TAX POLITIX
The Politics of Taxes
3 Years Later, IRS Reveals List of Targets
As a tax practitioner, I have been following the IRS scandal since the beginning. Here's the latest update -- the list of IRS target have been released, 3 years later. From the Washington Times: More than three years after it admitted to targeting tea party groups for intrusive scrutiny, the IRS has finally released a near-complete list of the organizations it snagged in a political dragnet. The tax agency filed the list last month as part of a court case after a series of federal judges, fed...
Very Weak Jobs Report for May
Grim news from the Wall Street Journal: "The U.S. job market notched its weakest monthly gain in more than five years, knocking down expectations for a Federal Reserve rate increase and stirring worries about the seven-year-old economic expansion. Employers added 38,000 jobs in May, the weakest performance since September 2010, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate, obtained from a separate survey of households, fell to 4.7% from 5% in April largely due to a steep decline in...
The Minimum Wage and Middle Income Workers
One of the unintended results of minimum wage theory is how the artificial wage increase affects those workers who were not recipients of the government’s generosity. The sudden jump to $13 or $15 an hour for the lower income workers does not translate into the same sort of wage increase for the middle income workers -- and this act breeds contempt. Those that have worked hard and earn a decent wage see below them receive this pay increase, and they understandably now want the same kind of...
The Libertarian Party Ticket
The Libertarian Party just nominated Gary Johnson for President and William Weld for Vice President on the Libertarian Party ticket at their convention. This is very interesting. With these two men who have extensive governing experience, we have clearly the best candidates running for office but they won't win because they just won't get enough traction. It will be interesting to see if they pull more from the Democrats or the Republicans. Polls show them between 8-12% right now. If they get...
Obama Grappling With Weak Economy
The 1st quarter economic report was released -- showing minimal growth, and The White House pointed to factors other than its own policies, of course. "The Department of Commerce reported that U.S. gross domestic product rose 0.5 percent in the first quarter of 2016, the third straight sluggish start to a year. Consumer spending and business purchases both fell. Jason Furman, Mr. Obama’s top economic adviser, blamed the first-quarter slowdown on “weak foreign demand and low oil prices,” and...
Denny Hastert’s Justice and Injustice
Let me be perfectly clear: I am no fan of Denny Hastert. He should suffer the consequences of his deplorable actions. However, let me also be perfectly clear that I am equally horrified at the machinations of the justice system in this particular case. Unfortunately it is equally clear that those actions are now subject to prosecution even though the statute of limitations has long since passed for them. As a result of his actions, someone he had issues with in the negotiated money with him....
Gig Economy and Government Regulation
Elizabeth Warren attempted to address the rise of the gig economy this week, but completely missed the extenuating circumstances contributing to its growing influence. "Gig economy" is the catchphrase for the portion of the economy made up of freelancers and independent consultants. It’s estimated that 1 in 3 workers now, about 53 million, fall into this category. The gig economy has the potential to be a wonderful thing. What Warren fails to acknowledge is that the ever-increasing government...
Let’s Be Like Sweden — They Have Freer Markets
You can count on Bernie Sanders to be consistent. He loves pointing to Sweden as the hallmark of Socialist success. But a recent compelling article in Reason magazine does an excellent job laying out the history of Sweden’s economic failures and successes, and shows how Sweden’s current approach to business and has rendered their economy more free and flourishing than the United States. Some key points: Real wages in Sweden fell by around 5 percent between 1975 and 1995. Nominal wages...
Attorney Generals Target Groups Over Climate Change
The Washington Free Beacon is following up on a Wall Street Journal article in April, which revealed a coordinated effort to silence dissent on the subject of climate change. "The attorney general of the U.S. Virgin Islands is targeting dozens of conservative and libertarian organizations in a racketeering lawsuit against climate change skeptics that has been widely described as an effort to silence political opponents. In a subpoena issued in March, the office of USVI attorney general Claude...
Obamacare rate hikes Nov 2016
Obamacare futures continue to worsen in recent weeks. A couple of weeks ago, UnitedHealth Group chose to exit the majority of Obamacare exchanges because it expects roughly 2/3 billion in losses. Next, Aetna announced that it might break even this year, but called for Congressional fixes to ensure sustainability in the marketplace. The immediate fix, however, will be another round of premium rate hikes -- with some expecting to be more than 10%. However, timing may play a key in the November...
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