Mars finally won over Venus. Lynn relented and agreed to go to our cousin's condo in Savannah so we did not schlep to Atlanta. Lamentably, our friends who we were going to stay with in Atlanta lost power.
Now that we are back, we leave again Friday for Booth Museum Donor Art Show in Cartersville, Ga. Back late Sunday.
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Several comments on tax reform and hopefully simplification.
It has been well over 30 years since any meaningful tax policies have been enacted. If corporate America functioned in the same manner as government we would have more Eastman Kodak's and Polaroids. My point being, you cannot rest on your laurels, history and technology because competitors are gaining on you every day.
Some of America's greatest companies no longer exist because they fell asleep and were afraid to change because it meant threatening their existing product dominance. Film was replaced by other technology. Thus Eastman and Polaroid are history and the city of Rochester New York has been decimated.
Trump concluded working with a fractured party and inept leadership, that could not get legislation passed, was not in keeping with his pledge to enact the agenda he campaigned on so he decided to see if Democrats would be willing to do something positive for America. Time will tell whether Trump will accomplish his goal or whether he will eventually be rolled by partisan Democrats more interested in recapturing Congress in 2018 than assisting Trump in accomplishing a victory.
When it comes to tax relief partisans argue Trump wants to take from the middle class and give tax relief to the rich. First of all, over 50% of Americans pay no income tax at all. Second, it is only logical to assume any tax relief is going to benefit those who pay taxes. Since the wealthy pay a disproportionate amount of taxes it is rational to expect they will receive benefits but not necessarily at the cost of the middle class. That is a convenient argument but a distorted one being used by locals like Joel Spivak in a recent SMN LTE.
When it comes to the corporate tax rate most do not pay at the posted rate because they get so many special tax breaks. I understand most pay somewhere around 21 % so if the rate is reduced to 15% , which is not likely, and many exemptions are eliminated, the benefits will not be that great. The biggest prospective benefit is reducing the rate on repatriation. But here again, unless there is an increase in domestic demand why would corporate America build new factories etc.?
The key is tax simplification. That would do more to restore faith in government than anything I can think of but if it comes at the expense of a host of deductions, like eliminating the ability to deduct state taxes and/or interest on home mortgages, charity etc. then it could all turn out to be another ruse perpetrated on tax payers regardless of their bracket.
Once government takes away various deductions history reveals politicians eventually raise rates and the screwing of tax payers continues in order to support their unbridled spending and vote buying.
Remember you used to be able to deduct all personal business expenses then only after a percentage of your gross and so the story goes.
Finally, I suspect the extraordinary cost of the two recent hurricanes will impact the shaping of any tax legislation.
Stay tuned and let's see how Congressional partisanship screws up another opportunity to do right.
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Last night as Hollywood sought to raise money for those impacted by the recent hurricanes many could not resist politicizing their message by lecturing us about climate change.
We have had hurricanes before and the wind force has varied as well as the amount of rain. I prefer to look out the window and get a read on the weather than listen to Barbara Streisand who, the last time I inquired, is not a certified meteorologist.
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Dick
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