You know, in case he needs to shake the crap out of one of your tax-loving grandmothers.
Of course even political operatives aren’t immune to technological pitfalls:
[@DrTempitope via @GroverNorquist]
Related Posts
Tax Changes for Haiti Donations Is Bad Legislation. So What?
Not surprisingly, the House passed H.R. 4462 earlier today in order to accelerate charitable donations made for the relief efforts in Haiti. The bill was sponsored by Charlie Rangel (D-NY) and Dave Camp (R-MI).
We pointed out the thoughts of Howard Gleckman over at Tax Vox this morning and our contributor, Joe Kristan chimed in agreement earlier over at Tax Update Blog:
When something bad happens, politicians reflexively reach for the tax code. They should put it down and back away slowly…As bad as Haiti is, it’s not the first disaster ever, and one more change to the tax law isn’t going to solve that sad country’s problems. Of course, the proposed changes are more about politicians making a show of concern than actually accomplishing anything.
While our sentiments are with these two tax gurus, let’s not forget that every single member of the House of Representatives is up for re-election in less than 10 months. No one was going to vote against this bill. The Senate will pass it and the POTUS will sign it.
Noting that the bill is bad policy misses the point. We’ve all gotten used to Congress making the tax law progressively worse, so is it really necessary to mention that two-thirds of taxpayers don’t itemize deductions and thus, won’t see any benefit at all on their 2009 tax returns?
Those two-thirds of taxpayers don’t think about the standard deduction when they donate money to anything. It’s not about solving the problems of the mind job of the IRC, it’s about encouraging people to do what they can to help.
Save the bitching about Congress for [insert anything else].
Haiti Tax Relief [TaxProf Blog]
hr-4462.pdf
Berry Bad Tax Policy
There's a thorny issue in the legislation approved by the House of Representatives last month […]
Just So You’re Aware: Cuba Is Developing a Children’s Video Game to Promote Taxes
We assume El Presidente is cognizant of the situation but we honestly don’t know what to make of Cuba allowing any semblance of private enterprise other than we hope this means the country will get back to something that closely resembles the Havana casinos in Godfather II.
“Tributin” or “Little Tax” is expected to be available this fall and sounds like it will be quite a gas:
“It is a fun software to help children learn about fiscal policy, because since they were born in a socialist society with some gratuities, they don’t have all the elements needed to understand taxes,” project director Dagoberto Marino told Reuters in a telephone interview.
“Tributin” would show children how the money they spend when they buy candy puts in motion mechanisms that benefit their communities in the form of school improvements.
Cuba plans children’s video game to promote taxes [Reuters via Tax Docket]