Paul L. Caron
Dean
Pepperdine Caruso
School of Law
Political News
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Romney Says He Paid 13% in Taxes for the Last 10 Years
Washington Post: Romney Says He Paid 13% in Taxes for the Last 10 Years. That Doesn’t Tell Us Much, by Ezra Klein: “I did go back and look at my taxes, and over the last 10 years, I’ve never paid less than 13%,” Romney said today. To which the obvious answer is: Well, then, why…
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More on the Romney Economic/Tax Plan
Following up on last week's post, Romney Tax Plan Would Increase GDP by 5.4%, Add 6.8 Million Jobs: Ezra Klein (Washington Post), Economists to Romney Campaign: That’s Not What Our Research Says Paul Krugman (Princeton University), Culture of Fraud Dan Shaviro (New York University), Hassett-Hubbard-Mankiw-Taylor Piece Issued by the Romney Campaign John Taylor (Stanford University), Paul Krugman is…
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WSJ: Mathematically Possible — Correcting the False Assumptions of Obama’s Tax Gurus
Following up on my previous posts (links below): Wall Street Journal editorial: Mathematically Possible: Correcting the False Assumptions of Obama's Tax Gurus: It isn't easy being the intellectual frontmen for President Obama's re-election campaign, as the boys at the Brookings-Urban Institute Tax Policy Center are discovering. Their ballyhooed study of Mitt Romney's tax plan looks worse…
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Romney, Ryan, and Taxes
Don't Mess With Taxes, Ryan v. Romney on Taxes: Tax Romney Ryan Individual income tax rates Reduce all current tax rates by 20%, creating six rates of 8%, 12%, 20%, 22.4%, 26.4% and 28% 10% rate on income up to $50,000 for single filers and $100,000 for joint filers; 25% on taxable income above these…
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Janna Ryan, Tax Lawyer
Janna Little Ryan, wife of Republican Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan, is a former Washington, D.C. tax lawyer: Born Janna Little, she is originally from Oklahoma where her mid-western values and his conservative politics were figurative bedfellows before they became physical bedfellows as husband and wife. She is a graduate of the prestigious (and expensive)…
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NY Times: Tax Returns of Richest 400 Americans Provide Clues to Romney’s Unreleased Tax Returns
New York Times: In Superrich, Clues to What Might Be in Romney’s Returns, by James B. Stewart: On the face of it, Senator Harry Reid’s explosive but flimsily sourced claim that Mitt Romney paid no income tax seems preposterous. Mr. Romney has denied it, and without his returns no one can say for sure. But…
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Shaviro on Romney, Marriott, Son-of-BOSS Tax Shelters, and Mea Culpas
Dan Shaviro (NYU): Someone Said Something Stupid on the Internets (and Unfortunately It Was Me) (Aug. 9, 2012) Romney and Marriott (Aug. 10, 2012)
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The Romney Tax Plan, the Tax Policy Center, and the Wall Street Journal
Following up on yesterday's post, WSJ: The Romney Hood Tax Fairy Tale: Tax Policy Center: Understanding TPC’s Analysis of Governor Romney’s Tax Plan, by David Marron: The Tax Policy Center’s latest research report went viral last week, drawing attention in the presidential campaign and sparking a constructive discussion of the practical challenges of tax reform.…
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WSJ: The Romney Hood Tax Fairy Tale
Wall Street Journal editorial: The Romney Hood Fairy Tale: The False, Invented Analysis Behind Obama's Tax Claims: As he escalates his class war re-election campaign, President Obama has taken to calling Mitt Romney's economic plan "Robin Hood in reverse" or "Romney Hood." The charge is that even though Mr. Romney is proposing to cut tax…
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Kleinbard & Canellos: Romney’s Role in Tax Shelter Raises Questions
CNN op-ed: Romney's Role in Tax Shelter Raises Questions, by Edward D. Kleinbard (USC) & Peter C. Canellos (Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, New York): A key troubling public manifestation of Romney's apparent insensitivity to tax obligations is his role in Marriott International's abusive tax shelter activity. Romney has had a close, long-standing, personal and business…
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Mitt Romney’s La Jolla Property Tax Cut
L.A. Times, Romneys, Caught in Housing Bust, Got Tax Cut in La Jolla: Mitt and Ann Romney were easily able to afford a $12-million La Jolla home. But that didn't insulate them from the winds buffeting the real estate market in the months following their purchase in 2008. After paying cash for the Mediterranean-style house…
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Romney Tax Plan Would Increase GDP by 5.4%, Add 6.8 Million Jobs
John W. Diamond (Rice University), The Economic Effects of the Romney Tax Plan: There is widespread recognition that the U.S. income tax is a complex, highly inefficient, and costly way of raising revenues to finance government expenditures. In this paper, I analyze a rough sketch of the Romney Tax Plan — a rate-reducing, base-broadening tax…
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Republican Senators Urge IRS to Resist Political Pressure From Democrats on 501(c)(4) Groups
Press Release: After the IRS signaled its intent to consider proposed changes to the tax treatment of non-profit 501(c)(4) organizations, 10 Senators today asked IRS Commissioner Shulman to clarify the agency’s intentions for the 52-year-old regulation. In a letter led by U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, the lawmakers…
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The Onion: Speculation About Romney’s Taxes
The Onion: Speculation About Romney's Taxes: As Democrats continue to press Mitt Romney to release more of his tax records, the Republican candidate has become more assertive in his rejection of such calls, leading many to speculate about what the filings contain. Here are some of the details experts suggest he may not want the…
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Graetz: Mitt Romney’s Financial Mysteries
New York Times op-ed: Mitt Romney’s Financial Mysteries, by Michael J. Graetz (Columbia): Pressure is mounting for Mitt Romney to release more of his financial records. Mr. Romney has made public only his 2010 tax returns and has said his 2011 documents will be released soon. “That’s all that’s necessary for people to understand something…
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Romneys Have Tax Deduction With Olympic Hopes Riding on Rafalca
Following up on my previous posts (links below): Bloomberg, Romneys Have Tax Deduction With Olympic Hopes on Rafalca: Rafalca, a 15-year-old mare competing in dressage at the Olympics opening today in London, will be trying to add to the U.S. medal count and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s bottom line. Romney’s wife, Ann, who calls…
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Did Barack Obama Underreport His Income to IRS?
American Thinker: Did Barack Obama Underreport His Income to IRS?: President Barack Obama released his recent personal finance records in 2008, which included his 2004 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return and Senate Annual Finance Report. President Obama's records for 2004 do not reconcile with the State of Illinois Comptroller's Office. There are inconsistencies in the…
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More on Mitt Romney’s Tax Returns
Linda Beale (Wayne State), What's Romney Got to Hide? (Part I) Linda Beale (Wayne State), What's Romney Got to Hide? (Part II) Linda Beale (Wayne State), What's Romney Got to Hide? (Part III) Len Burman (Syracuse), Gov. Romney: Just Release the Tax Returns Dan Shaviro (NYU), 2010 Romney Tax Return Story Bloomberg, Romney Should Release…
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Kleinbard & Canellos: Why Won’t Romney Release More Tax Returns?
CNN op-ed: Why Won't Romney Release More Tax Returns?, by Edward D. Kleinbard & Peter C. Canellos (Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, New York): Romney's 2010 tax return, when combined with his FEC disclosure, reveals red flags that raise serious tax compliance questions with respect to his possible tax minimization strategies in earlier years. The…
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Shaviro: Why Won’t Romney Release His 2009 Tax Return?
Dan Shaviro (NYU), Why Won't Romney Release His 2009 Tax Return?: Increasingly, everyone (including Republicans such as George Will, Matthew Dowd, and William Kristol) agrees that the reason for Romney's reluctance to release any pre-2010 tax return might be that what it would show is worse than all the heat he is taking for non-disclosure.…
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FactCheck.org: Is ObamaCare the Biggest Tax Increase in American History?
FactCheck.org: Biggest Tax Increase in History?: Will “Obamacare” be the largest tax hike in US history? Several readers have asked us about this since Rush Limbaugh made a hugely exaggerated claim that the new health care law is “the biggest tax increase in the history of the world.” … is this increase the largest in…
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Lindgren: Over 30% of President Obama’s 2009-11 Income Came From Foreign Sources
The Volokh Conspiracy: Over 30% of President Obama’s 2009-2011 Gross Income Came From Foreign Sources, by James Lindgren (Northwestern): I find it strange that the Obama campaign would be making so much of Romney’s income from foreign sources when Obama’s foreign source income appears to be a much bigger percentage of his income over the…
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NY Times: Mr. Romney’s Financial Black Hole
New York Times editorial: Mr. Romney’s Financial Black Hole: Paying taxes forthrightly has long been a matter of civic pride for most American politicians, a demonstration of honesty and of a willingness to share in society’s burdens. Since the Watergate era, presidential candidates have released several years of tax returns, allowing voters to peer at…
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Bartlett: Obama’s Health Care Win Could Lose Him the Election
The Fiscal Times: Obama’s Health Care Win Could Lose Him the Election, by Bruce Bartlett: Now that a divided Supreme Court has ruled that the Affordable Care Act is constitutional, it appears that it will be implemented on schedule. The cost, however, has been considerable—politically, constitutionally, and economically. … We now know two things about…
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Vanity Fair: Where Mitt’s Money Lives
Vanity Fair (Aug. 2012): Where the Money Lives, by Nicholas Shaxson: For all Mitt Romney’s touting of his business record, when it comes to his own money the Republican nominee is remarkably shy about disclosing numbers and investments. Nicholas Shaxson delves into the murky world of offshore finance, revealing loopholes that allow the very wealthy…