Robert McIntyre

Recognizing that an informed public generally likes progressive taxes, Republicans prefer to lie about the impact of their tax ideas. Take, for example, Arizona Senator Jon Kyl, who recently claimed that the federal estate tax on the largest 2 percent of estates isn’t paid by rich “fat cats,” it’s paid by “schoolteachers…airline pilots…and mechanics.” Or […]

As federal budget deficits head back into the stratosphere, most congressional Democrats remain petrified about frontally attacking the Bush tax cuts that are the central cause of the problem. Perhaps if they understood that most of us already face a tax cut freeze they’d be more willing to fight to extend such a freeze to […]

Does George Bush have a secret plan to impose a flat tax? I can’t read his mind but one thing is clear: Unless the president’s tax program adopted last year is amended, by the end of this decade most of the personal income tax revenue will come not from the regular, graduated-rate system but from […]

While politicians in Washington have been falling over themselves toprovide huge new tax breaks to corporations and the wealthy, the story in thestates is quite different and quite heartening. Take, for starters, states’ response to the big corporate tax cut thatCongress passed in March at President Bush’s insistence. By law or by custom,almost all states […]

Tax day has come and gone, and about 100 million Americans have filed their income-tax returns. For all the grumbling about complexity — fair enough, tax filing is way too complicated — most of us understand that taxes pay for defending our country, protecting our environment, building our roads, educating our children, and all the […]

It’s not often that I agree with Representative Bill Thomas, Republican chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. But when it comes to his explanation of the so-called stimulus bill that Congress enacted in March, I couldn’t agree more. Thomas disputed Washington Post coverage that said the bill would be focused on unemployed workers. […]

Suppose the government decided to place bushel baskets full of cash at every street corner, with the following note: “Please read the attached instructions and take the appropriate amount, if any, from the basket. Write your name, address, and the amount you took on the sign-in sheet. WARNING! We will check one out of every […]

In a recent article in The New York Times, David Cay Johnston details how some sleazy American companies are reincorporating in Bermuda and other countries in order to avoid taxes. Insurance companies led the way a few years ago; and when Congress failed to take action, other patriotically challenged corporations followed suit. The ploy entails […]

Until this February, I had no idea that we had an “assistant secretary of energy for fossil energy,” although it turns out there’s been one for decades. What does an ASOEFFE do? The current and ninth occupant of this position, Carl Michael Smith, helpfully provided a job description in a January 30 speech to the […]

According to press reports, Republican interest groups are “salivating” over a proposal by Senator Edward Kennedy to reduce the size of the Bush tax cuts. The Massachusetts Democrat wants to eliminate about $280 billion of the $1.35 trillion in tax reductions enacted last year. Kennedy calls for scrapping the cuts in the top three income-tax […]