TAX POLITIX
The Politics of Taxes
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...
Biden Insists on a 23% Cut In Social Security Benefits
President Biden is cutting Social Security by 23% for every single recipient across the board. This is the inevitable effect of his continued demand that there will be no entitlement reform. This should terrify absolutely everyone. Within the next 8-10 years, when the Social Security trust fund is depleted, Social Security recipients will look at their bank account and see that their benefits have been slashed. This is a mathematical fact. President Biden is lying to each and every last one of...
The Dems False Social Security Narrative
Social Security was supposed to be a program where people paid in, and growth of their funds over time resulted in a reasonable pension. Instead, by giving people more than entitled, it stole money from new people contributing to the system. By continuing this overpaying, it forces the younger people to get a smaller and smaller return on their contributions, even now negative, and even that will be reduced more when the system goes bankrupt in a few years. By not fixing the system now, it...
Revelation: Wind and Solar Energy Are Just Unnecessary
The news coming out of the science world regarding the breakthrough in fusion is exciting. The ability to have a sustaining clean energy source has been a part of science research for at least the last 60 years. But missed in the discussion is its true importance - that the movements towards wind and solar energy (“wse”) are just a waste. The drawbacks and costs of using wse to produce low carbon energy are well known. They are expensive, unreliable, and environmentally damaging (using...
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...