Lawsuits Over Tax Shelters Suggest Hard Sell by KPMG 

It should be a dead giveaway that things are fishy when you are required to pay millions of dollars, sign a confidentiality agreement, and are barred from seeking a second opinion from any other experts in order to participate in a top secret tax savings plan.  If you aren’t allowed to verify the legality of a tax strategy with another independent source, that’s a huge red flag that it’s a crooked deal.  Proceed any further at your own risk.

To be honest, I’m having the same feelings about the people who fall for these schemes as those who follow the tax protestor scamsters.  Anyone that stupid really deserves to lose their money.  I know it sounds cruel; but it’s my Darwinian way of looking at the world and seeing that the smartest among us survive and the idiots don’t.  It’s a kind of financial JackAss for weeding out those with too little intelligence to survive.      

Investors Find New Ways to Put Pension Money Into Real Estate – This is good news, as I have for years been trying to convince more people to invest their IRA, SEP and Keogh funds in real estate so they could avoid the Enron type pitfalls; but it’s been tough finding plan administrators who were willing or able to handle it.  I’m hoping more administrators add real estate as a standard choice for investing retirement money.  As I’ve always said, real estate is a lot more reliable in regard to accumulating wealth for retirement years than investing in stocks.

Drug Tax Stamp

I first saw this a few months ago. I’m still not sure if it’s a hoax or not.  The State of Kansas is supposedly trying to get drug dealers to buy tax stamps ($100 minimum) to put on their products.  If I’m reading the rules right, there may be a bigger penalty for being caught with illegal drugs that don’t have the tax stamp than just for being a dope dealer. 

This seems to illustrate a couple of truisms.

If you can’t stop an activity, at least tax it.

As happened with Al Capone, authorities are much more able to throw someone in jail for tax evasion than for what most people would consider to be more serious crimes (murder, drugs, bribery, etc.).

I contacted the Kansas Dept. of Revenue and asked them how much money they actually collect from this.  I will post their response.

Bush: Will Sign $350B Tax-Cutting Bill

Bush Says He Will Sign $350 Billion Tax Cut Deal

Bush embraces tax-cut compromise. $350 billion package set for likely passage Friday

Bush Will Sign Half a Tax Cut

The Tax Cut Is For Dreamers

Tentative Tax Cut Deal Reached. House and Senate Negotiators Back $350B Plan

Republicans leave some dividend money on the tax table.

Bush’s tax dictate

Grassley makes tax deal

Bush’s tax-cut victory Is A Good Deal

Weak link on the left – Libs are lying in their attempts to connect tax cuts to deficits.

Warren Buffett Is Wrong! What he calls �voodoo,� is just what we need.

The Stooge of Omaha? – Both Stephen Moore and Neil Cavuto share my opinion that the supposed capitalist guru is nothing more than a typically selfish Marxist.  He made his billions and now wants to make sure others aren’t able to do the same.   

Dangers of the dividend tax cut to Marxism – Lower tax rates = less control and power for the central government, something Buffett and his Fellow Travelers can’t stomach. 

Winning the tax-cut wrap-up

$318 Billion Deal Is Set in Congress for Cutting Taxes

Gas Tax Hikes In The Works –  With income tax rates ready to be reduced, our rulers in DC are working on plans to add another 5.4 cents in Federal tax to each gallon of gasoline we buy.  They realize they can sneak this in pretty well undetected with the recent drops in pump prices.  Some groups that are opposed to this new increase:

Americans For Tax Reform

National Taxpayers Union

Citizens Against Government Waste