Large gifts given to others are taxable. There are some loopholes. For example, a parent can give up to $10,000 per year to a child without incurring gift taxes. But if you have income that can be classified as ‘carried interest’, then you can give huge gifts to your children without incurring any tax whatsoever.
Romney’s tax returns reveal that he gave $100 million to his children using this loophole, that is available only to the wealthy whose income is from investments.
This Thursday will see Republican primary debate number 19, if you can believe it. Who has the time, or the patience for that matter, to sit through them all? But apparently enough people other than total political junkies watch them to make it worthwhile for the cable news outfits to show them.
I myself have not watched a single one, preferring to read The Guardian‘s funny live blogs by Richard Adams. Here is his report on last Monday’s debate.
More informative, more fun, far less time.
There was a time when I would have absolutely loved a film like this: a political drama that showed the backstage maneuverings of politicians and their campaigns. I would have thought that I was getting a look at what ‘real’ politics was all about, as opposed to what was reported in the newspapers and on TV.
You can read about the film at the official website. Here’s the trailer.
The film deals with a crucial Democratic primary election in Ohio and [Read more…]
What has come to be known as the Haditha massacre was one of the worst atrocities committed by US forces in Iraq in which 24 unarmed Iraqis – including old men, women, and children – were killed in revenge for a roadside bombing attack.
The trial for the leader of that squad has [Read more…]
Thanks to reader Henry, I learned about this article by James Surowiecki in the New Yorker that explains how private equity firms like Bain Capital (where Romney made his fortune) make their money. It is not pretty.
Private equity firms use a small amount of their own money and [Read more…]
One reason that politicians and other officials can avoid addressing hard questions at press conferences is because each journalist is usually given the chance to ask just one question. The politician can answer evasively or dismissively and [Read more…]
The Republican party likes to portray itself as defenders of ‘traditional family values’, which seem to many of us to be synonymous with narrow-minded, bigoted, and religiously-motivated ones. But that’s fine. People have their own moral standards and need some measures by which to evaluate candidates and they have every right to expect the candidates they support to have the same values that they do.
But what is odd is that rather than letting the values determine who their candidate should be, many of those voters seem to reverse the process and [Read more…]
Andy Borowitz reveals that in an effort to duplicate New Gingrich’s success in the primaries, Mitt Romney has decided to have an affair.
“Republican voters have sent the message that they want to vote for an adulterous scumbag and I have heard them loud and clear,” he said. “I promise that I will engage in a world-class extramarital affair that will make all of us proud again.”
According to one senior advisor, the Romney campaign was already holding focus groups and conducting special polling to determine the best person with whom Mr. Romney should conduct his extracurricular dalliance.
Will this new strategy reverse Romney’s fortunes? Stay tuned!
Mitt Romney is not a good public speaker. I find it painful to listen to him. Even a short clip of his speeches reveals someone who seems uncomfortable in that role because he lacks the ability to make his points clearly. What has got him so far is money and preparation plus the backing of the party establishment, the media, and the oligarchy, coupled with his willingness to say anything to pander to his audience. This is what makes so puzzling his repeated stumbles on the question of his own taxes, a topic that he must surely have known was coming. His performance on this issue is weirdly awkward for someone who prides himself on his careful preparation.
There seems to be increasing intrusiveness in the political process resulting in the current expectation that candidates for major office [Read more…]
As I wrote about before, it has been clear for some time that the oligarchy wanted the next election to be between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. That is the kind of election they like and almost [Read more…]