Why do we have to fill out a 1040 form? The IRS knows what most people owe. Why don’t they just send us a bill or a refund?
According to Cecil Adams, there are two reasons:
Source: The Straight Dope: Why doesn’t the IRS just send us a tax bill?
US employment under Presidents since Eisenhower (Source: Wall Street Journal 1/7/2017)
Looks to me like the employment situation gets better under Democrats, but not by a whole lot.
According to the Wall Street Journal (1/27/2016), the student loan market is starting to heat up.
It’s good news for big financial institutions, which expect to make a mint when Trump lets the private sector take over a larger portion of the student loan biz.
Of course, we’re already on the hook for about a trillion dollars in loans — money that we’re unlikely to ever see again.
Part of the cause is that, when the government throws money at something — like college tuition — prices inevitably go up. Just like housing prices rose during the 2001-2005 housing bubble (thanks largely to Bill Clinton. Andrew Cuomo and George W. Bush’s policies of promoting home ownership by minorities).
While I’m waxing eloquent on economics, I’ll explain why the housing bubble burst: The Federal Reserve raised its interest rate from mid-2004 to mid-2006. In 2006, housing prices started to decline. That led to the subprime mortgage crisis. By December 2007, we were in the midst of a recession. Q.E.D.
Hurting Breitbart is an attractive idea, I suppose. But Breitbart is scheduled to be replaced by the White House Press Secretary anyway, so why bother.
Source: Gamergate Showed How to Kneecap a Website. Now This Group Is Trying to Do the Same to Breitbart.
A first-of-its-kind analysis shows just how tactical the real-estate industry is about bankrolling state legislators who will protect its $1.4 billion tax break and weaken rent laws.
‘Way too many facts for the Bitemaster to plow through but the executive summary is: you’re being screwed by the landlords and developers. Happy New Year!
Source: Why Developers of Manhattan Luxury Towers Give Millions to Upstate Candidates – ProPublica
Hat tip to Jay Korman
| Office | Name | Rich | Military | Education | Spouses | Career | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| President | Donald Trump | yes | no | BS in economics, Wharton | 3 | business (2nd generation), tv personality, author | 24 hour tweeter, always on the attack, no patience for details |
| Vice President | Mike Pence | no | no | JD, Indiana U | 1 | US Rep, Governor | Conservative Republican |
| Chief strategist and senior counselor | Steve Bannon | yes | yes | MBA, Harvard | 3 | Goldman Sachs, movie producer, Breitbart News Exec Chair | Ideological leader of the Alt-Right |
| Chief of Staff | Reince Priebus | no | no | JD, Univ of Miami | 1 | GOP operative | Can talk to both Tea Party and mainline Repubs |
| Senior White House Adviser | Jared Kushner | yes | no | MBA, JD, NYU | 1 - Ivanka Trump | Real estate developer (2nd gen.), investor | Father was busted by Chris Christie; plans to sell most of his portfolio; problems with Federal nepotism law |
| Nat'l Security Advisor | Michael T. Flynn | no | yes | MBA, Golden Gate U; MA, Naval War College | Confirmed bachelor | 33 yrs military; Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency; consultant | Friend of Russia; possible violation of Logan Act |
| White House budget director | Mick Mulvaney | no | no | BS, Georgetown U, Int'l Economics, Commerce and Finance; JD, U of NC | 1 | politician, businessman, lawyer | paid maid or nanny off the books |
| Press Secy | Sean Spicer | no | yes | MA, Naval War College | 1 | Republican communications specialist | traffics in "alternative facts" |
| Sec of State | Rex Tillerson | yes | no | BS, civil engineering, U of TX | 1 | Exxon CEO | Putin buddy |
| Treasury Sec | Steve Mnuchin | yes | no | BA, Yale | engaged to #3 | Goldman Sachs (2nd generation); | Jewish |
| Defense Sec | James Mattis | no | yes | BA, Central Wash. U | Confirmed bachelor | 4 star general, Marines | Nickname "Mad Dog"; no longer opposes gays and women in military; will need waiver of National Security Act of 1947; better than Trump on foreign policy |
| Attorney Gen | Jeff Sessions | no | yes | JD, U of Alabama; | 1 | US Attorney, Ala Atty Gen, US Senate | Conservative Republican; supports reduced penalties for crack possession |
| Homeland Security Sec | John F. Kelly | no | yes | MA, Georgetown U; MS, Nat'l Defense U | 1 | Marine Corps Major General, lobbyist | Two children in the Marines, one died in combat |
| Commerce Sec | Wilbur Ross | yes | no | MBA, Harvard | 3 | investor, speculator, businessman | Helped Trump with bankruptcies; undocumented household employee |
| Labor Sec | Andrew Puzder | yes | no | JD, Washington U | 2 | businessman: Carl's Jr and Hardees | anti-abortion pioneer |
| Health & Human Svcs Sec | Tom Price | no | no | MD, U of Mich | 1 | Geo State Sen; US Rep., surgeon | Sponsor of Empowering Patients First Act (Obamacare replacement) and other healthcare legislation; active trader in healthcare stocks; "I seen my opportunities and I took 'em." |
| HUD sec | Ben Carson | yes | no | MD, U of Mich | 1 | Surgeon | He's black |
| Interior Sec | Ryan Zinke | no | yes | MBA, National U; MS, global leadership, U of San Diego | 1 | elected official | understands global warming threat |
| Transp Sec | Elaine Chao | no | no | MBA, Harvard | 1 - Mitch McConnell | Sec of Labor, Dep Sec of Transp | born in Taiwan |
| Energy Sec | Rick Perry | no | yes | BS, TX A&M | 1 | TX Gov | intelligent design; Bd member, Dakota Access Pipeline |
| EPA sec | Scott Pruitt | ? | no | JD, U of Tulsa | 1 | lawyer, OK Atty Gen'l | climate skeptic |
| SEC Chair | Jay Clayton | yes | no | BS, JD, U of Penn | unk | lawyer | Big deal Wall Street lawyer |
| Education Sec | Betsy DeVos | yes | no | BA, Calvin College | 1 | business, investor, philanthropist | Major figure in charter school movement; anti-union |
| Agriculture Sec | Sonny Perdue | no | yes | DVM, U of GA | 1 | politician, Gov of GA | Sneaky land deal |
| CIA Dir | Mike Pompeo | ? | yes | JD, Harvard | 1 | military, business, US Cong, House Intelligence Comm | far-right on everything |
| FCC Chair | Ajit Pai | no | no | BA, Harvard; JD, U of Chicago | 1 | telecommunications attorney; FCC commissioner | anti net neutrality; seeks reduced regulation; parents born in India |
| Amb to UN | Nikki Haley | no | no | BS, Clemson U, accounting | 1 | business, community service. politics, SC Gov | pro-life, conservative, Sikh parents |
| Amb to UK | Woody Johnson IV | yes | no | BA, U of AZ | 2 | business (4th gen), philanthropy | moderate Republican until 2016 |
| Amb to Israel | David M. Friedman | ? | no | JD, NYU | 1 | bankruptcy lawyer (!) | Jewish; supports Israeli settlements; right-wing fanatic |
| Amb to China | Terry Branstad | yes | yes | JD, Drake U | 1 | Gov of Iowa | old friend of Xi Jinping |
| Sec of the Army | Vincent Viola | yes | yes | JD, NY Law | 1 | Successful businessman, stock broker | not as rich as Trump |
| Chair of commission on vaccine safety and scientific integrity | Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. | ? | no | JD, U of VA; LLM, Pace U | 3 | Attorney (briefly disbarred); environmentalist | Anti-vaxxer |
| Senior director of strategic communications for the National Security Council | Monica Crowley | no | no | PhD, international relations, Columbia U | 0 | Author, pundit | Worked for Nixon; alleged plagiarist; expected to jump ship. |
| Cybersecurity advisor | Rudy Giuliani | yes | no | JD, NYU | 3 | Lawyer, US Atty, Mayor of NYC | Great during Sept 11 attacks, unimpressive since then |
| Head of National Trade Council | Peter Navarro | no | Peace Corps, 3 yrs | MPA and PhD, Harvard U | 1 | Economist, author, professor | Fringe economist, anti-China |
| Special Advisor to the President on Regulatory Reform | Carl Icahn | yes | yes | BA, Princeton | 2 | Investor, speculator, corporate raider | |
See also ProPublica
In an effort to combat income inequality, Portland, Oregon, on Thursday became the first jurisdiction to adopt a tax penalty on companies with excessive CEO-worker pay gaps.
Under the new law, companies doing enough business in Portland to pay the city’s business fee will be taxed an additional 10 percent if their CEO makes 100 times what median workers earn ― and an additional 25 percent if they make 250 times more.
Source: Portland To Tax Companies That Have Outrageous CEO-Worker Pay Gaps | The Huffington Post
Former Republican vice presidential nominee and supporter of Donald Trump Sarah Palin criticized the president-elect’s deal to subsidise Indiana-based air conditioning company Carrier to keep jobs in that state, warning that such a move could lead to “crony capitalism.”
Source: Sarah Palin Doesn’t Endorse Trump’s Carrier $7M Incentive Deal; Warns of ‘Crony Capitalism’
“You know, in 1976, when Trump was just starting his career, he said he was worth about $200 million. . . . Most of that was from his father. . . . if he had just put that $200 million into an index fund and reinvested the dividends, he’d be worth twelve billion today, . . . And he got about $850 million in tax subsidies, just in New York alone. . . . He’s not a businessman, [h]e’s a con man.“
Source: ‘He’s not a businessman, he’s a con man’: Robert Reich stuns Trump fan into silence
Mylan CEO Heather Bresch (Fortune Live Media/Flickr)
EpiPen is the brand name of an device that makes it easy to inject a pre-measured dose of epinephrine (adrenaline), most often for the treatment of anaphylaxis.
But it’s not all bad news, Heather Bresch, the Mylan CEO has at least been compensated for her hard work on behalf of the company’s customers: her salary has gone from $4.9 million (2009) to $13.1 million (2015 — most recent year for which figures are available).
Source: Mylan pushed for law to make EpiPens mandatory in US schools — then fled overseas to avoid taxes