After his tweet, Derek Thompson went to work to answer the same question I had asked: Why didn’t these 7,000 pay any income taxes. This is what he found: There are 433,000 tax units (individuals or families) reporting cash income… Continue Reading
A guy named Nathan Wilkinson writes a great piece on the new cigarette labels: Today The FDA released the new pictures that must be on packages of cigarettes by October. These new pictures are meant to scare or change the… Continue Reading
After a long, cold, windy spring, only last week did temperatures heat up and the wind die down to a livable level. Normally, I find the summer heat here in the desert oppressive but seriously, we’d been having arctic blast… Continue Reading
When people ask what kind of law I do, often as not I’ll say “stolen houses.” Title fraud, shady finance deals, irregular sales contracts gone wrong (often as not involving sellers carrying paper back for the buyer), surveyors smoking stuff… Continue Reading
I’ll say this for Senators Kerry and McCain — they’re at least trying to defuse the legal situation involving the President’s violation of the War Powers Resolution and thus, by implication, his apparent usurpation of Congress’ power to declare war.… Continue Reading
Derek Thompson tweets that 7,000 families making $1m or more a year did not pay any income tax. Which sounds pretty damning. Given the existence of the AMT, though, I wonder how they got away with it? It’s less damning,… Continue Reading
Sometimes the life of a professional involves deep emotional ambiguities. I just drafted a very good appellate brief, which contains writing, research, and advocacy which should make me proud of myself. But the brief of necessity paints the trial judge… Continue Reading
There’s an interesting exchange between Chris, Big Stick Mike, and Rufus, involving starting with the motivations of those that disagree with you and working your way backwards: One thing that I will say, though, is that there’s been a recent… Continue Reading
From Outside The Beltway, an interesting map looking at the education level of state legislators. I found the results to be surprising. Playing to stereotype, I would have expected the blue state legislatures to have more education. Instead, of the… Continue Reading
These notable men, mostly but not exclusively Americans, have something in common. This signal honor carries an implication that winds up seeming just a bit odd after it is conferred. In alphabetical order, the list is: Ethan Allen, George Bancroft,… Continue Reading