TAX POLITIX
The Politics of Taxes
More Thoughts on the Pension Crisis
Forbes has published a continuation of John Mauldin's essay from September 16. He reiterates that "the coming pension and unfunded government liabilities storm is so big that many of us simply can’t get out of the way, at least not without great difficulty. This holds true not just for the U.S. but for almost all of the developed world." Read his essay below: Getting back to the topic, we’re all trapped on small, vulnerable islands. Multiple storms are coming, and evacuation is not an option....
Senate Democrats and Moral Posturing
While reading the New York Times’ assessment of the upcoming tax cut bill, a sentence popped out at me: “Wary of any tax legislation that benefits the rich, Democrats have taken a firm stance against Republican policies that would add to the deficit and said they will not support a bill that does not pay for itself.” (“Senate Republicans Embrace Plan For $1.5 Trillion Tax Cut,” NYT: Sept 19, 2017). This is laughable! Did the Democrats take a “firm stance” at any time during the Obama...
Pension Storm Bubble
John Maudlin writes a compelling piece this week on what he coins “the bubble in government promises.” He claims it “is arguably the biggest bubble in human history. Elected officials at all levels have promised workers they will receive pension benefits without taking the hard steps necessary to deliver on those promises. This situation will end badly and hurt many people. Unfortunately, massive snafus like this rarely hurt the politicians who made those overly optimistic promises, often...
Houston Mayor: Never Let a Crisis Go To Waste
On the heels of the tragic Houston floods, the mayor has added insult to injury and proposed at 9% property tax increase to "help pay for Harvey costs." The mayor stresses that the tax increase would only be temporary -- but when have we ever seen a tax not become permanent? The Houston City Council has approved a recommendation from the Director of Finance to do that. The city will now hold three public hearings before being able to vote on the increase. Those hearings are planned for Monday,...
New Administration, Same Old Spending
The Trump Administration has continued the same path of deficit spending as its predecessors. (CNSNews.com) - The federal government collected record total tax revenues through the first eleven months of fiscal 2017 (Oct. 1, 2016 through the end of August), according to the Monthly Treasury Statement. Through August, the federal government collected approximately $2,966,172,000,000 in total tax revenues. That was $8,450,680,000 more (in constant 2017 dollars) than the previous record of...
New DoJ Declines to Charge Lois Lerner in IRS Scandal
This past April, some Republicans approached Attorney General Jeff Sessions to look once again into the case of Lois Lerner and the IRS targeting scandal. Today, the Department of Justice released a statement that "reopening the criminal investigation would not be appropriate based on the available evidence." Though the response was expected, it was still disappointing; Lois Lerner deserved to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for her conduct. Lois Lerner headed the IRS division...
The SPLC and Taxes
There have been recent articles about the SPLC and their "millions in offshore accounts." But as a tax accountant, there doesn't appear to be anything illegal or suspicious in the way they invest their funds -- much in the same way that Mitt Romney's items were completely fine. Non-profits have restrictions on the way they can and cannot invest, so what the SPLC has done or is doing in this regard appears to be rather ordinary. But if I were the SPLC, I would like nothing better than to have...
Government Stats Shift in August Jobs Report
As the new jobs report posted 156,000 jobs (forecasted 180,000) and a slight uptick in unemployment (4.4% from 4.3%), CNSNews noticed a shift in government workers stats: The number of people working for the federal government has declined by 11,000 in 2017 while the number working for state governments has declined 2,000, according to data published today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But because the number of people employed by local governments has climbed 12,000 so far this year, the...
Minnesota’s Pension Funds Revealed To Be In Crisis
Minnesota’s pension fund was recently revealed to be in crisis-mode after changing the accounting formula to more accurately reflect market realities: “The jump caused the finances of Minnesota’s pensions to erode more than any other state’s last year as accounting standards seek to prevent governments from using overly optimistic assumptions to minimize what they owe public employees decades from now. Because of changes in actuarial math, Minnesota in 2016 reported having just 53 percent of...
WSJ: JP Morgan and SPLC
The Wall Street Journal's Kimberly Strassel had some sharp words regarding Jamie Dimon's hefty donation to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC): Corporate America will do almost anything to stay on the safe side of public opinion—at least as it’s defined by the media. CEOs will apologize, grovel, resign, settle. They will even, as of this month, legitimize and fund an outfit that exists to smear conservatives. The press is still obsessing over President Trump’s incompetent handling of the...
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Another Obamacare Cost: The Penalty Fee is Coming
If you are one of the millions of Americans who declined health insurance and decided to pay the fee tax fine penalty, be aware that it will be a part of your 2014 tax calculations. The penalty for 2014 is relatively cheap, a means to transition...
Treasury Issues $1 Trillion in New Debt to Pay Off Old Debt, Despite Record Revenue
Even though the government is bringing in record revenue, its spending is still outpacing its intake. CNS News did an analysis of Treasury Statements, and revealed that the Department of Treasury is currently operating like a Ponzi scheme: "The...
Feds Tax Haul Tops $3 Trillion
This Washington Times piece did a nice overview of FY2014: The Treasury Department unveiled its Fiscal Year 2014 numbers, which showed that the government's revenue, for the first time ever, hit the $3 trillion mark. However, the government still...
IRS In Court Two Days This Week
On July 10 and again on July 11, the IRS will be in court for two separate cases related to the IRS scandal, specifically regarding the missing emails. The Weekly Standard notes that on Thursday, July 10th, "IRS lawyers will appear in federal...