|
||
Intermarkets' Privacy Policy Support
Recent Entries
Tuesday Overnight Open Thread (3/2/21)
Re-Education Camp Cafe: Baby Bunnies Edition The Spectator: Evidence Suggests That China Has Kompromat on Joe Biden (Zhou Bai-Dan) The Biden Administration Is Feeding Garbage -- Undercooked Food Which Makes People Literally Sick -- to the Troops They've Summoned to Occupy the Capital Governor Greg Abbot Orders Texas to Open Up 100%, With No Masks, on March 10th Quick Hits Former Communist and CIA Director John Brennan: I'm Increasingly Ashamed to be a White Male Mitt Romney Knocked Unconscious, Suffers Black Eye A Third Woman Charges Andrew Cuomo With Unwanted Sexual Attention Northeaster Virginia School District Now Bans Dr. Seuss for Having... "Racial Overtones" Cutting The Cord And Email Security
|
« CNBC describes the current state of the economy as "a rough patch." [krakatoa] |
Main
| Cantor: The President "Just Doesn't Get It" »
August 04, 2011
How To Cut $1 Trillion a YearIt's tough, and it involves a lot of things that are virtually impossible, like zeroing out education costs, but this is the rough outline of what must be done. It won't be pretty and it won't be popular. Here are the first 8 items, out of 20: 1. Social Security: Yeah, they’ll say you’re throwing Granny off the cliff. But it’s her or the grandkids. So implement aggressive means-testing and other reforms to cut 20 percent of spending for $150 billion in savings. Williamson's plan involves essentially ending all federal welfare spending, which is almost impossible to contemplate. Which, in turn, should give an idea of how difficult this is, and how large a hole we're in. One of Williamson's suggestions -- and he doesn't even include this in getting to his trillion; this is bonus -- is ending the home mortgage interest deduction. He suggests that this is a distorting social-engineering intervention in the tax code, a boondoggle, a pander to home owners. Honestly, that's what I always thought it was, myself. But Richard Epstein writes that there is a good conceptual reason why this deduction exists. The root of the difficulty is this: it is not all that easy to figure out which downward adjustment in taxable income counts as a tax expenditure, and which does not. Right now the current income tax system starts with gross income, a number that is then reduced in various ways to get an "adjusted gross income" figure, which is the normal taxable base. I'm not sure I understand that. Or rather, I understand that, but what I'm missing is why he says this should be treated like a business expense. It's not a business expense, deducted from net income, to find actual profit. It's a living expense. Those who rent don't subtract their rent payments from their income. No one subtracts their food costs from their income. 90% of the country needs a car for purposes of moving to and from their place of work, but no one suggests car ownership interest should be deducted from net income and hence immune to tax. I'm not sure I understand why he's saying that in the case of this incurred living expense, the cost of owning one's dwelling, a taxpayer should deduct that expense from his net income for purposes of finding taxable income. Maybe I'm just slow. Or maybe he didn't explain it well enough. He has a good quote in here, which Mr. Obama should ponder: Political forces cannot redistribute the wealth that the economic system does not produce. | Recent Comments
Axeman:
"Name the movie:
"That night train's a mean wine ..."
Misanthropic Humanitarian: "23 DO NOT MOCK MY POWERS! Posted by: All Hail Eri ..." huerfano, culturally appropriating: "Sneera is the sacrificial goat. All the othe ..." Jewells45: "ONT!!! Good evening MisHum! ..." Farmer: "Seems bold here. We are off to AZ tomorrow. J's Mo ..." Fox2!: " Also, I just realized before my lady comment that ..." Legally Sufficient, Believing in America: "Thanks for another swell ONT, Mis Hum! And a bold ..." TexasDan[/i]: "516 Girlfriend in HS drank Night Train. So did her ..." Misanthropic Humanitarian: "15 Thanks for the ONT, MisHum! Looks like mucho co ..." bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin: "534 Yeah, that Saturn marketing was also good. Co ..." All Hail Eris, Sans-Culottes (except for the Book Thread): "[b] DO NOT MOCK MY POWERS! ..." rhomboid: "What is this "content" everybody's talkin' about? ..." Recent Entries
Tuesday Overnight Open Thread (3/2/21)
Re-Education Camp Cafe: Baby Bunnies Edition The Spectator: Evidence Suggests That China Has Kompromat on Joe Biden (Zhou Bai-Dan) The Biden Administration Is Feeding Garbage -- Undercooked Food Which Makes People Literally Sick -- to the Troops They've Summoned to Occupy the Capital Governor Greg Abbot Orders Texas to Open Up 100%, With No Masks, on March 10th Quick Hits Former Communist and CIA Director John Brennan: I'm Increasingly Ashamed to be a White Male Mitt Romney Knocked Unconscious, Suffers Black Eye A Third Woman Charges Andrew Cuomo With Unwanted Sexual Attention Northeaster Virginia School District Now Bans Dr. Seuss for Having... "Racial Overtones" Search
Polls! Polls! Polls!
Election Projection Federal Review Real Clear Politics Rasmussen Reports Gallup Zogby Sabato/Crystal Ball Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Primary Document: The Audio
Paul Anka Haiku Contest Announcement Integrity SAT's: Entrance Exam for Paul Anka's Band AllahPundit's Paul Anka 45's Collection AnkaPundit: Paul Anka Takes Over the Site for a Weekend (Continues through to Monday's postings) George Bush Slices Don Rumsfeld Like an F*ckin' Hammer Top Top Tens
Democratic Forays into Erotica New Shows On Gore's DNC/MTV Network Nicknames for Potatoes, By People Who Really Hate Potatoes Star Wars Euphemisms for Self-Abuse Signs You're at an Iraqi "Wedding Party" Signs Your Clown Has Gone Bad Signs That You, Geroge Michael, Should Probably Just Give It Up Signs of Hip-Hop Influence on John Kerry NYT Headlines Spinning Bush's Jobs Boom Things People Are More Likely to Say Than "Did You Hear What Al Franken Said Yesterday?" Signs that Paul Krugman Has Lost His Frickin' Mind All-Time Best NBA Players, According to Senator Robert Byrd Other Bad Things About the Jews, According to the Koran Signs That David Letterman Just Doesn't Care Anymore Examples of Bob Kerrey's Insufferable Racial Jackassery Signs Andy Rooney Is Going Senile Other Judgments Dick Clarke Made About Condi Rice Based on Her Appearance Collective Names for Groups of People John Kerry's Other Vietnam Super-Pets Cool Things About the XM8 Assault Rifle Media-Approved Facts About the Democrat Spy Changes to Make Christianity More "Inclusive" Secret John Kerry Senatorial Accomplishments John Edwards Campaign Excuses John Kerry Pick-Up Lines Changes Liberal Senator George Michell Will Make at Disney Torments in Dog-Hell Greatest Hitjobs
The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny More Margaret Cho Abuse Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed" Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means Wonkette's Stand-Up Act Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report! Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet The House of Love: Paul Krugman A Michael Moore Mystery (TM) The Dowd-O-Matic! Liberal Consistency and Other Myths Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate "Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long) The Donkey ("The Raven" parody) |