‘Real Estate Investors Should Be Treated Like Any Other Businessmen’
“It’s inherently hard to get at what income is. And, thus, it can’t be as simple as people want it to be, because the accountants always try to figure out ways to get around them.”
Russia, Terror and Taxes Dominate Debates; Climate, Poverty, Abortion Barely Mentioned
A review of topics mentioned and questions asked in the first three presidential/vice-presidential debates shows a significant emphasis on Russia, terrorism and taxes—pushing aside most other issues, including climate change, abortion, education, campaign finance and LGBTQ rights.
Dahr Jamail on Climate Disruption, Richard Phillips on Trump’s Taxes
From vanishing ice to animal die-offs to increasing wildfires, scientists use words like “unprecedented” and “staggering” to describe the evident impacts of human-driven climate disruption. Elite media say they take it all very seriously…. How far are they from taking it seriously enough?
Ezra Klein and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good Tax Calculator
The website Vox has a “tax calculator” that promises to tell you “How Each Presidential Candidate’s Tax Plan Affects You.” Actually, it’s a gimmick that is entirely useless except as a deceptive advertisement for Hillary Clinton.
NYT Suggests Sanders Is ‘Unelectable’ for Siding With Majority on Tax Hikes for Rich
The New York Times reports that Bernie Sanders is drawing large crowds in Iowa–but warns that Iowans may find him “unelectable.”
Mind-Reading NYT Columnist Should Stick to His Day Job
Most of us recognize that politicians don’t always reveal their true thoughts. We know what they say their priorities are, but only a mind-reader would try to tell us what they really think.
Federal Workers Good at Paying Taxes, USA Today Expose Conceals
The front page of USA Today (5/23/14) blew the whistle on federal workers: They are tax deadbeats who owe billions in back taxes. The story also revealed that they owe less than most people.
Confused?
Washington Post: The Problem With Populism
The Washington Post sees “political risks” for the Democratic Party in a revived left agenda–which is hard to figure, since all of the “left” issues it identifies are all broadly popular.
The Media’s ‘New American Center’ Is Well to the Left of the Media
Media don’t tend to define The Center as “Things Most People Support,” because letting people know that most Americans support raising taxes on the wealthy, cutting military spending or providing single-payer healthcare would make the elite political debate seem like it’s well to the right of the public.
O’Reilly Takes on the Tax Man
The federal government is taking more of our money; it’s actually taking less than average. So why does Bill O’Reilly think otherwise? It might be due to the fact that people like him are paying a little more this year.
Who’s Getting the Tax Breaks? You Are, Says USA Today
The front page of USA Today touts an article intended to send what it supposed to be a counter-intuitive message: The big corporations aren’t the ones gaming the system–it’s YOU.
Time Sends Simpson and Norquist to the Zoo
Policy debates are only as broad as the establishment media allow them to be. And on this particular issue–fiscal policy, or what decisions the government should make about spending and revenues–the media tend to prefer staying within what you might call a center-right spectrum of opinion,
Hey, Remember That IRS Tea Party Scandal?
Not too long ago there was a massive scandal clogging up the front pages of the papers and the cable news airwaves: The IRS was either denying or delaying tax-exempt status to right-leaning “Tea Party” groups. But now things are starting to look a little different.
O’Reilly Spins a Correction on ‘White House Visits’
On last night’s O’Reilly Factor (6/5/13), the Fox News host asserted that there’s still a lot the White House isn’t telling us about the IRS/Tea Party scandal. But in the process he also, in his own special way, issued a correction–of sorts: The president will also not explain the IRS situation. His defenders denying that […]
FAIR TV: The IRS & Obama’s Scandal Trifecta, Matthews Praises Reagan, Newseum Scandal
What should we make of the so-called “trifecta” of scandals hitting the Obama White House? And what questions should we ask about the IRS/Tea Party story? Also this week: Chris Matthews wants Obama to take charge–just like the union-busting Ronald Reagan. And the Newseum decides two Palestinian journalists shouldn’t be considered part of their tribute […]
Is There Really a ‘Scandal Trifecta’?
Benghazi, the Justice Department seizing AP phone records, and the IRS targeting Tea Party groups: Much of the Beltway press corps–which has pushed the Benghazi story for months–is seeing the Obama presidency in a state of near free-fall. But what’s actually happening?
Between Two Economists Lies the American Center
The “center” doesn’t usually indicate where most of the public is, but rather where elites have determined an appropriate middle between opposing arguments.
Bill Maher Urges Vilification of Bill Maher
On his last HBO show, Bill Maher complained about how much he and his wealthy cohort pay in taxes. But he’s unlikely to get much sympathy from the 2010 version of Bill Maher.
‘Sparing’ the 98 Percent—by Taxing Them
When congressional Republicans and the White House agreed to their long- awaited “fiscal cliff” tax deal early on January 1, the news media celebrated it as a compromise that raised taxes on the rich while protecting everyone else. As NBC News’ Kelly O’Donnell (12/31/12) put it, negotiators had crafted “a genuine compromise on taxes [where] […]
When You’re Cutting Social Security, ‘Wealthy’ Begins at $25K
Here’s a proposal for Social Security that was on the New York Times‘ op-ed page yesterday (2/20/13): The top third of beneficiaries (by lifetime income) [would] receive no annual cost-of-living adjustment in retirement. The middle third would get half of today’s adjustment, and the bottom third would receive the same annual increase they do now. […]
