TAX POLITIX
The Politics of Taxes
The Climate Crime
Let's concede the claim that man-made climate change is real and poses significant harm to humanity as a whole. That statement is then used as a rallying cry to inflict irrevocable damage on today's generation, both the rich and the poor. So often in American society, we see a problem, and the immediate reaction of our politicians is to invoke a top-down approach to "fix it," which often does more harm than good. Frederich Hayek said it best, "The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to...
China and Business Regulations
It appears that many people now believe that a place like China, which dictates the economy from the top down, provides better economic results than the free market in the United States, and that the Chinese are somehow doing better than us. This is absolutely not true. The top-down decisions arising a non-free market economy show China making egregious mistakes. But the reason why China -- given the detriment of a non-free market economy -- appears that they are doing better to some people...
A Very Good Pro-Trade Op-Ed From Two Democrats
In the economic nightmare we are in, it was refreshing to open up the pages of the Wall Street Journal and find an Op-Ed that championed free trade over tariffs as a means to fight inflation. What's more, the piece was written by two Democrat members of Congress: Jake Auchincloss and Stephanie Murphy. Tariffs clearly and consistently hurt the consumer and taxpayer by driving costs up to everybody in amounts far in excess than any benefits given to beneficiary companies. In fact,...
They Had One Job
The Committee to Unleash Prosperity recently reminded folks that the prospect of inflation was raised and rejected by a plethora of Nobel prize winning economists as early as last September. As Congress was debating Biden’s $5 Trillion Build Back Better plan, 17 economists signed an open letter urging passage of this atrocious spending bill (coming on top of an extra $3 trillion in spending, mind you). The letter opened and closed with these two absurd statements: “The American economy...
The Amy Wax Affair
The continued maltreatment of Amy Wax at UPenn is egregious and unacceptable. Ted Ruger, Dean of the UPenn Carey Law School, has consistently mismanaged the entire affair; his recent change in policy effectively abandoned his prior stance that upheld the right for faculty to express their views buckling under pressure from students who clearly do not understand the concept of freedom of expression. UPenn certainly doesn’t seem to be doing its job these days. Wax’s “crime” of expressing...
Like Xi, Like Biden
As Biden’s presidency continues, it’s become increasingly apparent that he is wholly . unconcerned about the economic wellbeing of our citizens. But what’s less apparent to most people is that he’s taking his cues straight from China’s president, Xi Jinping. Over the last year, Xi has been targeting wealthy Chinese billionaires, such as Alibaba, for being too successful or not being as aligned with his Communist platform. Using tactics such as increasing regulation or restricting their...
IRS Audits Don’t Target the Poor
Mike Hiltzik’ s article, “Proof the IRS targets the poor for tax audits while leaving millionaires alone” is either economically ignorant or intentionally misleading. He asserts that the IRS disproportionately audits lower income households for some biased reason, but that is simply not the case. Hiltzik takes his data from a non-profit called TRAC which reviews IRS reports that are generated as part of an ongoing FOIA request.Hiltzik ignores the fact that the IRS audits taxpayers based upon...
Why Your Electric Bill is Actually Soaring
Katherine Blunt's WSJ article, "Why Your Electric Bill is Soaring -- And Likely To Go Higher" absolutely ignores (or just possibly misses) that soaring gas prices are caused as much by Biden production restriction policies nationally. They are further exacerbated by policies like the New York State pipeline and fracking prohibitions just as much as they are by recent Ukraine issues. She should know that gas prices (unlike oil) are a local, not global market. Furthermore, most of New York...
When Science Research Isn’t
Recently, a young PhD student came to terms with the fact that academia was no longer based on merit. Rather, as a scientific researcher interested in procuring grant funding, he was dismayed to learn that certain terms such as “equity,” “diversity,” and “inclusion” were not only social goals, but now also scientific ones; in other words, they were increasingly being used in descriptions of actual scientific work. The National Science Foundation (NSF) awards millions in grants each year and...
Calculating the True Cost of Raising Revenue
It’s kind of disgusting that when Congress talks about raising tax revenue, all the CBO thinks about and includes in their analyses is gross revenue. They don’t think about the costs of what the IRS, agencies, businesses, and taxpayers need to do to implement the policies that were created in order to raise that revenue. Those costs should always be factored in the computation and subsequently deducted to arrive at net revenue raised.. What’s happening now is that the compliance costs are not...
TAX
Tips
IRS Tax Tip 2016-33: Facts About Capital Gains and Losses
Capital Gains and Losses – 10 Helpful Facts to Know When you sell a capital asset, the sale normally results in a capital gain or loss. A capital asset includes most property you own for personal use or own as an investment. Here are 10 facts that...
IRS Tax Tip 2016-35: Free Help Preparing Tax Returns
Free Help Preparing Tax Returns Available Nationwide IRS YouTube Videos: Free Help Preparing your Tax Return: English | Spanish | ASL WASHINGTON –– The Internal Revenue Service reminded taxpayers today that they may be eligible to receive free tax...
Bernie Sander’s Tax Plan: Reduces Income and Hikes Taxes
With Bernie Sanders doing well against Hillary Clinton for the Democrat nomination, it's a great time to look at some of the specifics of his tax plan. The Tax Foundation studied the affects of the major changes (listed below). Their analysis found...
PSA: IRS Suffers Hardware Failure
The IRS announced this morning that a hardware failure occurred sometime yesterday afternoon; because of this, tax processing systems are not currently not functioning correctly. As a result of the failure, the IRS is unable to accept tax returns...