Just one example of how to fix the terrible inequities in the tax code so it doesn't privilege the rich comes from the source of Trump's audit: the $72.9 million refund for carryback losses. Why was that refund given, and THEN checked out?
As the Times notes, the Joint Committee on Taxation reviews every refund of over $2 million to individuals. Why do we GIVE THE REFUND first and then review it?
JCT could review and only release the funds afterward. Anyone entitled to a refund of over $2 million is highly unlikely to need that refund quickly.
Making the refund contingent on JCT's review changes completely the dynamic of the audit. The IRS wouldn't be pleading with the rich person to give up their gains, because they wouldn't have them yet.
Sure, Trump or whoever could appeal the ruling, but they wouldn't be in the position of using the millions they may have illegally received because the current system routinely blocks poor people from their money but speeds it to the rich.
You could come up with 1,000 just-as-simple options to make the tax system not quite so attentive to the concerns of the wealthy. But then who would pay the campaign contributions I guess-
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The Trump administration has effectively ended white-collar crime enforcement. All this week, we're going to look at what ripoffs, deceptions, and cons will rise as a result to part the public from their money.
This intro sets the stage: it's the Golden Age of Scams.
It's important to study where the scams will come from because historically they have led to larger catastrophes that cascade out from the main victims. Our project is to find the growth industries in ripoffs. prospect.org/power/2025-05-…
The first and most obvious is in crypto, where the president and his family are leading the way. I couldn't think of anyone better than @SilvermanJacob to detail this unprecedented self-enrichment at the public's expense. prospect.org/power/2025-05-…
Today on TAP, from me: This moment feels like February 2020. If you read closely, you know something bad will happen soon, but it's not visible yet.
In this case, it's the dismantling of our supply chains, empty store shelves, and recession. It's a matter of time. 🧵
We know that volumes from China are falling. That really starts to hit next week. The immediate impact is on logistics. Companies pulled forward orders, which will keep them OK for a little while. But it's impossible to hold off the pain forever. prospect.org/blogs-and-news…
So inventories erode by midsummer, and nothing fills the gap. Shelves go empty. Ordering months out, for the holidays, for the sesquicentennial in 2026, has been stalled. Every company is ripping up their forecasts, because they are unknowable. wsj.com/business/earni…
NEW: Frank Bisignano, Trump's nominee to run the Social Security Administration, is CEO of an oligopoly for back-office banking services, buoyed by at least 40 acquisitions in the last 34 years. SSA could be his latest conquest. 🧵
Fiserv is one of three "core providers" that provide back-office support to 72 percent of all banks and nearly half of all credit unions. Smaller banks have routinely complained about complex, expensive long-term contracts and substandard services. prospect.org/health/2025-03…
Though Republicans marveled at Bisignano as a savior who could use his skills as “a leader in payments and financial technology,” what Fiserv does has nothing to do with what SSA needs, said one expert: prospect.org/health/2025-03…
NEW from me: The Trump administration will likely change the Biden-passed broadband buildout so Elon Musk's Starlink can get more of the $42.5 billion pie. But there's another way to hand Starlink critical infrastructure for its business: through government spectrum sales. 🧵
Currently the FCC isn't authorized to conduct spectrum auctions. Some Republicans want to reauthorize but also accelerate auctions & dictate what spectrum should be sold. This is an accounting gimmick to "raise" money to offset the tax cuts, by pulling spectrum revenue forward.
Defense hawks hate this because they want to reserve spectrum for military communications. But the Trump administration appears ready to sell off spectrum. And at the same time, the wireless industry is campaigning to get the most lucrative frequencies:
I got a message last week from the White House. They pitched a new writer for us: Joe Biden. Today, @TheProspect is publishing the 46th president explaining his economic agenda: what he accomplished and why he did it.
See below for details.
The president writes that he wanted to reverse the failed approach of trickle-down economics, the offshoring of jobs, the high cost of things like prescription drugs. Here's what he sought to do instead: prospect.org/economy/2024-1…
He divides the essay into 3 sections: investing in the future through infrastructure spending and industrial policy, supporting workers and unions, and promoting competition and small business. He closes by saying America is stronger from these policies. prospect.org/economy/2024-1…
tl;dr: Lina Khan is successful at working legal levers of power to uphold the law, and as conservatives we hate that oversight.house.gov/wp-content/upl…
This alleged rampant illegality starts with pro-monopoly conservatives grousing that Khan was appointed to a White House council. Can you imagine!
Then, get this, the chair of the agency responsible for merger challenges issued guidelines for merger challenges, as has been done by practically every FTC chair in history. The scoundrel!
And she CHANGED. A. FORM. (The form changes got a 5-0 commission vote)