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Tax Politics

The Politics of Taxes

Reciprocal Tariff Ignorance

President Trump continues to pursue his misguided tariff crusade believing that he is somehow protecting American industries and employment. His latest move, reciprocal tariffs (which he intends to begin April 2), is even worse. Trump has stated that he plans to impose tariffs based on “what they charge us, we charge them,” which is an economically stupid idea. Advocates of this policy like to...
Carried Interest is Not A Problem

John Steele Gordon’s recent Op-Ed in the WSJ opened with following observation: “The question of how to fairly and equitably tax capital gains has been a political problem since the modern personal-income tax was adopted in 1913”. Being a business/financial historian,...

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Ferrara on Obama’s Budget: A Must Read

Peter Ferrara pens a fantastic Op-Ed in Forbes this morning. He documents the myriad inaccuracies claimed by the Obama Administration regarding his new budget, the staggering amount of spending contained therein, and the additional taxes to be levied.  He also does...

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April 18, 1775: The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

Paul Revere's Ride Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Listen my children and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five; Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year. He said to his friend, "If the...

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Obama Asked For A Gun Vote in his SOTU Address. He Got It.

Obama asked for a gun vote during his State of the Union Address. He got it. Not much more to say about that. The "Manchin-Toomey" amendment failed in the Senate today on a 54-46 vote. It aimed expand background checks gun shows and to Internet sales. Republicans who...

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President Obama’s “Little Bit More”

In preparation for a talk to a group of financial people, I had to put together some numbers regarding President Obama’s “little bit more” that he has asked “the wealthiest among us” to pay. So I calculated the additional federal income taxes a high earner will pay in...

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March Jobs Report Spin and Population Growth

There was a lot of discussion this past weekend on the Sunday talk show circuit regarding the March Jobs Report released last Friday. Only 88,000 jobs were added in March. Compared to February, which added 268,000 jobs, this is a 180,000 drop. Actually, more like a...

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