by Linda Beale Do Good Wall Street Days Translate to Good Days for Most Americans? As usual, there was one of those all-knowing snippets in the news last Friday about what the direction in the stock market meant for the economy. Observing high corporate profits and buoyed by the idea that the GOP might not […]
by Linda Beale McConnell Tossing the Gauntlet on Debt, Taxes and the GOP’s dream of dismantling Social Security and Medicare Pretty much as I predicted, Obama’s failure to go over the fiscal cliff–instead “negotiating” and settling for a half-assed deal that hardly got rid of any of the stupidities of the Bush tax cuts–convinced the […]
by Linda Beale Lew almost official as nominee for Treasury Secretary Media headlines continue to tout Obama’s white male choices for rounding out his ‘new’ cabinet. Latest to the list is that he has offered his Jacob Lew, his current White House Chief of Staff, the post of Treasury Secretary. See, e.g., Obama to tap […]
by Linda Beale Social Security/Medicare vs Corporate Welfare The denouement of the fiscal cliff debate behind us (and not, I regret, with the best results–more on that later) we now face the next stage, in which we can expect the right-side extremists to threaten to hold the government hostage unless spending is cut (meaning, to […]
by Linda Beale Welfare Spending: Medicare vs Corporate/Business Subsidies (or does the GOP really support WalMart’s behavior in Bangladesh?) As most readers know, the federal government is currently in what passes for negotiations between the President’s Democratic Party Senate and House members and the GOP members that control the House. The Tea Party and its […]
by Linda Beale There are no “per se” tax or spending caps: lame duck negotiations no place for Medicare/Medicaid cuts When George W. Bush got reelected with a minority of the popular vote and contested state counts, the GOP claimed a mandate to keep going with the fiscally irresponsible program of high military spending combined […]
by Linda Beale Karl Rove on the so-called “fiscal cliff” In a video interview available from Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal, “Karl Rove Doubts a Fiscal Cliff Deal Will Get Done” (Nov. 20, 2012), Karl Rove’s pre-Thanksgiving news to the world is exactly what one would expect from one of the most successful GOP strategists. He […]
by Linda Beale Jack Cummings, General Utilities Repeal, and Treasury’s Rollover Jack Cummings (aka Jasper L. Cummings, Jr.) writes in the November 12, 2012 Tax Notes at 797-808 about “The Demise of the Liquidation-Incorporation Doctrine.” This is a must-read not only for corporate-tax policy wonks, but also for those who want to understand at least […]
by Linda Beale Is it a fiscal cliff or merely a bump in the road? Sixty percent of American voters in exit polls indicated that they supported higher taxes for the wealthy, see here. Even some arch conservatives are acknowledging that some tax increases won’t do terrible harm. Id. (noting that the Wall Street Journal’s […]
by Mike Kimel Posterity I think you have to go back to Bob Dole in 1996 to find a Republican nominee for for President whose signature accomplishment wouldn’t be repudiated by most members of his own party in November 2012. The 2000 and 2004 nominee is best known for turning a surplus into a deficit […]