I have to admit I am both jealous and confused. Jealous of President Obama’s low tax rate and confused why he wouldn’t voluntarily pay more?

Tax records show that Obama paid just a little over 20% in taxes in 2011 on an income of $789,674. That is a lower percent than I pay on an income that is a small fraction of his.

How can that be?…..Especially coming from a President who time and time again champions higher taxes for the wealthy?

I think most everyone would agree than an income the size of President Obama’s classifies as “rich” and “wealthy” and yet he is paying a lower percentage than many Americans. The highest tax bracket of 35% starts at $379,150 and his income is almost DOUBLE that! Yet he only paid 20 percent?

Okay, so there are different kinds of income taxed at different rates and I understand that.

But my feeling is that President Obama is missing a wonderful opportunity to lead by EXAMPLE. I would love to see REAL LEADERSHIP from him and he can do that by sending the IRS a check for the additional monies due to make up his “fair” share.

Now I don’t know what tax percentage would be fair for someone making almost $800,000 but he is missing a chance to demonstrate first hand what he believes to be “fair”. Anyone is allowed to send the IRS more money than they technically owe and without doing so, President Obama is going to find it harder to make his argument that the wealthy don’t pay enough in taxes.

Mr. Obama, please do the right thing and show us all what a great patriot you are by writing another check to the IRS. Its the right thing to do and that act alone will probably get you re-elected!

The IRS did offer prepaid debit card refunds in 2011 in a pilot program but NEVER credit cards. The debit card program was aimed at people who might not have bank accounts but because so few people signed up to the initial trial last year, it has been discontinued in 2012.

Right now, the only ways you can get your 2012 IRS refund is by regular paper check, direct deposit to a bank account (electronic transfer, or by receiving U.S. Series I Savings Bonds. For more detailed information about these options please visit this IRS website

NOTE: BEWARE OF THIS CREDIT CARD TAX REFUND EMAIL SCAM

There is a IRS credit card tax refunds scam going around via email. You might receive an email saying you are due a refund. In order to get it though, the email will direct you to a site that looks like an IRS site but it is a fake scam site. You will be prompted to give your social security number as well as your credit card number to get your refund. DON’T DO IT!

You cannot get IRS tax refunds on your credit card and the IRS will NEVER contact you by email and ask you for personal details.

Any email that appears to be from the IRS saying you have a refund coming is a phishing scam where you are being tricked into giving out personal information that will then be stolen and used to steal money from you. Read about this email scam here. 

Whether you are a fan of the proposed President Obama health care laws or not, everyone likes free money. The “insurance stimulus” is what some are now calling the possibility that some insurance companies will be forced to pay out about $1.4 billion dollars this summer to policy owners.

This is due to the fact that these health insurance companies did not abide by new rules that were in place starting in 2011 that they spend 80 of money they take in through premiums on medical care. If they spend too little they will be obligated to repay the money by giving a rebate. Obviously, the health insurance industry along with many other agencies are fighting this and doing everything they can to avoid paying out that money.

How much money could this mean for you? According to this article that would be in the ballpark of $160 per person but don’t count on it just yet. Some health care companies DID play by the rules and so will not need to refund anything to their customers. Also, some of the rebate money will, if paid out, go to your employer and not in your pocket.

This is just the latest development that shows how crazy our health care system is. For something as important as health care which impacts every single American, it is such a shame that no one can agree on anything. We have the best doctors in the world right here in this country and it is getting harder and harder to get access to them and to afford them.

On March 26th the Supreme Court will begin listening to arguments on both sides of the Obama health care bill of 2010 and from that we will start to understand the countries direction. There is so much confusion about the Making Health Care Affordable Act that we need the courts to decide, once and for all, what is legal and enforceable.Only then can we start to move forward with a better understanding of what is in store for all of us down the line when we need insurance and a good doctor.

In the meantime though, maybe a few people will be getting an unexpected rebate from those health insurers that everyone loves to hate!

Misinformation is rampant on the Internet and a lot of people can be fooled into thinking something is available from the government when it is not. This has especially been the case during President Obama’s term as the number of people who are out to mislead you has skyrocketed.

You might have heard about the Obama first time home buyers program, the Making Home Affordable Program, the first time home buyer stimulus program, or some other variation of those words. Most importantly, you might have been lead to believe that the government and Obama is giving away free money and/or free grants for first time home buyers. That is FALSE!

You cannot and will not receive cash, grants, or money in your pocket for being a first time home buyer from President Obama or the US government. In other words, no one is going to pay you money to buy a home!

You might ask: but what about all the news stories and things you read on the Internet about Obama helping people avoid foreclosures, buy homes, and the free stimulus money for single parents buying homes? All those thing you hear are for tax credits and reduced interest on loans. They are programs that will help you get funding for a house but they won’t flat out give you money to buy one! A good place to go to get your question answered if you are a first time home buyer is here at the Hud.gov website.

The main thing to understand is that any state or government program is there to help assist you in getting a loan and understanding how to buy a home. That is all: they are not there to give you money even though some people make it sound that way.

There are lots of resources that you can use to get lower interest rates and secure the funding you need for your earnest money or down payment on a house. FHA loans for instance, is part of HUD and they have been around since 1934 helping prospective low income earners buy their first home. Be sure to explore the Hud.gov website and there are links there that will send you to every state so that you can read and learn more about what types of assistance might be available to you. Stick to websites that end in “.gov” so that you know that the information you are reading is genuine and real.

One week from today a new documentary style campaign ad for President Obama will be released. Any fan of the President will be excited to watch this movie like production which takes us back through many of the big decisions he has had to make over the first three years of his Presidency.

The Obama 2012 campaign is going to kick into high gear in the coming months. This Obama movie, narrated by Tom Hanks, will help remind voters why they voted for him in the first place and stress the importance of finishing the job with four more years!

Watch the trailer below:

There is a lot of debate about taxes: how high they should be, who should be paying, and what is a person’s fair share? That word “fair” is used a lot around the campaign trails and it means something different to every single person.

The fact is though, that about one half of the people in the United States don’t pay anything at all!

That means 1 out of every 2 people get government benefits but pay zero in taxes. That is incredible and I don’t think any Republican or Democrat can really say that is “fair”. We all use the same streets, drink the same water, have the same police force to protect us, use the same court system and on and on. It seems that a system where 50% of the people don’t pay anything in taxes is something that can’t be sustained and surely isn’t fair.

This shows there is still a lot of work to that needs to be done by President Obama so that people can be lifted out of poverty and make enough to HAVE to pay taxes. Paying taxes, on some level, is a good thing because it means you are participating in society and making enough to contribute. If you pay taxes it means you have a vested interest in what is going on around you. It means you are holding your own and we have to get more people on their feet so that they can fend for themselves.

Government grants, loans, food stamps, and all other benefits are needed but most people would rather be in a position there they don’t need them. That means making enough money on their own to put them in an economic bracket where they are required to pay taxes.

We can discuss all day whether taxes are good or bad and how much people should pay. That type of discussion will be around till the end of time. However, what we all should agree on is that lifting people out of poverty is good and getting them to the point where they are making enough to have to pay taxes will be beneficial to us all.

Are you having a tough time putting food on the table each night? Do you need help finding out how to get food stamps (also known as the SNAP program)? If you do you should know that you are not alone.

According to the USDA Food And Nutrition Service website, more than 46 million people are now on food stamps in 2012. Compare that to about 32 million that needed assistance in 2009 when President Obama took office. That is a huge increase!

The food stamp program is handled state by state but you can go to this Social Security website to find out more information and to see whether you might qualify. You can apply for food stamps at your nearest Social Security office and get more information about the program there as well.

Technically the Food Stamp Program is now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP for short. The name was changed in 2008 to better reflect what the program is about which is putting nutritious food into the hands of people that need it.

Whatever you call it, there is no doubt that it is more important than ever. With an increasing number of Americans needing food stamps every year, that trend is something President Obama would like to see reversed. But until the economy can turn around for good, SNAP is there to help out if you need it.

With Americans busy completing their tax returns (or paying an accountant to do it), news about government waste and higher taxes is not something they want to hear about. President Obama and his administration want to raise taxes and expand government. Yet many people in America oppose giving the government more money and power and that is completely understandable when you read about what has been going on as reported in the Government Accountability Agency’s report for 2012. If that is too much for you to read you can look at a summary here.

All Americans should know what is going on in their government and right now it is clear that money is being thrown away. Billions of OUR tax dollars are being wasted every year and that is why taxes should not be raised, even on the rich.

Do we want to raise taxes knowing that so much of our money is being flushed down the toilet by our elected leaders? Obama’s stimulus bill gave away billions of dollars and yet unemployment remains high and gasoline prices are rising again. Health care costs are going up for many Americans after being promised they would go down. People are looking for debt relief and their IRS rebate checks just to stay afloat. In short, most ordinary Americans understand that they give enough in taxes and before they are willing to give more, the foolish waste needs to stop.

The reason that government agencies waste so much is because they have too much money in the first place. When you have little, you watch your money very closely and only spend it on what is really important. When you have a lot, there is a greater tendency to not pay as much attention to where your dollars are going because you have money to spare. Obviously then, with government waste being so rampant, it indicates that there is too much money for our leaders and agencies to keep track of. Either that or there is a lot of corruption which is possible as well.

With so many Americans being under-employed or out of work altogether, it is sickening to read articles like this detailing all the bureaucratic mismanagement of our money. Yes, it is OUR MONEY and it does not belong to the government. Please do something Mr. Obama!

Everyone knows that college costs too much now days and President Obama is doing something about it. Proposing his Race To The Top program for colleges, he spoke on the campus of the University of Michigan to a packed house.

If colleges want to continue to get top level funding for aid programs, they would have to demonstrate that they provide an affordable education system that includes good value. Colleges wouldn’t be able to just keep raising their rates anymore without a subsequent reduction of grants and aids coming from the taxpayers.

Perkins loans would be increased from $1 billion to $8 billion under Obama’s proposal and there would be some grant competitions as well that aim to increase the incentive for colleges to keep their tuition down. Obama grants in the amount of $1 billion  and 55 million would be up for grabs in such a competition that would be similar to his Race For The Top program for the lower grades.

Another good thing he outlined was a requirement that all colleges offer a clearer picture of their costs and financial aid packages. One thing that is very difficult today for both students and their parents is how to accurately determine just how much each college would cost and the benefits of each. When you have a state college costing x amount of dollars and another costing double that, it is very hard to figure out what you get for your money. Obama’s new “shopping sheet” proposal will help make things clearer.

One bad thing is that all of President Obama’s education plans he laid out today must be approved by Congress. With the record Congress has of passing the President’s legislation, that makes it unclear whether they will go along and pass these important, long overdue changes.

Today’s colleges must start putting the students first and that means a return to the days when a higher education was affordable. If our future is going to be bright, we need to make sure college prices hold steady or start going down so that more students can get the education they need to be productive adults. Obama recognizes this and hopes his new vision will be shared by Congress so that these measures can be enacted.

Federal unemployment benefits have been extended for the first two months of 2012 (through February) but you have to make sure you go to your state’s website to find out if you qualify for them. Unemployment benefits are a state by state matter and they all have different regulations, procedures, and forms you need to fill out.

Make sure you only file for unemployment at official state sites that end with .gov which means they are government websites. This is very important because all legitimate state government websites that have to do with unemployment will have that .gov extension. Don’t give your name or file information to any other websites that make promises that they will help you get unemployment benefits. Most importantly, don’t ever pay money. Filing for unemployment benefits is free and any website that charges is NOT legitimate.

Many websites want your name and email address so they can try to sell you something later. Some websites will give you a free eBook or something else that is free as an incentive for you to sign up. This does not always mean that they are shady or a scam but it does mean that they want your name on their mailing list so they can try to make money from you later on.

Unemployment scams are online and they target people who have lost their jobs and are desperate. They prey on people’s fear by making it sound like only they have the solution and many people fall for this trick. It is easy for anyone to build professional looking websites that look legitimate so it is easy to be fooled. All you need to remember is that for unemployment benefits and extensions, you must go to your state unemployment office or to their website that ends with .GOV!