Bruce Bartlett ¹ says we need tax increases on the wealthy in order to fix the deficit problem. Now, I assume that Mr. Bartlett, who was a domestic policy advisor to President Reagan and a Treasury official under the first President Bush, has based his position on something other than public opinion.² But, alas, I might be [...]
Tags: Politics of Taxes · Tax Policy
President Obama in his deficit and tax policy speech yesterday fired this shot across the bow of Republicans: The tax cuts I’m proposing we get rid of are tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, tax breaks for oil companies and hedge fund managers and corporate jet owner. . . . Before we ask our seniors to pay [...]
Tags: Politics · The Economy
Try this experiment: Give a four year old boy a cookie, let him take a couple of bites and then snatch it back from him. What do you suppose his reaction will be? Do you think he will thank you for the two bites you gave him? Or do you think he’ll have a tantrum because [...]
Tags: Opinion · Politics · The Economy
From Paul Caron: Brett Freudenberg & Mahmood Nathie (both of Griffith Business School) have published The Constitution and Islam: Are Tax Reforms Possible to Facilitate Islamic Finance?, 20 Revenue L.J. 1 (2011). Here is the abstract: Islamic banking and finance is emerging in global financial markets and governments seek to facilitate it. This article focuses on whether [...]
Tags: International Taxation · Tax Policy
The New York Times has a real scoop: President Obama wants to raise taxes: WASHINGTON — President Obama pressured Republicans on Wednesday to accept higher taxes as part of any plan to pare down the federal deficit, bluntly telling lawmakers that they “need to do their job” and strike a deal before the United States risks defaulting [...]
Tags: Politics of Taxes · Tax Policy
Perhaps you’ve heard about the no-tax pledge Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform has been getting Republican candidates to sign. Here’s what the pledge for House members looks like. The senate, gubernatorial and state legislator pledges look about the same. AMERICANS FOR TAX REFORM United States House of Representative candidates Taxpayer Protection Pledge I, ________________, pledge to [...]
Tags: Politics of Taxes
President Obama said in news conference today that his daughter, Malia, is 13 years old. Only one problem with that: She’s 12. Now imagine if Michelle Bachmann or Sarah Palin got the age of one of their children wrong. What do you suppose the media’s reaction might be? According to the Associated Press when its Obama its an understandable mistake: [...]
Tags: Politics
