Bob Lord

Posted by Bob Lord

Some time ago, I posted about Phil Mickelson's public whining over his tax rate. One of our conservative commenters concluded that I was "jealous" of Phil Mickelson. Although it would be fun to have Phil Mickelson's golf talent, the notion that I was "jealous" of him was hilarious to me. I actually consider myself incredibly lucky in terms of the hand I've been dealt in life, so jealousy is a foreign concept to me. But if I was asked to name people whose talents I'm envious of, Phil Mickelson's golf game and financial acumen would not enter my mind. To me, it would be far, far cooler to write as well as Matt Taibbi or Chris Hedges, be able to make a living doing so, have thousands of people eager to read what I have to say, and maybe, just maybe, help make the world a better place in the process.

Posted by Bob Lord Those who follow my posts know the high regard I have for Chris Hedges. His post today, The Crucifixion of Thomas Young, is incredible, even for Hedges. I'm often moved by what I read, but rarely to tears, as I was by this one. There's no way to summarize it and … Read more

Posted by Bob Lord

The NY Times has a great piece from Katherine Newman in the Sunday Review section, In the South and West, a Tax on Being Poor. Unfortunately, there was no mention of the connection between federal and state tax policy. There should have been.

Newman's piece outlines very clearly how tax policy in the South and West has a devastating effect on poor people in those states. Those states, including Arizona, rely more heavily on sales taxes, which fall more heavily on the poor. One devastating statistic: "For every $100 increase on taxes at the poverty line, we saw an additional 7 deaths and 78 property crimes per 100,000 people, and a quarter of a percentage point decrease in high school completion."

Posted by Bob Lord

[Disclaimer: I have endorsed David Lujan and support his candidacy in the District 4 Phoenix City Council Race]

Hats off to David Lujan. Yesterday, he announced his unequivocal support for the Arpaio recall effort.

It's not often you see an Arizona Dem get out in front of a controversial issue. Remember the embarassing response of Arizona Dems to SB1070 when it was first enacted? Our supposed leaders either avoided taking a position or found a technical reason to oppose 1070, then immediately pivoted to bash Congress for failing to address illegal immigration. Jon Hulburd, then a candidate in CD3, even supported 1070. Only Raul Grijalva and Phil Gordon took strong stands opposing 1070, and many establishment Dems attacked Grijalva for his courage.

Ditto for the Pearce recall.

So it's refreshing to see Lujan announce his support for the Arpaio recall effort, especially this early on in the campaign. The full text of his press release follows after the jump.

Posted by Bob Lord

The mainstream media has a hard time with taxes. It's hard to tell whether they're intentionally dumbing it down, or just don't quite get it. 

Tuesday's NY Times article, Qualified Private Activity Bonds Come Under New Scrutiny, is a classic example. The supposed abuse the article highlights is the use by private enterprise of cheaper borrowing designed for states and localities:

At a time when Washington is rent by the politics of taxes and deficits, select companies are enjoying a tax break normally reserved for public works. This style of financing, called “qualified private activity bonds,” saves businesses money, because they can borrow at relatively low interest rates. But those savings come at the expense of American taxpayers, because the interest paid to bondholders is exempt from taxes.