homes, or even babysitters.

Any individual who might lend their talents in any way out to another person is subject to this blanket tax, under his proposed plan. This is interesting because back in the 1960’s, similar legislation was applied attempting to tax babysitters–also by a Republican. That bill was worse, and would have made parents report to the state even a one hour babysitting job over the course of one year, and monetary sums paid out, under penalty of law.

Right now parents do have to pay something if they pay their sitter or nanny more than $600 in a calendar year, but this just requires that you report to the IRS. You need an SSN, name and home address to do this, but it is relatively simple. If the care takes place under your roof, you are an employer. You can find more information about tax implications at www.sittercity.com.

You can see more about Huckabee’s legislation at http://www.stripersonline.com/surftalk/showthread.php?t=567498.

Hillary and Obama are really interesting candidates. I’ve met both of them, Hillary for a briefing on small business needs (similar to my meeting with Secretary Paulson about small business) and Obama in IL at a promotion event. They are both engaging, funny and I like their policies. It’s interesting that Obama is considered more laid-back, since when I met Hillary, she was cracking jokes, down-to-earth, and Jerry Springer was hanging out with her. (As well as Jesse Jackson’s son.)

And neither of them wants to levy a tax at 14-year-old girls who get either cash or checks at the end of the night for babysitting–how on earth can you really regulate that? It’s an issue that has plagued the government for a long time.

Anyway, for some good clean fun on all the candidates, check out the Capital Steps–their recent concert in IL was hilarious: http://www.capsteps.com/.