ALEC takes a step back from voter suppression and gun legislation

April 17, 2012

by David Safier

This is the latest in a string of events showing that ALEC is losing some of its clout, from being dragged out of the shadows by a number of progressive organizations and blogs, to being connected with the Shoot First laws it has promoted around the country, to having a number of corporate donors drop their support.

Now, ALEC has announced it will end its task force that dealt with Non-Economic Issues. That, according to the ALEC press release, refers to "the ALEC Public Safety and Elections task force."

This is huge. ALEC has bowed to pressure and decided to stop pushing its voter suppression and NRA-related legislation. I'm not so naive as to think these tasks won't be jobbed out to other conservative groups, but simply making ALEC blink is huge — and really, no one else is as good at disseminating right wing legislation across the country as ALEC.

You can read the press release about ALEC's decision from The Second Chance on Shoot First Campaign below the fold. The group "is a partnership of ColorofChange.org, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, the National Action Network, the NAACP, the National Urban League and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg."

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.

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

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

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