Bob Lord

Bob has mostly wound down his 39-year career as a tax and business lawyer (with a 1-year interruption to run for Congress in 2008 (CD3), when he tried to unseat John Shadegg. Bob now serves as the senior advisor on tax policy for the Patriotic Millionaires, a group of wealthy Americans who believe the light taxation of America's rich is destabilizing our democracy, and as an associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. Bob has been writing for Blog For Arizona since late 2011, concentrating mostly on federal issues, with an occasional foray into Arizona state politics.

Vacation Reading

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Posted by Bob Lord I think this may be the first time I took a vacation from a political campaign, but I may make it a regular practice.  My best read over the vacation was Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super Rich, by Christia Freeland, which I think was just released a few weeks … Read more

Romney’s Newest Tax Deception

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Posted by Bob Lord [Cross Posted at Daily Kos] Romney wants everyone to believe he does not intend to cut taxes on the wealthy, but he's being very careful not to say exactly that. What he said last night, consistent with but more specific than his words in the first debate, was that he "would … Read more

Romney’s Tax Plan: Half A Billion Tax Free For Guys Like Him

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Posted by Bob Lord [Cross Posted at Down With Tyranny] Tagg, the son of a wealthy executive, marries at an early age and has five children. He’s devout in his religious beliefs, and gives generously to his church. This is the story of how he might fare under the Romney tax plan, if enacted. By … Read more

Remembering George McGovern

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Posted by Bob Lord For most of us who are obsessed with the crazy notion that our political activities really could make the world a better place, some person or campaign triggered that notion. For me, the person was George McGovern and the campaign was the 1972 Presidential race. So it's with great sadness to read here … Read more

Picking Up Where Krugman Left Off

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Posted by Bob Lord

Paul Krugman's piece on Friday summed up my feelings perfectly about why this election is so critical: 

And here’s the thing: if Mitt Romney wins the election, the G.O.P. will surely consider its economic ideas vindicated. In other words, politically good things may be about to happen to very bad ideas. And if that’s how it plays out, the American people will pay the price.

You can read the entire piece here

Here's what I think is possible if Romney wins and Krugman is correct. We likley will see a right turn immediately after the election, with the Ryan tax plan replacing the Romney tax plan. Why? Because Romney likes the Ryan plan better than his own, he just doesn't have the balls to 100% own it right now. The Ryan plan would exempt all investment income from tax, which is the direction Romney wants to go. HIs own plan takes smaller steps in that same direction. Although Romney has not 100% owned the Ryan plan, he heaped enough praise on it earier on to allow him to claim his election is a mandate for it. And the legislative process works in his favor here, because he can have the Republican House start the process.