Paul L. Caron
Dean
Pepperdine Caruso
School of Law
Political News
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Stiglitz on Flip-Flops on Deficit Spending
Wednesday, September 22, 2004 Joseph Stiglitz (Columbia) has published The Parties’ Flip-Flops on Deficit Spending: Economics or Politics? in The Economists’ Voice. Here is the abstract: Not long ago, Republicans were trying to pass a balanced budget amendment to the constitution. Democrats were skeptical, overwhelmingly Keynesian, and believed that deficit spending had ended the Great…
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Catholic Groups Spar with IRS Over Voter’s Guide
Wednesday, September 22, 2004 Catholics for a Free Choice have filed a complaint with the IRS alleging that the Voter’s Guide for Serious Catholics produced by the § 501(c)(3) organization Catholic Answers violates the ban on partisan electoral activity. Under this theory, any local church that distributes the guide would risk its § 501(c)(3) status.…
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Shaviro NY Times Op-Ed: How Tax Cuts Feed the Beast
Tuesday, September 21, 2004 Daniel Shaviro (NYU) has an interesting op-ed in today’s New York Times, How Tax Cuts Feed the Beast. Here is the opening: On the campaign trail, President Bush is busy telling voters that he wants to keep making government “smaller and more efficient” and that his opponent, John Kerry, wants a…
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Kerry Reads Letterman’s Top 10 List of Bush Tax Proposals
Tuesday, September 21, 2004 For a video clip of John Kerry reading David Letterman’s Top 10 List last night — The Top 10 Bush Tax Proposals — see here (click on “Big Show Highlight” under “DaveTV” on the right). The complete list: 10. No estate tax for families with at least two U.S. presidents. 9.…
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Catholic Groups Spar with IRS Over Voters Guide
Wednesday, September 22, 2004 Catholics for a Free Choice has filed a complaint with the IRS alleging that the voting guide produced by the § 501(c)(3) group Catholic Answers violates the ban on partisan electoral activity. As a result, any local church distributing the guide would risking its § 501(c)(3) status. (Thanks to reader Steven…
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Tax Policy Cartoons
Monday, September 20, 2004 For some pro-Bush tax policy cartoons, see here, here, here, here, here, and here. For some pro-Kerry tax policy cartoons, see here, here, here, here, and here.
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MSNBC: Kerry, Bush Differ Sharply on Tax Policy
Sunday, September 19, 2004 Martin Wolk has an interesting column on MSNBC, Kerry, Bush Differ Sharply on Tax Policy. Here is the opening: Neither President Bush nor Sen. John Kerry talks much about how he would reform the nation’s tax code, but policy wonks are buzzing about the possibility of radical change in the next…
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Bartlett: Kerry May Lose Election By Not Taking Up Tax Reform Issue
Thursday, September 16, 2004 Bruce Bartlett argues here that John Kerry may lose the election because he has not challenged President Bush on the issue of tax reform. Here is the opening: If John Kerry ends up losing this election, it may not be so much because of what he did as what he didn’t…
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WSJ Editorial Embraces Bush’s Call for Tax Reform
Monday, September 13, 2004 An editorial in today’s Wall Street Journal, Tax Reform Revisited, embraces President Bush’s call for “a simpler, fairer, pro-growth system”: There are several possible reforms to explore, ranging from a flat tax to some kind of tax on consumption. But any reasonable reform would have to reduce loopholes (and thus the…
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Hubbard Compares Bush and Kerry Tax Plans in WSJ
Thursday, September 9, 2004 R. Glenn Hubbard (Dean, Columbia Business School) compares the Bush and Kerry tax plans in the Wall Street Journal and concludes the the Kerry approach would harm job creation on the demand side and discourage work and entrepreneurial effort on the supply side.
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Bush’s Plans To Shorten Depreciation Draw Fire
Wednesday, September 8, 2004 Interesting, long article in this week’s New Yorker on President Bush’s tax plans for a second term, Tax Code: Tax Cuts Were Just the Beginning: The President Is Signalling a Far More Radical Agenda. Here is a sense of the overall thrust of the piece: Since the personal income tax was…
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WSJ Supports Democrats’ 2-Year Extension of Expiring Tax Cuts
Wednesday, September 8, 2004 An interesting Wall Street Journal editorial, Tax Cut Jujitsu, advocates, for political reasons, passage of the Democrats’ proposal to extend the expiring child tax credit, marriage-penalty relief, and the 10% tax bracket for two years, rather than the five years proposed by President Bush and the Republicans. The WSJ fears that…
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Bush To Consider Flat Tax and National Sales Tax in Second Term
Tuesday, September 7, 2004 From Monday’s Washington Post: Bush Reiterates Call for a Simpler Tax System; President Says Current Laws Are a “Complicated Mess”
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Maule: Can Bush Have It Both Ways on Taxes?
Saturday, September 4, 2004 Jim Maule (Villanova) notes the internal inconsistency in the tax portion of President Bush’s speech to the Republican National Convention: The President seems to have made two points about taxes: 1. The tax system, along with other government programs, was “created for the world of yesterday, not tomorrow.” It is a…
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Bush Calls for Tax Reform, Not Tax Cuts, in Second Term
Friday, September 3, 2004 Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal reports that President Bush will focus on tax reform, not tax cuts, in a second term.