[Newsday] The tax bill that President George W. Bush signed into law last week sped up most of the 2001 tax cuts' provisions that were supposed to phase in gradually. Left out, however, were provisions that would have helped low-income working familiesincluding the increase in the refund...
President Bush has proposed to eliminate individual income tax on most stock dividends and both houses of Congress have passed bills that would reduce or eliminate taxes on dividends, at least temporarily. This column looks at who has stock dividends and how dividend income is distributed.
[Los Angeles Times] On May 15, the Senate passed a tax cut that would probably prove even more costly and less responsible than the Bush Administration. The president's dividend-relief proposal would cost almost $400 billion over the next 10 years. The Senate version could end up costing...
This paper evaluates the tax proposals put forth by the Bush Administration, the House of Representatives, and the Senate Finance Committee, with respect to their impact on revenues, short-term stimulus, long-term growth and distribution of tax burdens and after-tax income. Particular attention...
The three largest federal income-support programs for low-income households are the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), food stamps, and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). While TANF and food stamps are traditional spending programs, the EITC provides more than $30 billion each year...
In its fiscal year 2004 budget, the Bush administration proposes to create a new set of tax-preferred accounts that would expand opportunities and consolidate rules for tax-advantaged saving. The initial reaction to the proposal was not particularly positive. Despite its uncertain prospects, the...
[Charleston (WV) Sunday Gazette Mail] The growing complexity of the income tax, proposed tax-free "savings accounts," and expansions of tax loopholes are poisoning the income tax and creating a consumption tax by default.
President Bush's recently proposed to eliminate the double taxation of corporate income. The proposal contains the germ of a good idea, but it is incomplete. Indeed, implementing it as is would be undesirable for several reasons: it would add to our burgeoning national debt and thus reduce...
This paper outlines the provisions of the Democratic alternative to the President's stimulus plan. Their plan would provide a one-time rebate to working people similar to the program implemented in 2001, but available without regard to tax status. The tax provisions proposed by the Democrats...
Republican leaders in Congress have refused to raise the federal debt limit unless the Biden Administration agrees to major spending reductions to reduce the national...
Congress should eliminate the debt ceiling this year. It serves no useful purpose. It doesn’t contribute to fiscal discipline, and breaching it entails large, potentially,...
On April 1, 2002, a press release announced, “The Tax Policy Center, a new joint venture between the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution” was...
Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) recently asked for an investigation into the Internal Revenue Service’s research activities, including its use of contractors...
Partisan congressional squabbling over the nation’s debt limit once again threatens to shut down the federal government and perhaps trigger a worldwide financial crisis. The...
President Biden has proposed to tax capital gains earned by high-income households more like other income. This is a significant reform that would close loopholes...
Capitalism produces a dizzying array of products and, in the process, generates an enormous amount of wealth. But capitalism creates a problem in that the...
In 1970, Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute got a Moog synthesizer —a giant, unwieldy computer that created music. The sound was weird and quite evidently electronic. My...
Congress is about to pass a massive economic stimulus package that will, among other things, send cash to most American households. The so-called rebates amount...
On Friday, Elizabeth Warren released her financing plan for Medicare for All . It is predictably wonky and politically courageous—new spending is way more popular...
In Open: The Progressive Case for Free Trade, Immigration, and Global Capital , Kimberly Clausing has written a comprehensive and accessible analysis of three of...
The Treasury Department and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently agreed that OMB would review many tax regulations before they are released, a...
Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) just introduced the ‘‘ Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act ’’ (or Stop-BEZOS) that would punish...
During primary season in 2000, I came upon my boss—a longtime Democratic insider—reading John McCain's tax plan. “It’s really good,” he said, and a lot...