by Linda Beale House passes spending bill While the Senate was wrangling over what of the noxious provisions in HR 3630 they would have to keep in order to get expanded unemployment compensation and a payroll tax cut, the House passed a spending bill 296-121 (with 147 Republicans and 149 Democrats in favor) to […]
In this must read post Ezra Klein asked Ron Wyden and Paul Ryan for evidence that forcing the CMS (Medicare/Medicade) to compete more with private insurers can be used to reduce health care spending. The logic must be that the private sector is better able to control costs so private insurers can insure for less, […]
by Rebecca Wilder EA Infernal Devaluation Progressing The EU answer to rebalancing portfolio and trade flows within the Euro area (EA) without currency devaluation is recession and deflation. They call this ‘internal devaluation’ – shifting relative prices by reducing domestic demand in the debtor countries, thereby shifting the terms of trade. Marshall Auerback calls it ‘infernaldevaluation’. […]
by Linda Beale Payroll Tax Cut -Keystone vote up Saturday at 9 in Senate Apparently, Senate leaders on Friday ironed out the difficulty between the GOP and the Democratic party. The GOP got most everything it wanted, and the Dems got just barely more than nothing. That’s the way “negotiating” seems to go in the Congress […]
by Dale Coberly Social Security…Hearts and Minds Tom Margenau wrote an essay about the payroll tax holiday in The National Memo Is Your Tax Holiday Gift A Lump of Coal? His essay seemed to me to illustrate one of the problems with the Social Security “debate” as it has been constructed. Margenau describes himself as […]
Let’s start with two basic facts: • Governments in all thriving, prosperous countries tax/spend 25–50% of those countries’ GDP (averaging around 40%). • Governments in non-prosperous countries — those that haven’t suffered a recent crash in the numerator/GDP — are all below that range. There is not a single thriving, prosperous country that does not […]
by Linda Beale Should reinsurance using foreign affiliates be deductible to US corporations? Foreign-owned US insurance companies frequently reinsure through their foreign affiliates and then claim a deduction under section 832(b)(4)(A) for the reinsurance premium paid to the affiliate to reduce the US tax liability of the US company. Rep. Richard Neal (D-Ma) introduced a […]
In my first post here as an official Bear, I want to start by thanking Dan Crawford and the rest of the Clan of the Angry Bear for inviting me to join the party. I’ve been a regular lurker and occasional commenter for years, and have learned a huge amount from the experts here. I’m […]
Health Care thoughts: PPACA Employer Mandate Part 1 So I am trying to put together a template for evaluating the employer health insurance mandate under PPACA…. Some preliminary thoughts: 50 employees does not mean 50 employees, there as a Full Time Equivalent (FTE) calculation that is certain to confuse employers because it is different than […]