Congress only patched a flat fiscal tire

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• End the tax breaks without state benefit

  End the tax breaks without state benefit

  Why doesn’t the Legislature have a contest to come up with a new tax? It appears they are only concerned with taxing the masses as evidenced by the proposed 10 cents a gallon on gas, increases on auto licenses, a tax on studded tires, a tax on electric and hybrid cars and possibly more taxes that I am unaware of.

• Elway poll: What do voters consider a tax increase?

  Elway poll: What do voters consider a tax increase?

  A new Stuart Elway poll found that a slight majority of voters surveyed, 51 percent, don’t consider eliminating tax breaks to be a “tax increase.”

  However, 56 percent of the people polled felt that continuing an existing tax due to expire is the same thing as a tax increase.

  Both Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee and House Democrats have proposed a combination of extending existing taxes and closing tax breaks to put more than $1 billion into education to meet a state Supreme Court mandate.

• Westneat: Doubling beer tax too extreme

  Westneat: Doubling beer tax too extreme

  Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat writes that state Democrats' proposals to increase the state's beer tax and apply it to smaller breweries is too extreme, and will hurt small businesses.

• Microbreweries protest proposed beer tax increase

  Microbreweries protest proposed beer tax increase

  The Everett Herald has a story about how craft breweries are fighting against proposals to extend and expand the state's beer tax.

  Brewers told the Herald that they can't handle a doubling of the current tax, which is what the House is proposing. The tax increase would hit microbreweries and small operations hardest, as they were exempted from past increases, the article says. Gov. Jay Inslee also favors extending the beer tax.

  Members of the state's beer-making community showed up at the state Capitol Friday to rally and voice their concerns about the proposed tax plan.

• Obama and Biden release tax returns, with pitch for the Buffett Rule

  Obama and Biden release tax returns, with pitch for the Buffett Rule

  President Obama released his 2012 federal income tax return today, with he and first lady Michelle Obama filing jointly and reporting adjusted gross income of $608,611. The Obamas paid $112,214 in total tax.

  They reported donating $150,034 – or about 24.6 percent of their adjusted gross income – to 33 charities. The largest reported gift to charity was $103,871 to the Fisher House Foundation.

  Obama's effective federal income tax rate is 18.4 percent and Press Secretary Jay Carney noted Obama has proposed policies like the Buffett Rule to require the wealthiest Americans to pay more. Under Obama's proposal, Carney said, including limits on the value of tax preferences for high-income households, Obama would pay more in taxes "while ensuring we cut taxes for the middle class and those trying to get in it."