The table above has these entries. Post entries with just one line for Reach were not boosted. Boosted posts have two lines for Reach and several other items. The upper line reflects all interactions, the bottom line just those resulting from paid ads.
For the emoticon table only, Love Haha Wow Sad Angry are listed separately.
========== Income inequality Creating a hereditary nobility for America. https://getpocket.com/explore/item/this-cartoon-explains-how-the-rich-got-rich-and-the-poor-got-poor Another approach: tax all income the same. http://www.one-flat-tax.net/ == topic tax 1 ===== impact 51 impactrate 0 likeimpress 9 negative 0 posted 2018-12-31 priority 1 ratio 13 react 27 reactrate 0 shares 7 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 11 title Income inequality topic tax wordrate 0 words 19 ID 780083035669551 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/780083035669551 audclicks 11 audreach 9 engaged 12 impress 519 likeclickusers 8 likeimpress 9 likeuimpress 83 likeusers 7 likeuusers 62 matchedlinkclicks 5 matchedotherclicks 6 oimpress 519 oreach 375 posted "12/31/2018 06:21:25 PM" postlinkclicks 5 postotherclicks 5 reach 375 sharesimpress 7 sharesusers 3 type Link ========== Opportunity Zones - for whom? https://apnews.com/41847c1548e34d0ba8c339836b86ed93 == topic tax ===== impact 2 impactrate 0 negative 0 posted 2018-12-30 ratio 17 react 3 reactrate 0 shares 1 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 2 title Opportunity Zones - for whom? topic tax wordrate 0 words 8 ID 779326815745173 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/779326815745173 audclicks 2 audreach 1 engaged 1 impress 75 likeclickusers 1 likeuimpress 41 likeuusers 34 matchedlinkclicks 1 matchedotherclicks 1 oimpress 75 oreach 51 posted "12/30/2018 04:17:36 PM" postlinkclicks 1 postotherclicks 1 reach 51 sharesimpress 1 sharesusers 1 type Link ========== A year after the billionaire tax cut - some companies did do more than a nominal one-shot bonus for their employees. But shareholders got most of the benefit, as expected - and planned. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/27/us/politics/trump-tax-cuts-jobs-act.html == topic tax 1 ===== comments 14 impact 226 impactrate 0 likeimpress 5 negative 0 posted 2018-12-27 priority 1 ratio 2 react 61 reactrate 0 shares 3 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 39 title A year after the billionaire tax cut - topic tax wordrate 0 words 37 ID 777553395922515 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/777553395922515 audclicks 39 audreach 23 commentsimpress 14 commentsusers 8 engaged 29 impress 302 likeclickusers 8 likeimpress 5 likeuimpress 96 likeusers 5 likeuusers 66 matchedlinkclicks 1 matchedotherclicks 38 oimpress 302 oreach 174 posted "12/27/2018 01:14:19 PM" postlinkclicks 1 postotherclicks 22 reach 174 sharesimpress 3 sharesusers 3 type Link ========== At least the IRS is focused on its primary goal, auditing poor people. It can't afford to go after rich people. Republicans make sure of that. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/25/opinion/editorials/irs-audits-rich.html https://www.propublica.org/article/earned-income-tax-credit-irs-audit-working-poor Fortunately the NYT has the resources to the the IRS job - https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/02/us/politics/donald-trump-tax-schemes-fred-trump.html Progressive tax rates are a sham if the rich can convert ordinary income to long-term capital gains and then not even pay taxes on that. Better to have a system simple enough that funny business can't hide. http://www.one-flat-tax.net/ == topic tax 1 ===== comments 3 hide 1 impact 822 impactrate 0 likeimpress 34 negative 1 posted 2018-12-26 priority 1 ratio 9 react 104 reactrate 0 shares 25 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 41 title At least the IRS is focused on its primary goal, auditing topic tax wordrate 0 words 79 ID 776734236004431 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/776734236004431 audclicks 41 audreach 31 commentsimpress 3 commentsusers 2 engaged 61 hideclicks 1 hideclicksusers 1 impress 1280 likeclickusers 32 likeimpress 34 likeuimpress 224 likeusers 33 likeuusers 157 matchedlinkclicks 2 matchedotherclicks 39 negclicks 1 negusers 1 oimpress 1280 oreach 942 posted "12/26/2018 07:09:32 AM" postlinkclicks 2 postotherclicks 29 reach 942 sharesimpress 25 sharesusers 25 type Link ========== Is the charitable deduction a good idea? Although poor people are more charitable as a percentage of income, rich mega-donors have more influence in philanthropy as in politics. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/plutocratic-politics-and-the-age-of-gilded-giving/2018/11/30/3eaac158-f41e-11e8-bc79-68604ed88993_story.html == topic tax ===== impact 9 impactrate 0 likeimpress 1 negative 0 posted 2018-12-02 ratio 11 react 3 reactrate 0 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 2 title Is the charitable deduction a good idea? topic tax wordrate 0 words 31 ID 762113350799853 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/762113350799853 audclicks 2 audreach 2 engaged 2 impress 56 likeclickusers 2 likeimpress 1 likeuimpress 42 likeusers 1 likeuusers 31 matchedotherclicks 2 oimpress 56 oreach 34 posted "12/02/2018 09:28:13 PM" postotherclicks 2 reach 34 type Link ========== Who REALLY wanted to drain the swamp? https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/27/opinion/democrats-trump-corruption.html == topic tax ===== comments 3 hide 1 impact 20 impactrate 0 likeimpress 1 negative 1 posted 2018-11-27 ratio 3 react 20 reactrate 0 shares 3 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 12 title Who REALLY wanted to drain the swamp? topic tax wordrate 0 words 10 ID 759082307769624 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/759082307769624 audclicks 12 audreach 6 commentsimpress 3 commentsusers 1 engaged 7 hideclicks 1 hideclicksusers 1 impress 94 likeclickusers 7 likeimpress 1 likeuimpress 53 likeusers 1 likeuusers 39 matchedlinkclicks 2 matchedotherclicks 10 negclicks 1 negusers 1 oimpress 94 oreach 67 posted "11/27/2018 07:40:04 PM" postlinkclicks 2 postotherclicks 5 reach 67 sharesimpress 3 sharesusers 3 type Link ========== Who pays most in state and local taxes? https://itep.org/whopays/ ITEP has discovered - no surprise - that averaged over non-elderly residents of all 50 states, the poorest 20% of households pay 11.4% in state and local taxes, and the richest 1% - 7.4%. Is anybody surprised? The most regressive states tend to exacerbate income inequality by relying more on sales and excise taxes than on progressive income taxes. Another approach is to have the Federal government collect a uniform flat income tax on behalf of the states in lieu of state income, payroll, sales, and estate taxes that are used for general government and public education. http://www.one-flat-tax.net/ == topic tax 1 ===== hide 1 impact 196 impactrate 0 likeimpress 2 negative 1 posted 2018-11-27 priority 1 ratio 3 react 18 reactrate 0 shares 5 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 10 title Who pays most in state and local taxes? topic tax wordrate 0 words 109 ID 759054791105709 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/759054791105709 audclicks 10 audreach 6 engaged 7 hideclicks 1 hideclicksusers 1 impress 97 likeclickusers 6 likeimpress 2 likeuimpress 54 likeusers 2 likeuusers 42 matchedlinkclicks 3 matchedotherclicks 7 negclicks 1 negusers 1 oimpress 97 oreach 71 posted "11/27/2018 06:14:33 PM" postlinkclicks 3 postotherclicks 4 reach 71 sharesimpress 5 sharesusers 4 type Link ========== The Republicans have a new tax bill - a technical corrections act It extends important middle-class breaks for horse racing and NASCAR expenses. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/new-gop-bill-would-tweak-trump-tax-law-extend-perks-set-to-expire/2018/11/27/eb18109c-f254-11e8-aeea-b85fd44449f5_story.html An independent analysis will be interesting. The Republicans rarely talk about the same tax provisions in public and in private with their donors. But this lame-duck bill is not likely to get very far, regardless of its merits. == http://www.one-flat-tax.net/ topic tax ===== impact 70 impactrate 0 likeimpress 7 negative 0 posted 2018-11-27 ratio 4 react 11 reactrate 0 shares 2 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 2 title The Republicans have a new tax bill - a technical topic tax wordrate 0 words 64 ID 758924604452061 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/758924604452061 audclicks 2 audreach 2 engaged 9 impress 68 likeclickusers 8 likeimpress 7 likeuimpress 51 likeusers 7 likeuusers 43 matchedlinkclicks 1 matchedotherclicks 1 oimpress 68 oreach 53 posted "11/27/2018 02:03:30 PM" postlinkclicks 1 postotherclicks 1 reach 53 sharesimpress 2 sharesusers 2 type Link ========== Financing global influence and power https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2018/11/27/when-higher-taxes-brought-americans-together-instead-dividing-them Maybe it's time for something simpler - http://www.one-flat-tax.net/ == topic tax ===== impact 12 impactrate 0 negative 0 posted 2018-11-27 ratio 5 react 8 reactrate 0 shares 2 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 6 title Financing global influence and power topic tax wordrate 0 words 15 ID 758749984469523 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/758749984469523 audclicks 6 audreach 4 engaged 4 impress 58 likeclickusers 3 likeuimpress 40 likeuusers 32 matchedotherclicks 6 oimpress 58 oreach 43 posted "11/27/2018 08:45:46 AM" postotherclicks 4 reach 43 sharesimpress 2 sharesusers 2 type Link ========== The billionaire tax cut didn't work so well as a campaign issue in California https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/19/us/california-today-orange-county-republicans.html Don't it make our Orange County eyes blue. == topic tax ===== comments 1 impact 60 impactrate 0 likeimpress 6 negative 0 posted 2018-11-19 ratio 2 react 24 reactrate 0 shares 2 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 15 title The billionaire tax cut didn't work so well as a campaign topic tax wordrate 0 words 25 ID 753562774988244 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/753562774988244 audclicks 15 audreach 8 commentsimpress 1 commentsusers 1 engaged 10 impress 84 likeclickusers 10 likeimpress 6 likeuimpress 52 likeusers 6 likeuusers 44 matchedlinkclicks 2 matchedotherclicks 13 oimpress 84 oreach 56 posted "11/19/2018 06:38:43 AM" postlinkclicks 2 postotherclicks 8 reach 56 sharesimpress 2 sharesusers 2 type Link ========== A year after the tax cut Shareholders did well - better than those who will have to pay for the tax cut. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/12/business/economy/trumps-tax-cut-was-supposed-to-change-corporate-behavior-heres-what-happened.html But relax - McConnell's on it! He's counting on the Democrats to bail the Republicans out. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-16/mcconnell-blames-entitlements-not-gop-for-rising-deficits == topic tax ===== hideall 1 impact 172 impactrate 0 likeimpress 9 negative 1 posted 2018-11-13 ratio 3 react 42 reactrate 0 shares 5 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 27 title A year after the tax cut topic tax wordrate 0 words 41 ID 750024698675385 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/750024698675385 audclicks 27 audreach 16 engaged 21 hideallclicks 1 hideallclicksusers 1 impress 190 likeclickusers 17 likeimpress 9 likeuimpress 99 likeusers 9 likeuusers 78 matchedlinkclicks 4 matchedotherclicks 23 negclicks 1 negusers 1 oimpress 190 oreach 135 posted "11/13/2018 12:19:47 PM" postlinkclicks 4 postotherclicks 14 reach 135 sharesimpress 5 sharesusers 5 type Link ========== Wealth inequality - if the tax code don't get you - https://itep.org/race-wealth-and-taxes-how-the-tax-cuts-and-jobs-act-supercharges-the-racial-wealth-divide/ https://itep.org/financial-exposure-showcases-tax-misconduct-by-powerful-individuals-and-corporations/ then the climate will - https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/as-the-climate-worsens-wealth-inequality-will-too/2018/10/12/107493d8-cd9d-11e8-a360-85875bac0b1f_story.html ===== impact 29 impactrate 0 negative 0 posted 2018-10-14 ratio 3 react 18 reactrate 0 shares 2 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 16 title Wealth inequality - if the tax code don't get you - topic tax wordrate 0 words 16 ID 733353403675848 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/733353403675848 audclicks 16 audreach 3 engaged 3 impress 90 likeclickusers 3 likeuimpress 52 likeuusers 41 matchedlinkclicks 2 matchedotherclicks 14 oimpress 90 oreach 58 posted "10/14/2018 04:50:42 PM" postlinkclicks 2 postotherclicks 2 reach 58 sharesimpress 2 sharesusers 2 type Link ========== Legal tax deferral and conversion https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/13/business/jared-kushner-taxes.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/13/business/kushner-paying-taxes.html Can real estate depreciate? Not very often. But the tax code allows you to depreciate - take paper losses - on real estate anyway. The effect is to defer taxes on (other not necessarily real estate) ordinary income until years later when you sell the real estate, and furthermore convert ordinary income long term capital gains at a much lower tax rate. That's the definition of a tax shelter - convert income and defer taxing it. So the Trumps and other billionaires couldn't care less if the top regular tax rate were 70% again - they'd never have to pay it. https://itep.org/how-true-tax-reform-would-eliminate-breaks-for-real-estate-investors-like-donald-trump/ Trump himself laments the loss of the even greater real estate tax advantages eliminated by the Reagan tax reform of 1986. https://myemail.constantcontact.com/New-York-Times-expose-on-Trump-family-tax-avoidance-disturbing--unfortunately-not-unique.html?soid=1130706314757&aid=AIULZgrVxzQ That's just the legal methods the Trumps used. Why not start over with a few simple principles that ordinary people can understand - http://www.one-flat-tax.net/ Kushner's manipulations might well be entirely legal - unlike the Trump scams of the 1990's - the NY and NYC tax authorities are taking a closer look - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/04/us/politics/donald-trump-fred-trump-tax-schemes.html ===== impact 890 impactrate 0 likeimpress 6 negative 0 posted 2018-10-14 priority 1 ratio 4 react 50 reactrate 0 shares 6 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 38 title Legal tax deferral and conversion topic tax wordrate 0 words 178 ID 733170620360793 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/733170620360793 audclicks 38 audreach 21 engaged 25 impress 288 likeclickusers 11 likeimpress 6 likeuimpress 121 likeusers 5 likeuusers 93 matchedlinkclicks 11 matchedotherclicks 27 oimpress 288 oreach 209 posted "10/14/2018 08:02:13 AM" postlinkclicks 9 postotherclicks 15 reach 209 sharesimpress 6 sharesusers 6 type Link ========== Tax breaks for wealthy real-estate investors https://itep.org/how-true-tax-reform-would-eliminate-breaks-for-real-estate-investors-like-donald-trump/ https://myemail.constantcontact.com/New-York-Times-expose-on-Trump-family-tax-avoidance-disturbing--unfortunately-not-unique.html?soid=1130706314757&aid=AIULZgrVxzQ That's just the legal methods the Trumps used. But just in case it wasn't all legal, the NY and NYC tax authorities are taking a closer look - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/04/us/politics/donald-trump-fred-trump-tax-schemes.html Trump didn't even like the 1986 Reagan tax reform that impinged on real-estate tax shelters. Why not start over with a few simple principles that ordinary people can understand - http://www.one-flat-tax.net/ ===== comments 1 impact 243 impactrate 0 likeimpress 12 negative 0 posted 2018-10-05 ratio 3 react 38 reactrate 0 shares 8 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 17 title Tax breaks for wealthy real-estate investors topic tax wordrate 0 words 64 ID 728443427500179 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/728443427500179 audclicks 17 audreach 14 commentsimpress 1 commentsusers 1 engaged 21 impress 187 likeclickusers 21 likeimpress 12 likeuimpress 102 likeusers 12 likeuusers 78 matchedotherclicks 17 oimpress 187 oreach 130 posted "10/05/2018 07:21:36 PM" postotherclicks 14 reach 130 sharesimpress 8 sharesusers 8 type Link ========== Above and beyond the law - it's not just the Trumps https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/04/opinion/donald-trump-fred-taxes-fraud.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-ducked-the-tax-code-the-irs-made-it-easy/2018/10/04/102409aa-c80b-11e8-b2b5-79270f9cce17_story.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/04/opinion/trump-wealth-tax-evasion.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/02/us/politics/donald-trump-wealth-fred-trump.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/02/us/politics/trump-family-wealth.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/02/us/politics/donald-trump-tax-schemes-fred-trump.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/02/insider/donald-trump-fred-tax-schemes-wealth.html And why not? In most times and places, taxes were something that the rich ruling class imposed on the poor who could not fight back. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/04/us/politics/donald-trump-fred-trump-tax-schemes.html ===== comments 1 hide 1 impact 137 impactrate 0 likeimpress 11 negative 1 posted 2018-10-04 ratio 2 react 38 reactrate 0 shares 3 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 22 title Above and beyond the law - it's not just the Trumps topic tax wordrate 0 words 36 ID 728019084209280 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/728019084209280 audclicks 22 audreach 11 commentsimpress 1 commentsusers 1 engaged 19 hideclicks 1 hideclicksusers 1 impress 146 likeclickusers 18 likeimpress 11 likeuimpress 90 likeusers 11 likeuusers 71 matchedlinkclicks 3 matchedotherclicks 19 negclicks 1 negusers 1 oimpress 146 oreach 104 posted "10/04/2018 10:06:40 PM" postlinkclicks 3 postotherclicks 8 reach 104 sharesimpress 3 sharesusers 3 type Link ========== How Congress helped the Trumps (and other billionaires) keep their billions https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-ducked-the-tax-code-the-irs-made-it-easy/2018/10/04/102409aa-c80b-11e8-b2b5-79270f9cce17_story.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/04/opinion/trump-wealth-tax-evasion.html The whole episode illustrates why Republicans are so eager to emasculate IRS enforcement - of wealthy Republican donors. They want the IRS to focus on hassling small business owners - preferably poor Democratic ones. The Trumps knew they were very likely to get away with their games. Trump considers the IRS, like other Federal agencies, to be instruments of his personal power. However, the tax authorities in NY state and NYC have different ideas - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/04/us/politics/donald-trump-fred-trump-tax-schemes.html ===== comments 3 impact 430 impactrate 0 likeimpress 14 negative 0 posted 2018-10-04 ratio 1 react 50 reactrate 0 shares 4 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 29 title How Congress helped the Trumps (and other billionaires) topic tax wordrate 0 words 86 ID 727944240883431 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/727944240883431 audclicks 29 audreach 11 commentsimpress 3 commentsusers 3 engaged 17 impress 128 likeclickusers 15 likeimpress 14 likeuimpress 92 likeusers 13 likeuusers 69 matchedlinkclicks 2 matchedotherclicks 27 oimpress 128 oreach 85 posted "10/04/2018 06:02:14 PM" postlinkclicks 1 postotherclicks 10 reach 85 sharesimpress 4 sharesusers 4 type Link ========== Don't like the idea of American hereditary nobility? https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/04/opinion/trump-wealth-tax-evasion.html Obama tried to do something about it... and Congress did nothing. Sound familiar? https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-ducked-the-tax-code-the-irs-made-it-easy/2018/10/04/102409aa-c80b-11e8-b2b5-79270f9cce17_story.html Here's where you end up - https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/726717967672725 As most of the history of the world shows, you can't have equal opportunity if most of the wealth is inherited rather than created. http://www.political-scrapbook.net/theory.html#liberty%20and%20equality https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/04/us/politics/donald-trump-fred-trump-tax-schemes.html ===== comments 4 impact 179 impactrate 0 likeimpress 8 negative 0 posted 2018-10-04 ratio 6 react 35 reactrate 0 shares 6 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 17 title Don't like the idea of American hereditary nobility? topic tax wordrate 0 words 51 ID 727698870907968 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/727698870907968 audclicks 17 audreach 11 commentsimpress 4 commentsusers 3 engaged 18 impress 299 likeclickusers 16 likeimpress 8 likeuimpress 100 likeusers 8 likeuusers 75 matchedlinkclicks 3 matchedotherclicks 14 oimpress 299 oreach 222 posted "10/04/2018 10:36:44 AM" postlinkclicks 3 postotherclicks 11 reach 222 sharesimpress 6 sharesusers 6 type Link ========== Fraud from top to bottom https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2018/10/03/donald-trumps-grotesque-fraud/ https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/02/us/politics/donald-trump-wealth-fred-trump.html Trump and his spokespersons denied the overall reporting, but declined to dispute any specific fact in it. It's a model of laborious investigative reporting - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/02/insider/donald-trump-fred-tax-schemes-wealth.html https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/726717967672725 https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/556413984703125 Here's the real Trump - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/04/opinion/trump-family-real-estate.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/04/us/politics/donald-trump-fred-trump-tax-schemes.html ===== impact 56 impactrate 0 likeimpress 2 negative 0 posted 2018-10-04 ratio 4 react 16 reactrate 0 shares 3 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 11 title Fraud from top to bottom topic tax wordrate 0 words 35 ID 727688147575707 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/727688147575707 audclicks 11 audreach 6 engaged 8 impress 106 likeclickusers 8 likeimpress 2 likeuimpress 58 likeusers 2 likeuusers 52 matchedlinkclicks 1 matchedotherclicks 10 oimpress 106 oreach 74 posted "10/04/2018 10:06:28 AM" postlinkclicks 1 postotherclicks 5 reach 74 sharesimpress 3 sharesusers 2 type Link ========== How's your GRAT? It's an important part of everybody's estate planning, right? https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/02/us/politics/donald-trump-wealth-fred-trump.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/02/us/politics/trump-family-wealth.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/02/us/politics/donald-trump-tax-schemes-fred-trump.html Trump and his spokespersons denied the overall reporting, but declined to dispute any specific fact in it. It's a model of laborious investigative reporting - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/02/insider/donald-trump-fred-tax-schemes-wealth.html Another week, another controversy. And this one could have been so easily avoided by timely publishing some tax returns and audited financials. Why not, if it's all legal and there's nothing to hide? Is the whole empire constructed out of lies? Or is it barely legal, but so byzantine that nobody can understand it - so why would Trump supporters think they have anything in common with him? But the hardest core of his base don't care if he lies - they suppose all politicians do that. But you can demand that Trump release his tax returns here - https://taxmarch.org/ So much for the Trump myth - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/10/02/two-pillars-trumps-origin-myth-dislodged-by-times-new-investigation/ By the way - GRAT, short for grantor-retained annuity trust - is one of the tax code’s great gifts to the ultrawealthy. They let dynastic families like the Trumps pass wealth from one generation to the next — be it stocks, real estate, even art collections — without paying a dime of estate taxes. The whole episode illustrates why Republicans are so eager to emasculate IRS enforcement - of wealthy Republican donors. They want the IRS to focus on hassling small business owners - preferably poor Democratic ones. The Trumps knew they were very likely to get away with their games. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-ducked-the-tax-code-the-irs-made-it-easy/2018/10/04/102409aa-c80b-11e8-b2b5-79270f9cce17_story.html But New York has its own tax enforcement - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/new-york-tax-agency-weighs-investigation-after-report-that-trump-family-built-wealth-through-tax-avoidance-schemes-and-fraud/2018/10/02/5119f24e-c680-11e8-b2b5-79270f9cce17_story.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/04/us/politics/donald-trump-fred-trump-tax-schemes.html What will they find? ===== impact 408 impactrate 0 likeimpress 1 negative 0 posted 2018-10-02 priority 1 ratio 4 react 16 reactrate 0 shares 2 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 13 title How's your GRAT? topic tax wordrate 0 words 255 ID 726717967672725 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/726717967672725 audclicks 13 audreach 9 engaged 10 impress 105 likeclickusers 10 likeimpress 1 likeuimpress 53 likeusers 1 likeuusers 44 matchedlinkclicks 4 matchedotherclicks 9 oimpress 105 oreach 75 posted "10/02/2018 04:45:17 PM" postlinkclicks 4 postotherclicks 6 reach 75 sharesimpress 2 sharesusers 2 type Link ========== Making expensive preconditions affordable https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/27/opinion/republicans-affordable-care-act-hypocrisy.html If medical insurance is going to be affordable for all and it's going to cover pre-existing conditions, then there has to be a way to make up the difference. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/voters-push-back-republican-candidates-pay-the-price-for-attempts-to-kill-obamacare-and-its-guarantee-of-coverage-for-preexisting-conditions/2018/10/03/e9483776-c1d8-11e8-97a5-ab1e46bb3bc7_story.html Most voters are in favor of covering preconditions, but not so unanimously in favor of any particular method for making that coverage affordable. Lots of Republican candidates are starting to talk about covering preconditions. But they never say how. Making everybody buy medical insurance is one way, and unlike tax subsidies, it means almost everybody has medical insurance - which is good if healthy young people who might go uncovered on their own are involved in accidents or develop other medical conditions. The alternative is treating them, often for free, in the ER. Then there's the third-world alternative - uninsured poor people get thrown out of the ER to die in the street. No American politician would explicitly endorse that, but it's implicit in some of the ACA undermining by the Trump administration. The irony, of course, is that ACA was never the Democrat preferred alternative, but was adapted from Romney's popular Masscare in a futile attempt to get Republican support. ===== comments 1 impact 213 impactrate 0 likeimpress 2 negative 0 posted 2018-09-27 ratio 3 react 11 reactrate 0 shares 1 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 7 title Making expensive preconditions affordable topic tax wordrate 0 words 194 ID 724409404570248 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/724409404570248 audclicks 7 audreach 7 commentsimpress 1 commentsusers 1 engaged 8 impress 62 likeclickusers 8 likeimpress 2 likeuimpress 39 likeusers 2 likeuusers 34 matchedotherclicks 7 oimpress 62 oreach 41 posted "09/27/2018 05:26:54 PM" postotherclicks 7 reach 41 sharesimpress 1 sharesusers 1 type Link ========== Still trying to cut taxes on the rich But middle-class taxpayers who couldn't detect any noticeable change in their paychecks so far, can't get excited whether the undetectable change is temporary or permanent. But the big Republican donors can get excited. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/gop-campaigns-ditch-tax-law-and-go-negative-as-midterm-election-approaches/2018/09/26/aa51e8ca-c041-11e8-be77-516336a26305_story.html But it's not expected to go anywhere in the Senate. https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/715678712109984 ===== comments 1 impact 117 impactrate 0 likeimpress 2 negative 0 posted 2018-09-27 ratio 2 react 23 reactrate 0 shares 2 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 18 title Still trying to cut taxes on the rich topic tax wordrate 0 words 51 ID 724300224581166 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/724300224581166 audclicks 18 audreach 5 commentsimpress 1 commentsusers 1 engaged 7 impress 77 likeclickusers 6 likeimpress 2 likeuimpress 53 likeusers 2 likeuusers 44 matchedotherclicks 18 oimpress 77 oreach 54 posted "09/27/2018 11:05:04 AM" postotherclicks 5 reach 54 sharesimpress 2 sharesusers 2 type Link ========== If at first you don't succeed - repeat the same dumb idea. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/09/11/house-gop-is-pushing-new-round-tax-cuts-that-could-cost-trillion-over-years/ The essence of this proposal is in what they don't talk about in their press release - pass-through taxation, alternative minimum tax, estate tax. None of which applies to the average W-2 wage slave. But the billionaires hear it loud and clear. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/09/13/new-estimate-gops-second-tax-cuts-would-add-trillion-deficit/ Ever wonder where the last tax cut went? https://justcapital.com/reports/the-just-capital-rankings-on-corporate-tax-reform/ We've never been in this situation before - https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/government-borrowing-soars-despite-robust-economy/2018/09/11/09a85554-b5eb-11e8-a7b5-adaaa5b2a57f_story.html Even Romney can't take it any more - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/republicans-have-become-silent-on-deficit-reduction-romney-says/2018/09/10/aad7589e-b528-11e8-94eb-3bd52dfe917b_story.html But his principles are a little uncertain, since he decided to oppose Obamacare even though it was modeled on Romney's own popular Masscare. Perhaps it's all just a publicity stunt - "Privately they admit they’re doing this to score political points against Democrats in an election year. They know that there won’t be support in the Senate to make last year’s reductions of individual rates permanent because there won’t be 60 votes." https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2018/09/12/daily-202-west-wing-intrigue-distracts-from-what-the-trump-administration-is-and-isn-t-doing/5b98042d1b326b47ec959559/ Or maybe not. William Jennings Bryan again: "There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that, if you will only legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea, however, has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous, their prosperity will find its way up through every class which rests upon them. ... You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns; you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold." http://www.one-flat-tax.net/ ===== comments 15 impact 5953 impactrate 0 likeimpress 33 negative 0 posted 2018-09-11 ratio 2 react 247 reactrate 0 shares 21 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 178 title If at first you don't succeed - topic tax wordrate 0 words 241 ID 715678712109984 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/715678712109984 audclicks 178 audreach 51 commentsimpress 15 commentsusers 13 engaged 73 impress 819 likeclickusers 53 likeimpress 33 likeuimpress 197 likeusers 33 likeuusers 154 matchedlinkclicks 8 matchedotherclicks 170 oimpress 819 oreach 547 posted "09/11/2018 10:20:01 AM" postlinkclicks 8 postotherclicks 46 reach 547 sharesimpress 21 sharesusers 21 type Link ========== The real crime wave engulfing America Nobody important went to jail for the 2008 financial meltdown, even though it was bigger than Enron and bigger than the Reagan savings and loan crisis. There's reasons for that https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/24/sunday-review/manafort-cohen-mueller-white-collar-crime.html Billionaires don't like the IRS snooping, so Republicans oblige https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/manafort-cohen-cases-reveal-weaknesses-in-enforcement-of-tax-and-election-laws/2018/08/25/3dace2f8-a79e-11e8-a656-943eefab5daf_story.html ===== comments 2 impact 149 impactrate 0 likeimpress 6 negative 0 posted 2018-08-25 ratio 3 react 33 reactrate 0 shares 6 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 19 title The real crime wave engulfing America topic tax wordrate 0 words 45 ID 706072403070615 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/706072403070615 audclicks 19 audreach 14 commentsimpress 2 commentsusers 2 engaged 17 impress 229 likeclickusers 14 likeimpress 6 likeuimpress 94 likeusers 6 likeuusers 60 matchedlinkclicks 8 matchedotherclicks 11 oimpress 229 oreach 127 posted "08/25/2018 05:52:02 AM" postlinkclicks 7 postotherclicks 9 reach 127 sharesimpress 6 sharesusers 4 type Link ========== If it's good for the billionaires - It's good to know that SOMEbody appreciates the tax cut bill and is willing to pay for it. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/18/us/politics/tax-cuts-republicans-donors.html ===== hide 1 impact 48 impactrate 0 likeimpress 9 negative 1 posted 2018-08-19 ratio 8 react 19 reactrate 0 shares 5 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 4 title If it's good for the billionaires - topic tax wordrate 0 words 25 ID 699457337065455 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/699457337065455 audclicks 4 audreach 3 engaged 13 hideclicks 1 hideclicksusers 1 impress 217 likeclickusers 13 likeimpress 9 likeuimpress 97 likeusers 8 likeuusers 65 matchedlinkclicks 1 matchedotherclicks 3 negclicks 1 negusers 1 oimpress 217 oreach 158 posted "08/19/2018 06:33:24 AM" postlinkclicks 1 postotherclicks 2 reach 158 sharesimpress 5 sharesusers 5 type Link ========== Better to let some people think you're corrupt than prove it to everybody! http://washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/08/09/how-on-earth-have-we-let-trump-get-away-with-hiding-his-tax-returns/ ===== comments 4 hide 1 impact 108 impactrate 0 likeimpress 23 negative 1 posted 2018-08-09 ratio 2 react 83 reactrate 0 shares 9 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 46 title Better to let some people think you're corrupt than prove topic tax wordrate 0 words 13 ID 688968904780965 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/688968904780965 audclicks 46 audreach 29 commentsimpress 4 commentsusers 4 engaged 40 hideclicks 1 hideclicksusers 1 impress 339 likeclickusers 29 likeimpress 23 likeuimpress 197 likeusers 22 likeuusers 109 matchedlinkclicks 8 matchedotherclicks 38 negclicks 1 negusers 1 oimpress 339 oreach 188 posted "08/09/2018 03:18:57 PM" postlinkclicks 7 postotherclicks 25 reach 188 sharesimpress 9 sharesusers 6 type Link ========== Why wait for Congress to relieve America's hard-pressed billionaires! Mnuchin is ready to do it by fiat - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/30/us/politics/trump-tax-cuts-rich.html Maybe they're afraid they don't have the votes in Congress now, before the election, and they certainly won't after the election. And the usual suspects are claiming that this tax cut for the top 1% will pay for itself, just like the last one... didn't. They all deserve some kind of award for chutzpah. If the Trumpists don't like inflation, they should quit legislating deficit spending. http://www.one-flat-tax.net/ ===== impact 227 impactrate 0 likeimpress 5 negative 0 posted 2018-07-30 ratio 3 react 27 reactrate 0 shares 3 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 19 title Why wait for Congress to relieve America's hard-pressed topic tax wordrate 0 words 84 ID 678137812530741 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/678137812530741 audclicks 19 audreach 14 engaged 17 impress 149 likeclickusers 9 likeimpress 5 likeuimpress 83 likeusers 5 likeuusers 49 matchedlinkclicks 7 matchedotherclicks 12 oimpress 149 oreach 89 posted "07/30/2018 03:37:27 PM" postlinkclicks 7 postotherclicks 8 reach 89 sharesimpress 3 sharesusers 3 type Link ========== The Trump tax law is working even better than expected https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/25/business/trump-corporate-tax-cut-deficit.html Next time, maybe try something that doesn't work quite so well at increasing the deficit. http://www.one-flat-tax.net/ ===== impact 78 impactrate 0 likeimpress 6 negative 0 posted 2018-07-25 ratio 5 react 31 reactrate 0 shares 5 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 20 title The Trump tax law is working even better than expected topic tax wordrate 0 words 25 ID 672862456391610 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/672862456391610 audclicks 20 audreach 13 engaged 19 impress 218 likeclickusers 16 likeimpress 6 likeuimpress 96 likeusers 6 likeuusers 64 matchedlinkclicks 6 matchedotherclicks 14 oimpress 218 oreach 156 posted "07/25/2018 03:39:56 PM" postlinkclicks 6 postotherclicks 9 reach 156 sharesimpress 5 sharesusers 5 type Link ========== Cutting taxes: it worked once, so try it again! https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/06/29/trump-calls-for-another-round-of-tax-cuts-further-reductions-to-corporate-tax-rate/ So what if the generally available facts don't support the claims? https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/06/29/not-what-we-expected-trumps-tax-bill-is-losing-popularity/ This administration has access to facts that are not generally available! https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/06/29/trumps-top-economic-adviser-says-deficit-is-coming-down-rapidly-contradicting-all-available-data/ And even though import tariffs are a tax on Americans, not foreigners, we won't count those as tax increases: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/06/14/trade-war-could-wipe-out-gains-of-gop-tax-law-former-top-trump-economist-says/ Of course, Cohn is no longer part of the Trump administration, so he only has access to ordinary facts. http://www.one-flat-tax.net/ ===== comments 2 impact 269 impactrate 0 likeimpress 11 negative 0 posted 2018-06-29 ratio 5 react 39 reactrate 0 shares 5 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 21 title Cutting taxes: it worked once, so try it again! topic tax wordrate 0 words 69 ID 647408972270292 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/647408972270292 audclicks 21 audreach 17 commentsimpress 2 commentsusers 2 engaged 25 impress 292 likeclickusers 17 likeimpress 11 likeuimpress 127 likeusers 11 likeuusers 83 matchedlinkclicks 3 matchedotherclicks 18 oimpress 292 oreach 223 posted "06/29/2018 02:40:53 PM" postlinkclicks 3 postotherclicks 14 reach 223 sharesimpress 5 sharesusers 5 type Link ========== There's a reason it's called Tax Cuts and JOBS Act... Jobs for lawyers: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/04/trump-tax-bill-lobbying-jobs-623656 And jobs for accountants! == topic tax ===== impact 30 impactrate 0 likeimpress 1 negative 0 posted 2018-06-05 ratio 4 react 15 reactrate 0 shares 3 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 11 title There's a reason it's called Tax Cuts and JOBS Act... topic tax wordrate 0 words 20 ID 628375037507019 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/628375037507019 audclicks 11 audreach 9 engaged 11 impress 96 likeclickusers 8 likeimpress 1 likeuimpress 64 likeusers 1 likeuusers 35 matchedlinkclicks 4 matchedotherclicks 7 oimpress 96 oreach 62 posted "06/05/2018 08:55:01 AM" postlinkclicks 4 postotherclicks 6 reach 62 sharesimpress 3 sharesusers 3 type Link ========== Time to talk about something else The Republicans must have noticed that some people actually read the new tax law and started figuring things out. Some of these people were billionaires, and some were their accountants and attorneys, and their hearts leapt for joy: http://thehill.com/policy/finance/384475-jct-much-of-pass-through-benefit-in-tax-law-goes-to-the-wealthy https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/special-trump-tax-provision-gives-17-billion-break-millionaires-gov-n868511 But it's not easy to make that sound like an advantage to ordinary W-2 taxpayers, who might be more inclined to agree with Bryan: "There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that, if you will only legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea, however, has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous, their prosperity will find its way up through every class which rests upon them. ... You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns; you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold." So plan A had to be abandoned: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/trumps-next-challenge-making-tax-cuts-great-again ===== comments 10 hide 2 impact 4754 impactrate 0 likeimpress 96 negative 2 posted 2018-05-20 ratio 5 react 299 reactrate 0 shares 35 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 156 title Time to talk about something else topic tax wordrate 0 words 159 ID 621060764905113 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/621060764905113 audclicks 156 audreach 114 bimpress 1191 blikeimpress 18 blikeusers 17 breach 1103 commentsimpress 10 commentsusers 9 engaged 182 hideclicks 1 hideclicksusers 2 impress 1852 likeclickusers 9 likeimpress 96 likeuimpress 91 likeusers 95 likeuusers 55 matchedlinkclicks 45 matchedotherclicks 111 negclicks 2 negusers 1 oimpress 661 oreach 525 posted "05/20/2018 04:47:09 PM" postlinkclicks 41 postotherclicks 86 reach 1599 sharesimpress 35 sharesusers 34 type Link budget 20 budgettype Lifetime cadname "Post: ""Time to talk about something else""" ccleantitle Time to talk about something else cclicksall 285 cclickslink 39 ccpcall 0.04677193 ccpclink 0.34179487 cdelivery rejected cend 2018-06-30 cimpressions 1193 clicksunique 39 conversionrank - cost 0.081779141104294 cpm 11.17351215 creach 1081 cstart 2018-04-01 ctrall 23.88935457 ctrlink 3.2690695725063 ecomments 3 ecpclink 0.34179487 ends 2018-06-03 engagedrank - epagelikes 1 ereact 88 eshares 33 frequency 1.1036077705828 indicator actions:post_engagement qualityrank - results 163 spent 13.33 ========== What happened to your Federal tax cut? There's a good chance it was offset by an automatic state tax increase that nobody wanted to talk about: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/12/business/economy/state-tax.html Why is tax so boring this time? What happened to the snake oil? https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/19/opinion/trump-tax-cut-snake-oil.html Why has Rubio given up? https://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21741146-florida-senator-thinks-reheating-reaganomics-dead-end-marco-rubio-offers-his How much government stimulus is needed to ramp up economic growth? https://www.wsj.com/articles/still-waiting-for-the-tax-cut-boost-1524475800 And stimulus takes a long time: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/30/opinion/republican-tax-cut-workers.html Or is it because Trump got bored? https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/gop-tax-law-trump-2018-midterms https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/16/business/economy/tax-law-talking.html Whatever happened to that brief glimmer of public interest? https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/19/business/economy/tax-overhaul-survey.html The Kochs aren't bored though: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-02/koch-backed-groups-are-selling-trump-s-tax-cuts-door-to-door-ahead-of-the-midterms == Corporate stock buybacks were another gift of the Reagan administration to the capitalist class (which, to be fair, includes most people with qualified retirement accounts - which, to be fair, does not include most people who would really need a qualified retirement account the most). Such buybacks had been illegal since the Depression. They were a major feature of the Bush tax cut, and they are a major feature of the Trump tax cut. https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/05/07/stock-buybacks-by-apple-other-tech-giants-who-benefits/ https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/03/opinion/apple-tax-cuts.html https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/05/07/butler-who-do-stock-buy-backs-leave-behind/ Somebody wants to do something about it. Hint: it's not anybody in the Trump administration: http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/21/investing/stock-buyback-ban-baldwin/index.html == The tax cut details are very complicated: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3089423 Radio advertising proves it's indeed a Full Employment for Accountants and Attorneys Act. But YOU probably don't need to worry your pretty little head about all that: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/economy/half-of-new-small-business-tax-break-will-go-to-filers-earning-over-1-million-report-finds == Maybe there's a simpler way: http://www.one-flat-tax.net/ ===== comments 31 hideall 1 impact 9223 impactrate 1 likeimpress 147 negative 1 posted 2018-05-08 ratio 5 react 433 reactrate 0 shares 51 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 203 title What happened to your Federal tax cut? topic tax wordrate 0 words 213 ID 615744685436721 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/615744685436721 audclicks 204 audreach 158 bimpress 1476 blikeimpress 11 blikeusers 10 breach 1364 commentsimpress 31 commentsusers 19 engaged 283 hideallclicks 1 hideallclicksusers 1 impress 2647 likeclickusers 6 likeimpress 147 likeuimpress 83 likeusers 136 likeuusers 34 matchedlinkclicks 60 matchedotherclicks 143 negclicks 1 negusers 1 oimpress 1171 oreach 875 posted "05/08/2018 05:55:20 PM" postlinkclicks 53 postotherclicks 118 reach 2196 sharesimpress 51 sharesusers 48 type Link budget 19 budgettype Lifetime cadname "Post: ""What happened to your Federal tax cut?""" ccleantitle What happened to your Federal tax cut? cclicksall 347 cclickslink 42 ccpcall 0.05475504 ccpclink 0.45238095 cdelivery rejected cend 2018-06-30 cimpressions 1478 clicksunique 40 conversionrank - cost 0.085201793721973 cpm 12.85520974 creach 1369 cstart 2018-04-01 ctrall 23.47767253 ctrlink 2.8416779431664 ecomments 12 ecpclink 0.45238095 ends 2018-06-03 engagedrank - ereact 121 eshares 48 frequency 1.0796201607012 indicator actions:post_engagement qualityrank - results 223 spent 19 ========== Sales tax is a bad way to finance state and local government Sales (and use) taxes are a traditional way to finance state and local government, but they are severely challenged by modern technology. States still can't force out-of-state vendors to collect the sales tax although Amazon finally relented voluntarily since it wanted to have physical presence in most states anyway. But then, who gets the sales tax within the state - the county where the order was fulfilled or the county where the purchaser resides? It's a big bucks issue in local government: https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/05/06/walters-how-online-retail-is-radically-affecting-many-billions-of-sales-tax-dollars-in-california/ What should be done instead? http://www.one-flat-tax.net/ ===== impact 129 impactrate 0 likeimpress 1 negative 0 posted 2018-05-08 ratio 2 react 13 reactrate 0 shares 1 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 11 title Sales tax is a bad way to finance state and local topic tax wordrate 0 words 99 ID 615693392108517 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/615693392108517 audclicks 11 audreach 5 engaged 6 impress 65 likeclickusers 5 likeimpress 1 likeuimpress 60 likeusers 1 likeuusers 25 matchedlinkclicks 1 matchedotherclicks 10 oimpress 65 oreach 28 posted "05/08/2018 03:33:19 PM" postlinkclicks 1 postotherclicks 5 reach 28 sharesimpress 1 sharesusers 1 type Link ========== Statutory Employee or Independent Contractor? https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/05/01/gig-economy-earthquake-california-supreme-court-rules-on-worker-classification/ There are certain statutory protections for employees, and different potential benefits for being an independent contractor - especially contractors that can organize themselves as a business and benefit from the new tax law: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3089423 But the central idea of the gig economy is to create a labor force without statutory protections and without any of the benefits of real independent contractors. Now the California Supreme Court says no. The IRS has also been aggressively reclassifying contractors as employees: https://www.pashalaw.com/reduce-costs-reclassifying-employees-independent-contractors/ ===== impact 49 impactrate 0 likeimpress 1 negative 0 posted 2018-05-02 ratio 6 react 6 reactrate 0 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 5 title Statutory Employee or Independent Contractor? topic tax wordrate 0 words 82 ID 612800265731163 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/612800265731163 audclicks 5 audreach 4 engaged 5 impress 95 likeclickusers 5 likeimpress 1 likeuimpress 92 likeusers 1 likeuusers 33 matchedotherclicks 5 oimpress 95 oreach 36 posted "05/02/2018 07:44:05 AM" postotherclicks 4 reach 36 type Link ========== Still looking for more take-home pay in your paycheck? https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/30/opinion/republican-tax-cut-workers.html https://www.wsj.com/articles/still-waiting-for-the-tax-cut-boost-1524475800 The Republicans had so counted on the tax law as the foundation of their 2018 campaigns: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/19/business/economy/tax-overhaul-survey.html The Kochs are still keen on promoting it: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/03/opinion/apple-tax-cuts.html But Trump seems to have already lost interest in his tax bill: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/16/business/economy/tax-law-talking.html He has such a short attention span. Because it's so boring! Of course that's why ordinary citizens never understand much about it, and that enables legislative shenanigans. Fortunately, Trump can afford to hire other people to figure it all out for him. Perhaps we can return to this topic in another 30 years: http://www.one-flat-tax.net/ ===== comments 1 impact 539 impactrate 0 likeimpress 18 negative 0 posted 2018-05-01 ratio 5 react 55 reactrate 0 shares 2 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 34 title Still looking for more take-home pay in your paycheck? topic tax wordrate 0 words 98 ID 612488492429007 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/612488492429007 audclicks 34 audreach 20 bimpress 209 blikeimpress 14 blikeusers 12 breach 205 commentsimpress 1 commentsusers 1 engaged 35 impress 380 likeclickusers 2 likeimpress 18 likeuimpress 106 likeusers 18 likeuusers 46 matchedlinkclicks 7 matchedotherclicks 27 oimpress 171 oreach 89 posted "05/01/2018 02:56:08 PM" postlinkclicks 3 postotherclicks 19 reach 290 sharesimpress 2 sharesusers 2 type Status budget 7 budgettype Lifetime cadname "Post: ""Still looking for more take-home pay in your...""" ccleantitle Still looking for more take-home pay in your cclicksall 34 cclickslink 3 ccpcall 0.20588235 ccpclink 2.33333333 cdelivery rejected cend 2018-06-30 cimpressions 209 clicksunique 2 conversionrank - cost 0.31818181818182 cpm 33.49282297 creach 205 cstart 2018-04-01 ctrall 16.26794258 ctrlink 1.4354066985646 ecpclink 2.33333333 ends 2018-05-08 engagedrank - ereact 17 eshares 2 frequency 1.019512195122 indicator actions:post_engagement qualityrank - results 22 spent 7 ========== Progressives should not take California voters for granted Most surveys show California voters as a whole favorably inclined toward most of the progressive economic justice ideas espoused by the left wing of the Democratic party. Most California voters are also motorists who want government to do more about traffic congestion. However it's important to remember that California is also the home of Proposition 13 - "lower taxes and who cares what it does to schools." And a ballot initiative seems likely to qualify, and might well pass, to repeal a recent increase in the gasoline tax: https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/04/30/gas-tax-repeal-heading-for-the-november-ballot-campaign-says/ The arguments in favor of repeal avoid talking about the root cause of the problem: gas tax receipts are no longer proportional to highway usage wear and tear. Electric vehicles pay no gas tax, and hybrid and efficient conventional vehicles pay less than older cars, even though a mile traveled by a 2000 pound car has the same impact on the highway no matter how it's propelled. It's a good thing that modern cars use less gas, but it means that the gas they use has to be taxed at a higher rate to sustain the same level of highway maintenance. No matter what other process reforms are adopted, ultimately it's either higher taxes or lesser government services. Most voters know how they feel about services and how they feel about taxes. They don't think so much about whether there's an inherent contradiction in trying to satisfy both feelings at once. They forget that roads that are falling apart are a form of taxation as well. https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/05/02/nearly-400-miles-of-san-jose-road-are-in-bad-shape/ So advocates of increased governmental services should be as forthright as possible about the cost, so that there is more buy-in at the time of adoption and less likelihood of repeal. In principle, every expenditure increase or decrease should be accompanied automatically by a corresponding realistic tax increase or decrease. Separating the feel-good vote from the feel-bad vote maximizes the chances of unsatisfactory results. For general government, that's part of the one-flat-tax idea: http://www.one-flat-tax.net/ but that idea is not intended to address user fees such as highway taxes. ===== comments 17 hide 1 impact 18672 impactrate 1 likeimpress 21 negative 1 posted 2018-05-01 ratio 6 react 535 reactrate 0 shares 10 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 486 title Progressives should not take California voters for granted topic tax wordrate 0 words 349 ID 612451702432686 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/612451702432686 audclicks 488 audreach 342 bimpress 3288 blikeimpress 4 blikeusers 4 breach 2912 commentsimpress 17 commentsusers 14 engaged 352 hideclicks 1 hideclicksusers 1 impress 4005 likeclickusers 10 likeimpress 21 likeuimpress 137 likeusers 17 likeuusers 71 matchedlinkclicks 153 matchedotherclicks 333 negclicks 1 negusers 1 oimpress 717 oreach 469 posted "05/01/2018 12:56:25 PM" postlinkclicks 112 postotherclicks 253 reach 3370 sharesimpress 10 sharesusers 8 type Link budget 34 budgettype Lifetime cadname "Post: ""Progressives should not take California voters...""" ccleantitle Progressives should not take California voters cclicksall 743 cclickslink 122 ccpcall 0.04576043 ccpclink 0.27868852 cdelivery rejected cend 2018-06-30 cimpressions 3289 clicksunique 112 conversionrank - cost 0.27868852459016 cpm 10.3374886 creach 2853 cstart 2018-04-01 ctrall 22.59045303 ctrlink 3.7093341441168 ecomments 11 ecpclink 0.27868852 ends 2018-06-03 engagedrank - ereact 10 eshares 8 frequency 1.1528215913074 indicator actions:link_click qualityrank - results 122 spent 34 ========== Marco Rubio is not impressed by tax cut bill Rubio has noticed that the benefits flow mainly upward, not downward: https://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21741146-florida-senator-thinks-reheating-reaganomics-dead-end-marco-rubio-offers-his Why did it take him so long to catch on? I wonder how many other Republicans will eventually notice the same thing? But Rubio just proposes tinkering, instead of fundamental change: http://www.one-flat-tax.net/ Rubio has been feuding with Leonard Pitts, Jr. of the Miami Herald, who wrote "I, personally, will not engage with Trump supporters. Reasoning with them is like reasoning with rocks." In here: http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/leonard-pitts-jr/article209844134.html That sounds a bit judgmental, conflating two different categories of Trump voters. There's one group that will always support Trump no matter what, because he supports their prejudices no matter what: http://www.political-scrapbook.net/trump.html#Second%20Trump%20Constituency But there's another category of Trump voters - those that were also Obama voters, hoping for change their lives for the better: http://www.political-scrapbook.net/trump.html#First%20Trump%20Constituency Some of these have proven to be persuadable and are worth talking to. ===== comments 22 hide 1 impact 4604 impactrate 0 likeimpress 14 negative 1 posted 2018-04-30 ratio 8 react 309 reactrate 0 shares 7 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 265 title Marco Rubio is not impressed by tax cut bill topic tax wordrate 0 words 149 ID 612038735807316 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/612038735807316 audclicks 270 audreach 219 bimpress 2569 blikeimpress 5 blikeusers 4 breach 2354 commentsimpress 22 commentsusers 19 engaged 241 hideclicks 1 hideclicksusers 1 impress 3065 likeclickusers 23 likeimpress 14 likeuimpress 148 likeusers 14 likeuusers 76 matchedlinkclicks 178 matchedotherclicks 87 negclicks 1 negusers 1 oimpress 496 oreach 353 posted "04/30/2018 03:03:24 PM" postlinkclicks 156 postotherclicks 69 reach 2704 sharesimpress 7 sharesusers 7 type Link budget 34 budgettype Lifetime cadname "Post: ""Marco Rubio is not impressed by tax cut bill""" ccleantitle Marco Rubio is not impressed by tax cut bill cclicksall 436 cclickslink 171 ccpcall 0.07798165 ccpclink 0.19883041 cdelivery rejected cend 2018-06-30 cimpressions 2569 clicksunique 164 conversionrank - cost 0.19883040935673 cpm 13.23472168 creach 2351 cstart 2018-04-01 ctrall 16.97158427 ctrlink 6.6562864927988 ecomments 14 ecpclink 0.19883041 ends 2018-06-03 engagedrank - ereact 10 eshares 5 frequency 1.092726499362 indicator actions:link_click qualityrank - results 171 spent 34 ========== More on the new tax law: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/economy/half-of-new-small-business-tax-break-will-go-to-filers-earning-over-1-million-report-finds https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/28/us/politics/spreadsheets-at-dawn-the-new-tax-battle-is-all-about-data.html http://thehill.com/policy/finance/384475-jct-much-of-pass-through-benefit-in-tax-law-goes-to-the-wealthy https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/special-trump-tax-provision-gives-17-billion-break-millionaires-gov-n868511 Missed the previous discussions here?: https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/608580462819810 https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/606340306377159 https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/600105303667326 https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/556413984703125 Care to consider something simpler? http://www.one-flat-tax.net/ ===== comments 3 hide 1 impact 336 impactrate 0 likeimpress 6 negative 1 posted 2018-04-25 ratio 9 react 210 reactrate 0 shares 5 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 195 title More on the new tax law: topic tax wordrate 0 words 16 ID 609869669357556 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/609869669357556 audclicks 197 audreach 171 bimpress 1985 blikeimpress 3 blikeusers 3 breach 1890 commentsimpress 3 commentsusers 3 engaged 179 hideclicks 1 hideclicksusers 1 impress 2205 likeclickusers 6 likeimpress 6 likeuimpress 92 likeusers 6 likeuusers 34 matchedlinkclicks 174 matchedotherclicks 21 negclicks 1 negusers 1 oimpress 220 oreach 127 posted "04/25/2018 03:48:15 PM" postlinkclicks 158 postotherclicks 18 reach 2011 sharesimpress 5 sharesusers 4 type Link budget 34 budgettype Lifetime cadname "Post: ""More on the new tax law:""" ccleantitle More on the new tax law cclicksall 256 cclickslink 167 ccpcall 0.1328125 ccpclink 0.20359281 cdelivery rejected cend 2018-06-30 cimpressions 1985 clicksunique 160 conversionrank - cost 0.20359281437126 cpm 17.12846348 creach 1854 cstart 2018-04-01 ctrall 12.89672544 ctrlink 8.4130982367758 ecomments 1 ecpclink 0.20359281 ends 2018-06-03 engagedrank - ereact 2 eshares 2 frequency 1.0706580366775 indicator actions:link_click qualityrank - results 167 spent 34 ========== Still looking for more take-home pay in your paycheck? https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2018/04/24/hows-that-tax-cut-selling/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/tax-cuts-are-no-longer-the-shiny-object-that-republicans-hoped-theyd-be/2018/04/23/a671b228-4736-11e8-827e-190efaf1f1ee_story.html https://www.wsj.com/articles/still-waiting-for-the-tax-cut-boost-1524475800 Some Republicans seem to be slow learners: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/republicans-fear-political-risk-in-senate-races-as-house-moves-to-extend-tax-cuts/2018/04/18/5eb250a4-4313-11e8-ad8f-27a8c409298b_story.html They had so counted on the tax law as the foundation of their 2018 campaigns: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/19/business/economy/tax-overhaul-survey.html Trump seems to have already lost interest in his tax bill: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/16/business/economy/tax-law-talking.html He has such a short attention span. Because it's so boring! Of course that's why ordinary citizens never understand much about it, and that enables legislative shenanigans. Fortunately, Trump can afford to hire other people to figure it all out for him. Perhaps we can return to this topic in another 30 years: http://www.one-flat-tax.net/ ===== impact 29 impactrate 0 negative 0 posted 2018-04-24 ratio 13 react 3 reactrate 0 shares 1 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 2 title Still looking for more take-home pay in your paycheck? topic tax wordrate 0 words 95 ID 609516552726201 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/609516552726201 audclicks 2 audreach 2 engaged 3 impress 94 likeclickusers 3 likeuimpress 79 likeuusers 28 matchedlinkclicks 1 matchedotherclicks 1 oimpress 94 oreach 41 posted "04/24/2018 09:08:02 PM" postlinkclicks 1 postotherclicks 1 reach 41 sharesimpress 1 sharesusers 1 type Link ========== What happens if the provisions in the new law are made permanent? A number of provisions in the new tax law are due to expire in 2026. That includes many provisions intended to benefit the average taxpayer. But making all those 2026-expiring provisions permanent won't change things much - except making the deficit will be even worse - most of the benefits will flow through to the top 20%. That's because the 2026-expiring provisions include the estate tax reduction and the deduction for pass-through business income. Read all about in the ITEP analysis: https://itep.org/tcja20182026/ Big banks aren't complaining about the new tax law: https://apnews.com/96589643061e4437bd45fdcc35959fe0 Some of that money will come in handy at Wells Fargo, that's for sure: https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/04/20/wells-fargo-to-pay-1b-for-mortgage-auto-lending-abuses/ Elsewhere, an interesting illustration of the effect of fast-track tax legislation came to light... it's a bit complicated of course, which is why it took a while. The IRS category "Supplementary Wages" includes payments from Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation Plans, which in most of the country are only available to senior management, but in Silicon Valley are sometimes offered to senior technologists as well. They are taxable as ordinary income in the year paid, but the question is what rate of withholding should be used. It used to be 25% on the first million dollars and 35% above that. The treatment of deferred compensation plans in the new tax law changed on an hourly basis during December until the final bell rang and the bill passed. So while it was clear that the final decision was that the excess rate would be 37% instead of 35% (this was a tax cut bill?), it wasn't obvious whether the first million was supposed to be taxed at 28% or 22% instead of 25%: https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/Tax/us-tax-reform-payroll-implications.pdf under "Supplemental rates." After 2018 started, the IRS made a decision for 22%: https://twrblog.com/category/tax-reform/ under "IRS Releases Withholding Guidance," and issued a notice: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/n1036.pdf under "Withholding on Supplemental Wages." This is a relatively minor matter - it's just the withholding rate, not the tax rate. One wonders what other, most consequential, accidental provisions have become law. It could be a lot simpler: http://www.one-flat-tax.net/ ===== comments 1 impact 4325 impactrate 0 negative 0 posted 2018-04-22 ratio 15 react 125 reactrate 0 shares 5 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 119 title What happens if the provisions in the new law are made topic tax wordrate 0 words 346 ID 608580462819810 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/608580462819810 audclicks 121 audreach 99 bimpress 1822 blikeimpress 6 blikeusers 6 breach 1782 commentsimpress 1 commentsusers 1 engaged 99 impress 2085 likeclickusers 9 likeuimpress 101 likeuusers 43 matchedlinkclicks 42 matchedotherclicks 77 oimpress 263 oreach 164 posted "04/22/2018 04:33:41 PM" postlinkclicks 36 postotherclicks 71 reach 1930 sharesimpress 5 sharesusers 5 type Link budget 20 budgettype Lifetime cadname "Post: ""What happens if the provisions in the new law are...""" ccleantitle What happens if the provisions in the new law are cclicksall 194 cclickslink 39 ccpcall 0.10309278 ccpclink 0.51282051 cdelivery rejected cend 2018-06-30 cimpressions 1821 clicksunique 38 conversionrank - cost 0.51282051282051 cpm 10.98297639 creach 1772 cstart 2018-04-01 ctrall 10.6534871 ctrlink 2.1416803953871 ecpclink 0.51282051 ends 2018-04-30 engagedrank - epagelikes 1 eshares 2 frequency 1.0276523702032 indicator actions:link_click qualityrank - results 39 spent 20 ========== Tax Too Boring for Trump, but not for House Some Republicans seem to be slow learners. They had so counted on the tax law as the foundation of their 2018 campaigns: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/19/business/economy/tax-overhaul-survey.html The Senate seems to have figured out that they'll have to find something else: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/19/opinion/trump-tax-cut-snake-oil.html but the House are fanatics and think that if they just need to sell it better. Trump seems to has already lost interest in his tax bill: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/16/business/economy/tax-law-talking.html He has such a short attention span. Because it's so boring! Of course that's why ordinary citizens never understand much about it, and that enables legislative shenanigans. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3089423 The more Republicans try to sell all that, the more voters will catch on. Fortunately, Trump can afford to hire other people to figure it all out for him. And Paul Ryan, who considered those shenanigans his crowning achievement... is giving up and going home. Then: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/trumps-next-challenge-making-tax-cuts-great-again Now: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/gop-tax-law-trump-2018-midterms The velocity of the scandal storm and tweet storm give everybody attention deficit and we can't remember what concerned us yesterday. Perhaps we can return to this topic in another 30 years: http://www.one-flat-tax.net/ ===== comments 5 impact 5091 impactrate 0 likeimpress 7 negative 0 posted 2018-04-17 ratio 9 react 286 reactrate 0 shares 6 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 268 title Tax Too Boring for Trump, but not for House topic tax wordrate 0 words 178 ID 606340306377159 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/606340306377159 audclicks 279 audreach 244 bimpress 2711 blikeimpress 3 blikeusers 3 breach 2457 commentsimpress 5 commentsusers 5 engaged 251 impress 3008 likeclickusers 2 likeimpress 7 likeuimpress 92 likeusers 7 likeuusers 30 matchedlinkclicks 218 matchedotherclicks 50 oimpress 297 oreach 188 posted "04/17/2018 05:53:14 PM" postlinkclicks 191 postotherclicks 46 reach 2648 sharesimpress 6 sharesusers 5 type Link budget 34 budgettype Lifetime cadname "Post: ""Tax Too Boring for Trump, but not for House""" ccleantitle Tax Too Boring for Trump, but not for House cclicksall 572 cclickslink 218 ccpcall 0.05944056 ccpclink 0.1559633 cdelivery rejected cend 2018-06-30 cimpressions 2711 clicksunique 208 conversionrank - cost 0.15596330275229 cpm 12.5414976 creach 2512 cstart 2018-04-01 ctrall 21.09922538 ctrlink 8.0413131685725 ecomments 2 ecpclink 0.1559633 ends 2018-06-03 engagedrank - ereact 6 eshares 5 frequency 1.0792197452229 indicator actions:link_click qualityrank - results 218 spent 34 ========== State and Local Tax Deduction - what's the progressive choice? Dalton Conley points out that the state and local tax deduction rewards rich states at the expense of poor states: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/youre-losing-a-major-tax-deduction-this-year-stop-complaining-about-it/2018/04/12/23aca048-3dd9-11e8-8d53-eba0ed2371cc_story.html And he's right to the extent that high state and local taxes benefit residents of that state, and if they reduce the amount of Federal taxes paid from that state, it penalizes residents of all states. Of course this was not the thinking behind attempts to eliminate and then reduce the state and local tax deduction in the 2017 bill; the motivations were 1) ideological - reduce the size of state and local government, and 2) punish Democratic states which tend to have higher state and local taxes. A flat tax that federalized all state and local taxes for general government and public education could go a long way toward evening up educational equality of opportunity across the country. http://www.one-flat-tax.net/ ===== comments 1 impact 373 impactrate 0 likeimpress 2 negative 0 posted 2018-04-15 ratio 3 react 25 reactrate 0 shares 1 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 21 title State and Local Tax Deduction - what's the progressive topic tax wordrate 0 words 149 ID 605406166470573 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/605406166470573 audclicks 21 audreach 14 commentsimpress 1 commentsusers 1 engaged 15 impress 158 likeclickusers 15 likeimpress 2 likeuimpress 145 likeusers 2 likeuusers 84 matchedlinkclicks 2 matchedotherclicks 19 oimpress 158 oreach 95 posted "04/15/2018 03:18:46 PM" postlinkclicks 2 postotherclicks 14 reach 95 sharesimpress 1 sharesusers 1 type Link ========== It's Tax March Day! https://taxmarch.org/events/ Let the world know how you feel about the Republican tax "reform." If on the way you tune into your radio for a traffic report, you might hear an ad for tax planning services for businesses to help them make the most of the "reform." But don't blame the lawyers and accountants who make a living trying to interpret byzantine tax law - blame the lawyers and accountants who "serve" in Congress by voting for it! https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/556413984703125 Many, from Paul Ryan on down, have decided it's time to leave on a (market) high note at the end of their current term, before the recession hits the fan, creating more opportunities for some real change. http://www.one-flat-tax.net/ ===== hide 1 impact 468 impactrate 0 negative 1 posted 2018-04-15 ratio 34 react 40 reactrate 0 shares 1 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 38 title It's Tax March Day! topic tax wordrate 0 words 117 ID 605259563151900 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/605259563151900 audclicks 40 audreach 34 bimpress 1455 blikeimpress 16 blikeusers 12 breach 1335 engaged 34 hideclicks 1 hideclicksusers 1 impress 1564 likeclickusers 1 likeuimpress 100 likeuusers 40 matchedlinkclicks 16 matchedotherclicks 22 negclicks 1 negusers 1 oimpress 109 oreach 47 posted "04/15/2018 07:34:15 AM" postlinkclicks 15 postotherclicks 20 reach 1380 sharesimpress 1 sharesusers 1 type Link budget 20 budgettype Lifetime cadname "Post: ""It's Tax March Day!""" ccleantitle It's Tax March Day! cclicksall 56 cclickslink 16 ccpcall 0.35714286 ccpclink 1.25 cdelivery rejected cend 2018-06-30 cimpressions 1455 clicksunique 16 conversionrank - cost 1.25 cpm 13.74570447 creach 1368 cstart 2018-04-01 ctrall 3.84879725 ctrlink 1.0996563573883 ecpclink 1.25 ends 2018-04-16 engagedrank - eshares 1 frequency 1.0635964912281 indicator actions:link_click qualityrank - results 16 spent 20 ========== What Happens When You Fast-Track a Tax Bill? https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/03/us/politics/tax-law-regulations-omb-treasury.html The centerpiece of Trump's original tax proposal was a reduction of tax on business income to 15% instead of the personal income tax rates. That's because, he, his family, and his billionaire cronies all get their income from businesses organized as pass-through entities - under previous law, the business income passed through to be taxed at personal income rates. Getting W-2 wages as a statutory employee is for wage-earners who can't afford good accountants and lawyers. But 15% was a bridge too far even for Republicans, so in the an around-the-clock attempt to beat the bell - Trump wanted to sign in 2017 before Congress went home - they kept hacking on the pass-through provisions to make sure they provided tax relief to the deserving and not to the undeserving while keeping the overall deficit impact to $1.5 trillion. What if every wage-earner started trying to be treated as a business rather than a statutory employee? As every technologist knows from bitter experience, around-the-clock hacking under intense time pressure leads to mistakes, errors of omission and commission. But the clock ran down, and they turned in what they had, and Trump signed it. They hadn't resolved all the issues about their changes, but they figured the IRS could figure it out. Of course, in public, the president and the Republican leaders talked about anything and everything except the heart of the matter, which was the pass-through taxation, about which they felt the less said the better - after all, it doesn't have anything to do with the average W-2 wage-earner. The best reading on how Congress left matters is here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3089423 You can't understand the tax bill until you read this. It's unreadable for most people. That's what you need to understand. So who figures out what it really means? That's not even clear: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/03/us/politics/tax-law-regulations-omb-treasury.html What's clear is that it's going to take a long time to figure out. All of which could have been avoided if Congress had taken a long time to get it right in the first place, even in the narrow definition of "right" as what they meant to do. But it never works that way, because every member of Congress has a different intent, and so tax bills always leave the hard parts for the IRS to unscramble, and that way Congress can blame the IRS for the impenetrable tax code. Besides that kind of confusion, there are also objective drafting errors to resolve: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/11/us/politics/tax-cut-law-problems.html Oddly enough, the Democrats who had no say in the original bill are no more interested in making it work better, than Republicans were interested in making Obamacare work better. And in an interesting footnote, the tax law makes certain W-2 wage-earners into capital assets: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/19/us/politics/baseball-tax-law-.html subject somehow to capital gains taxes. ===== comments 11 hide 1 hideall 1 impact 13607 impactrate 1 likeimpress 59 negative 2 posted 2018-04-03 ratio 9 react 292 reactrate 0 shares 16 sharesrate 0 sumclicks 204 title What Happens When You Fast-Track a Tax Bill? topic tax wordrate 0 words 466 ID 600105303667326 URL https://www.facebook.com/politicalscrapbooknet/posts/600105303667326 audclicks 208 audreach 169 bimpress 2684 blikeimpress 21 blikeusers 16 breach 2497 commentsimpress 11 commentsusers 9 engaged 218 hideallclicks 1 hideallclicksusers 1 hideclicks 1 hideclicksusers 1 impress 3159 likeclickusers 16 likeimpress 59 likeuimpress 167 likeusers 56 likeuusers 86 matchedlinkclicks 38 matchedotherclicks 166 negclicks 2 negusers 2 oimpress 475 oreach 354 posted "04/03/2018 01:43:09 PM" postlinkclicks 33 postotherclicks 140 reach 2803 sharesimpress 16 sharesusers 16 type Link budget 39 budgettype Lifetime cadname "Post: ""What Happens When You Fast-Track a Tax Bill?""" ccleantitle What Happens When You Fast-Track a Tax Bill? cclicksall 301 cclickslink 35 ccpcall 0.12698 ccpclink 1.08629 cdelivery rejected cend 2018-06-30 cimpressions 2684 clicksunique 13+21 conversionrank - cost 0.699857 cpm 14.4028 creach 2516 cstart 2018-04-01 ctrall 11.1408 ctrlink 1.30119 ecomments 4 ecpclink 2.37063 ends 2018-06-03 engagedrank - epagelikes 1 ereact 47 eshares 13 frequency 1.06677 indicator actions:post_engagement+actions:link_click qualityrank - results 96 spent 39