TAX POLITIX
The Politics of Taxes
Media Complicity
The major media outlets in the United States, notably the NYTimes and the Washington Post, are once again complicit in the perpetuating misinformation. The latest example is the rush to blame Israel for a hospital bombing in Gaza that purportedly killed five hundred people. When it later became apparent that it was a misguided missile from Islamic Jihad, that the hospital was not severely damaged, and far fewer people died, there was no major recantation from the newspapers. Even when the...
The Hamas Horror: Far Worse Than Our 9/11
The atrocity of the October 7 Hamas invasion in Israel has recently been compared to our 9/11 attack. While the situation is similar -- an Islamic terrorist group struck against a sovereign nation -- the assault on Israel was far worse. To put it in perspective, consider this: on 9/11, 3,000 American citizens died and during the Hamas attack, 1,300 Israeli citizens died. But when you consider those terrible numbers in reference to the total population of each country, the 1,300 deaths out of...
Tariffs Really Are Destructive
In the WSJ this week, Phill Gramm and Don Boudreaux do an excellent job detailing the devastating effects Trump’s tariffs have had on the American economy. How can protectionists like Trump and his allies not understand that tariffs are destructive? A tariff is basically a tax on imports. It is championed as a means to boost domestic production and government revenue, but this is far from economic reality. Tariffs clearly and consistently hurt the consumer and taxpayer by driving costs up to...
Presidential Primary “Fix-It List”
Over at the Wall Street Journal, columnist Andy Kessler came up with a list of what he dubbed “15 Ways to Win a Presidential Primary.” Essentially, Kessler eschews style for content as a winning strategy for the crowded Republican primary field. Here is Kessler’s 15 point fix-it plan: TSA reformTackle prescription drug pricingEnd hidden feesEnd the post office monopolyAviation and air-traffic control reformEnd the public school monopolyOffer a 20 year plan for school modernizationEnd housing...
Hunter Biden Get a Little Help From His Friends
The government interference in the Hunter Biden tax case is simply astounding. Looking beyond the “sweetheart” (misdemeanor) deal that Hunter Biden received is something just as egregious; namely, the actions of the Justice Department in the entire ordeal. Here’s a sampling of their odious behavior: 1) Probable cause had been established by prosecutors to search a) Hunter Biden’s guest house in Delaware at President Biden’s home; and b) the Hunter Biden’s storage unit in Virginia, where it was...
A Very Focused Majority Opinion by Gorsuch
Gorsuch does a good job pointing out some of the logical flaws in Justice Sotomayor's dissent in the Colorado website cake. The WSJ's Notable and Quotable gives a fine excerpt, which I have included below, plus a link to the full opinion. "From Justice Neil Gorsuch’s majority opinion in 303 Creative v. Elenis, decided June 30: It is difficult to read the dissent [by Justice Sonia Sotomayor] and conclude we are looking at the same case. . . . The dissent claims that Colorado wishes to regulate...
The Most Brilliant Piece of Writing I’ve Seen in a Long Time
The Wall Street Journal published their "Notable & Quotable: "Thomas vs. Jackson" on July 1, 2023. Clarence Thomas takes apart fellow Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, observing that her "contrary, myopic world view based on individuals’ skin color to the total exclusion of their personal choices is nothing short of racial determinism." It's brilliant. You can read it in full below:"From Justice Clarence Thomas’s concurring opinion in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, decided June 29...
Maritime Unions Stifle American Economic Growth
Maritime unions have a long history of lobbying for rules and regulations, stifling innovation, and sabotaging operations, all in the name of benefiting their members. The most recent example of this is the tension between employers and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) at the West Coast ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which serve as the busiest gateways for imported consumer goods in the United States. The ILWU's impact is particularly strong because it controls...
Reason: Air Traffic Control as a Public Utility
Robert Poole, Director of Transportation Policy over at the Reason Foundation, does as decent job laying out "the case for changing the way air traffic control is provided in the United States." He points out that many major countries have changed the way air traffic control systems are funded in recent years, and the United States should consider adopting some form of their models. This is a thoughtful piece and well worth the read. I have included it below as well as his full pdf report....
The Clueless IRS Commissioner Should Be Fired
IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel published a letter yesterday in which he suggested that there may be racial bias in the selection of tax returns for audit. In fact, he stressed that, “while there is a need for further research, our initial findings support the conclusion that Black taxpayers may be audited at higher rates than would be expected given their share of the population.” This is far and away the most ridiculous nonsense to come out of the IRS in a while and Commissioner Werfel is...
TAX
Tips
Fix the Debt and Federal Spending
The Fix the Debt Campaign Steering Committee is a bipartisan group of prominent leaders and experts, including luminaries such as Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, the co-chairs of the White House Fiscal Commission. The Fix the Debt group put...
IRS HCTT-2016-38: Obamacare and Businesses
Find Out How ACA affects Employers with 50 or More Employees Some of the provisions of the health care law apply only to large employers, which are generally those with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees. These employers are applicable large...
The IRS Scandal Continues: Judge Orders Release Of Target List
We're coming up on three years since the IRS scandal broke in May 2013. Most Americans have certainly forgotten about it, especially since the former head, Lois Lerner, went wholly unpunished. But some targeted groups have not forgotten about it,...
IRS Tax Tip 2016-44: Tax Refund Offsets Pay Unpaid Debts
Tax Refund Offsets Pay Unpaid Debts If you can’t pay your taxes in full, the IRS will work with you. Past due debts like taxes owed, however, can reduce your federal tax refund. The Treasury Offset Program can use all or part of your federal refund...