TAX POLITIX
The Politics of Taxes
Kasich and the Minimum Wage
Kasich recently discussed the minimum wage while on the campaign trail Kasich was receptive to the possibility of raising the minimum wage 1) if the hike was “reasonable.” and 2) and when it made “sense” between management and labor.” Giving his answer in fairly broad terms allowed to Kasich to appear supportive of this policy at least in some circumstances, while also recognizing that such policy is not always beneficial, thereby satisfying potential voters on both sides of the aisle. Kasich...
Solving the Question of Birthright Citizenship
The recently revived debate about birthright citizenship is both ridiculous and baffling. The language of the Constitution is quite clear: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” Commonly known as the “Citizenship Clause”, it is the first sentence of Section 1 of the 14th Amendment, passed in 1868. This understanding of the 14th Amendment was codified four years...
Victory For Taxpayer Confidentiality
A court ruling on Friday was a victory for those seeking information requests to the White House. A group called “Cause of Action” sued the IRS in 2013 trying to ascertain if the White House ever requested private taxpayer information, especially in light of the IRS scandal. The requests, however, were declined by the IRS, who cited section 6103 of the tax code, which is the section governing taxpayer confidentiality laws. They argued that “the existence of those requests would be protected by...
More Calls For Koskinen’s Dismissal
Ron DeSantis (R., Fla.) chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security and Jim Jordan (R., Ohio), chairman of the Subcommittee on Health Care, Benefits, and Administrative Rules, also recently called on President Obama to remove John Koskinen from the head of the IRS. Alternatively, they propose Congressional impeachment if Obama does not due his due diligence and remove Koskinen himself. DeSantis and Jordan made their case in the pages of the Wall...
Koskinen Should be Fired
Last month, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R. Utah) wrote a letter regarding John Koskinen, the commissioner of the IRS, asking President Obama to remove him from his post. As the IRS is a part of the Department of the Treasury, it falls under the authority of Executive Branch. Chaffetz rightly calls out Koskinen for “obstruction” with regard to the various congressional investigations, which have revealed bungled IRS responses to repeated inquiries. At the time of his letter in late July, it had...
More Lois Lerner Deceit: An Alias Email Address
The Washington Times has the story on this new information being admitted to by the IRS -- Lois Lerner used another separate personal email account with an alias, "Toby Miles", to conduct professional business. This now makes three email accounts used by Lerner, the other two being her work email and another personal email that was previously known. After all this time, to only now come clean about a third email account is egregious. The IRS lawyer, Geoffrey Klimas, tried to deflect the...
Flashback: Wall Street Schemes
As the Stock Market is swirling around today, I am reminded of an incident that began this day in 1982 and spanned several years; it involved illegal trading schemes, inside tips, and money. History.com has a good synopsis: "Martin Siegel meets Ivan Boesky at the Harvard Club in New York City to discuss his mounting financial pressures. Arbitrageur Boesky offered Siegel, a mergers-and-acquisitions executive at Kidder, Peabody & Co., a job, but Siegel, who was looking for some kind of...
EPA Knew About Potential Pollution Problem
In a Friday night document dump, internal EPA documents showed that in both 2014 and 2015, the EPA described how existing conditions at the mine set created the possibility of a blowout of contaminated waters. So EPA managers was certainly aware that the river could received massive amounts of mine sediment and wastewater laden with metals. The EPA has been less-than-forthcoming with its responses and explanations of this catastrophe. The AP and other media outlets have been pressuring the EPA...
The EPA Atrocity
Those responsible for the toxic EPA spill into the Animus River should be prosecuted to the fullest extent for their actions. Just as the EPA has gone after individuals and private companies for violating various EPA statutes, the EPA workers who released 3 million gallons should face the same fate. Take the case of Lawrence Lewis, who, in 2007, was accused of violating the Clean Water Act, unknowingly, while executing accepted policy of relieving overflowing drain pipes into the street...
Still a Deficit, Despite Another Month of Record Revenue
Each month, CNSNews does a nice roundup of the monthly Treasury statements which show revenue and expenditures for the prior month. As has been the case for the last few months, the month of July has been another record setting month for revenues. Even with that, the government still continues to run a deficit for the year -- their annual spending outpacing their receipts. From CNSNews: "The federal government raked in a record of approximately $2,672,414,000,000 in tax revenues through the...
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