Interesting variation of the name of the congressional committee that writes our tax laws.

Brown enters not guilty plea – The reported size of the theft from Harrison Abstract has grown since earlier accounts. The original estimate of $400,000 has been revised to a million dollars. I doubt if the entire scheme has been unraveled yet, so that figure will most likely be changing.

We’ve finally worked out the time for a live on-air interview on Baltimore radio station WBAL, triggered by my FoxNews.com article from last week. I am scheduled to be on Dave Durian’s Morning Show for about ten minutes, starting at 8:25 am EDT tomorrow, July 29. For those not around the Baltimore area, the station has online broadcast capability. I tried it myself this morning and it actually started up and played a lot more easily than the other radio outlets that I listen to online.

IRS Given More Power To Break Laws – IRS’s PR program to convince our rulers that they can’t do their job without breaking laws that would put regular people in the slammer seems to have worked. The more we hear about the deficit, the more pressure there will be to unleash the IRS Gestapo and let them do whatever it takes to squeeze more money out of people. It’s classic ends (money for government) justifying the means (whatever it takes). As I’ve documented on several occasions, the infamous “tax gap” of supposedly uncollected taxes, is a pure guess (on the very high side) by IRS. They have admitted that to me when I pushed for documentation of how they calculated their numbers, which are used routinely to justify their collection tactics.

Sound fiscal advice for families should apply to state budget – With all of the focus on creative accounting done by large corporations, it’s interesting to note how practically all of the fiscal shenanigans played by our rulers at pretty much all levels of government would put corporate executives in the slammer. This means that corporate shareholders are legally given more recourse over fiscal mismanagement than are taxpayers.

Pension Problems, Pension Politics. Many plans aren’t solvent but Congress shouldn’t make the problem worse.

Seven Rules for Investing Young

Protect disabled with special needs trust – when discussing estate planning, I’ve long suggested that people imagine themselves as being in the position of puppeteers from the other world after they pass on. However, to ensure that one’s wishes, including special arrangements for family members, and even pets, are actually carried out, everything has to be properly spelled out in proper documents. I have yet to hear of the terms in a deceased person’s will or living trust being changed based on conversations from beyond the grave, regardless of the popularity of people who claim to speak with the dearly departed. I advise people to project ahead to when they are gone and write down what they would like done with their assets. A good estate attorney can usually draw up documents that will ensure that those things are actually accomplished.

A (Less) Taxing Time. Experts Say Breaks Help But Don’t Merit Change in Your Plans. – From the AARP Bulletin

Similar to the philosophy by which many people live; “he who dies with the most toys, wins.”

The tax-rebate check is in the mail – If you receive one of these checks, make sure to properly identify it in your checkbook and/or QuickBooks. Also, be sure to tell your tax preparer next year how much you received so we can all avoid the confusion that the 2001 rebate checks caused. I had dozens of clients swear that they hadn’t received their 2001 rebates, only to have IRS catch them and have to change their 1040s accordingly. That was one (of many) reasons we started requiring everyone to have all of their personal accounts set up on QuickBooks; so that we can check for the rebates.

Hey, Mom and Dad: Don’t Fall for This Tax Scam! – No need to pay anyone to get the IRS rebate checks. Any time there is money being tossed around, you can be sure there will be vultures trying to take it.

Do sailors get offended at being compared to the likes of politicians? Just wondering.

Building wealth

Kids Rally for Tax Credits and ‘Stuff Like That’ – Exploiting kids for their big government goals is nothing new for the lefties. “It’s for the children” is considered a bullet proof argument for anything.

The Government Budget Folly

Real problem is not the deficit

The deficit distraction