Taxation
Some news events do not require commentary. This is one such news event. Paul Caron, the Charles Hartsock Professor of Law at the University of Cincinnati College of Law writes about how the IRS to Refund $15 Billion of Telephone Taxes to Consumers: The Treasury Department and IRS announced this morning that after losing in…
I have never understood the logic of the “living wage” argument, where certain organizations – like ACORN – seek to have government agencies mandate new and higher wage rates. Such people believe that higher wages must be realized and that they can only be achieved by government fiat, not by the ability of the market…
I have to admit that Froma Harrop’s rhetoric, in the following single instance, does resonate a bit for me: The centerpiece is the lowered tax on investment income, which Republicans are trying to keep at 15 percent. As a result, the idle rich living off their stock portfolios are taxed at 15 percent, while the…
In an earlier posting, I introduced a book entitled The New New Left: How American Politics Works Today by Steven Malanga and a review of the book in the Claremont Review of Books. The core theme of the book was described by one reviewer as “American politics is not about [political] parties, it is about…
An unsigned editorial in today’s Projo explains how high-tax advocacy is often driven more by ideology than by considerations of what makes good policy…Some folks say that taxes should always go up and/or stay up to pay for new or expanded public programs. After all, human needs and/or wants are infinite. And many people consider…
RI House Leaders unwrapped a slew of tax reforms entitled the “Taxpayer Relief Act of 2006.” Here are the bullet points of the nine-point proposal: Personal Income Tax Reduction: Instead of the current rate of 9.9% of their federal taxable income, which is then subject to adjustments, deductions, and tax credits, taxpayers could elect to…
Walter Williams, once again, cuts through all the political posturing about the rationale for lobbying reforms in his latest editorial: …Whatever actions Congress might take in the matter of lobbying are going to be just as disappointing in ending influence-peddling as their Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, known as the McCain-Feingold bill. Before we…
Secretary of State candidate Guillaume de Ramel helps advance a point I began making at the end of last week (h/t RI Future)…I write today to strongly support legislation (2006 H 6718) that will incrementally increase the minimum wage in Rhode Island from $6.75 to $7.40 by January 1, 2007. Your committee members and House…
Walter Williams, once again, cuts through all the political posturing about the rationale for lobbying reforms in his latest editorial: …Whatever actions Congress might take in the matter of lobbying are going to be just as disappointing in ending influence-peddling as their Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, known as the McCain-Feingold bill. Before we…
