2012 Elections

GOP Leaders Take on Far Right Pressure Groups

By Eric Pianin

There have been plenty of theories about why Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) strode onstage at a conservative gathering late last week carrying a rifle. Ostensibly, McConnell, the 72-...
Some CEOs Are Still Cashing In at Our Expense

By Josh Boak, The Fiscal Times

Many of the highest paid CEOs might be ripping off stockholders and taxpayers, according to a study released Wednesday by the progressive Institute for Policy Studies.
Tax Reform Could Be Easier Than Congress Thinks

By Yuval Rosenberg

The conservative-leaning Tax Foundation issued a press release Monday touting some “good news for tax reformers”: An analysis by experts at the foundation found that a plan to dramatically simplify...
‘The Daily Show’ Explains Why Our ‘Chicken$#!&’ Congress Hasn’t Reformed the Tax Code

By Yuval Rosenberg

Congress may be out on its month-long August recess, but that doesn’t mean “The Daily Show” stops its skewering. Last night, host John Oliver took on our broken tax code – and used the issue to take...
How 21 Major Corporations Dodged $93B in Taxes

By Eric Pianin and Josh Boak

Twenty-one of the top 100 publicly traded U.S. corporations – including such big names as Goldman Sachs, Apple and Walt Disney – have avoided paying $93 billion a year in federal taxes by parking...

Obama’s Bargain: Lower Rates for Higher Spending

By Eric Pianin

President Obama intends to make one last pitch for a “grand bargain” of new spending and tax policy on Tuesday that will attempt to marry corporate tax reform with funding for jobs to benefit the...
Ominous Signs for the GOP in 2014

By Bruce Bartlett, The Fiscal Times

The conventional wisdom is that Republicans are in good shape going into next year’s congressional elections. Gerrymandering and the enormous benefits of incumbency virtually guarantee them continued...
Trading Tax Write-Offs for Real Growth

By Andrew Fieldhouse, The Fiscal Times

Overhauling the tax code is a wonky fixation of the D.C. policymaking elite, for good reason — it’s an area loaded with policy nuance, lobbying intrigue and major ramifications for long-term fiscal...
IRS Scandal: How the Brouhaha Went Bust

By Peter Weber, TheWeek.com

Rep. Darrell Issa is still banging the scandal drum. Is anyone listening anymore?
Beer, Burgers, and a Two-Man Blitz on Tax Reform

By Josh Boak, The Fiscal Times

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI) are keeping hope alive that the tax code can be rewritten. Both peg the odds of successful reform at more than 50 percent, according to a joint lunch...

Don’t Jump Yet—Congress May Avoid the Fiscal Cliff

By Eric Pianin

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., signaled interest in defusing the fiscal cliff crisis by giving Congress until the middle of 2013 to come up with a major overhaul of the tax...
What a Tax Break! Make $200M and Pay the IRS Zilch

By Yuval Rosenberg

New numbers from the IRS make clear that while the wealthiest Americans weren’t quite as prosperous in 2009 as they had been before the Great Recession, many of them still benefitted from policies...
Sequester Could Wipe out More than a Million Jobs

By Eric Pianin

A new study by the Bipartisan Policy Center warns that the $1 trillion of looming automatic cuts in defense and domestic programs could greatly add to the country’s economic woes and wipe out more...
How Uncertainty Affects the Economy

By Yuval Rosenberg

A newly devised economic index shows that uncertainty peaked around the time of the debt-ceiling crisis last summer, but remains at historically high levels.
Who Really Deserves the Carried Interest Tax Break?

By Suzanne McGee, The Fiscal Times

It’s only a matter of weeks now before the election campaign heats up even further and the debate over income that comes from “carried interest” moves back into the spotlight once more. It’s a topic...

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