Paul L. Caron
Dean
Pepperdine Caruso
School of Law
Political News
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ABC News: Obama’s Proposed Tax Hikes Would Hit Blue States Hard
ABC News: How Politically Risky Are Obama’s Proposed Tax Hikes?, by Jake Tapper: Anne Mathias, an economist of the Stanford Group Company, has an interesting analysis of just who the top wage earners in the U.S. are — and where they live. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, has proposed raising a number of taxes. Most notably…
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Some Economists Back Away From Support of McCain’s Economic Plan
On Monday, I blogged the McCain campaign’s announcement that 300 distinguished economists had signed a letter supporting his economic plan, including the tax component. Today’s Politico reports that not all of the economists actually support the plan: [A] good many of those economists don’t actually support the whole of McCain’s economic agenda. And at least…
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300 Economists Support McCain’s Economic Plan
The McCain campaign announced today that over 300 economists support his economic plan, including his tax plan: His plan would keep taxes from rising, because higher tax rates are exactly the wrong policy to restore economic growth, especially at this time. His plan would reduce tax rates by cutting the tax that corporations pay to…
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Nonpartisan Group Assails McCain for Making Misleading Tax Charges Against Obama
The nonpartisan FactCheck.org accuses John McCain and the Republican National Committee of engaging in Tax Tally Trickery in claiming that Barack Obama "voted 94 times for higher taxes." The group calls the charge "inflated and misleading": After looking at every one of the 94 votes that the RNC includes in its tally, we find: Twenty-three…
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WSJ: McCain & Obama’s Estate Tax Plans
Wall Street Journal: Stayin’ Alive: How to Cheat The Estate Tax, by Tom Herman: The Obama Plan. Sen. Obama proposes a $3.5 million exclusion in 2009 and thereafter, with a top rate at 45%. His plan will "fully repeal the estate tax for 99.7% of households," says Jason Furman, Sen. Obama’s economic policy director. "He…
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Effect of Obama’s Tax Plan on Tiger Woods
Hank Adler (Chapman University, Argyros School of Business & Economics) has published an op-ed, Obama Wants Tiger-Size Tax Bite (Orange County Register): When Tiger Woods collected his $1,350,000 check for winning the U.S. Open golf championship this month, his federal and California taxes approximated $586,000. So, Tiger got to keep about $764,000, or 57 percent…
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Newsweek: Cindy McCain’s Tax Troubles
This week’s Newsweek reports that Cindy McCain has been late paying property taxes on a condo in La Jolla, California for the past four years. Apparently, an elderly aunt of Mrs. McCain lives in the condo, and Mrs. McCain is the trustee of the trust that owns the condo. For more, see: Capitol Hill Blue…
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More Analysis of McCain & Obama Tax Plans
Heritage Foundation, European Levels of Taxation: Barack Obama’s Tax Plan National Review, Taxing Issues: An Opening for Republicans in November Tax Foundation, First Hard Numbers on Obama Tax Plan Show Dramatic Tax Redistribution Think Progress, McCain Would Give America’s 200 Largest Corporations $45 Billion In Tax Breaks
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Tax Lawyers for Obama
Two of the community blogs hosted by the Obama campaign: Tax Lawyers for Obama: Lawyers and other professionals with a special interest in tax policy who support Barack Obama for president. Tax Policy Discussion Group: Discussion of tax policy issues from the perspective of Obama supporters, with a particular emphasis on reform and development of…
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Updated Comparison of the McCain and Obama Tax Plans
The Tax Policy Center has updated its Preliminary Analysis of the 2008 Presidential Candidates’ Tax Plans (revised 6/20/08), originally blogged here. Here is the abstract: Tax and fiscal policy will loom large in the next president’s domestic policy agenda. Nearly all of the tax cuts enacted since 2001 expire at the end of 2010 and…
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A Comparative Tax Story: Obama, McCain, and Ike
A Comparative Tax Story: Obama, McCain, and Ike, by Sam Pizzigati: [T]his November’s election may matter more to America’s super-rich, in pure dollars and cents, than any other election in U.S. history. In 2009, the 140,000 households in the top 0.1% will pay, on average, $1 million more in federal taxes if Barack Obama makes…
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U.S. News: Is Obama Moving to the Right on Taxes?
In today’s U.S. News & World Report: Obama 2.0: Candidate Starts His Hard Move to the Center, by James Pethokoukis [N]ow that he has the nomination, [Obama] seems to be moving to the right. First with the hiring of economist Jason Furman and now with this interview [with the Wall Street Journal], where he talks…
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McCain and Obama Tax Plans Debated on Fox News
Think Progress: Williams Calls Hume and Kristol "Out Of Touch" For Saying McCain’s Tax Plan Will Help Working Americans: Earlier this week, the non-partisan Tax Policy Center released a paper showing that Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) tax plan “offers three times the break for middle class families” than the proposals of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ),…
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McCain & Obama Release 2007 Financial Disclosure Forms
John McCain and Barack Obama yesterday released their 2007 Senate financial disclosure forms. Among the interesting tidbits: Despite a net worth of $24 – $40 million with his wife and her 2006 income of $6 million, McCain reported outstanding balances of $225,000 – $565,000 on four credit cards, three with American Express and one with…
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Obama Repeats Call for Increased Social Security Taxes on Those Earning > $250k
U.S. News & World Report: Obama Plans a Massive Hike in Social Security Taxes, by James Pethokoukis: Barack Obama just found an extra $600 billion or so (over 10 years). He said today in Columbus, Ohio, that he wants to lift the income cap on Social Security taxes for folks making $250,000 a year or…
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U.S. News: Will Obama be Forced to Fire Jason Furman?
U.S. News & World Report: The Jason Furman Saga: Has Obama Fired His New Economic Adviser Yet?, by James Pethokoukis: So Barack Obama has named economist Jason Furman of the Brookings Institution as his top economic adviser. Very interesting pick. Already, liberal activists are in a tizzy because of his contrarian positions on some policy…
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WSJ: The McCain and Obama Tax Plans
Wall Street Journal: McCain’s Tax Plan Favors Wealthiest, Analysis Says; Obama’s Skews Benefits to Lower, Middle Classes, by Deborah Solomon: Both John McCain and Barack Obama promise to cut taxes for the majority of Americans. But an Obama administration would redistribute income toward lower- and middle-class households, while a McCain White House would steer the…
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Comparison of the McCain and Obama Tax Plans
The Tax Policy Center has published A Preliminary Analysis of the 2008 Presidential Candidates’ Tax Plans. Here is the abstract: Tax and fiscal policy will loom large in the next president’s domestic policy agenda. Nearly all of the tax cuts enacted since 2001 expire at the end of 2010 and the individual alternative minimum tax…
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WSJ: Obama Fires Back on Taxes
Wall Street Journal: Obama Fires Back on Taxes, by Jackie Calmes: Barack Obama dismissed as old-style politics John McCain’s and the Republican Party’s warnings that he would be a tax-and-spend liberal. Most Americans, Sen. Obama said, would pay lower taxes if he is elected president. The presumed Democratic nominee, taking questions from reporters Tuesday, also…
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WaPo: McCain Distorts Obama’s Tax Policies
Washington Post: McCain Camp Distorts Obama’s Tax Policies, Exaggerates Their Adverse Impact: Sen. John McCain’s camp is attempting to convince Americans that their taxes will increase dramatically with Sen. Barack Obama as president. The presumptive Republican nominee has repeatedly said that Obama would enact "the largest tax increase since the Second World War." A surrogate…
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Boston Globe: McCain Calls Obama Tax Plan a Threat to All Americans
Boston Globe: McCain Calls Obama Tax Plan a Threat to All Americans, by Scott Helman: A day after Senator Barack Obama launched a broad assault on the economic plan of presidential rival John McCain, McCain hit back yesterday by asserting that Obama’s tax proposals would ensnare millions of ordinary Americans and further weaken the economy.…
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Shlaes: Obama, Democrats Embrace Fog of Complex Tax Plans
Bloomberg News: Obama, Democrats Embrace Fog of Complex Tax Plans, by Amity Shlaes: Welcome to the new era of tax intelligence. If a tax idea doesn’t sound as if it were written in a seminar at Swarthmore College, it is stupid. The more complex, the better. Democrats are adroit at developing such proposals. The party…
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Shaviro: Why Economists Can Teach Tax, But Not Con Law
Daniel Shaviro (NYU) has some harsh words for Douglas Holtz-Eakin, John McCain’s chief economics advisor.
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Rabbi Offers Ten Commandments of Politics
Rabbi Offers Ten Commandments of Politics (Jewish Light), by Robert A. Cohn: "Social Justice: The Use and Abuse of Religion in the 2008 Elections" was the topic of a presentation by Rabbi David Saperstein, longtime director of the Religious Action Center, an arm of the Union for Reform Judaism. Saperstein offered a "Ten Commandments" of…