Tax Complexity Marches On

The gist of this post is so obvious, it’s hardly worth writing.  But I sometimes find myself unable to remember specific examples of April income tax silliness when I’m discussing the need for fundamental tax reform at election time.  So here are some of my favorites from this year’s Maryland return.

The Census

I received my census form the other day, and fortunately it was the short form.  That spared me from a lot of questions I wouldn’t dream of answering.  Unfortunately, it didn’t get me completely out of the woods.

As most readers probably know by now, Question 8 asks whether we are “of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin?”  If we are, then we are invited to be more specific, distinguishing Mexican ancestry from Puerto Rican, Cuban, etc.  Question 9 then asks for each person’s race, offering us 14 specific options followed by “Some other race.”

I hate these questions.  For one thing, it seems to me there are now large numbers of people who have parents or grandparents in at least two of the Census Bureau’s 14 “race” boxes. What box are they supposed to check?  What box is President Obama going to check?  During the campaign, people used to write a lot of nonsense about whether he was too black, hardly black at all, not black enough, etc.  It was somewhere between unseemly and repugnant then, but now it seems the Census Bureau really wants an answer.

One More Thing that Won’t End Well

I don’t have time for a long discussion of President Obama’s speech on health care; I suspect many of you are grateful for that.  But enough people have e-mailed me for a reaction that I thought I might as well respond briefly here.

The Case for Fundamental Tax Reform (Reposted)

The following was originally posted on April 15, 2008:

It’s April 15, and like many Americans I just finished spending much too long trying to figure out what I owe in federal and state income taxes. What better day could there be to consider the need for fundamental tax reform?

“You’re suspicious to me.”

The Campaign for Liberty is a political organization formed last year to continue advocating the political and economic principles on which the Ron Paul presidential campaign was founded.  As a proud member, I was interested to learn that an internal report of the Missouri State Police lumped the Campaign for Liberty in with skinheads and Branch Davidians as a part of the “modern militia movement.”  The report (dated Feb. 20, 2009) listed a number of supposed hallmarks of domestic terrorist organizations, including opposition to the Federal Reserve system, advocacy for a gold standard, and a belief in the impending economic collapse of the United States.  In one particularly silly paragraph, the report stated,

Militia members most commonly associate with 3rd party political groups.  It is not uncommon for militia members to display Constitutional Party, Campaign for Liberty, or Libertarian material.  These members are usually supporters of former Presidential Candidate:  Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin, and Bob Barr.

I wasn’t sure whether to be alarmed or amused by this, but C4L officials took it seriously, possibly because they were at that time planning a big regional conference in St. Louis.  The report was roundly condemned, impressively satirized, and subsequently withdrawn.  The Missouri State Police apologized to the named presidential candidates, and it seemed to be over.

But now there’s this: 

The Chicago Tea Party

The folks at CNBC are often accused of cheerleading regardless of the evidence — with some justice, though no disparagement of Erin Burnett will be permitted on this blog.

Rick Santelli was not cheerleading today.  Watch the video.  CNBC’s online poll is showing substantial support for Santelli’s sentiments.

Don’t Waste Your Vote! (Third Parties Turn the Tables)

Anyone who has ever considered voting for an independent or minor-party candidate has probably been vigorously admonished by his Republican or Democratic friends not to “waste” his or her vote.  Yesterday, the Libertarian ticket turned the tables by sending out an e-mail arguing, in effect, that a vote for John McCain would be wasteful in precisely the same sense.  The e-mail, which came from Bob Barr’s Campaign Manager Russ Verney (former Campaign Manager for Ross Perot), carried this subject heading:  “McCain is guaranteed to lose . . . so what does that mean for America?”  Here’s the rest of the e-mail:

Patriotic Songs for Our Newest National Protectors

It has been noted, on this blog and elsewhere, that the sense of national emergency over the last three weeks has been eerily reminiscent of various national security threats we’ve encountered in the last eight years.  The important difference, of course, is that the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force have been completely unable to help us out of this crisis.  Only Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke could do anything about it.  They were kind enough to ask Congress for permission, but as we’ve noted, they went ahead with a back-door bailout anyway, even before Congress consented.

Now that Congress has ratified it, however, the new reality is that our economic security — and therefore, it is widely believed, our national security — now depends on a new part of the executive branch.  It seems only fair that this newest guarantor of our lives and our fortunes (though not, I think, our sacred honor) should have some patriotic songs to celebrate its important new role.

As you may have guessed, I have some modest suggestions,

The VP Debate, the Expectations Game, and Eight Questions for the Candidates

Everyone is playing the expectations game in advance of tomorrow night’s Biden-Palin debate.  Most of it is just self-serving blather, but Jed Lewison’s piece on the Huffington Post stood out to me as an exception because Lewison included video of Palin’s prior debates.  Anyone who is expecting a complete face-plant by Gov. Palin may be disappointed.  See for yourself.

Debate #1: Massive Upgrade

As the eight people who regularly visit this blog know, I’m currently a little bit pissed off at John McCain for the stunt he pulled in jeopardizing the subprime bailout these past few days.  I couldn’t be more conservative, and for me to question my vote this November, you know it must have been a pretty huge f up.

But tonight, I did everything I could to shut off my internal dialogue and really listen to what these two knuckleheads had to say.

It was terrific.  I think back to Bush/Gore and Bush/Kerry, and how I cringed through the halting drivel I heard from both sides of the divide, and tonight what I saw was two men, absolutely Presidential, ready to lead this nation.   Smart, confident, fine….. imperfect, but thoughtful and ready to lead.

Anyone who visits this site and reads this post better leave a comment in agreement.  Because if anybody tries to tell me that these two guys aren’t head and shoulders above what we were offered the last two times around, I will find out where you live, pretend to be a Domino’s delivery boy, ring your doorbell, and smash a big old pizza in your face when you open your door.