The IRS vs. Ragnor Danksjold by Jacob G. Hornberger March 14, 2005 The feds are very upset with Walter Anderson, whom they’re accusing of being the “biggest tax cheat in American history.” They say he evaded taxes on $450 million in income, although he can’t be all bad because in 1998 he paid $494 in income taxes. So, the feds are now going ...
Congressional Sadists by Sheldon Richman February 25, 2005 Even though April 15 is more than a month and a half away, this is the time of year when people are thinking about and preparing their income-tax returns. So it’s a good time to contemplate this particular bit of oppression under which half the adult population labors. Many people act as ...
Ireland and Big-Spending Republicans by Benjamin Powell December 1, 2003 Despite some tax cuts, the size of the U.S. government has increased rapidly under President Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress. Washington leaders looking to improve the economy could learn a lesson or two from Ireland, which has consistently achieved high rates of growth over the last 15 years by successfully slashing government spending. Under the Republican Congress during Clintons years ...
Is Tax Freedom Now an Act of War? by Scott McPherson June 27, 2003 In a speech before the National Press Club last January, former New York governor Mario Cuomo charged that President Bush’s tax cut proposals were a form of “class warfare.” Challenging Bush’s claims that liberals and Democrats were fomenting class warfare with their charges that his tax plan favors the rich, ...
Tax-Cut Illusions by Sheldon Richman June 18, 2003 The problem with big government is that politicians and bureaucrats keep devouring more and more scarce resources instead of leaving them with those who created them. So instead of entrepreneurs’ using those resources to serve consumers, government operatives get to subsidize their supporters in order to keep their ...
Wartime Confessions of a Talk-Radio Heretic by Charles Goyette June 4, 2003 This speech was given before the Phoenix Economics Group in Phoenix, Arizona on March 19, 2003. I left my radio studio this evening to be here just as President Bush’s ultimatum to Saddam Hussein expired. The ...
A Historian Looks at Tax Havens by Charles Adams May 1, 2003 The recent attack on tax havens by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has depicted about 20–30 countries, called tax havens, as destructive of the high tax systems of the world, especially Europe. The OECD argues that its members should gang up on these nations and shut down their financial centers unless ...
What’s Wrong with Looting? It’s the American Way! by Jacob G. Hornberger April 30, 2003 Responding to the massive looting committed by Iraqis as part of their newly found “freedom,” Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld observed, “Stuff happens. It’s untidy. And freedom’s untidy. And free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things.” The reason for his indifference is simple: ...
Taxing Dividends: Once Is Not Enough? by Sheldon Richman February 14, 2003 Why is it controversial to propose an end to double taxation? The centerpiece of President Bush’s economic package is elimination of the tax on dividends. No one disputes that this is a double tax. A corporation pays taxes on its profits. Then if it distributes the after-tax profits ...
Tax-Cut Alchemy by Jacob G. Hornberger February 7, 2003 In the midst of massive increases in federal spending and an enormous budget deficit, President Bush has proposed a large reduction in federal taxes. How’s that for political magic — lower taxes and more benefits? Unfortunately, however, it’s not ...
Mr. Bush Neglects the Constitution by Sheldon Richman February 7, 2003 It isn’t entirely encouraging that the top man of the political party theoretically dedicated to the Constitution, limited government, and individual liberty thinks the government he runs should cure AIDS in Africa, create a hydrogen-powered car, pay for retirees’ medicine, and provide mentors to troubled kids. Ominously, President Bush’s state ...
Sic the IRS on Saddam by Jacob G. Hornberger December 23, 2002 President Bush made a grievous mistake by relying on a UN weapons report to go after Saddam Hussein. He should have instead required Saddam to file a federal income-tax return. It would have been a much more effective and less costly way to get rid of the man. Look at the ...