As noted in this blog back in August, the end of Labour rule in the U.K. will not mean the end of big government in that country. The new coalition government has already proposed a large tax hike on capital gains: At present investors only pay CGT of 18pc on gains…
Geoffrey MacLeay
Act of Congress to Protect Against Acts of God
Eli Lehrer writes in the Weekly Standard this week about a bill from Congressman Ron Klein that seems to be companion legislation to Congressman Richard Neal’s Reinsurance Bill. The article correctly points out the anti-market effects of such legislation: Those who…
They're Watching You in Pennsylvania.
David Paul Kuhn recently wrote about an interesting new approach to tax collection in the Keystone State: Pennsylvania has a common problem. Hundreds of millions in unpaid taxes. And it needs that revenue. The state took the offensive with a $3 million ad campaign….
Complicated Banking Regulations and Double Taxation Hurt Americans Abroad.
The New York Times ran an article this week about an increasing number of Americans living and working abroad who are considering taking the drastic step of giving up their American citizenship. Most of these expats would ideally like to maintain their citzenship but…
Vast Majority of the Senate Appears to be Against a VAT.
Last Thursday, the Senate took a vote on a non-binding “sense of the Senate” resolution concerning a Value Added Tax. The result was an 85-13 victory for the anti-VAT side. The roll call can be found here. The statement of purpose read as follows: Expressing the…
In Chicago the Dead Vote, in New York They Pay Taxes.
The New York City NBC affiliate reported this week that twenty six professional tax preparers were wanted or arrested on tax fraud charges as the result of a recent crackdown. Some of the preparers allegedly used the names of dead people to collect fraudulent…
More Sarkozy Demagoguery on Financial Regs.
Nicholas Sarkozy spoke at Columbia University in New York on Monday and, as he has done before, demonstrated that everyone who calls themselves a conservative is not a free marketer. The French President pressed for an expansion of global financial bureaucracies and…
Thomas Sowell on Big Government and Privacy.
In a great article written in response to the passage of the health care bill last week, Thomas Sowell argued that perhaps the biggest problem with a government controlled health care system is the inherent threat to privacy. The same argument can be made regarding…
A Bad Use of Resources.
According to the Sacramento Fox Network affiliate, a car wash in Sacramento recently came under investigation by the IRS and even received a visit from federal agents. The cause: The car wash owed a whopping four cents in backed taxes. Certainly there is a valid…
Attacks on Wall Street Hurt American Global Competitiveness.
In a National Review Online article, Kevin Williamson notes that a proposed federal banking tax seems purely inspired by vilification politics, but will none-the-less put American banks at a very real competitive disadvantage in the global market: The new proposed tax…