Economy and Business
A Better Path to Prosperity
Washington politicos aren't quite right when they say that federal budget proposals are "dead on arrival." Even if they don't become law, budgets stand as living, breathing testimonies of the values and priorities of the people who write them. And it may surprise you...
WhatsApp with the Estate Tax?
What does Facebook's recent purchase of WhatsApp have to do with the estate tax? Actually, a good bit, if you're concerned about America's concentration of wealth. Why? Because an economy needs effective checks and balances. A tax on inherited fortunes essentially...
Close the Paris Hilton Loophole
If our leaders want to balance the budget, here's a suggestion: Congress can scrap a new "Paris Hilton" giveaway that's draining billions of federal tax dollars. This giveaway takes the form of a complex tax loophole designed to circumvent the federal estate tax, one...
Hiding Profits in Slimy Offshore Wormholes
The dictionary defines the caterpillar as a "wormlike larva" and a "crawler." Also, that "pillar" part of the word is derived from a French verb that means to "pillage, abuse, mistreat." Good to know. Now, meet Caterpillar Inc., the world's largest maker of...
Tax-Cheating Butterfly
3 Freaky April Fools’ Day Stories
On a recent morning, after checking news reports, I thought: What a freaky news day. Freaky Story No. 1: The Governor of Texas rarely has any ideas. But apparently one unexpectedly erupted from the usually dormant cluster of low-voltage brain cells in Rick Perry's...
Lobbying to Sustain Inequality
Congress will soon vote on a measure that would raise the national minimum wage to $10.10 and bring the tipped wage to 70 percent of the full minimum. The Fair Minimum Wage Act would give millions of American workers a long-overdue raise. Today's $7.25-per-hour...
The Power Politics behind a Long, Gilded Life
Let us pause now to pay our respects to Bunny Mellon. She died in mid-March on her Virginia horse-country estate. But no tears, please. Bunny — nobody called her by her given name Rachel — lived a long and rich life. Very long. Very rich. One hundred and three at her...
Wall Street’s Bonus Inflation
Not too many years ago, any news story about bonus money would've been about some 20-year-old baseball player — an up-and-coming superstar getting $100,000 or so on top of his salary as an extra incentive to join the Yankees, Giants, or whatever team. Sportswriters...
Highway Robbery
No matter how hard lawmakers try to close their eyes, click their heels, and hope for the best, they can't make highway funding magically appear. But that doesn't stop them fiddling and flailing as they burn through the Highway Trust Fund. The Highway Trust Fund was...
