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

Finance Committee acts / doesn’t act on important Tax Court, Social Security, and HHS Appointments

Linda is returning to blogging again.  Welcome back.   Dan by Linda Beale Finance Committee acts/doesn’t act on important Tax Court, Social Security, and HHS Appointments As the Senate Finance Committee continued work on its markup yesterday, it approved several important nominees for positions in the Social Security Administration and in the Tax Court, but […]

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 […]

Federal Judge Finds Ohio Can’t Refuse to Recognize Couple’s Out-of-State Same-Sex Marriage

by Linda Beale Federal Judge Finds Ohio Can’t Refuse to Recognize Couple’s Out-of-State Same-Sex Marriage Dear Readers: This has been a much needed break for me, but now I am ready to resume daily postings on tax, economics, and the potential for a just and fair society.  As you all are undoubtedly aware, Messrs Camp […]

Is the IRS Inspector General Himself Partisan, Or Is He Just Stupifyingly Clueless About the Law?

After the tax agency was denounced in recent weeks by President Obama, lawmakers and critics for what they described as improper scrutiny of at least 100 groups seeking I.R.S. recognition, The New York Times examined more than a dozen of the organizations, most of them organized as 501(c)(4) “social welfare” groups under the tax code, […]

Senate did the right thing–will the House?

by Linda Beale Senate did the right thing–will the House? Most are aware that online businesses have an unfair tax advantage. Under the 1992 Quill Supreme Court decision, states cannot currently require online retailers without physical presence in the state to collect applicable sales taxes. Although customers are supposed to save receipts and then pay […]

Margaret Thatcher, Polarizing Right-Winger

Margaret Thatcher, Polarizing Right-Winger The major news media celebrated Margaret Thatcher upon her death.  They seem to praise her stubbornness and ability to move the UK to support her very conservative anti-union, pro-deregulation and privatization policies and talk of her impact on the UK.  David Brooks, a typical voice on the right who saw Thatcher […]

Big Business believes in taxpayer subsidies, not "free markets"

by Linda Beale Big Business believes in taxpayer subsidies, not “free markets” David Cay Johnston, former NY Times reporter and now Syracuse professor, writes about the thing that most journalists don’t bother to (or are told not to) write about–the way that Big Business successfully lobbies legislators and regulatory agencies to write the rules to […]

The Evils of Corporatism

by Linda Beale(op-ed) The Evils of Corporatism I have often written in these pages about “corporatism”, an approach that pervades our economy and many government agencies and does not align with the interests of the majority of Americans. Corporatism runs rampant today in states’ treatment of their public universities, treasures of the American educational system […]

Same-Sex Marriage In Illinois? No Basis for Objection

by Linda Beale (op-ed) Same-Sex Marriage In Illinois? No Basis for Objection In the US today, 9 states and the District of Colombia have legalized same-sex marriages and 9 states (counting Colorado, where the legislature passed a civil union bill on March 13) have legalized some form of civil union or domestic partnership for same-sex […]

Senator Warren Puts Bank Regulators on Hot Seat

by Linda Beale Senator Warren Puts Bank Regulators on Hot Seat Elizabeth Warren started out her questioning of big bank regulators by noting that actual trials, where guilty parties are paraded before juries, information about their wrongdoing is spread over front pages, and everybody is aware that bad guys get punished for their bad deeds […]