Deep dives into tax policy — the laws, proposals, and reforms shaping the tax code, explained without the jargon.
I’ve been tossing around blog post after blog post in my head, trying to figure out what to write exactly about the tax provisions in the most recent bailout package. And I think I’ve finally figured out what’s been bothering me: the darn thing just doesn’t make sense. I knew that the bill was going…
Did you see the vice presidential debate last night? I’ll admit that I didn’t watch the whole thing. For one, the Phillies were busy taking Game 2 of their series against the Brewers (go Phillies!). But also because I’m not a big fan of political debates. Rarely do you discover anything significant because these debates…
Why is it that Congress can’t pass a bill without a bunch of add-ons? As it turns out, the bailout of the economy will be no different. This evening, the Senate passed a version of the bailout bill by a vote of 74 to 25 (in case you’re wondering, both McCain and Obama voted yes)….
Wednesday will not be just any day. It is the day that I take my four-year-old daughter to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia where she will see a pediatric cardiologist. If all goes well, and I am hopeful that it does, they will tell us that she has an “innocent murmur” and send us on our…
Remember that big stink that pastors promised to make in response to the IRS crackdown on political speech in church? It already happened. And you probably missed it – even if you were in church. An estimated 30 pastors took to the pulpit on Sunday to talk politics in what was dubbed “Pulpit Freedom Sunday.”…
The federal takeover of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – some call it the “nationalization” of the mortgage industry – is finally happening. Congrats to you, John and Suzy Taxpayer! You did it! Oh yeah, it couldn’t have happened without your tax dollars. The takeover comes at a cost of $200 billion (with a…
This morning, I received this email from a friend: Time to consider your pocketbook: C A PIT A L G A INS T A X MCC A IN: 0% on home sales up to $500,000 per home (couples). McCain does not propose any change in existing home sales income tax. OB A M A: 28%…
Okay, maybe not all of them. I was a first time home buyer once, too. ** Oh sorry, I just drifted off to a dreamland involving no screaming kids or barking dogs. ** But the latest rounds of criticisms of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 have gotten to me. I’ll just say…
You only have to a take a peek at the Olympic coverage on NBC to confirm what tourists already know: China has a smog problem. On the opening day of the Olympic games in Beijing, video and photos showed shots such as the one above, of the National Stadium, shrouded in smog. And of course,…
Ben Stein may be known best by my generation knows as the best as the economics teacher in the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (“Bueller…. Bueller….?). But he is also an attorney, former presidential speechwriter (for Nixon and Ford) and regular newspaper columnist for the New York Times. Stein’s political beliefs generally tilt towards the…