Blog: The Fine Print / Revenue & Spending

Hedge Fund Giants Earned Enough to Pay Fair Share

Apr 16, 2008 by Dana Chasin

"Pick on Someone Your Own Size!" The New York Times business section story today, Wall Street Winners Get Billion-Dollar Paydays, addresses the fortunes of "[h]edge fund managers, those masters of a secretive, sometimes volatile financial universe, [who] are making money on a scale that once seemed unimaginable, even in Wall Street's rarefied realms," mentions that the top 50 hedge fund managers last year earned a combined $29 billion, and goes on to quote William H. Gross, the chief investment officer of the bond fund Pimco: There is nothing wrong with it — it's not illegal... But it's ugly.

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DAILY FISCAL POLICY REPORT -- April 16, 2008

Apr 16, 2008 by Dana Chasin

Economy -- Latest Data: Inflation Up, Earnings Down
  • Inflation Up in March: BLS data show consumer prices advanced 0.3 percent in March; energy was up 1.9 percent while food ticked up 0.2 percent. Over the past 12 months, inflation is up 4.0 percent (less food and energy, 2.4 percent)
  • Average Weekly Earnings: The BLS is also indicating that real (inflation adjusted) average weekly earnings were up 0.2 percent Feb. to March. Year-over-year, real average weekly earnings are down 1.0 percent, continuing their downward trend.

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House Passes HR 5719

Apr 16, 2008 by Craig Jennings

Tax Act Would End IRS's Private Debt Collection Program After fending off an effort to attach an immigration provision, the House passed HR 5719 by a vote of 238-179. The bill would end the IRS's private debt collection (PDC) program if signed into law. It was this provision and a proposed change to the rules of health savings accounts (HSAs) that drew vocal opposition from Republicans. While the fortunes of the bill in the Senate are uncertain -- Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) is a staunch supporter of the PDC initiative -- The House vote indicates an override of a veto is unlikely.

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Tax Day 2008 Reflections: Existential Taxation

Apr 15, 2008 by Dana Chasin

We all know we labor one third of our lives. Do we reflect on the fact that roughly one fifth of all our productive and economic lives involves taxation? Do we appreciate that the tax code is our industrial policy (shaped by corporate tax incentives)? That the code is also a moral code (the marriage penalty)? That it expresses our values and governs much of our social and spiritual lives (the charitable deduction)? That it orders and re-orders our society (the mortgage interest deduction and the trillions more in spending that it enables)?

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President Threatens to Veto HR 5719, the Taxpayer Assistance and Simplification Act of 2008

Apr 15, 2008 by Craig Jennings

President Bush has threatened to veto HR 5719, the bill recently approved by the House Ways & Means Committee and expected to see House floor action today. The bill would end the IRS's private debt collection (PDC) program, require that disbursements from health savings accounts (HSAs) be substantiated (i.e. require submission of receipts), and implement a bevy of other tax policies.

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The Other April 15

Apr 15, 2008 by Dana Chasin

Difficult? Try Downright Ugly

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DAILY FISCAL POLICY REPORT -- Tax Day 2008

Apr 15, 2008 by Dana Chasin

Taxes -- IRS Tax Collection Program A $$-Loser: A front-page story in today's Washington Post reports that Collectors Cost IRS More Than They Raise. The IRS' program using private tax collectors has brought in about half of what it has cost the IRS to implement the program. Debt collectors have pocketed commissions of up to 24 percent. "This program is the hood ornament for incompetence" said Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-ND). Expected losses: $37 million. Story.

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Penny Wise, Pound Foolish on Foreclosure Politics?

Apr 14, 2008 by Dana Chasin

The New York Times' lead editorial today, "Foreclosure Politics," opens with some important points about the expensive, irrelevant, and counterproductive tax breaks riddling the Senate's inaptly named "Foreclosure Prevention Act." But from there, the editorial swerves off course and confuses readers about the House bill aimed at preventing foreclosures and minimizing economic pain. The editorial says that, under the plan by House Financial Services chair Barney Frank (D-MA) to provide $300 billion in refinanced mortgage guarantees,

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House Passes HR 4881 - Contracting and Tax Accountability Act of 2007

Apr 14, 2008 by Craig Jennings

By a voice vote, the House approved HR 4881. The bill, the Contracting and Tax Accountability Act of 2007, if signed into law, would bar firms that are delinquent in paying their federal income taxes from obtaining federal contracts.

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Private Tax Collection Sign On Letter

Apr 14, 2008 by Craig Jennings

OMB Watch has signed on to a National Treasury Employees Union letter that calls on Representatives to support H.R. 5719, the "Taxpayer Assistance and Simplification Act of 20080." The bill would, among other things, end the private debt collection program, which is not only fiscally irresponsible, but puts sensitive taxpayer data at risk and opens citizens to abusive collection practices. If you would like to sign on to the letter, email Matt Socknat at NTEU - (email address appears as an image and is un-clickable to prevent spam)

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