This is bound to end well: tax hikes by decree

Obama urged to raise taxes unilaterally on disfavored groups by regulation if Congress won’t act:

Out of deference to Congress, the Treasury Department has traditionally avoided making policy in areas where the legislative branch may act. “But when the legislative process is as broken as it has become today,” said Daniel N. Shaviro, a law professor at New York University, “it’s simply inevitable that administrations will care less about such comity, and be more willing to advance their policy views in controversial areas through the unilateral exercise of regulatory authority.”

That’s the ticket. We’ll call it “simply inevitable”! [Victor Fleischer, NYT “DealBook” via TaxProf; earlier on pen-and-phone executive orders here, etc.]

2 Comments

  • These are among the “millionaire’s tax loopholes” he’s trying to close in order to help keep the college tuition bubble inflated. When Obama announced more “help” to students with large student loans, he said it will be paid for by closing “tax loopholes for millionaires”

    This is a hot button issue for me because

    1) I’m a millionaire. (In fact, my annual personal income tax bill exceeds a million dollars)

    and

    2) I never had any student loans. I worked while I went to college, commuting to Hofstra University on the public bus and carpooling. I didn’t want to be in debt when I graduated so I chose to go to a school close to home and not live on campus, etc. I also chose to get a practical degree instead of pursuing my musical interests.

    It is inevitable that our Government will pay off the $1 Trillion in student debt by taxing me. And I’m furious that I’ll have to pay for all these women’s studies and Russian literature degrees. I’m sure that part of my success has to do with rational financial choices I made when I entered college.

    I have no regrets about my excellent Hofstra University education. But if I knew I could borrow any amount of money and not have to pay it back, I may have looked at other options.

    Obama taxing people he doesn’t like so he can give more free stuff to his constituents is disgusting, immoral, and un-American.

  • Robert, first I’d like to congratulate you for a job (apparently) well done. You’ve worked hard and achieved great success!

    I’d also like to comment, though, that part of the reason why you’ve become so successful may be due to the fact that you learned to work hard and make good choices. You didn’t just have stuff given to you. You had to work for it, and quite likely that strong work ethic carried over to your career.

    I agree completely that Obama wants to keep the college bubble fully inflated. When it pops, many of his most ardent supporters (the college faculty) will take a hit. And that group are typically well over 90% Democrat supporters.