My best guess is that the top tax rate on capital gains and dividends in 2013 will be almost 24 percent—a significant increase over today’s 15 percent rate. As a result, the decade-long tax holiday for investors is coming to a gradual end. At the moment, the fate of all of these tax rates is a bit uncertain. But here is the recipe for big tax increases on investments: Take the tax hikes included in the newly-enacted health law. Combine with other tax changes President Obama has proposed in his 2011 budget. Add huge deficits and the scheduled expiration of the Bush tax cuts in less than nine months. The result is likely to be a big increase in taxes on capital, at least for the wealthiest investors.

We’ve updated earlier estimates of how the various subsidies in the health reform law affect the insurance market for both employers and workers. And the results remain quite dramatic: It appears that the new law will make it beneficial for many employers to drop their insurance coverage. In 2014 and beyond, once federal money is available through the insurance exchanges, switching from employer coverage to the exchanges may benefit both employers and workers in a wide range of income levels.

Where, as they say, is the outrage? For all of the indignation over the new health insurance mandate, I am amazed at the serenity at which we accept another (near) mandate: That we must pay somebody to help us do our taxes. The government does not specifically require us to hire paid tax preparers or buy commercial software, of course. But it has, in effect, left millions of taxpayers with no real choice. Congress has created a tax code that makes it nearly impossible for many Americans to file returns without paid help. And even those who could (most non-itemizers for instance) are so intimidated by the whole process that they pay people to help them anyway.

Marty Sullivan of Tax Notes magazine has documented the location of profits of U.S. pharmaceutical companies for years. Each article he writes contains eye-popping figures. Last week’s was no different. In the March 8 issue, Marty used annual reports to chart the before-tax profits of seven large U.S. drug companies over the last decade or so. Here’s the story: between 1997 and 2008, foreign profits of Abbot Laboratories, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Pfizer, and Scherling-Plough quadrupled from about $9 billion to $37 billion. Over the same period, their U.S. profits fell by a third from $17 billion to $11 billion. Bottom line: the share of U.S. pharmaceuticals’ profits earned abroad has grown dramatically—from about one-third in the late 1990s to nearly four-fifths in 2008.

Here is why we need to control the growth of medical costs: A typical couple retiring this year can expect to receive the equivalent of nearly $400,000 in government Medicare benefits before they die. Yet, they would still have to pay an average of an additional $200,000 in out-of-pocket medical costs. I’ll say it again: A 65-year old couple will likely spend $200,000 (in present value) of their own money, even after they get their Medicare benefits.

Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) has responded to the Tax Policy Center's analysis of the revenue portion of his Roadmap for America's Future. TPC found Ryan's major tax restructuring would likely raise significantly less revenue than he expected and would substantially lower taxes for high-earners. In his response, Ryan suggests he'd be willing to adjust his plan to hit his revenue target of 19 percent of Gross Domestic Product. Here is his response: