Spellbinding Tax Reform That Doesn’t Even Work on Paper [Bloomberg]
As polarized as Washington is over tax and budget issues, a base-broadening, rate-lowering tax-code overhaul has become the one policy every wonk in town can agree on. It formed the core of the Simpson-Bowles deficit-reduction plan, as well as the Domenici-Rivlin proposal. It was the cornerstone of the supercommittee’s failed negotiations. It has been talked up by Senator Max Baucus, the top Senate Democrat on tax issues, and by Representative Dave Camp, the Republican who heads the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee. Romney, President Barack Obama and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan have all endorsed the idea. But in being all things to all kinds of politicians, it might, as the Tax Policy Center convincingly argues, amount to nothing at all.
The Romney Hood Fairy Tale [WSJ]
The political left always says Daddy Warbucks gets all the tax-cut money. So this is hardly news, except that the media are treating this joint Brookings Institution and Urban Institute analysis as if it's nonpartisan gospel. In fact, it's a highly ideological tract based on false assumptions, incomplete data and dishonest analysis. In other words, it is custom made for the Obama campaign. By the way, even the Tax Policy Center admits that "we do not score Governor Romney's plan directly as certain components of his plan are not specified in sufficient detail." But no matter, the study plows ahead to analyze features of the Romney plan that aren't even in it.
Romney Defending Tax Return Stance Says ‘Not A Business’ [Bloomberg]
Mitt Romney, defending his refusal to release more than two years of tax returns, said, unlike a company being evaluated by a potential investor, he shouldn’t have to provide more details of his finances for public vetting. “I’m not a business,” the presumed Republican presidential nominee said in an Aug. 7 interview with Bloomberg Businessweek when asked whether he would want to see five years of financial information for a firm in which he might invest. “We have a process in this country, which was established by law, which provides for the transparency which candidates are required to meet,” he said. “I have met with that requirement with full financial disclosure of all my investments, but in addition have provided and will provide a full two years of tax returns.”
E&Y Volunteers Help Environmental Group [AWEB]
This spring, E&Y in conjunction with the Earthwatch Institute, sent thirty volunteers on skills-based expeditions to Brazil and Costa Rica to conduct field research and to recommend strategies for implementing environmentally and economically sustainable practices to local businesses. The ambassadors donated their vacation time. E&Y paid for the expeditions.
Minivans: Less Uncool Again? [WSJ]
Operative word here is "uncool."
BREAKING: Woman Outraged By Turtles Doing It at National Aquarium in Baltimore [JDA]
"WHAT?! How can they DO that?! There are CHILDREN WATCHING!!"
