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.

The Insidious Nature of Tax Preferences

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Posted by Bob Lord The Romney tax plan would exempt from income tax all investment income of those whose total income does not exceed $200,000. So, if you have a $200,000 salary and I have a $100,000 salary and $100,000 of interest income from by bond portfolio, I’ll pay a lot less in tax. That … Read more

How Do The Farnsworths Feel About Mitt’s Disdain For Them?

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Posted by Bob Lord So, Mitt has doubled down on his disdain for the so-called forty-seven percenters –those Americans from households that don't pay income tax. I wonder if Mitt knows how Peter and Molly Farnsworth, members of that group, feel about his disdain for them. Here's Peter and Molly's situation: Peter and Molly earn … Read more

Dick Durbin Sums it Up

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Posted by Bob Lord This quote from Dick Durbin pretty much tells you all you need to know about Mitt Romney: "He judged 47 percent of the American people based on their income tax returns," Durbin said. "We should judge Mitt Romney based on his income tax returns — or his refusal to disclose them." … Read more

Dissecting Mitt’s Intellectually Dishonest Tax Policy

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Posted by Bob Lord

This post gets a bit geeky, but hopefully makes a worthwhile point. 

In an effort to prop up his his crazy tax proposals without having to explain the details, Mitt now is pointing to "studies" that supposedly support his claim that he won't have to raise taxes on the middle class. You can read the details here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/14/romney-tax-policy_n_1884527.html

Inferentially, it seems ole Mitt is relying on the age old conservative theory that reducing tax rates actually causes revenue to increase. The idea is that everyone is so deleriously happy with their reduced tax rates that they work harder and longer, such that the increase in the size of the economy more than offsets the reduced rates. It goes back to a concept coined by Arthur Laffer, known as the "Laffer Curve," which was the theoretical underpinning for the 1981 Reagan tax cuts.

The Illogic of Union Bashing

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Posted by Bob Lord

By all appearances, the Chicago teachers' strike is over. An agreemnent has not been ratified, but the reports are that a framework has been agreed upon and that the heavy lifting is done. 

What's too bad is that we won't hear any push back against the union bashing that took place this week. As some, including Rahm Emanuel, would have it, the teachers were irresponsible to strike. All those underprivileged kids would go without math education for, oh my God, one week. The damage to their potential would be irretrievable.