TAX POLITIX
The Politics of Taxes
What Was Promised and Who Promised It
Pension reform needs to begin in the public sector. it is clear that a wide gulf between funding and compensation exists. When pointing out the fact that the majority of federal and state public employees are overcompensated, the response is typically that “these amounts were promised”. But with most budgets now currently running severely in the red, addressing the compensation question is the key to solving major deficit dilemmas across the country. We need to analyze how we got here from two...
U.S. Ranks 32 out of 34 Countries In New Global Tax Index
The Tax Foundation released its first global stat called the "International Tax Competitiveness Index". This index aims to measure two criteria, competitiveness and neutrality, by examining "the extent to which a country's tax system adheres to", these "two important principles of tax policy". The index accounted for more than 40 tax positions and policies. In their analysis, two of the most damning reasons for ranking the United States near the very bottom of the list include the highest...
Record Revenue, Yet Still Running A Deficit
The government is still running more than a half-trillion dollar deficit right now, with one month left to go in the fiscal year, despite record revenue being hauled in. CNSNews reports that "Inflation-adjusted federal tax revenues hit a record $2,663,426,000,000 for the first 11 months of the fiscal year this August, but the federal government still ran a $589,185,000,000 deficit during that time, according to the latest Monthly Treasury Statement." Thus, the government is still...
IRS Commissioner: “Wherever We Can, We Follow The Law”
Thanks to the folks over at CATO, we have a video of the current IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, speaking before the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee early this week. He was being questioned about taxes and Obamacare, and asked about subsidies being repaid. Chairman Brady said, "The law in that case is that there is not a cap. Subsidies must be repaid. Will you be following the law in that recapture?" Koskinen replied, “Yes, wherever we can, we follow the law.” In other words, following the...
Bernie Sanders Wants Rich People to Die
At least you can say Bernie Sanders is ideologically consistent. The self-proclaimed socialist unabashedly declared on Saturday that “we need a tax system which asks the billionaire class to pay its fair share of taxes and which reduces the obscene degree of wealth inequality in America.” It was particularly fitting that the speech was at an AFL-CIO convention. Over on his Senate page, Sander's posted his proposal -- "a progressive estate tax on the wealthiest Americans": "For those who would...
Applying Disparate Impact Theory to IRS Abuses
The idea of “disparate impact” is a cancer that has taken root in the business world. If we do not focus on substantially curbing or ending it, it will continue to grow, extorting huge sums from innocent companies, creating an enormous economic burden on society, and allowing the tort bar to run amok. There are many areas in business where charges of “discrimination”, often regarding race, could and are being made every day. Employment and mortgage origination are two of the most prevalent....
The Fed: Economy is Gloomy Because Americans Are “Hoarding Money”
In a moment of recent hand-wringing, the Fed examined the question of why inflation has stayed extremely low in the United States despite all the efforts of quantitative easing money pumping. Their answer: American consumers are mainly to blame. Yes indeed. In a paper released this week by the St. Louis Federal Reserve, the Fed cites "low level of money movement in large part on consumers and their "willingness to hoard money.". To be fair, the paper also criticized its own policies as well,...
Thomas Perez Doesn’t Understand Basic Business Economics
Thomas Perez's recent appearance on "On the Money", proved his economic naivete once again. It begs the question as to how he can be the head of the Department of Labor? When asked about inversions, he used an anecdote to set the tone of the discussion. It was about a Fortune 500 Exec who (anonymously) proclaimed "I'd rather be rich than right!" implying that a) these people were willing to do the "wrong thing" to make money and b) that inversions are wrong in general. By implying inversions...
U.S. Jacks Up Exit Fee Against Persons Renouncing Citizenship
Just like the recent rise of business inversions -- moving business HQ abroad -- the United States has seen an uptick (up 221%) in Americans renouncing their citizenship. The elephant in the room in both these cases is taxes: both high taxes and burdensome tax compliance in foreign jurisdictions. Instead of facing the problems directly, the Obama Administration has resorted to punitive measures. The shame and blame tactic of calling out businesses who wish to relocate as "unpatriotic" was...
Liberal SuperPAC Uses Animal Farm Logic to Attack Koch Bros, Defend Soros
This would be really funny if it wasn't so sad. Brad Woodhouse is President of American Bridge 21st Century, a SuperPAC that "monitors what Republican politicians say and fights back when their rhetoric doesn't match their records." This is a PAC well known to be funded by billionaire George Soros. So when Mr. Woodhouse pushed out a news story entitled, “GOP Senate Candidates Bow at Koch Throne”, someone else noticed the irony in attacking the conservative billionaire Koch Brothers, while...
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