POLL: OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OPPOSED TO STATE HOUSE INVOLVEMENT IN MANUFACTURER/RETAILER CONTRACTS

New Hampshire Consumers Want Car Buying Reform, Not Dealer Protection

Washington, DC – Independent poll results released today by automakers show the overwhelming majority of New Hampshire residents are opposed to state legislature involvement in the private business relationships between auto manufacturers and retail car dealers. Seventy-one (71) percent of respondents say government should stay out of such private business matters, with only 11 percent supportive of legislative involvement.

“New Hampshire consumers are clearly opposed to the State House interceding in private business contracts between two willing parties, and 7 out of 10 respondents oppose any state legislative action that would block automakers from implementing much-needed reforms to improve the car buying process,” said Dan Gage, Director of Communications and Public Affairs for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. “Senate Bill 126 is an unfair favor for wealthy car dealers at the expense of everyone else. It will cost consumers more.”

Gage indicated that poll results demonstrate that New Hampshire consumers support automakers’ ongoing efforts to reform and improve the car buying process:

 70 percent currently do not look forward to the car buying process;

 66 percent want to be treated more like a VIP when buying a new vehicle;

 94 percent believe more transparent pricing that lists hidden dealer costs is either very important (84 percent) or somewhat important (10 percent);

 79 percent believe a consumer-friendly shopping experience is either very important (50 percent) or somewhat important (29 percent);

 76 percent believe an end to unnecessary pressure from car salesmen is either very important (47 percent) or somewhat important (29 percent);

 78 percent say a faster, easier process of selecting vehicle options is either very important (44 percent) or somewhat important (34 percent);

 68 percent say automakers should have a say in how their products are sold and represented to consumers; and

 69 percent oppose any state action intended to block manufacturer reforms.

“This polling shows that the overwhelming majority of New Hampshire consumers support ongoing manufacturer-led initiatives to make the car buying process simpler, more transparent, and more consumer-friendly,” said Gage. “Dealers argue that their legislation is pro-consumer, but nothing in their special favor bill would address a single important reform identified by consumers or lower their costs. It will instead do the opposite and preserve the status quo.”

According to the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), car dealers in 2012 made the highest profits ever recorded in NADA’s history, rising 6% from previous record setting profits recorded in 2011 and proving dealers do not need special protections or favors from Concord.

“Lawmakers have a clear decision ahead – side with wealthy car dealers or side with New Hampshire consumers,” added Gage. “Quite simply, it’s a bill by dealers for dealers and no one else.”

The poll of 800 New Hampshire adults, with a +/-4 percentage points margin of sampling error, was conducted on May 8th by Pulse Opinion Research on behalf of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the leading advocacy group for the auto industry, represents 77% of all car and light truck sales in the United States, including the BMW Group, Chrysler Group LLC, Ford Motor Company, General Motors Corporation, Jaguar Land Rover, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz USA, Mitsubishi Motors, Porsche, Toyota, Volkswagen Group of America and Volvo Cars North America.

Newsmax - U.S. Tax Revenue Hit All-Time High in April

Amid calls from some for tax increases to deal with the deficit, the federal government collected $406.72 billion in April — the all-time noninflation-adjusted high for a single month.

Overall federal tax receipts in April were up 28 percent from April of last year, according to the Monthly Treasury Statement from the U.S. Treasury.

April is almost always the peak month for tax revenue, since tax returns — and payments of taxes owed — are due on April 15.

The previous monthly high was $403.8 billion in April 2008.

The Treasury collected $240.2 billion in individual income taxes in April, about 36 percent more than the $178.5 billion collected in April 2012.

Other revenue included about $96 billion in employment and general retirement taxes, $36 billion in corporate taxes, $9.8 billion in unemployment insurance taxes, $6.9 billion in excise taxes, $5.8 billion in estate and gift taxes, and $2.5 billion in customs duties.

Due to the record tax revenue, the federal government ran a surplus of $112.9 billion in April. But in the first seven months of fiscal 2013, October through April, the government has run a deficit of $487.6 billion.

Outlays totaled $293.8 billion in April. The largest amount went to the Department of Health and Human Services, which administers Medicare — $75.3 billion.

Next were the Social Security Administration ($71.7 billion), Department of Defense-Military Programs ($46.5 billion), and Interest on Treasury Debt Securities ($35.9 billion).

Interest on the debt is expected to cost taxpayers more than $420 billion this fiscal year.

House Republican Conference - Obamacare Job Losses

Yesterday, the House Republican Conference had fun spoofing Arrested Development to point out the absurdity that is ObamaCare.  But ObamaCare is no joke.  It is destroying hundreds of thousands of jobs for Americans.

Today, we are releasing another video that rolls the detrimental effect ObamaCare has had on jobs.  Please consider watching and sharing this new video – shared first with bloggers.

“Headlines”  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7tTWasXw_g

Newsmax - Fruit Tree Farmers’ New ‘Tormentor’: The FDA

The Food and Drug Administration is proposing costly new regulations for growers of apples, pears, and other tree fruits — even though they have a virtually flawless safety record.

“For decades, America’s farmers, ranchers, and fruit growers have become grudgingly accustomed to dealing with onerous regulatory schemes emanating from the Environmental Protection Agency,” according to the CFACT (Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow) website.

“But now the people who grow apples, pears, and other tree fruits have a new tormentor: the Food and Drug Administration,” which is backing standards “that many growers are convinced will put them out of business.”

The new regulations emerge from the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010, passed by Congress and the Obama administration, which directed the FDA to prevent foodborne illnesses rather than simply react to outbreaks.

This year the FDA designated which items of produce would be included in the new regulations. Those usually consumed raw (including apples, blueberries, bananas, pears, and peaches) would have to abide by the new regulations, and those that are usually cooked or processed (sweet potatoes, black-eyed peas, pumpkins, artichokes, winter squash, etc.) would be exempt, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Growers subject to the new regulations would face an array of new responsibilities, including regular testing of irrigation water, sanitizing canvas fruit-picking bags, and keeping animals away from crops, The Journal explained.

Tree fruit farmers argue that the FDA should focus more on items that have caused deadly outbreaks in the past, such as spinach, instead of items that have never posed a health threat.

An apple farmer in Virginia told The Journal that the compliance costs “would end up getting passed on to the consumer, if we didn’t go out of business first.”

The FDA has said the new requirements would cost American farms about $460 million a year.

Also, some farmers fear that foreign products will not be subject to the same regulations, and foreign competition will drive American farmers out of business.

Farms with average yearly sales of $25,000 or less, and certain other farms that average less than $500,000 in annual sales and sell mostly to consumers within a 275-mile radius, would be exempt from the new requirements, the FDA says.

CFACT reports: “Hoping to avoid the mass shutdown of fruit-tree operations, the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Fresh Produce Association are urging the FDA to redraft its proposed regulations.”

Newsmax - Singles Now the Majority of Taxpayers

The sweeping demographic changes in America over the last half-century are strikingly evident in the changes in the status of federal income tax filers.

In 1960, 65.2 percent of taxpayers were married, filing jointly or separately, and 34.8 percent were single filers or unmarried heads of households.

Fifty years later in 2010 — the most recent year analyzed on the IRS website — 61 percent of filers were single and just 39 percent were married.

Back in 1960, married couples were the majority in every income quintile except the lowest. In the middle quintile, comprising “middle-income” taxpayers, 68 percent of filers were married and 32 percent were single, the Tax Foundation disclosed.

In 2010, however, singles accounted for 68 percent of middle quintile filers, while married couples accounted for 32 percent. Singles also dominated the first and second quintiles.

Other IRS facts uncovered by the Tax Foundation include:

• Among 67 percent of married couples, both spouses are working, up from 47 percent in 1965, and the percentage of sole-earner couples has fallen from 40 percent to 27 percent.
• The number of millionaire tax returns fluctuates wildly from year to year, due mostly to changes in the business cycle. In 2007, there were 392,220 millionaire returns, but just 168,977 in 2002, and 236,883 in 2009.
• Many people become millionaires as a result of a one-time event such as the sale of stocks or a business. Between 1999 and 2009, 50 percent of millionaire filers were millionaires for only one year; 4.4 percent filed million-dollar returns five times in that period, while 5.6 percent filed nine times.
• 33 percent of millionaire taxpayers are 45 to 55 years old, 28 percent are 55 to 65, and 18 percent are over 65. Just 0.3 percent are 18 to 26 years old, and 3 percent are 26 to 35.