Tag Archives: Taxes/regulation

I like Bernie Sanders for many reasons, but this isn’t one of them:“As a result of those challenges, Sanders wants to see more Democrats vocally get behind measures like . . . removing the cap on Social Security taxation so the wealthy pay a full share of their income into the program.”This is a mistake. SS benefits are capped like taxes, so if you lift the cap on taxes and don’t lift the cap on benefits, SS becomes welfare instead of insurance.Look,...

Everybody knows that California is a “high-tax” state, right? Well, yes and no. Depends on where you are on the food chain. If your household is the top 1%, then California tax rates are 2nd highest, while Texas and Florida are 43rd and 50th, respectively.OTOH, if your household income is in the second quintile as a % of family income, things change: “California is about average, with a tax rate lower than either Texas or Florida. Texas has the ninth...

A properly or funded IRS is reaching out to various high-income constituents to collect back taxes. It appears their efforts are paying off in increasing tax collections, Compliance efforts continue involving high-wealth groups, corporations, partnerships. IRS July 11, 2024 WASHINGTON — Continuing compliance efforts under the Inflation Reduction Act by the Internal Revenue Service is resulting in increasing tax collections. The IRS announced...

A follow-up to the much longer report on Insulin (test on this later) and how PBMs impact pricing on other drugs. “Insulin A Drug Pricing Analysis,” Angry Bear. “Drug manufacturers alone set and raise drug prices, and PBMs are holding drug companies accountable by negotiating the lowest possible cost for drugs, including insulins, on behalf of patients.“ According to 46brooklyn, this is an overly simplistic view on drug pricing. It should be...

Who gets the money? Follow the assets. by Steve Roth Originally Published at Wealth Economics This post by Judd Legum at Popular Information (read and subscribe!) prompts me to revisit the issue of share buybacks. This passage in particular: It seems eye-popping. But is it? Even (especially?) finance and econ types don’t really understand buybacks from a big-picture, macro, national-accounting perspective. Here’s a shot at explaining...

What Chief Justice Roberts is saying is the justices know more than the scientists and engineers know. This was done in a decision which the agency experts immediately criticized. The issue being potentially undermining decisions by scientists and the very same agency experts. The 6-3 and 6-2 decisions brought by fishing operators in New Jersey and Rhode Island challenged a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration rule. The court’s ruling...

After Decades of Costly, Regressive, and Ineffective Tax Cuts, a New Course Is Needed, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Part 2 Steps to Creating a Better Tax System (a given) Instead of doubling down on the flawed trickle-down path of the Bush and Trump tax cuts, there are opportunities to work toward a tax code that raises more needed revenues, is more progressive and equitable, and supports investments that make the economy work for...

AB: I am always looking for these types of articles. They offer up explanations on how certain government policies and acts impact the nation’s economy and its citizens. Been a while since I looked at the 2001 and 2003 tax breaks. Steve Roth and I were exchanging emails on the more recent Republican 2017 tax break. There is so much wrong with these tax breaks. The latest one passed using Reconciliation. The 2017 tax break for the 1-percenters has...

Recent end-of-session SCOTUS Decisions. In no particular order. Still, some are left to be decided. SCOTUS Decisions by Amy Howe SCOTUS Blog (except where cited from elsewhere) Are there no Union workhouses? The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigor? Compliments to Scrooge . . . Grants Pass v. Johnson was decided in favor of Grants Pass. Besides several trips to jail and fines, there does not appear to be an alternative other...

Imagine that Congress wants to address some social or economic problem by prohibiting certain undesirable acts.  One approach Congress can take is to specifically describe the undesirable behavior and prohibit it.  This approach sometimes works well – it is the basis of traditional criminal law – but it has two great disadvantages.  First, in many fields – like drug regulation and pollution control – Congress lacks the expertise to identify which...