The Great Tax Con Job
A very small niche of America's uber-wealthy have pulled off what may well be the biggest con job in the history of our republic, and they did it in a startlingly brief 30 or so years. True, they spent over three billion dollars to make it happen, but the reward to them was in the hundreds of billions - and will continue to be. Full Story »
Posted by Patricia Blochowiak
Cause and effect are difficult to link in many of your comments. You missed the boat entirely when you link the Regan era cuts to the collapse of the savings and loan 'thrifts'. Actually, the cause was the unintended consequence of removing the ability of 'professionals' - doctors, lawyers, etc. - to claim passive depreciation losses (from real estate) against their earned income. They were already enjoying low taxes by having a low taxable income. When Congress eliminated this in an effort to "increase" taxes on "rich" people, the professionals found that the properties they owned were no longer of benefit to them and they walked away from the mortgages that had been provided by - you guessed it - the thrifts. As a result of this short sighted action, Congress caused the collapse of the savings and loan banking system. Not, as you claim, the reduction in taxes, but rather by an attempt to INCREASE taxes. Makes me wonder what other causal linkages you ignored because they didn't fit your beliefs.