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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...
The New Tax Law: Politics Over Reform

I am very glad the new Tax Cuts and Job Act is now law. With ongoing work reforming and reducing regulations, the tax bill will spur economic growth, and get people to understand the importance of reducing marginal rates. On the corporate side, the huge rate reduction...

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Rules for the Tax Plan

Everyone talks about how true reform of our tax laws should have three goals: 1) equitable; 2) efficient; and 3) simpler. In doing that, many have argued for removing the individual mandate, but at the same time have left in things like charitable deductions, SALT,...

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Richard Rubin’s Tax Plan Follies

Richard Rubin makes some major errors in his summation of burgeoning tax bill. He uses a scenario of five people and goes through how they would be affected by the current proposed legislation. However, he does not get his calculations correct. He's comparing apples...

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Why the Individual Mandate (Tax!) Needs To Go

While we're on the subject of tax reform, one particular item that could be included in the package is the elimination of the individual mandate.  Since SCOTUS classified the penalty as a tax, it is one that can be repealed as part of the reform, and would produce an...

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Economy Looking Stronger With Jobs Report

The Wall Street Journal has done a nice roundup of the October Jobs Report released a few days ago. U.S. employers hired at strong rate in October, reflecting a sharp bounce back from September, when payroll growth slowed in the wake of hurricanes striking the...

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