Not Giving Up

It’s good to know that the only political party that actually advocates removing taxes isn’t giving up their efforts after just one loss at the ballot box. Here in Arkansas, the State party leaders are already preparing for a petition drive to put another measure on the ballot to remove sales tax from human food and medicine. In Massachusetts, they are going to take another stab at removing the state income tax.

We didn’t arrive at such high levels of taxation overnight. It will take patience and persistence to change the momentum to the other direction.

I hope the New York Libertarians are doing what they can to prevent NYC Mayor Bloomberg from implementing his planned $2 Billion annual increase in property taxes. For someone who is supposed to be a Republican and a capitalist, the new mayor is acting like anything but.

While some may blame term limits for not allowing Rudy Giuliani to serve a third term, it’s really his fault for not considering the need for a successor to carry on his fine work. I know Rudy is currently riding high on his recently published book, called Leadership, which I must admit I haven’t read. While I have no criticism of his accomplishments as Mayor of the largest city in the nation, I’m sure even he would admit to being lax in the area of planning for leadership succession.

KMK

Pro-Business Agenda?

Those of us who believe in the principles of capitalism can only hope that there is a strong move in the direction of pro-business legislation in DC before the November 5th euphoria wears off. Unfortunately, moderation is still the main driving force among our rulers; so I don’t expect to see as dramatic a shift in tone as the liberal media are warning about.

KMK

Easy To See In Hindsight

It’s easy now for most people to look back at the dot-com stock bubble and recognize it as what it was, a greater fool pyramid scheme. A lot of good this Monday morning quarterbacking does for those who relied on investment advisors who were too stupid to see through the phony market back when it counted.

Unfortunately, historical memory is so short in this country that few will recognize it when it happens again, which is the only way that people can be warned about it. As someone who received a ton of criticism during the dot-com bubble for taking a contrarian approach and refusing to buy into its bogus assumptions, I don’t have much hope of things being very different next time around.

What never ceases to amaze me is how people who have been so incompetent in the past can even stay in business. For example, will toe-sucker Dick Morris’ ineptitude in analyzing the just completed political campaigns hurt his lucrative TV and writing career? Not likely. Similarly, how can any financial advisor who promoted dot-com stocks even have any clients left? Anyone who is foolish enough to continue relying on advice from any financial professional who fell for the dot-com bubble will receive no sympathy from me when they lose even more of their money.

KMK

Scripted

If you’ve ever listened to a telemarketer’s spiel, it’s obvious that s/he is just reading from a script. Often times the callers are actually incarcerated prisoners (a commonly used labor force by companies that think telemarketing is a useful tool for their business) with a very limited command of the English language.

In the spirit of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry asked a caller for his phone number so he could be called back, a person in The Netherlands has come up with an amusing full script (in English) that can be used in response to those pesky calls. This might be more fun than just hanging up on them or asking them to hold for a minute and leaving the phone sitting for half an hour.

KMK

Cracking Down

IRS and the Justice Department have been busy nailing more tax protestors and promoters of these schemes and sending them to prison. One of the first ones mentioned in this article actually used to work for IRS and expected a jury to believe his story that he didn’t know his own income was subject to taxation.

IRS needs to make sure that this news is disseminated as widely as possible. A good place to start would be on the websites for the protestors. A welcoming message something like “This site is currently unavailable while its owner serves his sentence in federal prison for tax evasion” would go a long way in informing curious people as to the consequences of following the leads of these charlatans.

KMK

On the Right Path

It’s a bit premature to consider much needed tax law changes as reality. However, with the GOP finally in charge of all three main houses of power in DC, they will finally have the chance to show us what they can do.

Social Security Reform

Permanent Additional Tax Rate Cuts

Killing the Death Tax Forever

Our GOP rulers do need to act on these matters ASAP before their momentum slows down and the 2004 campaign gets into full swing. If Bush doesn’t have a chance to sign them into law in the next two years, all hope will be lost because President Hillary Rodham definitely won’t.

KMK

Hillary Style Investment Advice

I have to admit I’m not completely up to speed on all of the details for the plans to eliminate conflicts of interest in the stock markets and make investment advisors independent from their supporting underwriters. However, if this analogy of the plan currently under consideration being similar to what Queen Hillary tried to force on the nation’s health care system in 1994 is true, I would agree that this issue needs to be seriously reevaluated. The entire idea of the financial markets being controlled in the same way Hillary wanted to control all medical care makes me sick to my stomach, literally.

KMK