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.

More Viral Videos

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I may have figured out how to embed videos. Or I just got lucky.

The Sanders team went up with a few more viral videos over the weekend. There was another in which I was featured, now over 1 million views, which brings my cumulative total to 5 million views. Not bad for an obscure Phoenix tax lawyer.

But the bigger splash was this one featuring my IPS colleague, Josh Hoxie, about the plight of millennials in America. Josh kills it in this video. I was there when they were shooting and had no idea he was doing so well. If you’re a millennial, you’ll want to see this. If you’re not a millennial, you need to. 

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No, Mr. President, the Deduction for State Income Tax Is Not a Loophole

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[Cross Posted from Inequality.org]

The one “loophole closing” Trump has proposed would actually reduce tax revenue — state tax revenue, that is.

The Trump-GOP tax plan, based heavily on tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, would cost $2.4 trillion in lost federal revenue over 10 years, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. And the only “loophole” the plan closes to offset this enormous revenue loss is the deduction for state income tax paid by individuals.

Is that a loophole? Hardly. A loophole is a tax code provision that allows taxpayers and their advisers to game the system, typically through the generation of artificial deductions or credits that reduce tax. The deduction for state income tax doesn’t fit that description.

Your state income tax bill is a cost of producing income, just like the expenses a business pays to produce its income. And, unlike most business expenses, you have no control over your state income tax liability.

Above all else, the deduction for state income tax is fair.

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An Independent Thinker’s Guide to the Tax Debate

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[Distributed via OtherWords.org]

Note to Readers: Chuck Collins is one of my colleagues in the Inequality and the Common Good group at IPS. Some of you may have met him when he was here on his book tour. His book, Born on Third Base, is a great read

There’s a heist coming. Arm yourself with the facts!

By Chuck Collins

For 40 years, tax cutters in Congress have told us, “we have a tax cut for you.” And each time, they count on us to suspend all judgment.

In exchange, we’ve gotten staggering inequality, collapsing public infrastructure, a fraying safety net, and exploding deficits. Meanwhile, a small segment of the richest one tenth of 1 percent have become fabulously wealthy at the expense of everyone else.

Ready for more?

Now, Trump and congressional Republicans have rolled out a tax plan that the independent Tax Policy Center estimates will give 80 percent of the benefits to the richest 1 percent of taxpayers.

The good news is the majority aren’t falling for it this time around. Recent polls indicatethat over 62 percent of the public oppose additional tax cuts for the wealthy and 65 percent are against additional tax cuts to large corporations.

Here’s the independent thinker’s guide to the tax debate for people who aspire to be guided by facts, not magical thinking. When you hear congressional leaders utter these claims, take a closer look.

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Could it Be? Another Viral Video From the Sanders Team?

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I always thought I had a face that was made for radio, but I love this new video from Bernie Sanders’ team: And it’s going viral. Closing in on 700,000 views in 4 hours!!! Again, sorry for my inability to post the video itself. Click here for video  

The NFL Should Do More Than Just Take A Knee

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NFL owners have banded together against Trump’s divisive comments, but will they put their money where their mouth is?

By Jessicah Pierre

[Distributed via Otherwords.org]

When Colin Kaepernick began to protest during the national anthem at NFL games last year, he made his intent very clear. “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick told NFL Media.

“To me, this is bigger than football,” he explained, “and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”

Kaepernick made the brave decision to do this mostly alone — and of course faced the backlash and took the heat on his own. That was until President Trump decided to attack black sports players who raised awareness about racial injustice.

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