by Linda Beale Does Lowering Corporate Tax Rates Create Jobs? Answer is a resounding “no” For years (decades, actually), the American pro-wealthy right has argued that lowering corporate tax rates will create jobs. That is the presumed purpose behind the push by Dave Camp to enact a tax reform package with lower corporate rates, and […]
by Linda Beale The Countermajoritarian Difficulty and Congressional Ethics–Ending the Shutdown [Edited to add Marcotte article on role of fundamentalism in Tea Party politics.] We have seen congressional ethics probes of Congressmen for exacting quid pro quo bribes from businessmen or for conflicts of interest or apparent failure to pay personal taxes. What about failing […]
by Linda Beale Economic Terrorism: the Tea Party/GOP’s Hostage Taking Plan (Tom Tomorrow’s “Giant Killer Robots”) As the New York Times reported on Saturday: Stohlberg, A Federal Budget Crisis Months in the Planning, New York Times (Oct. 5, 2013), the current fiscal and political crisis was planned as a manuver to get their way by […]
by Linda Beale Dear GOP: a Daily Kos staff reminder on the constitutional process for changing the law The Tea Party/GOP coalition has often talked about the importance of the Constitution, but one can’t help wondering if the recent extortionist behavior doesn’t belie that, when the governnment shutdown it has caused as a means of […]
by Linda Beale Cruz, Tea Party, Hostage-Taking Budget Tactics (and the IRS) The House, dominated by Tea Party/GOP politicians (or those fearful of their impact on upcoming primaries) passed a bill that attempted to tie the continuing operations of the government to compliance with Tea Party ideas about getting rid of the health reform legislation […]
by Linda Beale How should underpayment of employees affect tax policy? In a pre-Labor Day blogposting, Robert Reich wrote about the brute capitalism results for many employees today–a full-time job that doesn’t play a living wage. Walmart was his example–“America’s biggest employer” where a “typical employee is still paid less than $9 an hour.” See […]
by Linda Beale Swiss and US Apparently Reach Deal on Bank Disclosures related to Tax Evasion Bloomberg reports (in a minimal news story at this point based on an anonymous tip prior to the settlement being officially released) that the United States and Switzerland have reached an agreement that settles the dispute about Americans’ use […]
by Linda Beale Same-Sex Married Couples Will be Recognized for Federal Tax Purposes Even When Moving to Nonrecognition State The Treasury issued a Revenue Ruling today that sets out the rules that will guide the government in handling interpretation of the tax code regarding “marriage” and “husband” or “wife” or “spouse” in respect of same-sex […]
by Linda Beale The Elderly May Not Be As Taxing As Generally Thought One of the common assumptions about health care costs (and the costs of benefit programs like Medicare) has been that the increasing life spans of Americans will result in significantly greater health care expenses. It is common knowledge that much of the […]
by Linda Beale The Right’s Goal–end the one tax expenditure that truly aids poor working families The Tax Foundation, that propaganda tank that masquerades as a “nonpartisan” “think” tank, is at it again. Now it’s pushing the right-wing agenda of ending any tax expenditures that redistribute resources down to those in the lower-income distributions. It’s […]