TAX POLITIX
The Politics of Taxes
Reflection of the Day
"To advocate any clear-cut principles of social order is today an almost certain way to incur the stigma of being an unpractical doctrinaire. It has come to be regarded as the sign of the judicious mind that in social matters one does not adhere to fixed principles but decides each question “on its merits”; that one is generally guided by expediency and is ready to compromise between opposed views. Principles, however, have a way of asserting themselves even if they are not explicitly...
Florida to Surpass NY in Population — It’s The Taxes…
The NYTimes ran an article yesterday talking about the curious population shift from NY to FL. The biggest thing missing from the article's conclusions, however, is the affect of taxes on New York's population (re)location. A CNSnews report last year discussed a study by the Tax Foundation found a net loss of 1.3 million New Yorkers who left the state over the 10 year period from 2000-2010. 3.4 million total moved out of state, but another 2.1 moved in, so the change was -1.3 million -- which...
Pope Francis and Free Markets
As a Jewish guy, I hardly pay attention to the leaders of other religions, but Pope Francis has won my admiration since his election this past spring. So it was somewhat dismayed when I read his recent Papal Exhortation published last month. In one section, Pope Francis seems to very nearly reject the idea of “trickle down economics”, a position that, if indeed true, would be devastating to the world. Being in finance and business for decades, it has become abundantly clear that free markets...
The Liberty of Risk
Ben Casselman penned a thoughtful piece this summer in the WSJ which documented the decline of risk-taking in business ventures. Hard data show that both the number of new companies and the use of venture capital is waning. And this downward trend is a major contributor to the fact that the recovery from the recent recession is so painfully slow and anemic. Casselman goes on to explain that economists aren’t entirely sure what is behind the decline and gave some potential causes: health care...
Obamacare Architect Now Says If You Want to Keep Your Doctor, You Can Pay More, but Whitehouse.gov Still Says Otherwise
Today, the architect of Obamacare, Zeke Emanuel, modified another one of Obama's promises. This time, he explained the "if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor" now actually means "if you want to, you can pay for it,". During Fox News Sunday, Chris Wallace pressed Emanuel to whether the promise would be upheld. Here's the exchange, courtesy of The Weekly Standard. "The president never said you were going to have unlimited choice of any doctor in the country you want to go to," said...
The Founding Fathers on Obamacare
"It will be of little avail to the people, that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man, who knows what the law is to-day, can guess what it will be tomorrow. Law is defined to be a rule of action; but how can that be a rule, which is little known, and less fixed?" ~ ~Federalist...
How To Solve Detroit’s Pension System Problem In One Easy Step
The NY Post had a good piece today by William McGurn on the state of the union (pension system) in Detroit, making the case for Detroit to switch to defined contribution plans for their union workers. McGurn is right on the mark that the such a move is critical for the city's revitalization. Dispensing with this one particularly enormous financial burden which has added greatly to the city’s fiscal insolvency would change the city's finances for the better going forward. However, he seems...
Obamacare “Essential Benefits” Rendered Most Insurance Plans Obsolete
The great bait-and-switch of Obamacare (“you can keep your plan and your doctor”) was intentionally orchestrated by the architects of the legislation. There were thousands of policies offered nationwide that were good and even very good but now they can’t be sustained under the new Obamacare policy requirements. These regulations are so narrow that it intentionally made obsolete or non-compliant the vast majority of health care policies in that were currently in existence, thereby requiring...
Irregular Circumstances, Not Policy, Have Reduced the Deficit So Far This Year
Obamapologists have been pointing to the shrinking budget deficit as proof that the economy is heading in the right direction. There is a sense of desperation afoot to find something, anything, that can be positive news upon which Obama can rebuild his reputation. For the non-economists out there, a declining deficit does indeed sound indicative of a healthy economic rebound. However, the main reasons for this current shrinking deficit have absolutely nothing to do with Obama, nor do they...
De Blasio and Triborough Amendment: The Impending Fiscal Crisis In NYC
De Blasio’s recent mayoral victory was a sad day for New Yorkers. Electing him was proof that the constituency in NYC is morally, philosophically, and educationally bankrupt. And if the mayor sticks to his positions that he declared as candidate De Blasio, NYC will be financially bankrupt as well. A strong argument can be made that the entire election was a public service union push. For four years now, the public service unions have waiting to negotiate their contracts until Bloomberg was out...
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