Taxes

Launching an initiative that could be the cornerstone of Barack Obama's presidency, House Democrats unveiled an $825-billion spending and tax-cut plan Thursday to shore up the crippled economy. The measure includes $550 billion for spending on infrastructure, science, energy and education programs over two years, and $275 billion in tax cuts for individuals and businesses.

Is this the end of Two Buck Chuck? A proposal to raise the state tax on wine to a level more than six times higher to help close California's giant budget deficit would kill the $1.99 price for Charles Shaw wine, said Fred Franzia, who created the famous label sold by the Trader Joe's grocery chain. Charles Shaw, of course, is the formal name for the California wines sold since 2002 that are now widely known by their nickname Two Buck Chuck. The proposal by Gov.

I hope Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger listened closely from his choice seat. Because President Obama's inaugural address was a stark reminder of what has been missing from political discourse in California: the notion of individual sacrifice for the common good. Not just share-the-wealth sacrifice. But share-the-pain across the entire economic spectrum -- the pain of sharply reduced public services for the poor, higher taxes for the rich and both afflictions for the middle-class.

The heavy shoe is about to drop. Sacramento on Monday intends to begin stiffing people owed tax refunds, vendors who sell goods to the state and recipients of many social services. Up to 276 more construction projects also could be halted next week; 5,300 already have been.

Congressional Democrats moved Monday to shore up Tom Daschle's nomination to become President Obama's secretary of Health and Human Services as the former senator apologized publicly for not paying more than $128,000 in income taxes. "The American people have high expectations for those of us who serve the public good. That's especially true when it comes to taxes.

The motion picture industry's record-setting month at the box office may have cost it $246 million in tax breaks, as the Senate on Tuesday stripped a provision from the economic stimulus bill that critics derided as an unnecessary Hollywood bailout. In denying the tax breaks on new film projects, senators cited the $1.03-billion haul from movie ticket sales in January, a 19% year-over-year increase, according to industry tracking firm Media by Numbers.

Los Angeles County supervisors threatened Tuesday to withhold county revenues from the state to pay for local health and social services, a move they say they have been forced to consider because Sacramento's budget stalemate has left them $105.6 million in the hole. "We're declaring our own Boston Tea Party," Supervisor Gloria Molina said during Tuesday's board meeting, adding that refusing to turn over the money to state lawmakers "will make their pain more acute."

In only his second week in office, Barack Obama is punching the restart button on his presidency. On Tuesday, Day 14 of a tenure that began with high hopes and soaring promises of bringing a new competence to Washington, Obama essentially admitted that he had lost ground in confronting his biggest challenge -- fixing the country's crippled economy -- due to the "self-inflicted injury" of naming appointees who had failed to pay their taxes.

The withdrawal of Tom Daschle's nomination Tuesday as secretary of Health and Human Services reflected White House recognition that his tax problems were igniting anger over an apparent double standard: that Washington insiders could be careless about their taxes while ordinary Americans had to sacrifice. As late as Monday night, the former Senate Democratic leader thought he could survive the disclosure that he only recently paid about $140,000 in back taxes.

File this under "politics" in "Ripley's Believe It or Not!": California Sen. Barbara Boxer, stalwart liberal and frequent antagonist of big business, sided with Republicans to champion a tax break for multinational corporations -- and against a majority of her own party. Boxer attempted to attach the tax break to the economic stimulus bill, only to be shot down by fellow Democrats.