Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Romney’s CRUT Tax Shelter

by Linda Beale Romney’s CRUT Tax Shelter\ The Bloomberg press has looked further at Romney’s use of trusts and other arrangements to avoid taxes, using Freedom of Information Act requests to obtain more information than was released by Romney in his meager tax return release. Romney established a charitable trust in 1996 of a type […]

Discussing Tax Increment Financing on TV

by Kenneth Thomas Discussing Tax Increment Financing on TV I recently appeared on a local public access TV show, Conversation with Lee Presser, discussing tax increment financing and European Union subsidy control regulations. It’s a great format, just an almost 30-minute discussion without interruption, which allowed me to explain the problems with TIF as it […]

Hurricane Sandy and climate change

Reader Jan Galkowski sends this caution about promoting Hurricane Sandy as the result of climate change.  The following is taken from an e-mail to me yesterday: There’s a lot being written about Hurricane Sandy in connection with climate change. It is likely that this hurricane was exacerbated by human induced climate change, notably the excessively […]

Starve the state; support traditional families (only)

by Linda Beale The right-wing’s “breadwinner conservatism”–starve the state; support traditional families (only) Many of us who think about tax and economic policy have been confounded by the tendency of lower-middle-class families to vote Republican, which means they are ultimately voting against their own economic interests for a party that wants all the benefits of […]

The Public Learns Disaster Relief Was Etched Out of the Sketch. Uh-Oh.

MITT ROMNEY: “Every time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government and send it back to the states, that’s the right direction. And if you can go even further, and send it back to the private sector, that’s even better. Instead of thinking, in the federal budget, what we should cut, […]

McMahon’s WWE has taken $36.7 million in Connecticut subsidies

 by Kenneth Thomas McMahon’s WWE has taken $36.7 million in Connecticut subsidies U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon’s World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has received $36.7 million in Connecticut film tax credits in 20 separate deals since 2006, reports CTPost.com (thanks to Karin Richmond on the LinkedIn Public Incentives Forum). As in many states, what historically began […]

Mainstream and Semi-Mainstream Allegations Against Sitting Presidents

by Mike Kimel Mainstream and Semi-Mainstream Allegations Against Sitting Presidents I think back to each of the Presidents who was in office since Reagan,under whom I was old enough to start paying attention. And I wasthinking of the allegations that were made against each by theirpolitical enemies. I’m going to ignore the real fringe stuff, […]