Union “Dues”

Posted on 23 May 2019 by eehines

Now the taxpayer looks to be on the hook. At least in New York.

[O]n May 1, New York’s state Senate voted to let strikers get benefits one week after walking off the job—essentially putting them on equal footing with those who are laid off.
If Governor Andrew Cuomo signs this bill, he’ll effectively be using New York’s unemployment-insurance program to subsidize union strikes, upending the balance of power between workers and management.

Union strikes are little indistinguishable from extortion, except that they’re legal. They’re used to threaten a company’s ability to function—to survive—unless they surrender to union demands. “Nice little business you got here. Be too bad if something was to happen to it.”

This is a preview of Union “Dues”. Read the full post (182 words, estimated 44 secs reading time)

A Foolish Proposal

Posted on 23 May 2019 by eehines

Senator and Progressive-Democratic Party Presidential candidate Kamala Harris has one. She’s

proposing that large employers pay women on an equal basis with their male counterparts or face government fines, seeking a sweeping shift in the way the nation addresses pay inequity.

This is a preview of A Foolish Proposal. Read the full post (320 words, estimated 1:17 mins reading time)

Modern Monetary Theory, Taxes, and Inflation

Posted on 19 May 2019 by eehines

Japan is examining MMT in its debate over its upcoming sales tax increase [emphasis added].

Some members of Parliament, led by ruling conservative-party lawmakers, argue Japan doesn’t need higher taxes because the country’s inflation is less than 1%. The theory suggests tax increases are needed only when inflation is out of control.

Notice that: MMT says increasing taxes is a means of controlling inflation. The idea is that taking money away from the citizens reduces demand and so inflationary pressure. There are a couple of problems with this concept. One is that government revenue gets spent so Keynes’ aggregate demand goes unchanged, except for a bit of Government-as-middle-man friction.

This is a preview of Modern Monetary Theory, Taxes, and Inflation. Read the full post (270 words, estimated 1:05 mins reading time)

Puzzling Through Tax Breaks

Posted on 7 May 2019 by eehines

The Progressive-Democrats, and too many Republicans, in Congress are trying to sort out what should be done about expiring tax breaks.

Here are some of the expiring or about to expire tax breaks:

incentives for biodiesel production
deductibility of private mortgage insurance
tax credits for investing in low-income areas
employers’ family-leave plans
expansion of the earned-income tax credit

The answer is really quite simple and straightforward, if extremely difficult politically: let them all expire. Our Federal tax code should not be used for social engineering; it should be used solely for its constitutionally mandated purpose: to fund our Federal government.

This is a preview of Puzzling Through Tax Breaks. Read the full post (134 words, estimated 32 secs reading time)

Economic Performance

Posted on 23 April 2019 by eehines

…and one Progressive-Democrat’s tax proposal. Although, the fact is that these effects aren’t unique to Senator and Progressive-Democratic Party Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren (D, NM): the trend of effects are the outcomes of all the Progressive-Democratic Party’s proposals, differing only in detail.

Warren’s particular proposal is to tax business profits above $100 million at 7%. Here are some outcomes of such a thing, according to the Tax Foundation, with the FoxBusiness cited. A tax like this would

reduce incentives to invest, so GDP would shrink by ~1.9% over the long-term
reduce a firm’s capital by 3.3%

This is a preview of Economic Performance. Read the full post (224 words, estimated 54 secs reading time)

Fair Share of Taxes

Posted on 19 April 2019 by eehines

Senator and Progressive-Democratic Party Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (I, VT) says the rich should pay more taxes than they do already and that if only they paid “their fair share” Party’s socialist dream programs could all be paid for. He repeated that demand on last Monday’s Town Hall with Fox News.

On the other hand.

According to data released recently by the Internal Revenue Service, compiled by the Tax Foundation, the bottom 50% of taxpayers paid about $43.9 billion in income taxes 2016—which accounts for roughly 3% of all income taxes paid.

This is a preview of Fair Share of Taxes. Read the full post (407 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

Tax that Rich Man Behind the Tree

Posted on 9 April 2019 by eehines

Now the Progressive-Democrats, in their fever pitch to increase taxes, want to tax phantom profits.

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden (D) [is] reviving plans to make capital gains taxes due annually….

Another Progressive-Democrat, Jon Summers (ex-Communications Director for ex-Senator Harry Reid (D, NV)) rationalized this chimera tax this way:

We’re spending way more money, billions of dollars more, a year than what we are actually bringing in in revenue. We’ve got a debt of $22 trillion, a record debt that has only skyrocketed under this administration. So, Democrats are trying to come up with a solution to bring some sanity back[.]

This is a preview of Tax that Rich Man Behind the Tree. Read the full post (292 words, estimated 1:10 mins reading time)

Oversight

Posted on 7 April 2019 by eehines

Congressman Richard Neal (D, MA), House Ways and Means Committee Chairman, has demanded the IRS turn over some years of President Donald Trump’s personal and business tax returns. He centered his demand thusly:

“Congress, as a co-equal branch of government, has a duty to conduct oversight of departments and officials,” Mr Neal said.

That’s an interesting argument. If it’s coequality that creates the oversight duty, then the coequal Executive Branch has an identical duty to conduct oversight of House (and Senate) Committees and members.

Hmm….

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A Thought on Medicare for All

Posted on 1 April 2019 by eehines

University of Massachusetts-Amherst Economics Professor and Co-Director of the Political Economy Research Institute, Robert Pollin, had a thought on this.

Of course, so do I.

Pollin opened his tract with this:

All Americans would be able to get care from their chosen providers without having to pay premiums, deductibles or copayments.

No, we’ve already seen the lie in this. We experienced the broken, falsely presented promise with the sales job on Obamacare and the oft-repeated lie that if we liked our doctor, we could keep him and the associated lie of lower premiums.

This is a preview of A Thought on Medicare for All. Read the full post (275 words, estimated 1:06 mins reading time)

Pied-à-Terre Tax

Posted on 31 March 2019 by eehines

New York City wants one, and The Wall Street Journal, among a host of other folks, think it’s a terrible idea.

The idea is what the politicians are calling a pied-à-terre tax—which is French for “give me your money, fat cat.”

I’m not sure I agree with the WSJ. I see the pied-à-terre tax as a vast boon to New Yorkers, and to others.

a Journal analysis this week suggested it could crash New York’s luxury property market.

This is a preview of Pied-à-Terre Tax. Read the full post (218 words, estimated 52 secs reading time)

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