TAX POLITIX
The Politics of Taxes
Christie’s Tax and Growth Plan
As Chris Christie is still contemplating a 2016 presidential run, he recently posited a tax reform plan that differentiated himself from many of the other possible contenders. His platform was comprised of several points, such as: lower tax margins, reforming regulation,and eliminating payroll taxes for some earners. The last major tax code overhaul was the 1986 IRC reforms under President Reagan. With regard to lowering tax margins, Christie proposed a true tax cut for both individual and...
Another IRS Civil Asset Forfeiture, Return
The media recently profiled another large civil asset forfeiture case, much like the Hirsch Brothers and the restaurant owner. This particular case involved a North Carolina man who has owned a convenience store since 2001. Last July, the IRS seized $107,000 from his bank account. The owner, Lyndon McLellan, was visited by the FBI, who informed him that his habit of depositing less than $10,000 cash on repeated occasions drew suspicion by the government, also known as "structuring". What...
The Ninth Circuit Thinks The Raisins You Grow Aren’t Protected By the 5th Amendment
In recent years, the Ninth Circuit Court has provided the lion’s share of the cases that have come before the Supreme Court. A full ¼ of the cases (25.7%) come from the Ninth while the other 3/4ths come from a combined 10 other Courts. During the last four terms, the Supreme Court has vacated or sent back nearly 80% of the cases it has reviewed from the Ninth Circuit. Far more cases come to the Court from the Ninth Circuit than any other court, and — not surprisingly — Ninth Circuit rulings...
It’s Not Kosher: The IRS and Z Street
The recent Z Street Case against the IRS before the D.C. Court of Appeals is a notable example of egregious behavior by IRS employees. Z Street is a group that was created in order to educate “the public about Zionism; about the facts relating to the Middle East and to the existence of Israel as a Jewish State; and about Israel’s right to refuse to negotiate with, make concessions to, or appease terrorists.” In December 2009, the group submitted an application to the IRS in order to gain...
Baltimore is a Microcosm for Failed Democrat, Anti-business Policies
Recently, a business owner in the heart of Baltimore penned a piece describing some of the excessive and burdensome government policies business owner face. His piece gave an eye-opening view of the reality that is decades of fiscal and governmental mismanagement in the city. For instance, he notes there a fee or fine for a ridiculous amount of infractions: “When the building alarm goes off, the police charge us a fee. If the graffiti isn’t removed in a certain amount of time, we are fined....
Obama’s Taxes and Regulation Are Keeping Us Stagnant
I've written several times over the years about Obama's economic policies and anti-business climate as factors that have hampered this country's growth and recovery. Phil Gramm has a good piece in the WSJ recently that gave a succinct overview of all that is still wrong with the economy. Obama continues to insist that either a) the economy is good or b) any problems are someone else's fault. Do yourself a favor and read this piece which is sobering, but accurate, about the state of our economy...
The Government Raisin Ring
Possibly one of the biggest property-rights case since Kelo has recently been argued before the Supreme Court. The property in question this time is not land, but raisins. A couple, the Hornes, who were raisin farmers in California were fined for declining to participate in a government sponsored raisin regulatory group. The raisin growers sued the government under the 5th Amendment with regard to their raisin property, asking “whether the government’s chosen compensation is “just...
Quickly Noted: The IRS Scandal, 2 Years Later
From the Hill: Exactly two years after the IRS first admitted improperly scrutinizing Tea Party groups, congressional investigations into the tax agency show no sign of drawing to a close anytime soon. Congressional Republicans say they are deeply irritated that they haven’t finished off the investigations launched after Lois Lerner apologized for the IRS on May 10, 2013, and insist that President Obama’s Justice Department has stonewalled their efforts. Top lawmakers like Senate Finance...
Chris Christie’s Hail Mary
Chris Christie recently unveiled a plan to overhaul Social Security. This is his Hail Mary to get back in the game of running for President. Though I applaud his decision to make entitlement reform a major portion of his platform, his proposal is merely another veiled tax increase on the wealthy. There are two portions to his reform plan. The first is to raise the retirement age from 67 to 69 over a phased in length of time. That is not such a bad idea. It is the second portion, related to...
Federal Tax Revenue Breaks Record For Monthly Receipts
The federal government set an all-time record for monthly tax receipts this past April. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported that nearly a half-trillion dollars was received -- $472 billion to be exact. April is typically a high revenue month because yearly taxes are due on April 15th, but this April was the largest tax receipt in history. It beat the last year's April tax haul --which was the prior record-- by $58 billion ($414B). With such a large amount of revenue, spending was...
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