David Cay Johnston: It’s good to be a Romney
April 17, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
This post from tax expert David Cay Johnston is from January, but since today is Tax Day, it is timely. Let's take a look at one of Willard "Mittens" Romney's gift-tax avoidance strategies. Romney’s gift from Congress:
When the Romney campaign disclosed in December that the couple’s five sons had a $100 million trust fund, I suspected that, in setting up the fund, the Romneys used a tax strategy that allows some very rich people to avoid paying gift taxes. But it was impossible to know if this was the case without seeing their tax returns going back years.
So when Mitt Romney released the family’s 2010 tax return last week, I went looking. I found a hint on pages 132 and 134 of the return. It showed that the value of property placed that year into another family trust, the Ann D. Romney Blind Trust, was, for tax purposes, zero. The Ann Romney trust is not the same trust as the one that holds the Romney sons’ $100 million, but I wondered if the Romneys used the same approach in prior years when it came to valuing property placed into the sons’ trust.
Reuters emailed the Romney campaign spokeswoman to ask how much the Romneys paid in gift taxes on assets put into the sons’ trust over the last 17 years. The spokeswoman, citing Brad Malt, the Romney family tax lawyer, answered: none.
h/t Daily Kos
The idea that someone could pay zero gift taxes on contributions to a $100 million trust fund may surprise people who have heard arguments that the wealthy are overburdened by gift and estate taxes. But the Romneys’ gift-tax avoidance strategy is perfectly legal.
Romney kicks SB1070 architect Kris Kobach to the curb
April 17, 2012
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by David Safier Get ready for Mitt to go soft on Hispanics after drawing a very hard line in the sand, and on the border. He's distancing himself from Kris Kobach, the brains behind Russell Pearce's SB1070 (You knew there had to be someone with brains behind it, right?) It wasn't always so. In January, … Read more
WWJD? Not Jesse Kelly’s Tithe Flat Tax
April 17, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The other day i was reading the Arizona Daily Star's stenographical reporting on the last GOP debate for the CD 8 Special Election (why doesn't the Star just let the candidates write their own copy, that way they wouldn't have to pay anyone), when I was struck by something that Jesse Kelly said in debate, GOP congressional contenders lay out their views on tax reform:
Repeating what he's said many times before, he proposed a 10-percent flat tax.
"Every single American should pay the exact same tax rate," Kelly said. "If 10 percent is good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for the federal government. They can find a way to make that number work."
It won't happen overnight, he conceded, but that should be the goal…
If 10 percent is good enough for Jesus? Now I have to assume Kelly was speaking in theocratic dog whistle to the Christian Reconstructionist and Dominionist base of the GOP, because the man clearly does not know his New Testament.
Tithing is Old Testament Jewish law. And Jesus had very little to say about in the New Testament. I have looked through numerous Biblical phrases search engines, and here is a good to-the-point summary that is consistent with the other searches. What Does Jesus Say About Tithing? | eHow.com:
In the New Testament, Jesus mentions tithing three times, and each time it is a form of reprimand to the attitude of the Pharisees about tithing. He did not instruct his followers to tithe, and seems to have had nothing further to say about the matter.
Atrios’ Wanker of the Decade: Tom Friedman
April 17, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Oh! i should have known. Atrios at Eschaton blog has posted his "Wanker of the Decade," THE ONE TRUE WANKER OF THE DECADE, Tom Friedman, he of "Friedman Unit" fame ("give it another six months"): Friedman possesses all of the qualities that make a pundit truly wankerific. He fetishizes a false "centrism" … Read more
Dr. Word asks, “E me”?
April 17, 2012
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by David Safier Dr. Word just received an email from someone in a semi-official position who most likely writes an abundance of emails during his working day. The end of the email reads, "E me if you have any questions." Should the good doctor object to "E me," yet another abbreviation created by the serial … Read more
CD 8 Special Election Primary Today – VOTE!
April 17, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The CD 8 Special Election Primary is today. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. until 7 p.m. • If you're uncertain where to vote, you can find your polling place at www.recorder.pima.gov/public/voter_info.aspx • For info about polling locations or ID requirements, call 724-4330. • If you ordered an early ballot and … Read more
Daniel “The Scarp” Scarpinato goes national
April 16, 2012
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by David Safier Small town boy makes good . . . well, at least he moves up. Daniel Scarpinato went from Star reporter to Capitol Times' Yellow Sheet editor to communications guy on Paton's CD-8 campaign to communications guy for AZ Republican legislators (hope I didn't leave anything out) to his current position as NRCC … Read more
Atrios’ Wankers of the Decade List
April 16, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Atrios at the Eschaton blog has been posting his list of "Wankers of the Eschaton Decade." On Tuesday, he will announce his top pick. At Long Last My Personal Nightmare Is Almost Over:
Tomorrow, on the 10th year anniversary of the suckiest blog of all, ESCHATON, the Wanker of the Decade will be announced.
As I've already said, the selection process wasn't exactly scientific, but I'll also give some thoughts about why some seemingly obvious candidates didn't quite make the cut.
Here is Atrios' list so far:
9th runner up Megan McArdle.
8th runner up Richard Cohen.
7th runner up Diane Sawyer.
6th runner up Jonah Goldberg.
5th runner up 'Lord' Will Saletan.
4th runner up Mark Halperin.
3rd runner up Joe Klein.
2nd runner up Andrew Sullivan.
And today's 1st runner up Fred Hyatt:
As editorial page editor of the Washington Post, Fred Hiatt has presided over what is perhaps the world's greatest gaggle of wankers. Fred's a true wanker connoissuer, a collector of fine wankers. Whenever a new wanker appears on the market, Fred is there, ready to outbid all rivals at the auction. His ever expanding menagerie of wankers forms the Rogue's Gallery of DC, perpetually frustrating the poor inadqequate scribes at DC comics. Is there a supervillain more inspired than Charles Krauthammer? Move aside, Darkseid. The people who populate his crayon scribble page could easily fill a Wanker of the Decade list all on their own, though we should not forget that Fred manages to produce some quality wanks on his own or through the disembodied, though sadly not disemvowelled, voice of The Editors.
Some years back I had a wee epiphany when I realized that, for the most part, we aren't supposed to to read the WaPo editorial page. It isn't actually for us. It's a means for certain elites to send messages to each other, a way for the "Gang Of 500" to take their battles public, to signal their interests and priorities.
