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Sending in the clowns

Even someone with a rudimentary understanding of economics should know that if you tax a business or individual beyond their level of tolerance they will pack up and leave the state for one with lower or no state income tax. Unfortunately, one can’t escape the long arm of federal taxes. Proof of this axiom comes from the IRS and its publication of the latest (2023) migration numbers. Unleash Prosperity, which touts its mission to “educate policy makers and the public about government policies that have been proven, in practice, to maximize economic growth and equitable prosperity ...

The art of taxing fairly is messy

“The rich should pay their fair share of taxes.” Who can argue with that? But then we must decide who is rich and what is meant by fair. Neither political party has distinguished itself in making such distinctions. But Republicans play an especially outrageous game in portraying the Internal Revenue Service as the working stiff’s enemy. For salaried workers, taxes come straight out of paychecks, meaning most are already paying what they owe. Owners of small businesses have more deductions at their disposal, but the neighborhood bakery that tries to follow the rules doesn’t ...

Free speech for me but not for thee

Last week, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission threatened to rescind the broadcast licenses of media entities that do not relate events in Iran or Ukraine as the Trump administration would like them to be related. He also attacked The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times for the same reasons. This followed by one day a verbal attack on CNN by the Secretary of Defense who made known his bitter unhappiness with CNN's coverage of the Iran war. Yet, CNN is not regulated by the FCC, which only regulates broadcast media — not cable or streaming; and newspapers, thanks ...

Why Trump will surrender soon, but he’ll call it a great victory

No one knows what President Donald Trump is going to do from minute to minute, least of all Trump. But it's looking ever more likely he'll be exiting Iran within days, declaring his "excursion" into it (as he's termed his war) a major victory — and then changing the subject. On Friday, Trump posted on his social media site that "we are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East." What objectives? He never said what they were to begin with. He's about to wind down and exit because he doesn't give a damn ...

Cutting gas taxes is good politics, but not policy

With the Iran war driving up the average price of gas more than a dollar per gallon, politicians are calling to suspend the gas tax until the crisis ends. A shortsighted tax “holiday” would do little to help drivers while distorting the market at the worst possible time. While Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed a law on Friday to suspend the state’s 33.3 cents per gallon tax for 60 days, other governors have pushed back. In Maryland, Gov. Wes Moore (D) rejected demands by GOP legislators to suspend the gas tax, with his spokesman saying it “would blow a $100 million hole in ...

Politicians just can’t help but create troubled economies

Politicians say they can “make the economy work better.” I once believed they could. But years of reporting taught me politicians’ attempts to “fix” the economy usually make things worse. Twenty years ago, Republicans and Democrats helped create the Great Recession by telling government-backed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy more of people’s mortgages because, as President George W. Bush put it, “Owning a home is a part of (the American) dream.” But that guarantee inspired lenders to approve dubious mortgages, given to riskier borrowers. Housing prices shot up ...