“Social Security is the Most Effective Anti-Poverty Program in the U.S., In One Chart”
EPI’s Elise Gould reports on the impact of Social Security as a safety net keeping another 25 million people out of poverty.
The headline juxtaposition boggles the mind
David Zurin from The Nation writes The headline juxtaposition boggles the mind: The headline juxtaposition boggles the mind. You have, on one day, “Detroit Files Largest Municipal Bankruptcy in History.” Then on the next, you have “Detroit Plans to Pay For New Red Wings Hockey Arena Despite Bankruptcy.” Yes, the very week Michigan Governor Rick Snyder […]
Inequality: Obama’s Speech, Detroit’s Bankruptcy, Taxes
by Linda Beale Inequality: Obama’s Speech, Detroit’s Bankruptcy, Taxes Was Obama’s speech on inequality really what Michael Lind claims in “The Day the Right Lost the Economic Argument” Salon.com (July 25, 2013)? The right, both here and internationally, has been pushing for austerity for most while those at the top reap unparalleled rewards from upward-moving […]
Proposals for Cutting the IRS Budget
by Linda beale Proposals for Cutting the IRS Budget As the budget battles loom again in our dysfunctional Congress, one of the targets of the right is, not unexpectedly, funding for the IRS. Sequestration is already hampering the IRS’s ability to perform its functions. See $6 collected for every $1. But the right wants to […]
Senators promised 50 years of secrecy on their tax reform proposals
by Linda Beale Senators promised 50 years of secrecy on their tax reform proposals There continues to be more blather about the need for “tax reform, and buddies GOP Dave Camp and skin-deep Dem Max Baucus seem to be intent on accomplishing something “big”. And that’s what’s worrying me. The Republicans have been arguing that […]
Offshoring profits with captive reinsurance
by Linda Beale Offshoring profits with captive reinsurance One of the ways that corporations manage to cut their federal income tax bills way, way below the statutory rate is by setting up reinsurance affiliates offshore. While some of these reinsurance affiliates may actually function as full-service reinsurance companies to many different customers, those truly taking […]
Round and around the revolving door does spin…
Lifted from comments from open thread July 23 by reader Jack Round and around the revolving door does spin. Those who take the ride are guaranteed to win, in the game of securities enforcement law. In yet another move between public and private practice John Khuzami moves from the SEC to “….a job that pays […]
Value of tax expenditures by income group
Elizabeth Warren and Glass Steagall
Via Truthout 21st centurty Glass Steagall Act You need to know this. Senator Elizabeth Warren wants to make banking boring again. Yesterday, the freshman senator introduced the 21st Century Glass Steagall Act, which would break up the big banks, and rebuild the wall between traditional banking and Wall Street gambling. In a statement, Senator Warren said, […]
Another Reason to Ditch the Capital Gains Preference–Games Lawyers (and Hedge Funds) Play
by Linda Beale Another Reason to Ditch the Capital Gains Preference–Games Lawyers (and Hedge Funds) Play Bloomberg today covers a story about another tax-shelter ploy by hedge fund billionaires to make themselves even richer at the expense of ordinary Americans who will have to pony up more (or be beset by a bigger deficit) when […]