tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44210063013411572582024-03-28T09:14:58.773-04:00Your Tax Matters PartnerAll the material on this blog has relocated to yourtaxmatterspartner.comPeter Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01473701483727808782noreply@blogger.comBlogger811125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4421006301341157258.post-44541793823526576662019-07-24T21:47:00.002-04:002019-07-24T21:47:48.311-04:00Go To The New SiteThe material on this blog has been transferred to <a href="https://yourtaxmatterspartner.com/#">yourtaxmatterspartner.com</a>Peter Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01473701483727808782noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4421006301341157258.post-52817305108688773892019-05-09T18:09:00.000-04:002019-05-09T18:09:56.906-04:00Reflections On Technology - By Michael Schaffner<i>One of the great benefits of the Civil War Sesquicentennial was some of the people I met. One of them was Michael Schaffner whom I met at the penultimate event the sesquicentennial of the grand review in Harrisburg PA in November 2015. I asked for Michael's input on the recent troubles of CCH which went down for a couple of days due to a ransomware attack effectively paralyzing a multitude of tax practices. I mainly asked him because of his interest in military affairs. The tech-induced tax work stop image made me think of the relatively recent move by the Navy to reinstitute training in celestial navigation. Although Michael never served in the Navy, he has reasons to know a good bit about it as you can learn in his novel War Boys, <a href="https://activepassivitiesandothermoronicoxen.blogspot.com/2017/07/boys-playing-war-in-jungle-in-time-of.html">which I reviewed on another site</a>. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>His thoughts were a bit too extensive <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2019/05/09/malware-attack-paralyzes-tax-businesses-throughout-the-country/#627007d654c5">for my Forbes piece</a> so I am reproducing them in full here. - PJR</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
For what I'm doing now I'm a great fan of new technology but also very much indebted to older forms. For example, I love the ability to go to the Archives, photograph regimental books with a smart phone, and getting a high enough resolution picture to bring home, put on a big screen (after sticking the thumb drive I downloaded the pics on into a laptop), and then transcribe the original handwriting onto my notebook. At that point, however, the most useful skill I have is the ability to decipher sketchy cursive based on having learned it from nuns nearly 60 years ago and first performing this particular task as a clerk-typist 20 years later.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
Going back to the older forms of office technology now would pretty much shut down any workplace, yet it was very helpful to know as the newer developed. Writing short notes on memo pads taught brevity and clarity. Needing to use a typist for formal interoffice communications taught another kind of economy. Having to track transactions in a manual log or keep accounts on paper spreadsheets taught basic systems analysis and design. I noticed later in my career that once office automation went beyond major mainframe applications (like personnel and payroll records) and encroached on the day to day work of an office (like updating the status of a budget or personnel request) a certain alienation occurred -- if something wasn't in "the system" then it couldn't be very important or anything anyone could be responsible for.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
In that light, sorry to hear about all the accounting firms, but maybe they can take a hint from the Navy. Learning the more primitive technology not only gives you a backup and makes you more appreciative of the modern approach, but it provides a deeper understanding of how things work and why. Input screens are equivalent to paper forms. Excel is equivalent to graph paper and a calculator. The nature of the work -- the essential requirements of the job of an accountant or any other administrative employee -- is more a constant than we realize, and it helps to know how those before us got it done.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
In my penultimate job, in a budget office, the mad genius who set up our detailed system for tracking line items down to the sub-object classification code and project or contract had started 30 years earlier as a GS-3 Payroll Clerk -- a job that probably doesn't really exist anymore except as a complex of algorithms. For modeling the budgetary impact of workload changes and their reverberations through support offices I created Excel spreadsheets after sketching the relationships on paper and building the formulas from the same kind of simple math I learned playing Avalon Hill board games as a student years earlier. Both of these efforts would, in other offices, have required contracts costing hundreds of thousands of dollars just to determine feasibility, with a few million more for development and implementation over the succeeding three to five years. We could do it with equally modern but less cumbersome technology because we'd done similar things long before by hand.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
Modern technology is wonderful -- if nothing else it helps office workers get their jobs done in a fraction of the time it used to, leaving more time for other work -- or for gossipy emails, designing glossy adverts for office parties, and downloading porn. I used it to lift 19th century tactical manuals off Google Books and ransack the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion (on Cornell's "Making of America" site) for original reports on logistics and army administration -- all of which probably made more sense to me for having begun my career in the previous century using systems and techniques that had survived largely unchanged from the one before.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
I love technology, old and new. But it wouldn't hurt those who lean exclusively on the new to learn some of the old, as we are sometimes rudely reminded... </div>
Peter Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01473701483727808782noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4421006301341157258.post-45074700923581064472019-03-24T16:25:00.002-04:002019-03-31T06:04:19.265-04:00A Day At Dinosaur Adventure Land<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9i5qrN1pUz5xh4mStIshSGsv4nXTi3JWZjGXS4yJwdM0_PmRUiqQRyQTiRikDGhu2yxXwgPlQSwj1Jhw6DyyZySQTIuBq07VTJ8FnH6qa5L-5oLpVrb2BigB966deEPrTLuaF6mLDENYQ/s1600/20190322_135336.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9i5qrN1pUz5xh4mStIshSGsv4nXTi3JWZjGXS4yJwdM0_PmRUiqQRyQTiRikDGhu2yxXwgPlQSwj1Jhw6DyyZySQTIuBq07VTJ8FnH6qa5L-5oLpVrb2BigB966deEPrTLuaF6mLDENYQ/s320/20190322_135336.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
When my son William and I were driving across the country in 2010, our Garmin sent us on a dirt road, where we ended up stranded for a couple of hours. So there was a bit of concern when the GPS set built into Evie's Subaru sent us down a dirt road. After a mile or so William joked about hearing a banjo. Nothing like a Deliverance reference to lighten the mood. Finally, we came to a left onto another dirt road - Pearl Lane.<br />
<br />
I was a little disturbed to note a bullet-riddled mailbox and similarly perforated stop sign,<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKXQlI126VwGccRtoItKT7y8vFujiFLBNfS76-rM5CBpq8MEzyCZ6O4jeVg8kStxh_zlwP8fe_oAFb9MhwsEn5ZshYC0A7Add6qYZPM7By3BGyC1tYWs_L1zEsmWcptZDyurB-36CLFIS3/s1600/20190322_124326.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKXQlI126VwGccRtoItKT7y8vFujiFLBNfS76-rM5CBpq8MEzyCZ6O4jeVg8kStxh_zlwP8fe_oAFb9MhwsEn5ZshYC0A7Add6qYZPM7By3BGyC1tYWs_L1zEsmWcptZDyurB-36CLFIS3/s320/20190322_124326.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
William said not to worry about it. It's an Alabama thing.<br />
<br />
When the GPS told us we had arrived at our destination there was nothing, but I had faith and told William to drive on. Shortly after we were rewarded with a view of the famous gateway to the adventure land.<br />
<br />
It was not real clear what we were supposed to do. William pulled in and I got out of the car and started walking around. A fellow with a beard said hello and directed us to the office where we could check in,<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYHzyFSPbKs0sULdVHnXC8zjz9TxJ2_6QcV5vToa6QIfJaC9zcxATeBR5TuXTpXZke7spDiRLTTwSnb9xMaYWhyphenhyphensPY0TnsF_ky8YuNKfvVbkCykjZgmyFFlOv5Pq3XGchqVePqQC-fZ-AR/s1600/20190322_145706.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYHzyFSPbKs0sULdVHnXC8zjz9TxJ2_6QcV5vToa6QIfJaC9zcxATeBR5TuXTpXZke7spDiRLTTwSnb9xMaYWhyphenhyphensPY0TnsF_ky8YuNKfvVbkCykjZgmyFFlOv5Pq3XGchqVePqQC-fZ-AR/s320/20190322_145706.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b><br /></b> <b>The Long Haired Julie</b><br />
<br />
When we got there Julie was on an extended phone conversation. Julie is from San Francisco and has been at DAL one year and five months with her husband. Most people are short, but Julie is a bit shorter than most with long brown hair. I think I would characterize her as perky. I make up back stories about people which I consider hypotheses that I then test when I get the chance. I never got to test my hypothesis about Julie which is that she was a cheerleader in high school.<br />
<br />
While I was standing there a slightly less short (possibly average height) guy with short gray hair was also standing there. He told me that he was a lawyer and that he had been CEO of CSE and that Kent's case was going to be reversed as if I should know what he was talking about. He was waiting to use the phone because his did not have coverage.<br />
<br />
Afterward, I tried to figure out who it was and when I looked at pictures, I thought I might have met Paul John Hansen. William confirmed the ID from one of Hansen's mugshots.<br />
<br />
I offered to let him use my phone which had two bars, but he declined. I reflected that that could be viewed as an attempt at intelligence gathering, which it was not at all. I had decided that I wanted to experience Dinosaur Adventure Land like any other visitor rather than someone connected, however loosely, with what Mary Tocco calls the "obsessed party of internet fanatics dedicated to revealing to the world their perception of Kent Hovind as a fraud and con-artist".<br />
<br />
I know that if nobody else reads this piece some of the obsessed party will and the possible Hansen sighting might be a source of excitement. For their benefit, I need to make clear my strongest take away from my day at DAL. Hovind is running a real ministry there. The focus is primarily on spiritual principles, which are altogether benign. Just about every scientific observation was wrapped around a spiritual principle.<br />
<br />
For example, when Julie showed us the rings of a tree dark alternating with light and dark, she told us that the light rings are soft and the dark rings are hard. If the tree were all soft it would just fall over. If it were all hard it would snap in extreme conditions. And we should seek a similar balance in our lives. Physical activity, reading our bibles for spiritual growth, socializing.<br />
<br />
The displays which are mostly works-in-process are tied in with the days of creation.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9WE4PISJXz8cik2-dGBbiF-0OiLn38EynOTuteTHk3oHA5T1o2DJWY5XuCwLbI27Q4RNtHnE0RYtrSP3kGqQwKHrg5zTjOfXLBSE0twi5s-3XZBwnyqmb_7I0kP5gg2J-nVGEQkJhBs1e/s1600/20190322_145512.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9WE4PISJXz8cik2-dGBbiF-0OiLn38EynOTuteTHk3oHA5T1o2DJWY5XuCwLbI27Q4RNtHnE0RYtrSP3kGqQwKHrg5zTjOfXLBSE0twi5s-3XZBwnyqmb_7I0kP5gg2J-nVGEQkJhBs1e/s320/20190322_145512.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
There was this thing where a tube blows up a stream of air on which a sort of beach ball floats. You can see how it changes position based on air pressure. The spiritual lesson is that we always seek the place easiest for us.<br />
<br />
Julie kept apologizing during the tour for not knowing the material well enough, but she more than made up for it with her enthusiasm. There was a fog machine that blew really cool smoke rings.<br />
<br />
In the section about trees Julie talked about being a tree lover and how people were extreme about that in SF. Another group came in - a couple with little kids -. William politely offered to bail, but Julie had them pick up on Day 5 where we were. Something about airplanes there.<br />
<br />
At Day Six is the dinosaur payoff, where we see all the evidence for the coexistence of dinosaurs with people and the continued existence of the dinos. It's just that back in the day they were called dragons. And of course, because of the post-Flood decrease in air pressure, the big ones couldn't breathe.<br />
<br />
A really compelling bit of evidence comes from China. You know how they have the year of the pig and the year of the tiger, etc. Well, there are eleven of them that are real animals we know about. And they have the year of the dragon. So dragons must be real too. Checkmate atheists.<br />
<br />
There were two places where Julie's enthusiasm was utterly infectious. On Day 1 when she showed us the chart of the electromagnetic spectrum, of which only a small part is visible, she shared how much she is looking forward to going to heaven, because we may have more senses and be able to experience the whole spectrum.<br />
<br />
In going through the wonders of the creation she talked about how there is iron in our blood, so Adam and Eve might have been able to feel the directions and not needed a compass to know which way is North.<br />
<br />
Doctor Hovind was off debating an atheist and he handles the outdoor tour so we were left free to wander the property. The hour we needed to wait for the tour stretched into three, but it did not trouble us at all<br />
<br />
<b>The Observant Shawn</b><br />
<b><br /></b> William and I started wandering toward what looked like a small desert, probably the most dystopian section of DAL.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_s_tLCyOp7r-I8CLbl6_YEIMdkrASlkhJ5lWEXjbI29foGhEiMdlJSaY34g4R9yAqFkvb_FOBe01XGelMfYRYkBnBZaA_i6r4wOtIjMYWtipIEZFUeVOZFUPzW7LpHRagBELufE93FHLv/s1600/20190322_135940.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_s_tLCyOp7r-I8CLbl6_YEIMdkrASlkhJ5lWEXjbI29foGhEiMdlJSaY34g4R9yAqFkvb_FOBe01XGelMfYRYkBnBZaA_i6r4wOtIjMYWtipIEZFUeVOZFUPzW7LpHRagBELufE93FHLv/s320/20190322_135940.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<b><br /></b> All of a sudden we were being seemingly challenged by someone on a golf cart type vehicle. William and I were both in the "OMG have we gone out of bounds?" mode. He assured us that it was no problem and we started talking with Shawn who has been at DAL for three weeks and hopes to be there for the rest of his life. He was recently released from several years of unjust imprisonment on a trumped-up drug charge.<br />
<br />
He offered to take us on an abbreviated tour that would pale in comparison with the big boy tour that Doctor Dino would take us on with the "mule". We saw the island with Slim the skeleton who is waiting for the perfect woman. We saw the gazebo where weddings are performed. I think he suggested that William might want to marry his girlfriend there. That would really be something.<br />
<br />
Shawn told us that he has taken responsibility for security and patrols the perimeter. When I asked him about the bullet-ridden stop sign, he said it was not unusual to hear the reports of the firearms and they could note hits and misses from the pings.<br />
<br />
Then we went to feed the fish (literally with fish food). There were a lot of them. He took us to see his hedgehogasaoous which was a rescue of sorts, which William, who is into animal rescue found touching.<br />
<b><br /></b> <b><br /></b>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0wSk_a406dxQV_lGJl95ImBrDTCvDgIHhyphenhyphenGJnm-WdkexI5dCdc-e4RjrCaeXjPJpBiwQzyyiEMe8Roiuc9Jxl_-ywC9fqX1V-IWx7_cxubt4vsK1RoTWwwHNdpKSg8ODtg2ookXEhIIId/s1600/20190322_144024+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0wSk_a406dxQV_lGJl95ImBrDTCvDgIHhyphenhyphenGJnm-WdkexI5dCdc-e4RjrCaeXjPJpBiwQzyyiEMe8Roiuc9Jxl_-ywC9fqX1V-IWx7_cxubt4vsK1RoTWwwHNdpKSg8ODtg2ookXEhIIId/s320/20190322_144024+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<b>The Smiling Anna</b><br />
<br />
Anna, who is blond, which is a cross to bear around Hovind, had the biggest smile I have ever seen. She helped us with shopping in the gift the shop. We got shirts and a hat and a copy of the Kennel, which I would get autographed later. Anna has been at DAL for two years. We dropped just over ninety bucks in the gift shop, which does take credit cards, which is a good thing because my cash was running low.<br />
<b><br /></b> <b>The Lieutenant And The Lady</b><br />
<b><br /></b> After shopping, we learned that Doctor Hovind was not done besting the atheist. It was mentioned that there was a tour already scheduled, but thankfully there was room for us. We met the couple that would be going along with us.<br />
<br />
He was probably the most interesting person I met all day. After 10 years as an enlisted man in the Air Force maintaining things like the F35 and the A10, he went through the course to be commissioned as an officer in the Marine Corps, which involves <i>inter alia </i>infantry training, because every Marine is a rifleman. There is a subsequent 13 week course for those that will actually be doing infantry, but our Lt is at Pensacola in the early stage of flight training. Lady Lt is pregnant and also blond which would earn her a Hovind insult on the tour.<br />
<br />
As we were waiting for Doc Dino I mainly spoke with Lt about fascinating things that have nothing to do with DAL, so I will leave that out.<br />
<br />
<b>Cindy The Gardner</b><br />
<b><br /></b> While I was paying homage to the manliest man on the scene William was engaging with Cindy who had wandered over. Cindy is one of those women whose age I cannot judge. Youthful attractiveness combined with some wisdom. Someone who will be able to remain 39 for as long as she likes.<br />
<br />
They were talking about plants. I did manage to get some back story from her. She was running her own preschool in California. It was explicitly identified as Christian, but when one of the moms started hearing about Jesus from her daughter she complained to Cindy that she was teaching her kids fables.<br />
<br />
That got Cindy motivated to seek out proof of biblical truth, which led her to Kent Hovind's videos. She came out for a brief spell as a volunteer and then felt called to come full time. (There was a story to that, but I probably don't have it straight, as I was not taking notes).<br />
<br />
Cindy has been at DAL two and a half years. She didn't say anything to that effect, but when Kent mentioned his wife during the tour, I asked if it was Cindy that was his wife and he confirmed that.<br />
<br />
<b>The Big Boy Tour</b><br />
<b><br /></b> My excitement at meeting Dr. Hovind in person had been mounting. Not fully identifying myself without being entirely disingenuous was really motivated by wanting to experience the tour. There are a number of things that I agree with Kent Hovind on. One of those is his "Swallow the meat. Spit out the bone" principle. And to follow that principle in this context, you need to let him put out his message unchallenged. And it is not just listening to him talk, there is a physical performance that you can't get from watching youtube videos.<br />
<br />
The "mule" is a rugged all-terrain vehicle. Kind of an oversized golf cart. For a jungle golf course. Given what was coming seatbelts and helmets were probably called for, but this is Alabama where the power of the regulatory state is attenuated and there are no insurance rules at DAL, since to have insurance would mean no zip lines. We had courageously signed the release. I doubt there was anything that phased the lieutenant.<br />
<br />
William and the couple sat in the back seat and I exploited my senior citizen status to ride shotgun with Doc Dino. He referred to us as boys and girls occasionally. And I have the sense that we got much the same tour as we would have gotten had we been ten. And I loved it.<br />
<br />
As the mule was running over the property there would be occasional forks. At the first Kent asked whether we wanted the "Grandma tour" or the "Real tour". We, of course, cheered for the "Real tour" which gave us some exciting ups and downs. At one point we stopped near the edge of a high point for a spiritual lesson about the attraction of going down that big hill and then crept up to see that was actually a sort of cliff. We need to heed our heavenly father's warning.<br />
<br />
Probably most memorable was the session at the picnic table with the paper airplanes and the rubber band shooting contest where Kent kicked our asses. He showed us his secret. The mistake we make is having equal pressure on both sides of the rubber band which creates turbulence. He had more pressure on one side, which provided a dramatic difference. And in life, you need to have the stronger emphasis on the spiritual aspect - boys and girls.<br />
<br />
There is more, but the written word can't do it justice.<br />
<br />
<b>No Conspiracy Narrative On The Mule</b><br />
<b><br /></b> Kent uses the layout of the property to explain his theory about the Flood accounting for the Grand Canyon rather than millions of years of drip drip. I asked him why was it that when you went to the Grand Canyon you saw these signs about the millions of years. He told me that that would be answered later.<br />
<br />
There is a more comprehensive explanation next to a sort of dune or bluff. Essentially layers form quickly as heavy stuff heads for the bottom. And I asked him again why the millions and millions explanations are so prevalent. He told me that people don't want to believe that there is a creator, because then they would have to think about what sort of rules the creator has for them to follow.<br />
<br />
<b>And The Jokes</b><br />
<br />
To really remember a Hovind joke, you need repetition. So I don't remember the blond joke he laid on the lieutenant's wife. As we were assembling the paper airplanes there were a series of government military waste jokes about the scotch tape being some sort of special polymer costing thousands of dollars an inch. He checked with the lieutenant on those after telling him that his father had been a Marine, the only survivor of his platoon in the Pacific.<br />
<br />
So here are the two that I remember distinctly. The mule can go from fifty to zero in one second - if it hits a tree. You need some visual imagination for the other one. "Somebody caught a fish here" - gestures with hands to show a considerable length - "this far from the dock".<br />
<br />
Heard the fish joke four times. The first time was from Shawn who is either in training to conduct the big boy tour or stealing Hovind's material.<br />
<br />
<b>What I Admire</b><br />
<b><br /></b> The two things I admire most about Kent Hovind are his tremendous work ethic and his determination to live a purpose driven life. This came up in the lessons from the trees which we had also gotten from Shawn. They point out how the trees are always looking for the sun that nourishes them and that is what we should be doing with the things we keep in our lives.<br />
<br />
Kent expanded noting that he could understand a kid playing with a ball, but grown men doing it for hours and other grown men watching them, he just didn't get it. Do something useful.<br />
<br />
Which brings me to another Kent Hovind maxim, that I endorse. If you don't like what he is doing there in Lenox, go do something better.<br />
<br />
<b>On The Other Hand</b><br />
<b><br /></b> My great wish for Kent Hovind professionally is that he will stay conventionally tax compliant and the beleaguered state of the IRS will have the statute of limitations on collections bail him out. Running into Hansen is not a good sign.<br />
<br />
We were invited to dinner and the bible study, which I would have loved to do, but William and I had a lot of driving ahead of us. As we were getting ready to go, William reminded me to get my copy of <i><a href="http://ytmp.blogspot.com/2015/02/an-awesome-critique-of-prison.html">The Kennel </a></i>autographed.<br />
<br />
I hunted around and found where they were eating, pausing respectfully as Kent finished grace. He was sitting with the military couple when I came up to him for the autograph. He told them that he was in prison for nine years for nothing, They were just trying to shut him up. Have you ever heard of structuring?<br />
<br />
Kent's embrace of tax mishegas is, in my mind, tragic. I know that I aggravate people with this view, but I find young earth creationism relatively benign. Most of the counsel that Kent gives people about how to live their lives is good counsel. Avoid alcohol, drugs and tobacco. Work hard. Live a life of purpose. Have empathy for those who are imprisoned.<br />
<br />
<b>See For Yourself</b><br />
<br />
So visit DAL and have a good time. It might be wise to go for the Grandma tour. Try to be kind and capture what is worth appreciating. Just don't go there for tax and legal advice.<br />
<br />
For reference here is the report on <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2015/01/22/kent-hovind-claims-congressmen-are-looking-into-his-case-in-interview-with-tax-blogger/#4a2230082fb0">my previous encounter with Kent Hovind.</a><br />
<br />
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<i>Peter J Reilly <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/#ed315696271f">writes on taxes for forbes.com </a>and has been following the Kent Hovind story for somewhat less than 6,000 years.</i><br />
<br />
Holden Hardman did an undercover video of the tour which is on his youtube channel. Check it out.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/e6eLCoj9ocI/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/e6eLCoj9ocI?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />
<b><br /></b> <b><br /></b> <b><br /></b> <b><br /></b> <b><br /></b>
<br />
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Peter Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01473701483727808782noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4421006301341157258.post-7714524157483116012019-03-18T09:13:00.002-04:002019-03-18T09:13:17.442-04:00Discrepancy or Discrimination? Doesn’t matter<i>YTMP welcomes a new guest blogger - Amanda Retberg. Amanda writes about her experience as a professor at <a href="https://www.wlc.edu/">Wisconsin Lutheran College</a>, which is sponsored by the <a href="https://wels.net/">Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. </a> You know how you will run into members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans who are still fighting the Civil War -Excuse me meant to write War of Northern Aggression. WELS can top that by evoking the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Years%27_War">Thirty Years War </a>(1618-1648). I know you knew the dates but you have to consider the other readers. WELS still holds that the <a href="https://wels.net/about-wels/what-we-believe/doctrinal-statements/antichrist/">Pope is the Antichrist</a>. - PJR</i><br />
<i><br /></i> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
<b>Discrepancy</b><br />
<br />
It is a simple discrepancy. This is the answer given to me after I inquired why some of the men I worked with were considered ministers and thus, eligible for the ministerial housing allowance tax benefit while the women I worked with were not considered eligible. Perhaps these men had different job descriptions than the women or had specific ministerial duties they were required to complete.<br />
<br />
No, on the contrary, job descriptions were the same and both men and women were required to complete the exact same theology classes and requirements. Furthermore, the employment positions referred to above were college professors at a Christian college, not the traditional concept of ministers of a church. Why would college professors be considered ministers at a Christian college when that same college has its own campus pastors?<br />
<br />
In short, denomination. This is a religious denomination that one could use as an example of having a basketball minister. If you are reading this, you most likely are familiar with Tax Code Section 107(2) and aren’t surprised with loose definitions of “minister” for tax purposes. In short, what one denomination considers a discrepancy, a rational person may instead consider to be discrimination. Yet it is all legal, complete with private letter rulings and a technical memo from the IRS.<br />
<br />
I found all of this deeply troubling and personally, could no longer support this inequality. Therefore, awhile back I made the decision to leave the college and denomination. So why write about it now?<br />
<br />
Simple – to help draw attention to an issue that still hasn’t received the attention it deserves. Furthermore, this discrimination continues to this day and isn’t going away anytime soon. Men will continue to receive minister status, but similarly, situated women will not. This status allows men to take advantage of the accompanying ministerial housing allowance also known as a parsonage allowance.<br />
<br />
<b>Discrimination</b><br />
<br />
The Seventh Circuit just overturned Judge Barbara Crabb’s decision that the parsonage allowance is unconstitutional. Thus, it is here to stay.<br />
<br />
If you read the<a href="https://ffrf.org/images/AmicusBriefofTaxLawProfessors.pdf"> amicus brief submitted to the Seventh Circuit </a>by Professor Adam Chodorow and are persuaded that a tax exemption is equivalent to a government subsidy, then isn’t the government, by allowing churches to distribute these subsidies to men only, supporting discrimination against women?<br />
<br />
In effect, the government is providing the means for churches to discriminate against women. People can argue that every church has the right to define minister for purposes of payroll. But, in practice, is this fair or equal? I would suggest that coupled with the parsonage allowance, it leads to discriminatory practices. Some churches only ordain men, some include “integral agencies” of the church and some consider teachers as ministers.<br />
<br />
To provide a specific example, in my former denomination where only men can be designated as ministers, it is only male teachers who are able to take advantage of the parsonage allowance. All depends on the particular religious beliefs and practices and the narrow or broad definition of minister contained within. Unfortunately, these arguments fall short and truly don’t matter.<br />
<br />
While I do strongly believe that churches should have every right to determine who is a minister according to their beliefs and religious practices, the parsonage allowance should not be available to benefit those so designated. Let the churches define who their ministers are but leave the government out of the payroll.<br />
<br />
As a practicing Christian I usually don’t find myself on the same side of an issue as the Freedom From Religion Foundation; however, it is my sincere hope that they continue this fight.<br />
<br />
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<i style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Amadna Retbert is a college professor, educator, and advocate. She is eager to teach, learn and research new ways to educate and is always willing to advocate for fairness and equality. She has an MA and a JD.</i><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Wisconsin Lutheran Responds</b></span></span><br />
<span arial="" color:="" font-family:="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;" x-small=""><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span arial="" color:="" font-family:="" font-size:="" helvetica="" quot="" sans-serif="" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;" x-small=""><span style="background-color: white;">Wisconsin Lutheran College Provost <a href="http://www.wlc.edu/Provost/John-Kolander/">Dr. John Kollander</a> responded to inquiries from Peter J Reilly with the following statement.</span></span><span 11pt="" background-color:="" calibri="" color:="" font-family:="" font-size:="" quot="" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "calibri";" white=""><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Wisconsin Lutheran College (WLC) follows the established policies of our WisconsinEvangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) church body and the tax laws of the United States. This dual compliance has a tax benefit for male called workers. WLC has chosen to provide a stipend to female called workers toward the goal of compensation equity among all WLC called workers. </blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span>
<br />
<br />Peter Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01473701483727808782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4421006301341157258.post-74511739511495471722019-03-15T08:53:00.000-04:002019-03-15T18:37:01.588-04:00Lunch At The Drowsy Poet With Eric HovindI hadn't planned on writing about my get together with Eric Hovind or even telling anybody about it other than my partner.<br />
<br />
At the end of our time together, though, he indicated that he didn't mind if I wrote about it, so here is my report. I'm going to assume my readers have all the background of who's who, but if you are interested you can always google. I see the main audience for this piece as being <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2018/09/05/how-tax-resistance-can-hurt-your-marriages-the-kent-hovind-saga/#571c5055b927">what Marry Tocco harshly but fairly refers</a> to as:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
obsessed party of internet fanatics who invest an impractical amount of time and focus,dedicated to revealing to the world their perception of Kent as a fraud and con-artist.</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLeByMR1yWlcWw4yYUIaR9-Hb5c7mfVIEFYOcqPCwwdF05RrGKoU616M5Ugv-dTOUtap7Wfz1R7WTwDCmJUQffQ66nMdmy79lAjHNbvfpSBCtVL-Cn2VB0y4HO0kA5WmHqmi6AzcGeCJy9/s1600/Eric.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLeByMR1yWlcWw4yYUIaR9-Hb5c7mfVIEFYOcqPCwwdF05RrGKoU616M5Ugv-dTOUtap7Wfz1R7WTwDCmJUQffQ66nMdmy79lAjHNbvfpSBCtVL-Cn2VB0y4HO0kA5WmHqmi6AzcGeCJy9/s320/Eric.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<b>Hanging In The Drowsy Poet</b><br />
<br />
Evie and I were staying about an hour east of Pensacola, so I arranged to meet up with Eric at the Drowsy Poet, which Jonathan Schwartz had told me is the go-to place for Pensacola evangelists.<br />
<br />
We were meeting at noon, but I made a serendipitous error. When we crossed the time zone line, our phones knew about it but not our computers, which is what I went by when I took off from the state park. So I got to drink in the atmosphere of the Drowsy Poet for an hour. There are actually a few of them, but I went to the mothership, which is not far from the <a href="https://creationtoday.org/">Creation Today</a> office.<br />
<br />
There is a narrow corridor to the counter where you order as you come in and then a pretty spacious room with about six or eight tables of varying sizes. I posted myself at a high one with my coffee and cake.<br />
<br />
I think the table next to mine was having a church planting discussion, but I'm not sure. More fascinating was across the room. It was the middle management of the Drowsy Poet empire. Four youngish women and a two-year-old boy, who was probably the star of the table. I learned a lot about the personnel problems you run into in running a coffee shop. Did you know that it matters what order you pour the components into the mixture and that there are some people who just don't get it?<br />
<br />
<b>Worse Than Rape</b><br />
<br />
Anyway, Eric showed up at noon along with another fellow. I don't remember his name, so I'm going with Jim (That might be right). Jim seemed a bit younger than me (I'm 67) bit older than Eric. Jim was almost entirely silent only speaking when I addressed him directly with questions. He is a welder and the big impression he has from the case is the judge's "Worse than rape" comment. God, that has gotten a lot of attention.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Z0tG-YArBh0/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z0tG-YArBh0?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/W80kDPWM2W0/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/W80kDPWM2W0?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
Since it purportedly happened during sentencing, it's hard to see what difference it made.<br />
<br />
<b>Not Keeping Up</b><br />
<br />
One of my problems in being a good interviewer is that I like to talk too much and Eric was asking me a lot of questions. It seems like he has not really been keeping up on developments or reading my blog, so I filled him in on quite a few things.<br />
<br />
At one point I told him that I mainly got information from Ernie Land and that I was disinclined to talk to Kent, because the impression I got from my one interview with him is that he only wants to debate rather than discuss things.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/SRQBwWiYR2U/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SRQBwWiYR2U?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
And at this point, I will tell you the personal issue that makes me particularly sympathetic to Eric. My father died when I was 13 and I always have an envy for adult men who still have their fathers. I believe that not having a father during that crucial period in life accounts for issues that I have had with maturity.<br />
<br />
Then I contemplate Eric who picked up the torch when his father went to prison and supported his mother, who finds himself condemned when his father is released. He told me that he still catches flack for that whole debacle.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dWrnJCViLTw/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dWrnJCViLTw?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
Apparently, he and Kent can't just agree to disagree on certain things and have a family relationship. So he understands my reaction to talking to Kent.<br />
<br />
<b>Evidence</b><br />
<br />
Mostly we talked about Jesus and creation. The resurrection of Jesus changes everything and he was telling me about the historical evidence that is piling up to support that. I told him that I thought that the extra-biblical evidence about Jesus is pretty thin. He gave me a thumb drive which I haven't checked out yet.<br />
<br />
The big piece of evidence is this tablet with a decree about not messing with dead bodies for nefarious purposes. I l<a href="http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2009/07/22/The-Nazareth-Inscription-Proof-of-the-Resurrection-of-Christ.aspx#Article">ooked into that a bit</a> and I don't find it that compelling as evidence of the Easter story. When I ran this by my facebook buds, one of them who is a devout Catholic responded, referring in particular to Eric's comment about the resurrection changing everything<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: #f2f3f5; color: #1c1e21; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">To a great extent, that is the center of it all. If you believe that, then, I don't need to find writings from several professions that did not exist at the time but can trust the oral recollections (collected 20 to 40 years after) of a society that valued memory and oral retention. If you don't believe in the resurrection, then you are just wasting your time.</span></blockquote>
It reminds me of Father Murphy, who taught my high school freshman theology class. He would draw a long line on the blackboard and then put a cross roughly in the middle and say "History is Christocentric".<br />
<br />
I told Eric about all the crosses in our classrooms. And he said that Jesus was still on them, but the Protestant crosses are empty, because of the resurrection.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I sometimes envy people who have faith. My friend who has a much stronger secular education than Eric is not going to trouble himself the way young-earth creationists do about extra-biblical evidence that supports a hyper-literal reading.<br />
<br />
<b>The Worries</b><br />
<br />
I asked Eric if he was theologically aligned with Kent. Apparently, there is this issue with repentance that I've heard about from other Kent critics, but never quite nailed down. Other than that, I could not detect anything to indicate that Eric is doing anything other than following in his dad's footsteps when it comes to evangelism. And unlike his dad, he does not expend energy on other issues.<br />
<br />
Eric is very worried about what the IRS might have in store for Kent and his mother. Apparently, Jo is not burdening Eric with whatever she is doing to deal with the situation. I told him about the statute of limitation on collections which might be Jo's light at the end of the tunnel, but I don't know collections well enough to know whether there are exceptions to the exception when there are criminal issues involved.<br />
<br />
All in, Eric strikes me as a fine person. I hope that the "obsessed band of internet fanatics", who include some of my favorite people and with whom I can well be counted, will lay off him.<br />
<br />
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<i>Peter J Reilly writes on taxes for <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/#6f9e30cd6271">Forbes.com.</a></i><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Correction</b><br />
<b><br /></b> In an earlier version, I referred to the coffee shop as The Lazy Poet, which is really lazy of me, since I could have just looked at my new coffee cup to confirm the name.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Peter Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01473701483727808782noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4421006301341157258.post-12945343573632751272018-09-08T12:09:00.000-04:002018-09-16T15:13:26.125-04:00On The Bitterness Of The Gender War<div class="tr_bq">
Two of my Forbes pieces - <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2018/08/03/lesbians-want-a-church-of-their-own-and-irs-approves/#28b594de21c2">Lesbians Want A Church of Their Own </a>and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2018/08/12/why-gender-critical-radical-feminists-might-want-a-church-and-why-irs-approved/#5126237a4e4e">Why Gender-Critical Radical Feminists Might Want A Church And Why IRS Approved </a>- which broke out of the tax ghetto might have had my regular readers a little confused. The over forty year dispute between some radical feminists and transgender activists is not that well known in the mainstream and will surprise some people particularly liberals and progressives who are sympathetic to the LGBTQ community without paying too much attention to its inner workings.</div>
<br />
One of my sources who is a strong social justice warrior and is familiar with the issue urged me that only people who are personally involved in the issue should have anything to say on it and encouraged me to stay out of it. Kind of a what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas approach to disputes within LGBTQ world.<br />
<br />
I've decided to pretty much take that advice, but am writing this for my regular readers. And then there is the amateur historian in me that is particularly interested in reform movements of all sorts. How they grow and evolve and fracture and rebuild. The way in which extremists often turn out to be considered right in the long run with credit for their ultimate success going to the more moderate implementers. So here is my reading of the gender war and why it is so bitter. First some definitions.<br />
<br />
<b>Some Definitions</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Gender binary - There are two genders - male and female. Not 31 as is suggested by the city of New York. The radfems and many transgender activists seem generally OK with two. (Of course, the radfems don't think gender is anything more than a social construct). That simplifies this discussion.<br />
<br />
Sex- Male and female. Males are born with penises. Females are born with vaginas. -A <a href="http://www.isna.org/faq/frequency">very small number</a> of people are intersex which is sometimes brought up as a kind of side argument to emphasize that things are much more complicated than we think they are.<br />
<br />
Gender- Masculine and feminine. A variety of characteristics that are associated with either the male or the female. Even the most conservative people who will have no use for either radfems, transgender activists, liberals or progressives will probably agree with Margaret Fuller who wrote that there are no wholly masculine men nor wholly feminine women and that it is handy for each of the sexes to have just a bit of the opposite gender in its tool-kit for use in the case of emergency.<br />
<br />
Radical feminism - This is from <a href="https://radicalhubarchives.wordpress.com/2012/07/17/radfem-101-a-radical-feminist-primer-part-one/">radfem Hub</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Radical feminism, by definition, seeks to dis-cover and examine the root of women’s global oppression by men, and the sources of male power. In our work, we have discovered that there are several key themes that appear over and over, and which transcend time and place — this is evidence that women’s oppression by men is class-based, that is, that women as a sexual class, around the world, share the experience of being oppressed by men because we are women.</blockquote>
Transgender -people who have a gender identity or gender expression that differs from their assigned sex. Transgender people are sometimes called transsexual if they desire medical assistance to transition from one sex to another.<br />
<br />
<b>The Most Bitter Part Of The Dispute</b><br />
<br />
"Some women have penises" in one sentence sums up the heart of the dispute. Trans women, regardless of how far they have gone in transition believe strongly that they should have access to spaces that are reserved for women and should be recognized as women for all purposes including being potential sexual partners of lesbians (Google cotton ceiling, if you are wondering about that).<br />
<br />
Radfems think women are female persons. Therefore people with penises don't belong in woman only spaces and lesbians should not be expected to accept them as potential romantic partners.<br />
<br />
Of course there is a lot more to the dispute than that, but that is probably the easiest thing to understand if you don't want to dive into a lot of literature that can be difficult to follow.<br />
<br />
<b>Who Is Winning?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
In liberal progressive circles, the transgender activists seem to be sweeping the board. This is likely because they are able to frame their issue as part of the long civil rights march. There's your white privilege, your male privilege and now there is cis privilege. Cis means that you identify with your gender assigned at birth.<br />
<br />
Anybody who questions trans orthodoxy is a TERF, trans exclusionary radical feminists subject to being kicked out of academic jobs and not so welcome at many LGBTQ events.<br />
<br />
Something that I can't get a handle on is how many people characterized as TERFs are actually radical feminists at all.<br />
<br />
Regardless, the best historical analogy I can come up is this one. You have your conservatives who think that gender is important and should mostly align with your sex and that you should be attracted to people of the opposite sex (or maybe pledged to celibacy). They don't understand why when you mention patriarchy, you make it sound like it is a bad thing. . If you are not part of the 95% (more or less) that meets those criteria there is something wrong with you. And then there is abortion, don't get them started. Let's call them the Axis.<br />
<br />
There are the liberals and progressives pro-choice, pro gay marriage, LGBTQ - it's all good. They are the Allies.<br />
<br />
Radfems and transgender activists might not agree on much, but they agree that they don't like their country occupied by the Axis. They each in different ways might have issues with the Allies, but they want their help.They are resistance groups.<br />
<br />
In the current environment it is the transgender activists that are providing the Allies with intelligence. Back at SHAEF they can't figure out the radfems. So they gave the radios to the transgender activists.<br />
<br />
The transgender activists sometimes use the radios to call in air strikes on the radfems.<i> C'est le guerre.</i><br />
<br />
<b>But Why This Fight Now?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
The fundamental disagreement between transgender activists and radfems is clear if you look into it a little. Transgender people think that gender is very important, more important than sex in terms of your true identity. Radfems seem to believe that gender is mostly a made up thing that males use to oppress females. They oppose transgenderism, but it probably would not make it to the top of their list of concerns.<br />
<br />
So why don't transgender activists and radfems focus on beating the conservatives and fight their battle out later? I think part of it is that they are competing in a very small space - the LGBTQ movement and parts of academia. In the current state of the struggle the radfems are in danger of being ideologically homeless. A recent collection of essays was titled<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M74C5FO/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1"> Female Erasure.</a><br />
<br />
It is harder to see why radfems are very important to transgender activists now that the transgender agenda has done so well in liberal, progressive circles. Why not let them have their music festival and the occasional conference and rely on aging of professors to convert the womens studies programs into gender queer? Just ignore them. Stopping calling people resisting TERFs, which gives publicity to radical feminism. Blame it all on the religious right.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I reached out to a couple of sources and here is what I got.<br />
<br />
<b>A Short Answer From A Radfem</b><br />
<b><br /></b><a href="https://www.feministcurrent.com/about/">Meghan Murphy of Feminist Current r</a>ecently did a <a href="https://www.feministcurrent.com/2018/08/29/podcast-pussy-church-modern-witchcraft-coming-soon-town-near/">podcast on the Pussy Church.</a> In the intro she linked to one of my pieces. I wrote to her asking about why the struggle is important to radfems. I included my understanding of the radfem view on gender ("Radfems see gender as entirely a social construct that the male bodied use to oppress the female bodied "). Her response was short and to the point<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Feminists have been forced into this fight against their will as our rights and spaces are under attack by trans activists... I don't think any of us are glad to have to waste all of our time arguing about nonsense...<br />
And yes, re: gender, we see it as a means to naturalize and reinforce sexist stereotypes</blockquote>
<b>A Longer Answer From A Transactivist</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I asked <a href="http://tonidorsay.tumblr.com/about">Anotonia Elle D'orsay</a> about why it is that transgender activists even bother to consider so-called TERFs who number perhaps in the thousands or maybe tens of thousands when they are being pushed back by millions of conservatives. Why not just ignore them?<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
For one, because they are the “liberal” or “left” arm of those millions. Brennan’s sites, 4WN, etc are all actively members of a broad based coalition of religious right groups such as ADF, American Family Association chapters, and related orgs.<br />
They coordinate language and elements.<br />
This is not new, either. Paul McHugh worked with and used the work of Janice Raymond to get trans issues blocked in the ADA, and to remove trans coverage from Medicare and Medicaid programs under the false rubric of “experimental”.<br />
In short, they are part of that big enemy, and collectively have caused more harm than the religious right acting alone has in the same span.<br />
This goes back to the origin of lesbian radical feminism and very birth of “gay rights” in the modern sense, with Sylvia being removed from a speakers list in 1972, then again in 1973, but speaking any way, after having been removed from the original gay rights groups the GAA and GLF.<br />
More recently, the HRC was led by a terf who, in 99, actively recruited trans activists from all over to come to Washington, help write the first ENDA, then lobby for it over a week.<br />
Then, the night before the trans contingent was to do their lobbying, struck a deal which stripped all the content from the bill relating to trans people, and never told them.<br />
They found out from the Congress people late that afternoon they had spent the entire day lobbying for a bill they were excluded from.<br />
When she was called out for it, she swore that HRC would never advocate for trans rights.<br />
She went on to represent RIAA and BP, btw.<br />
Not tens of thousands, either, merely thousands. But when they do things like the ROGD paper raising hell right now, we have to engage and show why their actions cause harm and how they are actively opposing our human rights.<br />
To put this all together and make it short, it is because they have historically proven to be the greater threat.<br />
Understand that 90% of all the arguments used against trans people were developed by TERFs.<br />
Most of them in the book that gave me the Empress title — Raymond’s “The Transsexual Empire”.</blockquote>
<b>Summary</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
So now you have an idea of what the fight is about and why it so bitter. I have assembled some <a href="http://ytmp.blogspot.com/2018/08/gender-wars-dummy-guide-where-to-begin.html">other material here.</a> The dispute is tangential to my own ideology which is summed up in the words of Brendan Beehan:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I have a total irreverence for anything connected with society except that which makes the roads safer, the beer stronger, the food cheaper and the old men and old women warmer in the winter and happier in the summer.</blockquote>
It is a little humorous and metaphorical, but it is pretty much where I am at. The virtue that I think is most worth cultivating is compassion, not that I am all that good at it. It would probably help in the Gender War, but that is true of many things.<br />
<br />
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<i>Peter J Reilly writes about <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/#5d1139566271">taxes on Forbes.com</a>. </i><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<br />
<br />Peter Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01473701483727808782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4421006301341157258.post-8934838590620202522018-08-08T06:18:00.002-04:002018-09-27T07:47:30.512-04:00Gender War - Dummy Guide - Where To BeginTop rated guide so far<br />
<br />
<a href="https://medium.com/@kathleenstock/what-i-believe-about-sex-and-gender-and-what-i-dont-15da1cba88c6">What I believe about sex and gender (and what I don't)</a> by Kathleen Stock<br />
<br />
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
<br />
My coverage of the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2018/08/03/lesbians-want-a-church-of-their-own-and-irs-approves/#6fd84a0f21c2">Pussy Church for Modern Witchcraft</a> provoked some strong reactions. Not surprisingly, they mostly had nothing to do with why I was discussing the organization on a tax blog. They were mainly about my brief introductory explanation of the context of the ongoing conflict that it appears Pussy Church is addressing.<br />
<br />
One <a href="https://twitter.com/womanwalksaway/status/1026240213159497728">comment that intrigued</a> and that I am addressing here in a way is this one.
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/peterreillycpa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@peterreillycpa</a> you'd really benefit from reading some radical feminist literature but I think if you managed to send out a round of inquiries for statements about a pussy church without realizing YOU DIDN'T ASK ANY WOMEN, you just may be too far gone 😂</div>
— kthln m°y (@womanwalksaway) <a href="https://twitter.com/womanwalksaway/status/1026240213159497728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 5, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<br />
<br />
So I hesitate to mention this, since it might make me looking even lamer but I have been reading radical feminist literature for over six years. Included in the piece was a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Female-Erasure-Gender-Politics-Rights-ebook/dp/B01M74C5FO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1533689671&sr=8-1&keywords=female+erasure">link to the most recent book</a> I had read (Mostly. It was a collection and some of the pieces I did not get well enough to finish. Others were great.).<br />
<br />
And as it happens, accepting even the radfem definition of woman, I had asked a woman. She just preferred not to be identified. And for the purposes of that particular piece I was only interested in what someone involved in Pussy Church had to say about what Pussy Church was about, not what other gender critical feminists might infer what it was about.<br />
<br />
Regardless kthln m°y inspired the project that this post on a blog with a smaller readership and looser editorial guidelines is a report on it. I put out in a couple of ways the <a href="https://twitter.com/peterreillycpa/status/1026488855858475008">following question</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
If someone just discovered the dispute between gender critical radical feminists and advocates for the trans community. What is the very first thing he or she should read to begin getting educated? <a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=asking%20for%20a%20friend">Asking for a friend.</a> </blockquote>
Here are the results SO FAR in the order that I have received them. I will indicate whether I have read them in full or not (listened to a recording counts) and rate them on how well I think somebody new to the issue would understand them and general relevance. Rating is 1 to 10. 10 being - I think somebody with no background in the matter would understand this piece and it is relevant. 5 being - relevant understandable material but probably not where to start. 1 - What were you thinking when you suggested this as relevant entry level material?<br />
<br />
The rating has nothing to do with whether I agree with the piece or not. Also I might rate a piece I think is quite good lower because I think someone fresh might have a problem understanding it. For example if "cis" is included without being defined or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_Jeffreys">Sheila Jeffreys </a>is mentioned in a way that implies she is a household name, points are lost. Also pieces that only explain a particular aspect of the controversy without giving the overall context lose points. I have rated a couple of things I did not finish, but I dug far enough to get a good sense of their content.<br />
<br />
One of the advantages of this venue is that comments are allowed. I apologize in advance to anyone who sent me something that I failed to include here and will fix it asap.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://liberationcollective.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/leaving-liberal-feminism/">Leaving Liberal Feminism by Kate Leigh</a> - Read in full - 8<br />
<br />
<a href="https://sisteroutrider.wordpress.com/2017/02/22/lezbehonest-about-queer-politics-erasing-lesbian-women/">Lezbehonest about Queer Politics Erasing Lesbian Women by Claire</a> -Read in Full -5<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.glaad.org/transgender/transfaq">What Does Transgender Mean? GLAAD</a> - Read in Full - 5<br />
<a href="https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/"><br /></a>
<a href="https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/">King James Version of The Bible</a> Read in full (no kidding) - 1<br />
<a href="http://tonidorsay.tumblr.com/post/176699215369/how-to-spot-a-transphobe"><br /></a>
<a href="http://tonidorsay.tumblr.com/post/176699215369/how-to-spot-a-transphobe">How To Spot A Transphobe</a> A.E. D'Orsay - Read in Full - 5<br />
<br />
<a href="http://mirandayardley.com/en/how-the-social-justice-of-equality-discrimination-diversity-inclusion-and-empowerment-are-being-used-to-strip-women-of-rights-and-freedom/">How The Social Justice of Equality, Discrimination, Diversity, Inclusion and Empowerment Are Being Used To Strip Women Of Rights And Freedom - Miranda Yardley</a> Read in full - 5<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.advocate.com/commentary/2018/6/15/trans-women-and-cis-women-are-different-and-thats-ok">Trans Women and Cis Women Are Different, and That's OK - Jesse Earl</a> - Read In Full - 8<br />
<br />
<a href="https://inews.co.uk/opinion/columnists/trans-labour-debate-terfs-empathy/">The war on the left between trans people and 'Terfs' could be ended with a bit of empathy by Deborah Orr</a> Read in full - 10<br />
<br />
<a href="https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/wj4mn5/raquel-willis-terfs-dont-deserve-to-define-themselves-as-feminists">Raquel Willis: TERFs Don't Deserve to Define Themselves as Feminists </a>by Linda Young - Read In Full - 5<br />
<br />
<a href="https://fairplayforwomen.com/">Stand Up For Female Rights And Say No To Changing The Gender Recognition Act</a> Read in full - 4<br />
<br />
<a href="https://sexandgenderintro.com/">Sex And Gender - A Beginners Guide</a> Read in full - 4<br />
<br />
<a href="https://medium.com/@sue.donym1984/inauthentic-selves-the-modern-lgbtq-movement-is-run-by-philanthropic-astroturf-and-based-on-junk-d08eb6aa1a4b">Inauthentic Selves: The modern LGBTQ+ Movement Is Run By Philanthropic Astroturf And Based On Junk Science</a> by Sue Donym -Did not complete due to time pressure - 7<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0057HZ6X2/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1">Paper Genders - Walt Heyer</a> -Did not read- Not rated<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvTTakI97sQ4SkMnsH8r0qQ">Gender and sex: anti-feminist, trans activist and feminist interpretations-</a>by Magdalen Berns - video - watched full video - 6<br />
<br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/i/moments/812745081438367744">Wake up, feminists! - on twitter </a>- Scanned - 3<br />
<a href="http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7893&context=etd"><br /></a>
<a href="http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7893&context=etd">"TERF Wars: Narrative Productions of Gender and Essentialism in Radical-Feminist (Cyber) spaces"</a> - Jennifer Earls -Did not finish - 4<br />
<br />
<a href="https://terfisaslur.com/">TERF Is A Slur</a> - Scanned - 4<br />
<a href="https://gendertrender.wordpress.com/2015/04/07/statistics-show-the-difference-in-rates-of-violent-crimes-against-women-committed-by-transwomen-versus-non-transgender-males/"><br /></a>
<a href="https://gendertrender.wordpress.com/2015/04/07/statistics-show-the-difference-in-rates-of-violent-crimes-against-women-committed-by-transwomen-versus-non-transgender-males/">Statistic Show the Difference in Rates of Violent Crimes Against Women Committed by 'Transwomen' Versus Non-Transgender Males</a> - Read in full - 6<br />
<br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/FeministRoar">FeministRoar</a> - Twitter account - scanned - 6<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Pieces I Have Found On My Own (With some curation)</b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://medium.com/@kathleenstock/what-i-believe-about-sex-and-gender-and-what-i-dont-15da1cba88c6">What I believe about sex and gender (and what I don't)</a> by Kathleen Stock - Read in full - <b>11</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I've decided that regardless of how many pieces are on the list there will only be one that is an eleven. In this piece Kathleen Stock identifies many of the elements in the debate rather thoughtfully.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_Jeffreys">Sheila Jeffreys </a>- Wikipedia entry - 8<br />
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
With some exceptions most pieces will at least implicitly include something like:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The science is settled. Any far minded person who has the true facts and is not blinded by the propaganda put out by the -------------------- will agree with us.</blockquote>
If the piece does not also implicitly include<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The arguments put forth by ----------------- and their allies are so ridiculous and hateful that they don't bear repeating</blockquote>
I still might give it a high score<br />
<br />
The key factor though is the assumption that the reader is starting from zero. And of course a piece like that might be rated very low for other purposes.<br />
<br />
Remember what I am looking for is something that allows someone to grasp that there is a controversy and how it can be framed. Earlier this year I attempted this sort of thing with a pretty arcane topic that has some general interest - <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2017/12/30/tax-bill-for-dummies/">The Tax Cuts And Jobs Act - Here it is.</a><br />
<br />
An advantage of this site is that it allows comments. I really don't have any restrictions more of an <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2012/06/24/when-you-have-to-kill-a-man-it-costs-nothing-to-be-polite/">aspirational standard </a>which I explained when we had comments on forbes.com. Some people can probably come up with something nasty enough to merit deletion. We'll see.<br />
<br />
What I would most appreciate is additions to the list. As I noted above if something somebody sent me is left off, it was by accident and easy to fix.<br />
<br />
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
<i>Peter J Reilly writes on taxes for forbes.com. Almost anything you can think of will have a tax angle eventually, so he sometimes find himself in unrelated arguments.</i><br />
<br />
https://www.quora.com/What-are-your-opinions-on-Transgender-Exclusionary-Radical-Feminists-TERFs-Do-you-feel-they-have-set-feminism-back<br />
<br />
https://www.quora.com/profile/Kes-Sparhawk-Amesley<br />
<br />
<br />
Links not yet evaluated<br />
<br />
https://sarahditum.com/ https://sarahditum.com/2018/09/10/six-years-in-the-gender-wars/<br />
<br />
https://discoversociety.org/2018/04/03/viewpoint-understanding-anti-transgender-feminism/<br />
<br />
https://medium.com/@BeaJaspert/sex-lies-and-trans-activism-30cd9c3d6559<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
https://medium.com/@tan.ith9/an-open-letter-to-my-friend-who-thinks-transwomen-are-women-491659de2efb<br />
<br />
https://www.socfem.net/faq<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
https://lgbt.libdems.org.uk/en/page/trans-manifesto<br />
<br />
<br />
https://gendertrender.wordpress.com/2016/03/24/north-carolina-pushes-back-against-transgender-mandate-to-eliminate-sex-based-protections-for-women-and-girls/https://lgbt.libdems.org.uk/en/page/trans-manifesto
https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/08/07/feature-what-is-the-trans-spousal-veto-and-why-does-it-matter/
https://handsacrosstheaislewomen.com/about/Peter Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01473701483727808782noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4421006301341157258.post-57212017248859292202018-08-04T10:26:00.001-04:002018-08-04T10:26:42.595-04:00Pay Your Taxes!<i>So this will be a longish introduction to a really long piece. I will start with the disclaimer that the views expressed by <a href="https://johnnycirucci.com/">Johnny Cirucci </a>(below the dotted line) are not the views of Peter J Reilly or Your Tax Matters Partner. </i><i>There is stuff down there I agree with, but most of it I see as batshit crazy and some of it as arguably hateful. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i> And I am growing very fond of Johnny Cirucci, because it is possible in the alt-right conspiracy bubble, which the woes of Kent Hovind introduced me to, Johnny is sui generis. Possibly somewhat exaggerating his underlying views, it seems like he think he and three or four other guys actually get it and the rest of them are either dupes or controlled opposition, a few of whom have been "read in" and are getting the bennies.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>The tax protest movement always kind of mystified me, because their legal arguments were so lame and they always lost in court (except in a few willfulness cases, where people convinced a jury they were too stupid to understand they were breaking the tax law, thereby avoiding criminal, but not civil, liability). I finally realized that their arguments implied a large conspiracy involving pretty much everybody involved in the federal government except for maybe a couple of park rangers and the leadership of the E-4 mafia.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>And observing the Hovindicators I noted that they chomped on conspiracy theories like they were Lays Potato Chips. Oddly a few of them seemed kind of quaint as when God's Property Radio called me a Jesuit and Rudy Davis talked about how they operate in the open unlike the Jesuits.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>I really like Rudy Davis and I know him well enough to feel comfortable that when I say that he is a redneck, he will take it as a compliment. Ernie Land, Kent Hovinds consigliere, also has some redneck sensibilities as does Dominating Deborah who recently posted here. Kent Hovind, himself, is kind of a redneck wanabee.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MID5PNmwpIw/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MID5PNmwpIw?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<i><br /></i>
<i>There is a special fondness between rednecks and white urban ethnics memorialized in the bromance between Montgomery Clift and Frank Sinatra in From Here To Eternity.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4eCH1lrUvQA/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4eCH1lrUvQA?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
<i>But we are different tribes. Johnny Cirucci and me, that is something different. Even though I am 100% Irish descent, I am kind of Italian by association from growing up in Fairview NJ. And Johnny is a Jersey boy. When rednecks talk about Jesuits and the Pope, it is kind of amusing. If they ever heard of transubstantiation, they think it has something to do with auto repair.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Johnny has the background and education though. And Johnny buys conspiracy theories by the bushel, Nonetheless, he has an overarching theory that makes it all fit together. It is the Vatican that is pulling the strings and at least for the last 500 years it is the Jesuits that you will find lurking in every corner. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Just for an example. Take Donald Trump. Wharton graduate right? Yes, but two years at Fordham University starting out. And of course your typical redneck thinks that Fordham is dinner at the diner next to the dealership and can't see the Jesuit connection so obvious to a Jersey boy.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>At any rate, I asked Johnny to write about Kent Hovind and he gave me a lot more than I asked for. I think his biggest weakness as a writer is that he spends too much time on tangential support for his positions, but de gustibus non est disputandum.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Oddly enough Johnny and I have a pretty consistent evaluation of Kent Hovind, but you will have to skip down quite a bit to get to his take on Hovind. It is worth reading the whole thing, but try not to get to bewildered and don't even attempt to go down all the rabbit holes. Johnny's technique might be compared to the<a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Gish_Gallop"> Gish Gallop</a>, although I am sure he looks at it differently.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Any way, here you go. - PJR</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
<i>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</i><br />
<i><b><br /></b></i>
<b>How “Stormy Daniels” and Kent Hovind brought a conspiracy
theorist and Forbes CPA together</b>.<br />
<br />
by Johnny Cirucci<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pay your taxes!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you’re a Johnny Cirucci fan (one of his “flying
monkeys”), I’ll bet you were surprised to see him write that.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you’re a Peter J. Reilly fan, I’ll bet you’re asking,
“Who the heck is ‘Johnny Cirucci’?!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
About Johnny Cirucci<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I ran across Peter about three years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had just published my first book,<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00T21HUFQ/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1"> <i>IlluminatiUnmasked</i></a>, and had begun doing interviews.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Invariably, the subject of Kent Hovind would come up.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRggJOPBs_Bav9SfqJk5xxpsxrlCBdOdqAG_1RJX_nJOybPxJ6yZ7xoAhovikHYYbsxQSWJcJcJBdQfJOisPYq-Y_heytilaJTfaEl5ENzzb2G8ZK_ndnX8r-865g5iZmFjIAWCvXCHuRy/s1600/header-kent-hovind-agents-attack-flat-earth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRggJOPBs_Bav9SfqJk5xxpsxrlCBdOdqAG_1RJX_nJOybPxJ6yZ7xoAhovikHYYbsxQSWJcJcJBdQfJOisPYq-Y_heytilaJTfaEl5ENzzb2G8ZK_ndnX8r-865g5iZmFjIAWCvXCHuRy/s640/header-kent-hovind-agents-attack-flat-earth.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span id="goog_1485088740"></span><span id="goog_1485088741"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Kent was slated for possible release from prison but the
hearing didn’t look hopeful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was a
hot topic for “alternative” Christian media at the time.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As a Jesuit-educated writer for Forbes, I considered Peter
one of “them” and avoided corresponding with him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But Peter is an interesting guy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I tend to be an excitable Italian and
former Catholic, he remains an unflappable Irishman and, he assures me, a former
Catholic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2018/06/18/trump-foundation-imbroglio-with-new-york-ag-serves-as-a-lesson-for-small-foundations/#4e66ecad99c0">recently
related his first experience</a> in a Protestant Church to the current troubles
the Trump Foundation is having paying taxes in the state of New York.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It wouldn’t be the first time a wily Jesuit had gone
undercover!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Although I write that tongue-in-cheek, I firmly believe that
such was the case for a host of prominent people from the Jesuit-educated
critic of Christianity, François-Marie “Voltaire” Arouet to the “former” late
Jesuit priest Malachi Martin.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Jesuits are the ultimate order in service to the Papacy
and it’s a tough sell to present the idea that a Catholic priest wants to
serve...but not <i>that</i> much.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Martin’s book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Jesuits-Malachi-Martin/dp/067165716X"><i>The
Jesuits</i></a>, sits well-highlited and noted upon my shelf.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My summary would be, “The Jesuits <i>used</i>
to be a great bunch of guys but then they turned a bad corner and went
Communist.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
By the way, that’s not hyperbole.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Though the movement has been global
since its inception, it was above all in Latin America that the strange
alliance between Jesuits and Marxists gathered its first practical momentum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was there that this new Jesuit mission,
entailing as it does nothing less than the transformation of the sociopolitical
face of the West, first entangled lives far more profoundly than McGovern and
theoreticians like him anticipated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quickly,
scores of Jesuits began to work with the passion and zeal that has always been
so typical of them, for the success of the Sandinocommunists in Nicaragua; and,
when the Sandinistas took power, those same Jesuits entered crucial posts in
the central government, and attracted others to join at various regional levels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In other Central American countries,
meanwhile, Jesuits not only participated in guerrilla training of Marxist
cadres, but some became guerrilla fighters themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Inspired by the idealism they saw in
Liberation Theology, and encouraged by the independence inherent in the new
idea of the Church as a group of autonomous communities, Jesuits found that all
was permitted-even encouraged-as long as it furthered the concept of the new
“people’s Church.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Such men were the dream and ideal
of the true Liberation Theologians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
they were the fighters, the cadres who took Liberation Theology from theory to
what they called <i>praxis-the </i>implementation of the people’s revolution
for economic and political liberation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From
that <i>praxis, </i>the Liberation Theologians insisted, from “below among the
people,” would come all true theology to replace the old theology once imposed
autocratically “from above” by the hierarchy of the Roman Church. ~ The
Jesuits, Malachi Martin, Simon & Schuster (1987), pp. 17-18<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Apparently, the Jesuits haven’t returned from their hard
Left turn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another “ex-Jesuit”, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/us/the-catholic-roots-of-obamas-activism.html">Greg
Galluzzo, trained Barack Obama</a> in Chicago “community organizing”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Catholic periodical <a href="https://www.osv.com/OSVNewsweekly/ByIssue/Article/TabId/735/ArtMID/13636/ArticleID/9926/Top-10-Catholic-Cities-USA.aspx">“Our
Sunday Visitor” lists Chicago</a> one of the “Top 10 Catholic Communities” and
even takes note of its ... “ethnic diversity” (code for racial unrest
generously encouraged by Rome).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Chicago’s Catholic heart is based
in its ethnic diversity.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
As the Windy City became
industrialized in the mid-19th century, immigrants from Southern and Eastern
Europe flocked to Chicago — joining the already present Irish and Germans — to
become part of its workforce. Ethnic communities naturally formed, and ethnic
Catholic parishes naturally followed. Today, more than 350 Catholic churches
remain, many built in impressive European style.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJscBru_L7eJyqqQCzzu9KrYRWAq7BuXgnf1vCL7HIFp8l4xO7yM8zV1u7RllXVNq73ZPEr6ywQNlf60dmrttyDVwoWt_NELV7-xZPZKVWC__y-ko8ZjHvNUxkI7gkTP190vYKJCe7RQHi/s1600/alberto+jesuit+oath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="287" data-original-width="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJscBru_L7eJyqqQCzzu9KrYRWAq7BuXgnf1vCL7HIFp8l4xO7yM8zV1u7RllXVNq73ZPEr6ywQNlf60dmrttyDVwoWt_NELV7-xZPZKVWC__y-ko8ZjHvNUxkI7gkTP190vYKJCe7RQHi/s1600/alberto+jesuit+oath.jpg" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.reformation.org/jesuit-oath.html">It has
been rumored</a> that, once a Jesuit proves themselves truly dedicated to Rome,
they are invited to take a “Blood Oath” in which they swear to have no will of
their own, “<i>perinde ac cadaver</i>”, to be as a dead man in the strictest
obedience to the Pope.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This “Fourth Vow” is said to have sold Alessandro Farnese<sup>8</sup>—Pope
Paul III—on consecrating the new order for Spanish nobleman Ignacio López
(later known as Ignatius of Loyola).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i>After a serious injury in the military
and during a lengthy rehabilitation, Ignatius Loyola (b. 1491, d. 1556) turned his
focus from “military enthusiasm to ghostly fanaticism.<sup>(2)</sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">Ignatius assumed the name and office of Knight of the Virgin Mary,
seeing himself as Mary’s favorite.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ignatius wanted to start a new order, The Society of Jesus (or the Jesuits)
and presented the idea to the Pope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He told
the Pope that the idea had been inspired by heavenly revelations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At first, the Pope hesitated, but when <span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">Ignatius added a fourth vow (in
addition to the regular poverty, chastity, and obedience), “absolute
subservience to the pope,” promising to do whatever the Pope wanted and go
wherever he wanted, the Pope agreed and sent the new order out to “invade the
world.”</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While other monks of other
orders sought to separate themselves from the world, the Jesuits went out into the
world and obeyed whatever command the Pope gave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Often this was to win the world with the sword.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No violent act was withheld if the order came
from their top “general.”<sup>(3)</sup></i> ~ <a href="http://www.understandthetimes.org/commentary/c97.shtml">The Jesuit Agenda
and the Evangelical/Protestant Church</a>, <a href="http://www.understandthetimes.org/history.shtml">Roger Oakland</a>,
Understand the Times/Lighthouse Trails Special Report<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But now, a Jesuit <i>is</i> the Pope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>—And it raised more than one eyebrow to see
that the vacancy provided for Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was the
resignation of Pope Benedict; an event that had not occurred <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/02/11/pope-resignations/1908819/">in
the previous 600 years</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wouldn’t
be the first time the Jesuits were accused of mafioso skullduggery.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bergoglio, himself, has a murky past, hidden behind
Argentina’s “Dirty War”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A series of
corrupt military dictatorships purged Argentina of their political enemies
under the guise of “anti-Communism”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Many of the victims were held for
months in official institutions, where they were repeatedly tortured before
being killed, their bodies “disappeared.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Justifying the purge, which was spoken about
euphemistically but carried out in secrecy, the Argentine military espoused a
brand of anti-Communist ferocity that echoed Franco’s Fascist witch hunt, which
had previously devastated Republican Spain — a brand of ferocity that also
shared his deeply entrenched ultra-Catholic and anti-Semitic views. ~ <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/pope-francis-and-the-dirty-war">The
New Yorker</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Devout Roman Catholic Francisco Franco Bahamonde had no less
<a href="https://www.voltairenet.org/article136480.html">a spiritual advisor</a>
than Father José María Escriva de Balaguer, the founder of Opus Dei.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Franco was a monster who availed himself of both the
knowledge and instruments of the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/books/review/the-spanish-holocaust-by-paul-preston.html">Inquisition
to torture any victim</a> he felt worthy of it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How was he able to do that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>—The Inquisition was never disbanded by the Vatican.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It quietly became the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, before
he was elected “Pope Benedict XVI”, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/pope-benedict-dogged-nazi-past-achievements-jewish-relations/story?id=18469350">former
Nazi Youth</a> Cardinal <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Ratzinger_as_Prefect_of_the_Congregation_for_the_Doctrine_of_the_Faith">Joseph
Ratzinger was Prefect of the Inquisition</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He also <a href="https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/ratzinger-vatican-ii">helped
Jesuit scholar Karl Rahner</a> map out Vatican II.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, none of these
“accomplishments” were enough to insulate him from an “<a href="https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2015/09/the-mystery-of-pope-francis-was-there-a-vatican-coup.php">invitation
to retire early</a>”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s hard to imagine worse than Inquisition torture but
Franco managed it: child trafficking.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<b><i>For Whom The Bell Tolls</i><o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
In Spain, hundreds of thousands of
babies were stolen from their parents and trafficked by the Fascist government
of Francisco Franco via the Catholic Church.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i>Up to 300,000 Spanish babies
were stolen from their parents and sold for adoption over a period of five
decades, a new investigation reveals.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i>The children were trafficked by
a secret network of doctors, nurses, priests and nuns in a widespread practice
that began during General Franco’s dictatorship and continued until the early
Nineties. ... </i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i>Several mothers say they were
told their first-born children had died during or soon after they gave birth.
... </i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i>But the women, often young and
unmarried, were told they could not see the body of the infant or attend their
burial.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i>In reality, the babies were
sold...</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i>Official documents were forged
so the adoptive parents’ names were on the infants’ birth certificates. ... <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i>Journalist Katya Adler, who has
investigated the scandal, says: “The situation is incredibly sad for thousands
of people.”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i>“There are men and women across
Spain whose lives have been turned upside-down by discovering the people they
thought were their parents actually bought them for cash. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are also many mothers who have
maintained for years that their babies did not die – and were labelled
‘hysterical’ – but are now discovering that their child has probably been alive
and brought up by somebody else all this time.”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i>Experts believe the cases may
account for up to 15 per cent of the total adoptions that took place in Spain between
1960 and 1989.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i>It began as a system for taking
children away from families deemed politically dangerous to the regime of
General Franco, which began in 1939. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
system continued after the dictator’s death in 1975 as the Catholic church
continued to retain a powerful influence on public life, particularly in social
services. ~ Daily Mail<sup>83</sup><o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZGihZ7-h71DGWwgqMjWZqPMHYDbZKSJtdzMVofLJfPLCNevfhV53nt-KGUnKY7F20xAHBNGFI-H0RBz41KeZaG1DU7Jbx1t-1eGs7dppTv-xxmJt9ffIOzAzhE2TYneGLRqFcZ6u45Los/s1600/Franco+with+fascist+Catholic+clergy%252C+1938.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1070" data-original-width="761" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZGihZ7-h71DGWwgqMjWZqPMHYDbZKSJtdzMVofLJfPLCNevfhV53nt-KGUnKY7F20xAHBNGFI-H0RBz41KeZaG1DU7Jbx1t-1eGs7dppTv-xxmJt9ffIOzAzhE2TYneGLRqFcZ6u45Los/s320/Franco+with+fascist+Catholic+clergy%252C+1938.jpg" width="227" /></a></div>
What made the scheme easy to
accomplish was that the Catholic Church ran schools, orphanages and hospitals,
and still does (even in “Protestant” countries like America).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
In Fascist Spain, however, the
power of the Catholic Church was as blatant and all-encompassing as it is in
Ireland.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i>On April 1, 1939, Generalísimo
Francisco Franco, crusading leader of the rebellious Nationalist forces,
triumphantly declared the Spanish Civil War over. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Catholic Church was the institution that
most benefitted from Franco’s victory. Its hierarchy had blessed the
Nationalist uprising as a crusade and had justified the war to the world as an
“<b>armed plebiscite</b>.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now it reaped
the reward. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Franco quickly abolished all
those Republican** measures that had undermined the Church’s spiritual and
social roles, and entrusted it with more power and privilege than it had
enjoyed since the 18th century.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i>For the Church, the privileges
constituted a spiritual “reconquista” complementing the political “reconquista”
enjoyed by Franco and his Nationalists. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
the political “reconquista” meant was the return to Castilian centralism and
the elimination of other ideologies. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
“reconquista” for the Church signified Catholic monopoly over the life of all
Spaniards, a vital privilege if society was to be “re-Catholicised”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This “re-Catholicisation” was not an easy
undertaking keeping in mind that, in supporting the Nationalists during the
War, the Church had alienated a large percentage of the population. ... </i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i>For Cardinal Gomá, primate of
Spain, the only way was to impose “<b>divine totalitarianism</b>”, i.e. the
imposition of Catholic values on all Spanish society. Franco was only too glad
to help.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i>The privileged status of the
Church was granted immediately following the Civil War. A little later —in June
1941— its rights were outlined in an Agreement between the Vatican and the
Franco government, and finally formalised in a Concordat signed in August,
1953. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amongst the provisions were: </i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in;">
<i>1. recognition of Catholicism
as the official religion of the country;<br />
2. Mandatory religious instruction at all educational levels in conformity with
Catholic dogma;<br />
3. Financial support of the church by the state (paying the salary of priests
and contributing to the (re)construction of church buildings);<br />
4. Guaranteed representation in both press and radio.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; text-align: right;">
<i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>~ Spain Then And Now<sup>84</sup><o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
The fact that the government of
Spain, in collusion with the Catholic Church, were the institutions that
kidnapped babies meant that it is impossible to account for them all. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite media white-washing, it is a foregone
conclusion that many of the children weren’t simply “sold” to good Catholics
who wanted them, they were trafficked, tortured and ritually slaughtered.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Proof is found in how Rome
maintained these crimes against the Spanish people long after Franco’s death.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Generalísimo Francisco Franco was personally
assisted by Father Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei.<sup>85</sup><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
It would not be the last time Opus
Dei was the vehicle by which children were trafficked, abused and murdered. ~ <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Eaters-Children-Pedocracy-ritualistic-slaughter/dp/1548350478"><i>Eaters
of Children</i></a>, Giovanni Augustino Cirucci, CreateSpace (September 11<sup>th</sup>,
2017), pp. 74-76<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/03/19/children-of-the-dirty-war">same
outrages occurred</a> during the Argentinian Dirty War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, no institution of repute is daring
to link Cardinal Bergoglio (now Pope Francis I) directly to child trafficking.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Below mainstream media, former Church of Canada
Priest-turned-human-rights activist Kevin Annett does level the accusation.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
A former civil servant in the
Argentine military junta who is living in exile in Spain claims that Pope
Francis engineered the kidnapping and trafficking of children of political
prisoners during the Dirty War of the 1970’s.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
The man bases his claim on his
personal involvement in meetings between Bergoglio and senior junta members
that secured the child trafficking networks using Catholic orphanages and
religious bodies as covers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
A Spanish reporter who has
interviewed the former civil servant states,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
“This guy is genuine and has many
names and dates, and notes from meetings. Apparently, Bergoglio was promised
the top spot in the Argentine church if he cooperated with the junta. So it’s
small wonder that as the Pope, he’s made it harder for honest catholics to
report child abuse, considering his own complicity.” ~ <a href="http://itccs.org/2014/02/02/pope-francis-is-named-by-former-argentine-junta-insider-as-prime-mover-in-child-trafficking-network-francis-concealed-vatican-crown-of-england-holyrood-agreement/">ITCCS.org</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unfortunately, Annett and his “International Tribunal into
Crimes of Church and State” harm their credibility with delusions of grandeur;
frequently proclaiming that an “international court in Brussels” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5dkEj4_45E" target="_blank">has convicted Bergoglio of child trafficking</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That was 2014.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Exactly what law enforcement agency is going to be doing the
arresting, Annett doesn’t say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact,
Bergoglio has <i>never</i> been arrested for child trafficking and, if a “trial”
ever took place he was tried <i>in absentia</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Argentina’s “Dirty War” was supposedly an “ultra-Right”
purge of “Communists”, yet Pope Francis I maintains a posture that is nothing
less than far-<i>Left</i>.<sup>3</sup><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
From “global warming” to gun control, <i>Papa Francisco</i>
seems to have gone to the “opposite extreme” of his Communist-hunting
Cardinalcy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33182065">Pope Francis Blames
“Human Selfishness” For Global Warming</a>, BBC<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<a href="https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/09/24/pope-francis-scolds-congress-gun-weapons-sales/">Pope
Francis Scolds Congress for Gun and Weapons Sales</a>, Breitbart.com<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<a href="https://www.newsweek.com/pope-francis-after-march-our-lives-church-leader-wants-youth-keep-shouting-859735">Pope
Francis: After U.S. Gun Control Marches, Church Leader Wants Youth To Keep
Shouting</a>, Newsweek<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<a href="https://newsmaven.io/indiancountrytoday/archive/pope-francis-apologizes-to-indigenous-peoples-for-grave-sins-of-colonialism-tlGAXDXgwkCkvmn10DjT3Q/">Pope
Francis Apologizes to Indigenous Peoples for “Grave Sins” of Colonialism</a>,
Indian Country Today<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/25/pope-francis-elderly-eu-lost-bearings">Pope
Francis Attacks EU Over Treatment of Immigrants</a>, The Guardian<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<a href="https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2017/02/17/pope-says-immigrants-no-threat-europes-christian-identity/">Pope
Says Immigrants No Threat to Europe’s Christian Identity</a>, Crux Now<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2018/03/11/pope-francis-overcome-fear-immigrants-and-refugees">Pope
Francis: Overcome Fear of Immigrants and Refugees</a>, America Magazine
(Official Jesuit publication)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk520713674;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/2015/09/26/8e1faa4c-6488-11e5-b38e-06883aacba64_story.html">Pope Francis to Immigrants: “Do not be
Ashamed of Your Traditions”</a></span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/2015/09/26/8e1faa4c-6488-11e5-b38e-06883aacba64_story.html"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk520713674;"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk520713674;">, The Washington Post<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk520713674;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk520713674;">“Please
do not be ashamed of your traditions,” he told the audience. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Do not forget the lessons you learned from
your elders, which are something you can bring to enrich the life of this
American land. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I repeat, do not be
ashamed of what is part of you, your lifeblood. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are called to be responsible citizens and
to contribute, like others who with so much strength did before you . . . fruitfully
to the life of the communities in which you live.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk520713674;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk520713674;">Francis
also culled American history to underscore his remarks about the treatment of
immigrants.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk520713674;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk520713674;">“We
remember the great struggles which led to the abolition of slavery, the
extension of voting rights, the growth of the labor movement, and the gradual
effort to eliminate every kind of racism and prejudice against the earlier arrival
of new Americans,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk520713674;"></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In an era of deadly terrorism and weapons of mass
destruction, decades of wide-open borders are nothing less than treason.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Although “mainstream media” decries any attempt to close the
borders as “racist”, the issue isn’t “race” as much as “religion”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As in America’s past, the vast majority of immigrants
pouring across those open borders are Roman Catholic.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
However, in stark contrast to waves of Catholic immigrants
of yester-year, simply walking across an open border means you don’t have to
assimilate.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Consequently, ghettos of Spanish-speaking illegal immigrants
are common to every state in the Union.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This exacerbates the refusal of U.S. officials at all levels of
government to enforce immigration laws and causes natural-born citizens (at
least those whose parents didn’t consider labor pains as synonymous with a
starting gun) to react in anger at said Spanish-speakers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The situation is worsened when, not only Federal, State and
local governments provide Spanish-speaking service to illegal immigrants but
most businesses do, as well.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One would think that encouraging “immigrants” to wear their
background on their sleeves—and then reiterating the encouragement—makes a bad
situation even worse.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Although the Jesuits have oft been accused of masterfully
manipulating civic discontent to steer in their favor, surely Pope Francis
knows not what he does.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is all academic, of course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Donald John Trump, who spent 2 years under
the Jesuits at Fordham before transferring to the <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/RomeRules/comments/3g7zgf/donald_trump_secret_jesuit_agent_for/">“public”
University of Pennsylvania</a>, was elected based upon his repeated <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBW8mTHDgvk" target="_blank">theatricalvows to “build a wall”</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While sources like New York Magazine rail against <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/05/trumps-racist-immigration-policy-is-backfiring-on-trump.html">Trump’s
“racist immigration policy”</a>, the truth is that, like Barack Obama on his <a href="https://www.npr.org/2013/01/23/169922171/obamas-promise-to-close-guantanamo-prison-falls-short">promise
to close Guantanamo Bay</a>,<sup>1</sup> Donald Trump has been all show and no
stay.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As Trump’s Conservative constituency begins to get
impatient, they are encouraged to be satisfied with <i>real progress</i> such
as Attorney General and former ensconced <i>20-year</i> United States Senator
Jeff Sessions telling Justice Department bureaucrats to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/24/politics/justice-department-illegal-aliens-undocumented/index.html">be
sure and say “illegal alien”</a> whenever speaking of “undocumented visitors”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Top Jesuits are even managing to upset Conservative
Catholics.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When it comes to homosexuality, Pope Francis says, <a href="http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/07/29/pope-francis-on-gays-who-am-i-to-judge/">“Who
am I to judge?”</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On eternal salvation or damnation, the Jesuit White Pope has
stated that <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2013/05/29/187009384/Pope-Francis-Even-Atheists-Can-Be-Redeemed">even
atheists can go to Heaven</a> and, it’s all good because <a href="https://www.rt.com/news/422732-hell-doesnt-exist-pope-francis/">Hell
doesn’t exist</a> anyway!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
His counterpart in the Order, Superior General Arturo Sosa
(known as the “Black Pope”<sup>2</sup>) has backed up the Jesuit disappearing
of eternal damnation by telling the Spanish newspaper <i>El Mundo</i> that <a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/jesuit-chief-claims-satan-only-a-symbol-created-by-man">Satan
is just a man-made “symbol”</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In relation to the words of Jesus Christ recorded in Mark
10:9 on the sanctity of marriage — “What God has joined, let no man separate,”
— <a href="https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2017/04/10/jesuit-chief-rejects-charges-heresy-views-gospels/">Sosa
told Swiss journalist Giuseppe Rusconi</a> that no one used a “tape recorder”
to chronicle the words of Jesus and, therefore, they should be examined “in
context”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What does all this have to do with Peter J. Reilly, Kent
Hovind and paying your taxes?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>—Nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was just my
introduction.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i>And Now For Something Completely Different</i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve come a long way since 2015.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Somehow, Peter and I were connected on Twitter—I think he
reached out and I was at a point where curiosity about “the other team” was
overcoming my trepidation so I returned the “follow”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That put Peter on my feed and when I saw him “like” a
“tweet” from an unexpected source, I had to jump into the fray.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Her real name is Stephanie Gregory<sup>5</sup> Clifford, but
that’s not what the media calls her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She’s a pornography “actress” and the media not only plastered her and
her breasts all over the airwaves (which was wonderful for your children to
see) but they were always sure to use her <i>porn</i> name, “Stormy Daniels”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Supposedly, “Stormy” <a href="https://people.com/politics/donald-trump-life-2006-stormy-daniels-affair/">had
sex with your president</a> just after his third wife had their latest child,
“Barron”.<sup>7</sup><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The media has used this literal harlot to make pornography a
household item for the youngest of children.Who would think to put a parental
block on the 5 o’clock news?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This actually could have been the ultimate motive the entire
time; so much so that it’s quite possible Donald Trump never even met Stephanie
Clifford.<sup>9</sup><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I find it particularly ironic that Vatican sources like the
Catholic News Service seem to be on the forefront of this revelation.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
The percentage of Americans who say
pornography is morally acceptable increased more over the past year than in all
other years this decade combined.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
While the acceptability of porn
still holds minority status in the United States, it has climbed to 43 percent,
according to Gallup Poll figures released June 5. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The number increased by 7 percent from last
year’s figure.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
In 2011, when Gallup first started
asking this question, only 30 percent said pornography was morally acceptable. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As of last year, that figure had climbed to 36
percent, a rise of 6 percent.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
While acceptance of pornography had
trailed other social issues earlier this decade, such as doctor-assisted
suicide, same-sex relations, sex between unmarried people and out-of-wedlock
childbirth, the 2017-18 surge means that porn has eclipsed all other social
issues in their growing acceptance by Americans this decade, according to Gallup.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
A report on the poll’s findings by
Gallup analyst Andrew Dugan said that while Americans had grown more tolerant
on social norms over the decade, the reason behind the steep climb on
pornography is “less clear.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
One theory Dugan offered is that
adult film actress Stormy Daniels, a “fierce critic of President Donald Trump,
has given pornography a sense of moral credibility that it previously lacked.”
~ <a href="https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2018/06/07/americans-acceptance-of-porn-hits-new-high-this-decade/">Crux
Now</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Does this just happen to be “one theory” or does the
Catholic News Service have an insider source?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
Unfortunately, Donald Trump is far from being unfairly
wounded here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, another aspect of
this contrived “scandal” is damage control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><a href="https://www.bitchute.com/video/JYVFMymnuxG9/" target="_blank">Trump’s secrets are actually more dark and perverse</a> than a “fling with a
porn actress”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s how he was
selected to be “elected”: he’s a slave to the blackmail of his deviant past.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
In comparison to what Donald Trump <i>really</i> is, the
“Stormy Daniels” scandal is tame, even appealing to some with looser morals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a well-used tactic.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Hillary Rodham continued to play the
role of strong-man by <a href="https://www.judicialwatch.org/cases/alexander-et-al-v-fbi-et-al/">illegally
going through</a> the FBI dossiers of their political enemies for blackmail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neither the existence of the dossiers nor the
activity were addressed with prosecution.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
In fact, the corruptions that occurred
during the Clinton Administration that were being ignored were so vast a side-show
was fabricated over a sexual tryst Bill had in the Oral Office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meanwhile, in best Hegelian fashion, Bill’s Jesuit
keepers were ordering him to keep backwards Communist China in full threat status
by sending them <a href="http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/940025/posts">nuclear
secrets</a> and <a href="http://rense.com/general2/super.htm">supercomputers</a>;
all acts of high treason that were shoved under Monica Lewinsky’s stained dress.
~ <a href="http://johnnycirucci.com/can-we-finally-call-hillary-a-roman/"><b><i>Can
We Finally Call Hillary A Roman?</i></b></a> Johnny Cirucci, JohnnyCirucci.com,
25 July 2016<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If Trump hasn’t met Stephanie Clifford (or maybe she’s one
of many such harlots he’s bought), why did his handlers choose her for the
spotlight?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She has greatly benefited
from the show.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Her recent arrest and release may give some insight.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Charges against adult film actress
Stormy Daniels for allegedly touching three undercover detectives while
performing at an Ohio strip club were dismissed Thursday, her attorney said.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Daniels,<b> </b>who gained
notoriety after suing President Donald Trump following an alleged affair, had
faced three misdemeanor counts of illegally touching a patron, court records
show.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Daniels, whose legal name is
Stephanie Clifford, posted a $6,054 bail and was released Thursday morning, and
was due to be arraigned Friday, records show.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Under an Ohio law passed in 2007, <a href="http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2907.40" target="_blank">an employee who
regularly appears nude or seminude </a>at a sexually oriented business is
prohibited from touching patrons, except for family members.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Because Daniels does not regularly
appear at the club, the charges were dismissed, according to court documents.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
“I’ve determined that these crimes
were not committed, based on the fact that Ms. Clifford has not made regular
appearances at this establishment as required under the law,” Columbus City
Attorney Zach Klein said in a statement after reviewing the case.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Daniels had planned to plead not
guilty to the three misdemeanor charges, her attorney, Michael Avenatti, tweeted.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
The arrest of Daniels and two
others was part of a “long-term investigation into allegations of human
trafficking, prostitution, & other vice related violations,” Columbus
police said in a statement. ~ <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/12/politics/stormy-daniels-arrested-in-ohio/index.html">CNN</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Not only was Clifford (whom CNN prefers to call by her porn
name) released, but she admitted that two other strippers who were arrested
with her were not.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHZpHDVQYZrKBehvcZ-eYDHW7spFefn5HUX1Io-uhiEKjlH4Ym6mZFDDI2nmVia_FgU8S9qtve6v9J-QWd126d8yO18mIPIGCScg3C061mKXrgE0udKeWXBVJCHVhSYsHDk8XVmJqpW-tM/s1600/porn+pig+admits+she+got+special+treatment.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="867" data-original-width="1600" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHZpHDVQYZrKBehvcZ-eYDHW7spFefn5HUX1Io-uhiEKjlH4Ym6mZFDDI2nmVia_FgU8S9qtve6v9J-QWd126d8yO18mIPIGCScg3C061mKXrgE0udKeWXBVJCHVhSYsHDk8XVmJqpW-tM/s640/porn+pig+admits+she+got+special+treatment.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Maybe she just had a better lawyer.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Michael John Avenatti has an education <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Avenatti#Early_life">very similar
to Donald Trump</a>, having first received Catholic instruction at the
public-sounding Saint Louis University before transferring 900 miles east to
the University of Pennsylvania to be given a more <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/RomeRules/comments/3g7zgf/donald_trump_secret_jesuit_agent_for/">overtly
“public” degree</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Perhaps the clue can be found in the arrest being the result
of a “long-term investigation into allegations of human trafficking...”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I’ve <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Eaters-Children-Pedocracy-ritualistic-slaughter/dp/1548350478">already
shown you conclusively</a>, real power is sealed through the abuse of
children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That includes the power to
avoid prosecution (which seems to be the case for virtually every <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Eaters-Children-Pedocracy-ritualistic-slaughter/dp/1548350478">high-profile
pedophile I’ve researched</a>).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
According to Ken Wooden, a child
safety expert who has interviewed more than 1,000 sex offenders and abductors,
the biggest mistake parents make is to think it’s enough to tell children,
“Don’t talk to strangers.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
“In the eyes of a kid, a stranger
is some character who’s very scary and a monster type,” said Wooden.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In reality, though, molesters can look like
ordinary, friendly, engaging adults, Wooden warned. ~ <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=132098&page=1">ABC News</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Is Stephanie Clifford a “lure” to help bring unsuspecting
children into an obviously dangerous environment?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does she hook young girls with telling them
how profitable her lifestyle is?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0-s0pci8p5w2YNoSkquOrsCAXTEVj8IxwUoQZooA_YMkBdYk1z_DrXgEUjykCIRGq5loMgrLaYRvKs0_Q13oTi2TY9CjjSpXWu7bBwirlsEj9_odSOQkGrgfwMFO-RIp5ziIp8sqe5Wie/s1600/porn+pig+brags+she%2527s+livin+large.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="867" data-original-width="1600" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0-s0pci8p5w2YNoSkquOrsCAXTEVj8IxwUoQZooA_YMkBdYk1z_DrXgEUjykCIRGq5loMgrLaYRvKs0_Q13oTi2TY9CjjSpXWu7bBwirlsEj9_odSOQkGrgfwMFO-RIp5ziIp8sqe5Wie/s640/porn+pig+brags+she%2527s+livin+large.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Exactly what a “porn actress” puts in her “trophy case” can
only be imagined but one wonders who you can or even should show off such
“trophies” to.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You would think that an adulterous “porn actress” scandal
would cripple someone like Donald Trump, who rode into the White House via the
“Conservative”, Christian, Republican vote but not only does it appear not to
have affected him, a second scandal was released by the media almost identical
to the first.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
President Trump’s longtime lawyer,
Michael D. Cohen, secretly recorded a conversation with Mr. Trump two months
before the presidential election in which they discussed payments to a former
Playboy model who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump, according to lawyers
and others familiar with the recording.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
The F.B.I. seized the recording
this year during a raid on Mr. Cohen’s office. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Justice Department is investigating Mr.
Cohen’s involvement in paying women to tamp down embarrassing news stories
about Mr. Trump ahead of the 2016 election. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prosecutors want to know whether that violated
federal campaign finance laws, and any conversation with Mr. Trump about those
payments would be of keen interest to them. ~ <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/20/us/politics/michael-cohen-trump-tape.html">The
New York Times</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f">
<v:stroke joinstyle="miter">
<v:formulas>
<v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0">
<v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0">
<v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1">
<v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2">
<v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth">
<v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight">
<v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1">
<v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2">
<v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth">
<v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0">
<v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight">
<v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0">
</v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:formulas>
<v:path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" o:extrusionok="f">
<o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit">
</o:lock></v:path></v:stroke></v:shapetype><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_2" o:spid="_x0000_s1026" style="height: 328.8pt; margin-left: 200.65pt; margin-top: 4628.15pt; mso-height-percent: 0; mso-height-percent: 0; mso-height-relative: margin; mso-position-horizontal-relative: text; mso-position-horizontal: right; mso-position-vertical-relative: text; mso-position-vertical: absolute; mso-width-percent: 0; mso-width-percent: 0; mso-width-relative: margin; mso-wrap-distance-bottom: 0; mso-wrap-distance-left: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-right: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-top: 0; mso-wrap-style: square; position: absolute; visibility: visible; width: 251.85pt; z-index: 251659264;" type="#_x0000_t75">
<v:imagedata o:title="" src="file:///C:/Users/Johnny/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image001.jpg">
<w:wrap type="square">
</w:wrap></v:imagedata></v:shape></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaEhk-fYbutL-cCY28GoHRx4anU3eUkfDfvdclyxI7tenNEbSX0fRE5FjSJUzpXe13KzIeXq3TbSinNVBAmc2fWZW7Ur5MukOAeWQN3lW51uZb35HYUKorfevlC7WLnNHoXnGJ68KuFnTz/s1600/trump+mcdougal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="784" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaEhk-fYbutL-cCY28GoHRx4anU3eUkfDfvdclyxI7tenNEbSX0fRE5FjSJUzpXe13KzIeXq3TbSinNVBAmc2fWZW7Ur5MukOAeWQN3lW51uZb35HYUKorfevlC7WLnNHoXnGJ68KuFnTz/s320/trump+mcdougal.jpg" width="244" /></a></div>
A single source—The Telegraph—says “Playboy Playmate of the Year”
Karen McDougal “<a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/02/16/former-playboy-model-karen-mcdougal-opens-affair-donald-trump/">became
religious</a>” but curiously leaves out exactly what her “religion” is.<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She maintains a website with <a href="https://karenmcdougal.com/">her name “.com”</a> (which one would assume
would be hard to obtain) but it has no content other than a photograph of her—a
somewhat decently-dressed one, fortunately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At one point there was an “About Me” page but it has <a href="http://karenmcdougal.com/about-me">since been taken down</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is Karen hiding about her background?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Once taking the plunge for porn, it was all smooth sailing
for McDougal...or, rather, “driving”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
McDougal’s first modelling assignment
was being a promotional model at a Harley-Davidson bike show in Detroit.<sup>[8]</sup><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<b><i><br /></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<b><i>Playboy</i><o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
In 1997, McDougal tried out and won
her local Venus Swimwear swimsuit competition in Michigan, earning her place at
the international final in Florida.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her victory
caught the eye of <i>Playboy</i> photographer David Mecey.<sup>[4]</sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon after that she was approached by <i>Playboy
</i>for a test shoot at Playboy Studio West which she accepted.<sup>[6]</sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon completing her test shoot, she was promptly
selected to return for a complete photo and video shoot and chosen as Miss December
1997.<sup>[4]</sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her pictorial, which
was shot by photographers Richard Fegley and Stephen Wayda, has a winter theme<sup>[1]</sup>
and its outdoor portion was shot in the snowy fields near Park City, Utah.<sup>[9]</sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her video, the “Playmate Profile”, was featured
on Playboy TV soon after her magazine debut.<sup>[2]</sup><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
In May 1998, she was announced to have
been chosen by Hugh Hefner and fans as Playmate of the Year (PMOY) of 1998 at a
luncheon at the Playboy Mansion.<sup>[10]</sup><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
As part of being named PMOY, she was
awarded $100,000 and a special edition silver Shelby Series 1 convertible with a
customized Michigan license plate “PMOY 98”.<sup>[3]</sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>McDougal’s PMOY pictorial was featured in the
July 1998 issue of <i>Playboy</i> where she also appeared on its cover.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_McDougal#cite_note-11"><sup>[11]</sup></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In contrast to her Playmate pictorial, her PMOY
pictorial has a tropical theme and its outdoor portion was shot at Saint Lucia.<sup>[3]</sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to her interview in her Playmate of
the Year “Video Centerfold” which was released soon after her PMOY issue debuted,
she believes her physical imperfections are her “funny” smile, her crooked pinkies
which she inherited from her grandfather and her “ugly feet” which she wishes others
would not look at.<sup>[5]</sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because
of the popularity of the VH1 television series “Pop-up Video“ at the time, one of
the segments in her PMOY video was done as a Pop-up Video parody filled with factoids
about her and <i>Playboy</i>.<sup>[5]</sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>During her appearance on <i>The Magic Hour</i> to promote her PMOY issue,
McDougal demonstrated her signature pose, straddle split on TV in front of a live
studio audience.<sup>[12]</sup><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
In an online chat in 2002, McDougal
expressed interest in posing nude for <i>Playboy</i> again if offered.<sup>[13]</sup><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<b>Fitness Modeling<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
In March 1999, McDougal became the first
woman to appear on the cover of <i>Men’s Fitness</i> magazine.<sup>[4]</sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since then she expanded her career into fitness
modeling by appearing in fitness and body building magazines such as <i>Muscle
& Fitness</i> (January 2000), <i>Physical </i>(June 2004) and <i>Iron Man</i>
(October 2005, January 2006, June 2007<sup>[14]</sup> and November 2009<sup>[15]</sup>).<sup>[8]</sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She appeared in a 10-page pictorial in the January
2006 issue of <i>Iron Man</i> as “Hardbody” of the month,<sup>[16]</sup> and on
the cover of its October 2005 and June 2007 issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>McDougal returned as “Hardbody” of the month in
the November 2009 issue in a pictorial together with fellow Playmate Katie
Lohmann.<sup>[15]</sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In interviews, she
stated that her transition to fitness modeling was unintentional.<sup>[15][17]</sup>
~ <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_McDougal#Modeling">Wikipedia</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Truly, the wages of sin are big money and a top-of-the-line
sportscar...at least until it comes time to pay the bills.<sup>6</sup><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If McDougal is just another pair of breasts being presented
to America’s children via the evening news, the next question is what we asked
about Stephanie “Stormy Daniels” Clifford: why her?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps becoming “religious” was a bigger
benefit than you might think...if it’s the right “religion”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_McDougal#Early_life">Wikipedia claims</a>
she is “of Cherokee, Scottish and Irish descent.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You probably aren’t seeing any “Cherokee”
(neither am I), and “McDougal” can bespeak of Scotland but “Irish” certainly
leaves a clue that the “religion” Karen found was Roman Catholicism.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It worked for another “former” porn actress, Jenna Jameson.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jameson also “got religious”—more specifically, she got
Roman Catholic.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Interestingly, she seems to find no conflict with her past
and, although she’s a “former porn actress” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InpziprQCXw" target="_blank">she told Larry King in 2013</a> that
she wouldn’t return to porn because she’s too old for it, not because it was in
any way offensive.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Perhaps the fact that Jameson “found” Roman Catholicism also
explains how she had the pull to land an interview with Larry King.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We can only guess about what religion Karen McDougal became
“religious” in, but no guesses are necessary for the Trump lawyer being
trumpeted as the epicenter of Porn Scandal II: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Cohen_(lawyer)#Early_life">Michael
Cohen is Jewish</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Once again, we see a Hebrew in a high-profile but
low-influence position bolstering the “conspiracy theory” I maintain that
willing Jews are human shields for Romans.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was here that I noticed Peter Reilly getting
involved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had “hearted” a “tweet”
from Stephanie “Stormy Daniels” Clifford that I found quite obnoxious.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7UnrRhL98T1_cq6fumCehfUcDugm7JdFR9j7ho4eVdXyJI4kD9nsxmwBLf4MEKXby8JM4XAWZDdI07btIyjttS6PAPQfTBgugfN6yLGCpspukKXSJdPNIZ2mZCi_YL_uAeAUYKLe2Z9G8/s1600/porn+pig+gets+obnoxious.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="867" data-original-width="1600" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7UnrRhL98T1_cq6fumCehfUcDugm7JdFR9j7ho4eVdXyJI4kD9nsxmwBLf4MEKXby8JM4XAWZDdI07btIyjttS6PAPQfTBgugfN6yLGCpspukKXSJdPNIZ2mZCi_YL_uAeAUYKLe2Z9G8/s640/porn+pig+gets+obnoxious.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Once again I found myself on one end of an issue and Peter on another.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Being temperamental and ornery (shocking, I know), I
messaged a ribbing to Peter.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Being even-tempered and reserved (might I call him “cagey”?),
he side-stepped the issue and opened a dialogue.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I wanted to stay angry but, instead, I was disarmed and
intrigued.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, it was damn
Jesuitical of him!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I realized that I had squandered three years by not reaching
out to Peter sooner.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If nothing else, I could attempt to understand how a
Jesuit-trained Forbes CPA sees things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Hell, maybe I might be able to win him over in some way.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If anything, the three years since Peter and I first met
have seen me align perfectly with him on the subject of Kent Hovind.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I now see Hovind, not as an unsung hero, but as a reckless,
selfish and incompetent father, husband and Christian steward at best and an
agent of deception at worst.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<a href="http://johnnycirucci.com/is-kent-hovind-a-roman-luciferian/">Is Kent
Hovind a Roman Luciferian?</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To begin with, Kent is a “Creationist” like Ken Ham: a
Christian who seeks to put dinosaurs in the Garden of Eden.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This tactic does more harm than good and one wonders if men
like this know that.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If anything, a much more radical understanding of our
cosmology does far more to validate the Bible and, if carefully examined, gives
more <i>real observational</i> (“zetetic”) evidence.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Such an examination has been maligned as “flat Earth” but,
without the labels, this community asks some serious questions the “experts”
seem ill-equipped to answer.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><br /></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i>Daring To Think The Un-Thinkable<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For instance, if you make your own observations, the sun and
moon appear to be nearly exactly the same size and relatively close to your
position.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
However, experts claim that moon has a radius of 1,079 miles
while the sun has a radius 432,169 miles—roughly 400x bigger.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These same experts claim that the moon is 238,900 miles away
from the Earth and that the sun is 92.96 million miles away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By “random chance”, the sun is 400x bigger
than the moon but also 400x further away giving it the “optical illusion” of being
the same size.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If this weren’t the case,
eclipses would be impossible.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At best this is an astounding case for “intelligent design”
behind the creation of our “universe”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
According to NASA, the Earth is spinning at 1,000 mph
(breaking the 767mph sound barrier) at the equator. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Earth revolves around the sun at 67,000
mph. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The solar system moves through the
Milky Way at 500,000 mph. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Milky Way
moves through the universe at 670,000,000 mph.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All that movement and yet the North Star is right there, day
after day, year after year, century after century.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
NASA assures us that, again, our eyes are playing tricks on
us and this is another “optical illusion” created by the vast distance between
the Earth and the North Star.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just trust
them...really!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The experts tell us that the Earth is a spinning globe with a
radius of approximately 3,965 miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Google explains that “Using the Pythagorean theorem, that calculates to
an average curvature of 7.98 inches per mile or approximately 8 inches per mile
(squared).”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That means that, across 1
mile, there is an 8 inch drop to the horizon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At 2 miles, there is a 64 inch drop (5<sup>1</sup>/<sub>3</sub><sup>rds</sup>
feet).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At 10 miles the drop is 66<sup>2</sup>/<sub>3</sub><sup>rds</sup>
feet and at 100 miles it’s an ominous 666<sup>2</sup>/<sub>3</sub><sup>rds</sup>
feet.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are many places around “the globe” where the naked eye
can see far beyond any perceived “curvature” but then the “experts” say you
can’t trust the ups and downs of terrain.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You can, however, trust that water always finds its own
level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you pour coffee into a cup
with hills of sugar, it’s still a flat, calm surface once you pour enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you then travel to the Suez Canal you see
an astounding 120-mile-long surface with no detectable drop to the horizon.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_1" o:spid="_x0000_i1025" style="height: 255pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 384pt;" type="#_x0000_t75">
<v:imagedata o:title="" src="file:///C:/Users/Johnny/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image002.jpg">
</v:imagedata></v:shape></span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK1PqzDCOaM_cOmOwKGYMMYMluYJfenqEjtHKugXuaOb6qYsZ0OL_geKgMg-YEukY-7SqvlzJF6aaKRL5lMVPdTXousFl-t_6mGK0bsS9YB7dG0XJ6Y6mfxsINa2da7sDCAnbmJ0J3GL6O/s1600/suez+canal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1064" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK1PqzDCOaM_cOmOwKGYMMYMluYJfenqEjtHKugXuaOb6qYsZ0OL_geKgMg-YEukY-7SqvlzJF6aaKRL5lMVPdTXousFl-t_6mGK0bsS9YB7dG0XJ6Y6mfxsINa2da7sDCAnbmJ0J3GL6O/s640/suez+canal.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Even more interesting is how flight of either the tiniest
insect or the most massive aircraft isn’t affected by the Earth’s rotation in
the slightest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the Earth rotates from
east to west, air travel in one cardinal direction should take twice as long or
be twice as short in another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course,
this is difficult to observe as an airline passenger thanks to crazy and
seemingly inefficient connecting flights—but I’m sure there’s a logical reason
for them.<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The experts tell us that, no, you can’t keep water on a
spinning ball or have centrifugal force negated for anything on the surface of
that ball but if the ball gets really, really big, at some magical point
unknown to “science” something called “gravity” cancels the effect of movement
and keeps everything conveniently in place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You can’t test this for yourself, you again have to trust the experts.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The experts tell us that the Earth’s atmosphere is composed
of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.9% argon, and 0.03% carbon dioxide along with
other trace elements and water vapor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Just outside that atmosphere is the icy-cold vacuum of space.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you were to try and duplicate that, the
vacuum would instantly rip the atmosphere away but, again, we are told to trust
to the magic of “gravity” and the knowledge of the “experts”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQvWliaL_9A0M98ypQ-MUCNUl-3ttAa7nyMCx0lUrbUDIMlaVcJHW_Py3ytEn-PYnaFyrjftLz9Zm72A5AFjgpq7d3WKHOJeXDoNz7HF0F6DYmt3i30qKQQiACmzo9uYdtL4faEIuB9RXc/s1600/Lema%25C3%25AEtre+and+Einstein.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="542" data-original-width="446" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQvWliaL_9A0M98ypQ-MUCNUl-3ttAa7nyMCx0lUrbUDIMlaVcJHW_Py3ytEn-PYnaFyrjftLz9Zm72A5AFjgpq7d3WKHOJeXDoNz7HF0F6DYmt3i30qKQQiACmzo9uYdtL4faEIuB9RXc/s400/Lema%25C3%25AEtre+and+Einstein.jpg" width="328" /></a></div>
For instance, Albert Einstein’s “Special Theory of
Relativity” does explain how “gravity” makes you feel “relative” to a stable,
flat plain instead of a ball spinning faster than the speed of sound...it’s
just <a href="http://theconversation.com/how-einsteins-general-theory-of-relativity-killed-off-common-sense-physics-50042">too
complex for you to understand</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Consequently, “conspiracy theorists” have begun to question
whether the Jewish scientist was trying to deceitfully pull the collective wool
over our eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact that his close
friend was a Jesuit-trained Belgian Catholic priest named Georges Lemaître has
nothing to do with it, we’re sure!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
However, I must mention that Lemaître is the astronomer who
rose to the occasion and provided an answer on behalf of Darwinian
evolutionists for the question, “If this all happened by random chance, how did
it start without God?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lemaître’s
response can basically be summarized as “First there was nothing, and then it
exploded”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The “scientific” phrase is
“Big Bang Theory”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One wouldn’t expect a Jesuit-trained Catholic priest to be
so helpful to the Darwinians but in 2014 the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-francis-declares-evolution-and-big-bang-theory-are-right-and-god-isnt-a-magician-with-a-magic-9822514.html">Jesuit
Pope, himself, reaffirmed</a> that both “evolution” and the “Big Bang” are
“real”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jesuits have run to the aid of floundering Darwinians more
than you know.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Critics of the champion of chimpanzee conjecture caused a
conundrum with the query “What was the adaptive ‘link’ between apes and
man?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the awkward silence, Father
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J., thought he would help things along a
bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When no fossil could be found to
provide the evidence, <a href="http://www2.clarku.edu/~PILTDOWN/map_prim_suspects/Teilhard_de_Chardin/Chardin_Prosecution/piltdownconsiracy.html">he
simply fabricated one</a>; “Piltdown Man”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What was a Father who was known as the “<a href="https://revolutionharry.blogspot.com/2010/11/pierre-teilhard-de-chardin-father-of.html">father
of New Age spiritism</a>” doing hoaxing archeological evidence?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps the accusation that a top priority of
the “Society of Jesus” is to discredit the Bible doesn’t seem quite so
inflammatory.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At this point, tinfoil-hat-types are beginning to ask in the
language of Rome, “<i>Cui bono?</i>”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Who benefits?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the Catholic
Church is “Christian”, why has it been so helpful to the Darwinian atheists who
manage to explain away the Creation?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Actually, Rome has been far more helpful than you’ve been
told and the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkrIaZHilbU" target="_blank">motive is to <i>attack</i> and <i>discredit</i> the Bible</a>, forcing
the Pope to be acknowledged as the premier authority on both “science” and
“spirtuality”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Interestingly, both Kent Hovind and Ken Ham<sup>4</sup> join
the Jesuit Pope in disregard for these criticisms of modern “science”. In fact, they go even further and vehemently
attack them. —Odd behavior for men who
claim that validating the Bible is their highest priority.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But from a “conspiracy theorist” perspective, Kent is even
more appealing to “the Machine” because of the quagmire of protesting taxation.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There can be no doubt that the complexity of the tax code is
a form of tyranny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>America will never
see a flat tax nor will any governmental authority examine the Sixteenth
Amendment despite some interesting claims that it was unconstitutionally
ratified.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, a really sharp
pleader could even make a case against the Sixteenth Amendment based upon
Original Intent of the Constitution—the idea that the Federal government is
entitled to skim your paycheck before you receive it and what it skims, it
arbitrates from year to year.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The very fact that we need specialized Jesuit-trained CPAs
like Peter J. Reilly proves this point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even if the tax code isn’t weaponized to target producers and common
citizens, its complexity is in-and-of-itself a bulwark that the super-rich can
hide behind by highering armies of Peter J. Reillys to help squirrel away their
wealth in legendary “offshore accounts”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<b><a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/when-it-comes-to-taxes-donald-trump-and-hillary-clinton-have-one-thing-in-common/">When
It Comes to Taxes, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Have 1 Thing in Common</a></b><b>,
The Nation</b><br />
<i>Tax avoidance by the wealthiest Americans—including the presidential
front-runners—costs the U.S. government an additional $130 billion per year.</i><sup>10</sup><i><o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Encouraging citizens who are discontented and
disenfranchised with a weaponized tax code to “protest” it “ghetto-style” by
simply not paying it is the ultimate sucker punch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the old saw goes, “You can’t fight City
Hall” and Kent Hovind proved that resoundingly.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Worse, Hovind failed those who depended upon him most.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He refused to provide the safety nets of
health and life insurance required by law for his employees and his
premeditated tactics such as “structuring” (keeping transactions under $10,000
for the purposes of tax avoidance) netted his <a href="http://austringer.net/wp/index.php/2007/06/29/jo-hovind-sentenced/">wife,
Jo, jail time</a> as an accomplice.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She stayed with him through both their confinements but,
sadly, after he was released from prison, they divorced.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As far as I’m concerned, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2015/05/05/the-trials-of-kent-hovind-an-american-tragedy/#13d21e785e9b">Peter
Reilly fairly destroys</a> any defense by Hovind and his “Hovindicators”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<b>Kent Hovind Not A Tax Protester?</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Kent Hovind adamantly maintains that
he is not a “tax protester”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have some
issues with that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you go to the flagship
website of his supporters <a href="http://freekenthovind.com/" target="_blank">#FreeKent</a>
you can follow the links to Proof Number one “<a href="http://freekenthovind.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/kent-hovind-irs-letters-optimized1.pdf" target="_blank">Letters from professionals absolve Kent Hovind from all wrong-doing</a>”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first letter is from Kent to one of the professionals
and starts with:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
“I am writing to request your professional
opinion regarding the voluntary nature of Form 1040.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
The responses are something of <a href="http://ytmp.blogspot.com/2015/02/has-kent-hovind-broken-any-laws.html" target="_blank">potpourri of tax protester arguments</a>, that have been ruled by
courts to be frivolous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Hovindicators
often correctly point out Kent Hovind was not convicted of tax evasions, so the
letters, which were<a href="http://ytmp.blogspot.com/2015/02/kent-hovinds-reliance-on-tax-pro.html" target="_blank"> clearly meant to set up what is called a Cheek defense</a>, really
have little to do with what he was convicted of.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Then there is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL-F4-RDNz4" target="_blank">Creation Science 103:Class 6 “Income Tax”</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
A bit after the two minute mark Kent
says that everybody should follow the law including the government and that he has
not filed in 28 years and if there is a law that requires filing, he would like
to see it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The discussion that follows has
nothing to do with his status as a minister and his vow of poverty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A bit past the six minute mark he launches into
the explanation as to why trading services for money is not “income”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At 7:30, he gives a qualified plug to Irwin Schiff,
who may well have originated many of the arguments used by, for lack of a better
term, tax protesters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Irwin Schiff is also
in federal prison.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One disingenuous thing <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2015/05/05/the-trials-of-kent-hovind-an-american-tragedy/#3f331a045e9b">Peter
<i>does</i> do is conflate</a> shocking aspects about the case against Hovind
as synonymous with his “defense”.<sup>12</sup><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
The arguments that are brought
forth in defense of Kent Hovind are multifarious and include things like Jo
Hovind not being allowed to put on a robe when she was arrested, a prosecutor
who committed suicide when arrested as a pedophile and Judge Margaret Casey
Rodgers not allowing open Bibles in the courtroom during the trial.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
* Kent Hovind’s wife was treated by
authorities with needless brutality unbecoming a citizen’s understanding of who
their “law enforcement” is composed of.<br />
* Kent Hovind’s (assistant) prosecutor was a pedophile.<br />
* Kent Hovind’s judge was a vehemently anti-Christian woman.<sup>11</sup><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Of course</i> these facts have nothing to do with whether
Hovind was guilty of tax evasion.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But they <i>absolutely</i> add weight to the accusation of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Eaters-Children-Pedocracy-ritualistic-slaughter/dp/1548350478">my
third book</a> that the United States is secretly controlled by a cabal of
Christian-hating pedophiles based in Rome.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This may <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2015/01/12/kent-hovind-asks-supporters-for-noise-and-light-to-defend-him/#61c8f66d52d4">seem
droll and passé to Peter</a> because of the faulty logic used by Hovind and his
“Hovindicators”—<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Kent regularly brings up the fact that
one of the prosecutors in his first trial was<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_David_Roy_Atchison" target="_blank"> John
David Roy Atchison</a> who hung himself in a prison cell after being arrested in
a pedophile sting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My hesitancy in listening
to even more interviews has to do with not wanting to, once again, hear about the
doll and the jar of Vaseline that Atchison had in his possession when arrested.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The implication is that someone as wicked as Atchison
must have spent his time prosecuting godly people.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
—but it has <i>nothing</i> to do with tax evasion at the
citizen level and <i>everything</i> to do with corruption and conspiracy at the
national and (forgive me) “global” levels.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I can think of few things more foolish than fighting a war
with the United States government in its own judiciary in an effort to deprive
the government of your money which it claims it is entitled to.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Across the decades, politicians have over-spent <a href="http://www.usdebtclock.org/"><i>twenty one trillion dollars</i></a> of
your money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The numbers are <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tym9AhMNcP0" target="_blank">actuallybeyond comprehension</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
You can easily make a case that any politician involved in
the guaranteed fiscal collapse of the United States has committed treason.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Not very long ago, those <a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/rosenbergs-executed">convicted
of treason were executed</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To think that you can deprive the government of your money
without an army of lawyers and/or accountants is beyond folly; it’s suicide.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To encourage those who trust you to do the same is a heinous
betrayal of that trust.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What’s more, if you have a distrust of government, wouldn’t
it follow that a corrupt court would rather frame you and/or change its rules
than see you win at their own game?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A single successful “tax protester” brings down the entire
system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With “all the marbles” at stake,
the side that owns all of the machine guns, armored trucks, helicopters, radios
and CCTV cameras wins.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If this is common sense (and it is), there are only two
explanations for why someone would willingly attempt a no-win fight like this:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
1) The individual in question is
not processing this information as a healthy adult.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Failure to receive and process accurate
information is no excuse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A mature adult
knows that if you don’t know how to fly a plane, you don’t volunteer to take
your family for a vacation flight with yourself at the helm.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
2) The individual in question is an
agent of deception being used to lure disenfranchised citizens into committing
suicide with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Variations on this
include a dupe who is manipulated to become even more appealing than without
help, to a fully-trained operative who is in no real danger of prosecution.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At best, I can only hope that Kent Hovind is a dysfunctional
dupe but it is noteworthy that, upon his release from prison, he not only
jumped feet-first into the “flat Earth” debate, both on the wrong side and
seemingly without proper investigation, he also has warned against
understanding prophetic passages of Scripture like Daniel 2 and 7 or Revelation
17 thru 20 as having anything to do with the Catholic Church.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I first started to question the role and power of the
Vatican, the only “expert” to pop up that had reliable information was “Eric
Jon Phelps”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Phelps labels himself a “White Separatist American Freeman,
Dispensational, Fifth Monarchy, Seventh-Day Baptist-Calvinist”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Racial division is one of the most powerful “divide and
conquer” weapons that has been used both repeatedly and successfully by the
Elite.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Phelps also offers a 3-day course in how to litigate against
the United States government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For <a href="http://247worldradio.com/private-citizenship-course/">$2,000 you can
learn</a> to turn the “ALL CAPS” of official documents against the Leviathan!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Recently, <a href="https://www.ldnews.com/story/news/local/2016/03/04/newmanstown-man-plans-racially-separated-lebanon-county/80876104/">Phelps
was promoted in his local newspaper</a> as the arch-typical “anti-Catholic
white separatist”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He dispenses
information about the Vatican that is unavailable anywhere else and then he
completely discredits himself with Jesuit Biblical eschatology, racism and a
“solution” that is patently absurd: start his own country.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s great press...for the Catholic Church.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Eric Phelps’s Reformation Bible
Puritan Baptist Church is Lebanon County’s only organization plotted on the
Southern Poverty Law Center’s map of hate groups, but his picturesque farmhouse
near Newmanstown doesn’t look like a headquarters of hate. ...<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
While he insists he isn’t hateful,
Phelps is a proud and active advocate of racial separation and anti-Catholicism
— and he has big plans for Lebanon County.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His goal: a community that secedes from the United States and
Pennsylvania, is devoid of Hispanics, African-Americans and Catholics,
institutes the death penalty for “doing dope,” and forbids homosexuality and
adultery.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
“These Hispanics and these blacks
that commit crime everywhere — they have reduced Lebanon to nothing but a
savage war zone, for the most part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s all done by the Pope — he brought them in here,” Phelps
said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“If I can’t have (racial
separation) in Lebanon, I’ll move to another county where we can do it, but we
have to go to a white county that’s historically Protestant.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Phelps isn’t idle while waiting for
the consummation of that dream.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
pastors his church, which meets in his home to study the Bible and eat
fellowship meals of “white Protestant cuisine,” like meat and potatoes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Attendees include his family and a few
others, but his personal invitation is required to join.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
He also broadcasts an Internet
radio program with followers around the world and hosts “private citizenship”
classes in Myerstown that have been attended by as many as 25 paying customers,
he said, preaching an anti-Catholic gospel message wherever he goes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In 2008, Phelps was a speaker at the 8<sup>th</sup> Annual
“Conspiracy Conference” or “Con-Con”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
presented his material <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izBLLtknlms" target="_blank">dressed as and speaking as, a Jesuit priest</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Again, I am reminded of the <a href="http://www.reformation.org/jesuit-oath.html">preamble reputed to be used</a>
for a Jesuit “Fourth Vow” ceremony:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
My son, heretofore you have been
taught to act the dissembler: among Roman Catholics to be a Roman Catholic, and
to be a spy even among your own brethren; to believe no man, to trust no man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among the Reformers, to be a reformer; among
the Huguenots, to be a Huguenot; among the Calvinists, to be a Calvinist; among
other Protestants, generally to be a Protestant, and obtaining their confidence,
to seek even to preach from their pulpits, and to denounce with all the
vehemence in your nature our Holy Religion and the Pope; and even to descend so
low as to become a Jew among Jews, that you might be enabled to gather together
all information for the benefit of your Order as a faithful soldier of the
Pope.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
You have been taught to insidiously
plant the seeds of jealousy and hatred between communities, provinces, states
that were at peace, and incite them to deeds of blood, involving them in war
with each other, and to create revolutions and civil wars in countries that
were independent and prosperous, cultivating the arts and the sciences and
enjoying the blessings of peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To take
sides with the combatants and to act secretly with your brother Jesuit, who
might be engaged on the other side, but openly opposed to that with which you
might be connected, only that the Church might be the gainer in the end, in the
conditions fixed in the treaties for peace and that the end justifies the
means.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
You have been taught your duty as a
spy, to gather all statistics, facts and information in your power from every
source; to ingratiate yourself into the confidence of the family circle of
Protestants and heretics of every class and character, as well as that of the
merchant, the banker, the lawyer, among the schools and universities, in
parliaments and legislatures, and the judiciaries and councils of state, and to
be all things to all men, for the Pope’s sake, whose servants we are unto
death.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Adding to the evidence of this tactic, I have chronicled
several moments in history that seem to fit my premise with sinking perfection:
the repeated betrayal of oppressed Patriots in Communist tyrannies by the CIA—<a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/1983/07/their-will-be-done/">an
organization founded</a> and <a href="http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/issues/may-6th-2016/why-catholics-thrive-in-the-cia/">run
by Roman Catholics</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Again and again, the Central
Intelligence Agency has enabled the radical Left and Communism to maintain
stasis and stability as an important factor in the Hegelian Dialectic of
thesis, antithesis, synthesis (more colloquially known as “problem, reaction,
solution”).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Communists and Communist
nations were always behind the West in technology, capability and prosperity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a result, Roman-controlled bankers,
billionaires and intelligence bureaus repeatedly betrayed their Western nations
of birth to keep the Communists afloat — sometimes with vicious results.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Bohemian Grove regular Dwight Eisenhower<sup>462</sup>
repeatedly promised in his 1952 campaign to “liberate” the Eastern European
nations that were given to Joseph Stalin (reputed to be a Freemason, guaranteed
to have been influenced by Freemasonry<sup>463</sup> and was a Roman Catholic
with Jewish heritage trained to be a Jesuit priest<sup>464</sup>) by Scottish
Rite and Shriner Freemason Franklin Roosevelt<sup>465</sup> along with
Freemason Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill (Studholme Lodge 1591<sup>466</sup>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The game was rigged from the beginning.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Eisenhower was the perfect puppet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He somehow managed to avoid a single
leadership billet throughout his entire military career (never a Platoon
Leader, Company Commander, Battalion Commander, Brigade or Division Commander)
until becoming Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean Expeditionary Force<sup>467</sup>
just prior to becoming Supreme Allied Commander, Europe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Armchair warriors make the best yes-men.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
The modus operandi of
Jesuit-controlled Freemasonic Western leadership was to set up the <i>real </i>Communist-fighting
Patriots and then pull the rug out from underneath them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Chinese revolutionary Chiang
Kai-shek had the power and popular support to guarantee barring Communists
entry into China so General “Vinegar Joe” Stillwell, General George C. Marshal
and President Franklin Roosevelt made sure he failed and was overthrown
(particularly in prohibiting necessary supplies like small arms<sup>468</sup>)
guaranteeing the advent of Mao Zedong; a true monster who murdered so many of
his own people that the counts are unsure even today but they <i>start </i>at
60,000,000.<sup>469</sup><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956
was another example of treason and betrayal by Rome’s intelligence puppets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Traitors in the West had been <i>pleading </i>with
Hungarian Patriots to revolt — <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i>It is a well-known fact that
Radio Free Europe and the Voice of America in the 1950s encouraged resistance
to — if not an outright revolt against — Communist oppression.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a 1998 interview with CNN, Hungarian
Ambassador to the U.S. Geza Jeszensky, who was 15 years old at the time of the
revolution, remarked: “I kept listening to Radio Europe like 10 million
Hungarians did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Radio Free Europe
certainly encouraged the Hungarians to resist the Soviets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it was not Radio Free Europe which
instigated the Hungarian Revolution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps
the Hungarians were misled, not by the radio, but by the propaganda language by
the U.S. administration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It spoke about
liberation and rollback.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eisenhower kept
speaking about liberation, but as a historian put it, it proved to be only a
myth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Liberation was not meant
seriously.”<sup>2</sup> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Radio Free
Europe also had an impact on </i>[Soviet] <i>Premier </i>[Nikolai
Alexandrovich] <i>Bulganin and his Politburo.<sup>3</sup> </i>~ Thomas J. Torda,
Ph.D., The American-Hungarian Federation<sup>470</sup><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Once Hungarian Patriots were
convinced to commit themselves, Western traitors stepped back and Soviet
brutality stepped in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[italics
suspended]<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
The defeat of the Hungarian
revolution was one of the darkest moments of the Cold War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At certain points since its outbreak on
October 23 the revolt looked like it was on the verge of an amazing triumph.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The entire nation appeared to have taken up
arms against the regime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rebels, often
armed with nothing more than kitchen implements and gasoline, were disabling
Soviet tanks and achieving other — sometimes small but meaningful — victories
throughout the country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On October 31,
the tide seemed to turn overwhelmingly in the revolution’s favor when <i>Pravda
</i>published a declaration promising greater equality in relations between the
USSR and its East European satellites.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One
sentence was of particular interest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
read: “[T]he Soviet Government is prepared to enter into the appropriate
negotiations with the government of the Hungarian People’s Republic and other
members of the Warsaw Treaty on the question of the presence of Soviet troops
on the territory of Hungary.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
...Washington’s role in the
Hungarian revolution soon became mired in controversy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the most successful weapons in the
East-West battle for the hearts and minds of Eastern Europe was the
CIA-administered Radio Free Europe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
in the wake of the uprising, RFE’s broadcasts into Hungary sometimes took on a
much more aggressive tone, encouraging the rebels to believe that Western
support was imminent, and even giving tactical advice on how to fight the
Soviets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hopes that were raised,
then dashed, by these broadcasts cast an even darker shadow over the Hungarian
tragedy that leaves many Hungarians embittered to this day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
Once the Soviets made up their
minds to eliminate the revolution, it took only a few days to complete the main
military phase of the operation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By
November 7 — coincidentally, the anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution —
Soviet forces were firmly enough in control of the country that Kádár could
take the oath of office in the Parliament building (even though the Nagy
government had never formally resigned). ~ Malcolm Byrne, NSA Archive<sup>471</sup><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
To make absolutely sure Soviet
armor had as much time as was needed to slaughter as many Hungarian Patriots as
possible, Eisenhower had his Ambassador to the United Nations, Adlai Ewing
Stevenson II, delay any possible U.N. intervention.<sup>472</sup><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
The exact same scenario replayed
itself 12 years later in Czechoslovakia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After goading Czech Patriots into action for the 1968 “Prague Spring”,
all of Western Intelligence not only went silent, it went dark.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i>... 27 divisions of Soviet
Russians, Poles, Hungarians and Bulgarians — around 300,000 men, armed with
2,000 heavy cannons — marched into the small state of Czechoslovakia to end the
experiment of “socialism with a human face.” It was the largest military
operation since the World War II... <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i>For months, the eyes of the
world had been on Prague, where a group of officials around Communist Party
chief Alexander Dubcek had challenged the Soviets with new civil rights for
Czechoslovakia, new press freedoms and plans for privatization.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the
USSR’s Communist Party, ordered a number of threatening military maneuvers in
and around Czechoslovakia starting in May.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i>But when the maneuvers grew
serious, the American, British and German governments seemed to look the other
way, judging by documents from the NATO archive in Brussels as well as
intelligence files seen by SPIEGEL.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Not
a single evaluation” managed to predict the Soviet invasion of Prague, according
to the NATO Military Committee, the alliance’s highest military authority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>~ Der Spiegel<sup>473</sup><o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Western media pushed the laughable
idea that — despite Western leaders being given daily (probably hourly) briefs
on Czechoslovakia — a WWII-sized Soviet invasion force was simply “lost” to the
combined efforts of Allied intelligence operations.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Seven years earlier, in 1961, a
similar treason was conducted on the Patriots of Cuba.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These Cuban exiles, however, had direct
interaction with the CIA in their training, organization, equipping and
transportation.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
They received everything except
what they needed most; a flight of 6 A-26 Invaders as air support.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy
(Skull and Bones 1940) personally saw to this betrayal as has been noted by Air
Force Colonel and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chief of Special Operations for
President Kennedy, Leroy Fletcher Prouty.<sup>474</sup><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Bundy would go on to blame John F. Kennedy
for sabotaging the Bay of Pigs leading up to his assassination by the
Jesuit-run CIA<sup>475</sup> as well as see to it that CIA fingerprints were
covered up.<sup>476</sup> ~ <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Secret-History-erased-behind-curtain/dp/1515149951"><i>Secret
History</i></a>, Johnny Cirucci, CreateSpace (November 24<sup>th</sup>, 2016),
pp. 524-529<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What’s my solution?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>—It certainly isn’t to fight the government at its own game.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is deep wisdom in the way Jesus dealt with the issue—but
keep in mind that it was presented to Him as a trap with no right answer.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Then the Pharisees went and plotted
how they might entangle Him in His talk. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they sent to Him their disciples with the
Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of
God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of
men. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tell us, therefore, what do You
think? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it lawful to pay taxes to
Caesar, or not?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
But Jesus perceived their
wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Show Me the tax money.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
So they brought Him a denarius.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
And He said to them, “Whose image
and inscription is this?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
And He said to them, “Render
therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that
are God’s.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
When they had heard these words,
they marveled, and left Him and went their way. ~ Matthew 22:15-22, New King
James Version<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s not a stretch to interpret Jesus’ words to mean, “The
game is rigged so stop trying to beat the dealer.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Roman Empire of Christ’s time ruled overtly by tyranny
and military occupation but the Roman Empire of our time can only rule by
hiding itself behind the illusion that we’re still in control.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If that curtain of deception is ripped away, one can easily
see those who were fooled into serving the Fateful City, turning upon her.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
Then he said to me, “The waters
which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and
tongues. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the ten horns which you saw
on the Beast, these will hate the Harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her
flesh and burn her with fire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For God
has put it into their hearts to fulfill His Purpose, to be of one mind, and to
give their kingdom to the Beast, until the Words of God are fulfilled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the woman whom you saw is that great city
which reigns over the kings of the Earth.” ~ Revelation 17:15-18<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although this might
seem to be a Left-wing agenda, it would’ve been a healthy move towards stemming
the “Global War on Terror”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Holding
“terrorists” offshore provides the United States military and the Central
Intelligence Agency with loopholes regarding humane treatment of victims.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s no coincidence that the facility is in
the nation of America’s vehement Communist “enemy”, Cuba.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fidel Castro learned tyranny and Communism
through three separate Jesuit institutions while growing up; <i>Colegio Lasalle</i>
and the <i>Colegio Dolores</i>, in Santiago and the <i>Colegio Belen</i>, a
Jesuit preparatory school in Havana.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
mistreatment of prisoners guarantees that, if they ever leave Guantanamo, if
they weren’t “terrorists” coming in, they were going out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obama’s CIA Director, <a href="https://news.law.fordham.edu/blog/2017/09/04/former-c-i-a-chief-john-brennan-named-distinguished-fellow-at-fordhams-center-on-national-security/">Jesuit-trained
Roman Catholic</a> John Brennan did the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/feb/08/law-war-cia-john-brennan-drone-kill-list">indiscriminate
drone attacks</a>, in blatant disregard for any nation’s sovereign airspace,
guaranteed more, rather than fewer, enemies of the United States.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The agenda may even be more sinister than
that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the September 11<sup>th</sup>
2012 attack on the CIA waystation in Benghazi, Libya, a former <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/25/former-guantanamo-detainee-was-on-ground-in-benghazi-night-11-attack.html">Guantanamo
detainee was there</a> and may even have lead the raid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The CIA has been accused of <a href="https://www.wnd.com/2014/09/finally-revealed-what-ambassador-in-benghazi-was-really-doing/">doling
out weapons to jihadis</a> out of Benghazi and it has been rumored that Ambassador
Chris Stevens arrived because someone at the State Department had qualms about
including surface-to-air missiles in the plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not only was Stevens captured, tortured and murdered (insuring that his
mission was not accomplished), his escape to a “safe room” was thwarted by <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/11/15/benghazi-attackers-reportedly-knew-location-ambassador-safe-room.html">terrorists
who had inside information</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was that
information given to the likes of Sufian bin Qumu during his “visit” to
Guantanamo Bay?<br />
2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesuit admirers say this nickname
derives from the humble black priest’s cassock the Superior General always
wears while detractors say it stems from the dark, evil, all-encompassing power
wielded by Loyola’s successor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They may
even make the accusation that the Clinton Administration attack on Waco (where
80 men, women and children were burned alive, Inquisition style) and the
blowing up of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building in Oklahoma city
“commemorate” Loyola’s Generalship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All
three happened on April 19<sup>th</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For more terrible events on or about April 19<sup>th</sup>, read my book
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Illuminati-Unmasked-Everything-about-World/dp/1506156290"><i>Illuminati
Unmasked</i></a>!<br />
3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps there is something, after
all, to the rumored “Fourth Vow of Extreme Unction” as <a href="http://www.reformation.org/jesuit-oath.html">it acknowledges</a> <i>“You
have been taught to insidiously plant the seeds of jealousy and hatred between
communities, provinces, states that were at peace, and incite them to deeds of
blood, involving them in war with each other, and to create revolutions and
civil wars in countries that were independent and prosperous, cultivating the
arts and the sciences and enjoying the blessings of peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To take sides with the combatants and to act
secretly with your brother Jesuit, who might be engaged on the other side, but
openly opposed to that with which you might be connected, only that the Church
might be the gainer in the end, in the conditions fixed in the treaties for
peace and that the end justifies the means.”<br />
</i>4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By a “quirk” of serendipity, both
men share the initials “K.H.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>—or is
there something more at work here...?<br />
5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A “porn actress” with a man’s middle
name?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This implies parental misconduct
of a perverse nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately,
when children grow up to be involved in perversion, the roots usually run
through the parents.<br />
6.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I’m fond of quoting from the
Luciferian movie produced by Disney and Marvel, <i>Dr. Strange</i>, “The bill
comes due.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>For the wages of sin is
death, but the Gift of God is Eternal Life in Christ Jesus our Lord.</i> ~
Romans 6:23<br />
7.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hey, it sounds good when you’re
breathing the rarefied air of a billionaire with his <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/05/25/melania-trump-is-catholic-she-confirms-after-vatican-visit/?utm_term=.76c8a0cd76dc">super-model
Catholic wife</a>—although, I guess not “super-model” enough.<br />
8.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Farnese” is one of the names that <i>should</i>
be coming up when you research who really rules the world behind the scenes; as
well as Medici, Orsini, Aldobrandini, Colonna, Borgia and Breakspeare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, “Rothschild” and “Rockefeller” are
delivered to you, courtesy of the search engine whose birthday is the same as
the Company of Loyola.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, there
have never been any Rothschild Bishops, Cardinals or Popes whereas those other
names have been staples in Roman clergy.<br />
9.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s just a conjecture to open your
mind to the plausibility of the “scandal” being contrived. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, it’s just as plausible that a
billionaire pervert bought himself nookie with a porn star.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m sure it was more distasteful than her
usual “co-stars” but also a lot quicker.<br />
10.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even here the Leftists at “the
Nation” spin this important story in the wrong direction: the issue isn’t how
much “people’s candidate” <i>frauds</i> like Trump and Hillary “cost the
government”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The issue is that the rules
are always different for the Elite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
bloated, parasitic government syphons your life blood but those who rule over
you are insulated from the bloodletting.<br />
11.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If <a href="http://johnnycirucci.com/podcast/">you’ve heard my show</a>, I frequently
mock the far-Left culture of women in authority positions they often show
evidence of not being qualified for, inserting their maiden name without a
hyphen to confuse those around them.<br />
12.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To his credit, this is unlike the
galante CPA and, perhaps we’ll just write it off to being “unclear”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So-called “Hovindicators” have offered up
these facts as conflated with Hovind’s defense and Peter simply parroted them
rather than be clear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He may have little
reason to but it’s all a smoking gun for me!<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10689200194715445190noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4421006301341157258.post-66894909487909844242018-08-01T21:06:00.002-04:002018-08-02T08:49:36.307-04:00Janet Yellen and the Economic Impact of Gender Discrimination<i>So the tax angle to this piece by a new <a href="http://www.cga-cpa.com/andrea/">guest poster Andrea Carr </a>might seem a little tangential. What it is is that Andrea has been<a href="https://ytmp.blogspot.com/2018/06/tax-season-therapy-tweets-of-andrea.html"> featured on this site</a> as part on again off again women in accounting series. The series was started to inquire into a mystery. More than half of CPAs are women. And by my scientific computations, which are proprietary, they do 80% of the actual work. [Irony Alert: The scientific computations part is a joke]</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Yet a good sized firm will pat itself on the back as being woman friendly if 20% of the partners are women. So a reflection on gender discrimination by a woman in the trenches has a place here.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>This is a serious piece but some of Ms. Carr's trademark humor comes across. <a href="https://twitter.com/andreacpa0"> I follow her on twitter </a>and you should too. Here is a compilation of <a href="https://ytmp.blogspot.com/2018/06/tax-season-therapy-tweets-of-andrea.html">some of her best tweets,</a> She is still young, so she will probably top this, but the best so far is.</i><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "bitstream charter" , "times" , serif; font-size: 16px;"><i>You know when someone walks in wearing something ostentatiously expensive, and they tell you they do this to portray a "certain image". I'm just surprised anyone intentionally wants their image to be portrayed as "insecure, selfish, douche with money problems"</i></span></blockquote>
<i>Enough introduction. Here she is on gender discrimination.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
When Janet Yellen took the role as the first woman to chair the Federal Reserve in 2014, it was generally unremarkable to most major media outlets. Which is generally what you expect when you nominate the Vice Chair to the Chair position and the Vice Chair is excessively qualified for a role where it would be impossible to be overqualified. It’s as interesting as finishing a pack of M&Ms, it’s the natural order of things. She was the first woman to do so, but I imagine this also wasn’t media worthy because in the modern day we’re supposed to pretend gender isn’t relevant. <br />
Some might argue the Chair of the Federal Reserve isn’t that big of a position to warrant an interest in. And maybe that’s true, but certainly everyone has heard of Alan Greenspan, but then there’s the fact that Alan Greenspan served as Federal Chair for an unprecedented amount of time. So then you start to wonder if more people cared about Ben Bernanke, but you say Ben Bernanke was part of talks when the financial meltdown crashed in 2008, and when the banking system collapses, who’s more important than the Chair of the central bank? <br />
<br />
And all these “buts” become the central theme to gender issues. It’s nearly impossible to really prove gender discrimination because there’s an unlimited number of variables. We can’t create a scientific study about people and biases in a vacuum. You can always find reasons why someone just “isn’t right for the job” and no one knows, including the person saying the comment, whether there isn’t an underlying gender bias. If you want details on this read Ellen Pao’s book Reset right alongside John Doerr’s book, Measure What Matters.<br />
<br />
By all accounts Janet Yellen was more than qualified for the position is Chair of the Federal Reserve. Her PhD in economics is from Yale University. From 1994 to 1997 she was on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. In 1997 she served as Chair of Bill Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisors. From 2004 to 2010 she was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (there are twelve regional reserve banks and San Francisco is the second largest by assets held, next to New York). She worked her way up in the Federal Reserve after an impressive career and education at the top U.S. schools in economics. Yet, she was confirmed in the Senate by the narrowest margin in history.<br />
<br />
The Federal Reserve is tasked with two goals: maximize employment and stabilize prices (inflation). The biggest argument against Janet Yellen for her confirmation was she was a “dove”. A “dove” refers to someone whose economic policy favors low unemployment above the inflation goals. The opposite of a “dove” is a “hawk” whose focus is more on inflation than unemployment. Yellen’s goal was unemployment and during her tenure there was one of the largest drops in unemployment during any Federal Chair’s tenure. And the other mandate, of keeping inflation stable, she did.<br />
<br />
By all accounts she had one of the best job performances in history and didn’t even tweet pictures of her crotch to members of the opposite sex. You can scour the internet, but there’s almost no criticisms from legitimate organizations (Republican or Democrat) of Janet Yellen’s reign as Chair of the Federal Reserve. But maybe she should have tweeted pictures of her crotch, because very few cared when she was not renominated for the position.<br />
<br />
The person nominated to replace her was Jerome Powell, who does not have a single degree in economics. The Federal Bank operates solely based on macroeconomic models (referred to as Keynesian economics) introduced by John Maynard Keynes and refined by academics like Janet Yellen in multiple peer-reviewed papers. Knowing the underlying economic theories is central to decision making at the Federal Reserve. Jerome Powell has a bachelor’s degree in politics and he has a law degree. His primary work experience has been in private equity and investment banking, which generally does not include a lot of in-depth study of macroeconomic policies. On Wall Street, Jerome Powell is probably called a “big swinging dick”, which made famous by Michael Lewis’s book Liar’s Poker, is Wall Street speak for an Alpha Male, or maybe a “hawk”. And at the helm of U.S.’s central bank do you want a “hawk” or a “dove”?<br />
<br />
One argument is the President of the United States was the person who chose not to renominate Janet Yellen and a lot of us suspect our current President has a bias against women. But Jerome Powell was confirmed by a Senate vote of 84-13 and Janet Yellen was confirmed by a 56-26 vote. In economics they would call that “statistically significant”.<br />
<br />
If you need an example on how our economy suffers because of gender bias, there’s no greater, current example, then the loss of Janet Yellen as the Chair of the Federal Reserve.<br />
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<i>Andrea Carr is a CPA with Carr, Gouveia + Associates in Honolulu.</i><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Peter Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01473701483727808782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4421006301341157258.post-30553759219092903632018-07-28T18:14:00.003-04:002018-07-28T18:15:13.680-04:00Hovindologist Down The Flat Earth Rabbit Hole<i>Lamar Smith is back from an assignment. I asked him to look into the odd interaction of Kent Hovind and flat earth. The way this connects with tax is kind of intriguing. The people who are commonly called tax protesters, a term they dislike, have a pretty preposterous belief. It is that most people who pay federal income tax are being deceived into paying a tax that really does not apply to them. The grandfather of the movement and possibly the inventor of many of the arguments is Irwin Schiff.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>The movement lives on with, among others, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Banister">Joe Bannister - Agent of Truth</a>. What is preposterous, besides the arguments themselves, is that they always lose in court except for the occasional criminal acquittal using the Cheek defense, In order for them to be right, there would have to be a conspiracy involving the entire federal judiciary among others.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>What I finally realized is that conspiracies of that scope and much larger are part of the world view of Kent Hovind, who while claiming not to be a tax protester, played one in court and prison and the continual promotion of his innocence narrative.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>And Young Earth Creationism, the notion that real science supports a hyper-literal reading of Genesis that allows you to arrive at the age of the universe by summing up begats and tacking on six days requires an even grander conspiracy. The biology, geology and astronomy departments in every university have to be in on it - just for starters.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>There is a continuum that comes with using the Bible as a science textbook. Form YEC, you move to geocentrism. And the next step is flat earth (Usually a disc sort of shape). I'll spare you the scriptural argument, other than to note that it is pretty compelling. The people who wrote the texts that eventually became the Bible probably mostly believed that they lived on a firmament supported by pillars to the extent that they thought about the issue at all.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>The scale of the conspiracy to deceive us into believing in a roughly spherical earth revolving around the sun if that is not true is mind boggling. It's not just the professors, There has to be a lot of technology like GPS and even pre electronic aviation and maritime navigation that works differently than we think it works.So the moon landing was a fake. Maybe. But GPS really works because of ground stations not satellites and nobody is talking about that?</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Regardless, it turns out that geocentrism and flat earth are bridges too far for Kent Hovind, And that has the flat earth Christians very upset because he is such a solid guy on evolution and creation that it is so disappointing that he does not take the next obvious step into a biblical world view.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>To end this perhaps too long introduction, that is what I asked Lamar to look into and here is his report. - PJR</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
IF YOU’VE GOT A PERFECTLY GOOD RAZOR THAT DOESN’T CUT, MAYBE YOU’RE USING IT WRONG<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I have returned from down the rabbit hole. Now, if I tell you that up is still up and North is still North, I’ve done you no favors because, since I’ve now told you this, you can rest assured it’s a lie because the rules of the game state rather clearly that everyone is always lying when they say something. The only real truth you can count on are YouTube videos.....</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Unless you can’t.......</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Who can know?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Peter Reilly gave me an assignment to look into and it has taken its toll on my time and sanity but Kent Hovind is now more embroiled in the FE debate than ever.......</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Unless he isn’t.......</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I’ll get to who I hope is Lenox’s most controversial resident shortly but my research has entangled me even more in the Flat Earth movement and I’ll get to Kent through them. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
First, though, two simple observations; Kent has dropped the word ‘literal’ from his description of what “the crew at Dinosaur Adventure Land” believes about the Bible and the calls for a Presidential Pardon are conspicuously absent for several weeks from his videos.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I’ve spent my time with the Flat Earthers and it’s been utterly confusing and exposed me to statements where I understood every single word in a sentence or question but have no idea what they collectively meant. Please read a very abbreviated list of my transcriptions of direct quotes from Flat Earth debates and discussions that utterly confuse me but do not ask me for an explanation of their meaning. I remain as confused by these pronouncements and questions as you, most probably, will be:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“Even your eyes are lying to you, why can’t you see that?”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“Which direction of South are you talking about heading, right now?”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“NASA’s budget is a quarter of a billion dollars. Do you know how much of that is being spent on proving the shape of the earth is round? None! You can go look that up!”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“Sunlight isn’t daylight, most people don’t know that.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“Well, how flat is a pancake, anyway?”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“The inner hemisphere of stars turns counter-clockwise and the outer hemisphere of stars turns clockwise.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“I don’t have any idea what video or photo you’re talking about but I already have a video on my channel debunking it.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“You have to understand that ‘Pac Man’ has two meanings and you have to be clear which one you mean.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“No, you don’t understand, there’s a barrier above us. It’s invisible and can’t be detected in any way but we know it’s there.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“People back then could just add to or take away from their calendars a few hundred years, if they wanted to. How would anyone know?”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“They have removed huge sections of the ocean and that’s why we can’t find the downed Malaysia flight.” </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“Oh yeah, I looked at that NASA footage. Do you know how easily I could have faked that? You give me a couple of thousand dollars and I could bring you an image just like that in a week. If an image looks easy for me to fake, it’s fake.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
“Occam’s Razor says ‘Do not unnecessarily multiply assumptions,’ therefore the only logical conclusion is that a conspiracy to control all of us has been underway for half a millennia involving every branch of every government of every country and almost every major company for the last 500 plus years. Nothing else makes sense!”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
These are the sort of things that have assaulted my brain for weeks. To say that I’ve discovered some issues with the Flat Earth movement is the equivalent of saying the sky is blue but even that has been questioned. The label ‘Flat Earth,’ though is increasingly problematic, though a replacement isn’t immediately obvious.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The sub-sets of positions that currently fall under the ‘Flat Earth’ umbrella are truly manifold and, it seems to me, are truly testing the carrying capacity of a single term to describe them.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I think the best way to represent this is by posing questions that different members of the movement would answer in different ways:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
1) What is the basic shape of the Earth? </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Kent Hovind has had conversations and done videos with Dr. Robert Sungenis that have gotten Kent off the sidelines and offered debate challenges to FEers. Both of these men agree that the earth is round but Dr. Sungenis holds that the earth is round but fixed and the entire universe revolves around it. Dr. Sungenis is Catholic and has many YT debates against Protestants of different stripes. He claims expertise in many ancient languages and claims that FE assertions from the Bible are unfounded or, at best, are very selective translations. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Kent’s alliance with Dr. Sungenis is, on the face of it, somewhat strange, given their discrepant views on so many scientific and theological points outside of the shape of the earth and at least one FEer has attempted to drive a wedge between them. More on that shortly.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
2) What is above the atmosphere of the Earth?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Listen to enough FE debates and discussions and you’ll hear some really far out theories about what’s far and out. Some hold there is an actual barrier, a canopy, a ‘semi-sphere’ above us. Weather balloons don’t pop at the end of their life-span, they deflate when they hit this barrier. Planets and stars are just projections on this, some hold. This barrier is why every rocket launch, every satellite is fake, except when they fail and, on those, ‘they’ knew they’d fail.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
3) What is the proper and provable relationship between the sun, the earth and the moon?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Oh, man. If you have the guts to ask this question to a single flat-earther, bring a chair and get a snack and an adult beverage..... or six.... Throw this out to a group or panel or convention of them, buckle up and watch the show! Just the sun question will consume hours and hours. FEers claim to love Occam’s Razor and then consistently propose ad hoc solution after ad hoc solution in direct contravention of it. They can’t quite get away from direct observations anyone can make. When it’s daytime where you are, unfortunately for FEers, it seems it’s night somewhere else. The sun, then, must be small, close, have a shade like a lamp and the shade must, somehow, change shape throughout the day and year.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Even after they get the sun sorted out (they never really do) the audience may be astounded by the claims about the moon. Some hold that while the sun emits “hot light,” the moon, according to some, also is the source of light, but it’s “cold light.” Some FEers have done ‘scientific’ research with store-bought laser thermometers and ‘discovered’ that on the night of a full moon, temperatures of objects in direct moonlight are lower than objects in the shade of the moon. Their methodologies are questionable at best.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As far as the moon goes, though, virtually all FEers are in agreement that no person has ever actually been there, though a very few will concede it might be possible to go. Former stuntman, limousine driver and current gubernatorial candidate for California ‘Mad’ Mike Hughes, a very prominent figure in the FE movement, has already launched himself in a homemade steam-powered rocket, a few thousand feet in the air to gain attention for his cause of building and launching a bigger homemade rocket high enough to actually see the curvature of the earth. AronRa asked Mad Mike on a panel on a Non-Sequitur podcast, “So, if you’re able to launch yourself as high as you intend, won’t you have proven that if the US had put all its technical expertise to the task of going to the moon, that it, in fact, did? I mean, aren’t you proving yourself that it could have been done?”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
After a long pause, Mad Mike gave one of the most honest and telling answers I’ve ever heard from a Flat Earther: “No, I can never believe that that happened or is possible no matter what evidence I have.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Aron tried to press him: “But, Mike, you will have proven it’s possible.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Mad Mike pivoted to his gubernatorial platform of disbanding all standing military forces and returning to a militia-based system and spoke no more of the moon landings.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
There are many other questions that don’t have simple binary responses that divide the FE movement. There is no map of the Earth that all support, they just know the globe Earth is wrong.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I shared a link in an earlier post that is the most commonly accepted FE map. It posits a disc shape with Antarctica ringing the outside. Observations that this arrangement means that Antarctica couldn’t experience 6 months of daylight and 6 months of dark,” are currently met with “I’m ok w/the Arctic getting 6 months of sun and 6 months of dark but that doesn’t happen in Antarctica. I don’t see that from where I am.” The name of this particular projection is the Azimuthal Equatorial, or AE, map.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The closer you get to the North Pole the more accurate this map is but distances in the Southern Hemisphere are badly distorted. Australia appears to be something like 2 1/2 times as wide as the US. Some FEers have proposed cutting slices out of the Southern Hemisphere to fix this and this debuts the first of two references to Pac Man. Cut a slice out and you’ve got that lovable video game icon from the ‘80s. Please don’t ask me “What’s happening in Pac Man’s ‘mouth,’ I don’t know.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The other problem with the AE map is it puts Antarctica on the outside and makes its coast line on the order of 75-80k miles long. It’s actually only around 12k. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Another map and another Pac Man appearance follows the diamond projection. Supporters of this projection point out that the dimensions of the diamond match the angles present in the Great Pyramid if you put a mirror image of itself directly under itself. Why that’s important remains beyond me. The problems with this image are that oceans are at the edges of each diamond edge. “What happens when a boat or airplane gets to the edge?”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Well, those of us of a certain age actually played Pac Man and remember that in fleeing from Inky, Blinky, Pinky & Clyde (Why do I remember that?), you could steer Pac Man into a couple of tunnels on one side of the board and then immediately appear on the opposite side of the board. I know I never wondered “Hey, how did that happen anyway?” Advocates of the diamond don’t know either but they’re claiming it actually does, not in Pac Man’s world, but right here on earth. Any solution, for Flat Earthers, is better than admitting we’re on a globe.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Beyond the question of what they believe, many Flat Earthers really think the question of why they believe what they believe is important and this, actually, divides the FE camp. Most of the FEers I’ve heard admit to being Creationists but only after long conversation and prompting. The diamond-earthers have to at least believe in the supernatural or their Pac Man’s tunnel to the other side doesn’t work at all. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A Flat Earther named Rob Skiba states directly and immediately that he holds to the Flat Earth model because he understands a literal reading of the Bible to teach that fact. Skiba was and is at the point of attack when Kent Hovind decided to get involved. Skiba considers himself a ‘student’ of Kent Hovind though it’s not clear this is literally true. Skiba’s videos are full of praise for Hovind’s ‘knowledge’ of evolution and even mild chiding that “Kent, you’ve showed us there are ‘Lies in the Textbooks,’ I’m simply challenging you to realize that they’re not just in the Biology textbooks. They’re also in the Geography textbooks, as well. You say you believe the Bible literally......”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/b4udC2FsguU/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/b4udC2FsguU?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I spoke directly to Kent by phone after he released his Sungenis video and issued his 4-part challenge to the FE community. I tried to warn him off trying to debate Rob Skiba or others like him who hold to the Flat Earth for theological reasons. I foresee that a debate between Kent and a theologically-minded FE won’t be a debate about the shape of Earth but just a debate over Biblical interpretation that no one would actually win but Kent would come off appearing to be less Biblically literal than his opponent and that wouldn’t benefit him.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
My world has become so bizarre that I was trying to help Kent Hovind not lose credibility or face with his own followers. Whether the world is flat or round, it certainly seems upside down to me right now.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So, Kent Hovind’s set to debate, right? He’s done well over 100 with opponents supporting evolution. No foreseeable problems, then?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Well........</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Both Hovind and Skiba have burned much time and many electrons first saying “I really don’t want to debate this!” Skiba claims this because he says he’s too busy, he’s said everything he needs to say on the matter, he respects Hovind too much and he has a bit of a precondition. Skiba has proposed that Hovind and Sungenis debate first on the issues that divide them and he’ll “take the winner.” Both have spent so much time posturing before a debate has happened that they could have held numerous actual debates in the time they’ve spent.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Sungenis has already agreed to this proposal by contacting Skiba directly.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Hovind has yet, as of this writing, to respond.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In the videos flowing back and forth between Hovind & Skiba, anyone can watch snippets and reasonably conclude that Skiba doesn’t want to do it and Hovind doesn’t want to do it. You can watch other snippets from the exact same videos where Skiba sent emails months ago that he was eager to debate and Hovind is ducking him. Hovind, too, of course, claims to be both the reluctant quarry and the bold challenger all at the same time. Both end up asking the camera pointed at them “I’m not sure how you could possibly have mistaken my intentions,” when an objective observer could watch their videos and still come away wondering “So, do they want to do this or not?”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I’m not sure if I’ve fulfilled Peter Reilly’s original assignment or not. I’ve entered a world where compasses are probably in on the conspiracy, words don’t mean what they’ve ever meant before, to really know is to have no idea and to try to head south could mean any direction at all, all at once or none at all.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Peter, please find enclosed a bill for all the therapy I’m going to need to recover from this.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Here is an incomplete list of my sources but they cover most of my claims. I highly recommend no one spend the time to view them that I did. Take a walk, visit an old friend, knock yourself in the head with a ball peen hammer, all are better uses of your time:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://youtu.be/b4udC2FsguU&source=gmail&ust=1532900557455000&usg=AFQjCNHUjILo4y_ln6JQQg7crycyjT70jw" href="https://youtu.be/b4udC2FsguU" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/b4udC2FsguU</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://youtu.be/C3cv8Ihtys4&source=gmail&ust=1532900557455000&usg=AFQjCNGsqnEPBbgEboJG2TyzQeneopx--A" href="https://youtu.be/C3cv8Ihtys4" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/C3cv8Ihtys4</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://youtu.be/1Ak7Qy_dHmk&source=gmail&ust=1532900557455000&usg=AFQjCNGC-n1xwFArtT9cz9VqAVzRXnGY3g" href="https://youtu.be/1Ak7Qy_dHmk" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/1Ak7Qy_dHmk</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://youtu.be/l30_UNwR32M&source=gmail&ust=1532900557455000&usg=AFQjCNEDKurrjXoSQr1fZgG37obYqIXSYQ" href="https://youtu.be/l30_UNwR32M" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/l30_UNwR32M</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://youtu.be/uAKUZy4tTeI&source=gmail&ust=1532900557455000&usg=AFQjCNGbdwB5Ma_6Jwzl0A7Qv5-zwx02DQ" href="https://youtu.be/uAKUZy4tTeI" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/uAKUZy4tTe</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://youtu.be/yo2Q_7IS5Bo&source=gmail&ust=1532900557455000&usg=AFQjCNF3kQTMq4nxrS4o_P9I1pcKFQZeWw" href="https://youtu.be/yo2Q_7IS5Bo" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/yo2Q_7IS5Bo</a></div>
<div>
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<div id="m_-6385415107676411006AppleMailSignature" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
I need a shower and a shave rather desperately. Has anyone seen my Razor?</div>
<div id="m_-6385415107676411006AppleMailSignature" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div id="m_-6385415107676411006AppleMailSignature" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</div>
<div id="m_-6385415107676411006AppleMailSignature" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<i>Peter J Reilly is a CPA who has become a writer of sorts.</i></div>
<div id="m_-6385415107676411006AppleMailSignature" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<i>Lamar Smith has taught high school history and is now a regular contribution to Your Tax Matters Partner,</i></div>
<div id="m_-6385415107676411006AppleMailSignature" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div id="m_-6385415107676411006AppleMailSignature" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Peter Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01473701483727808782noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4421006301341157258.post-78011473317659711762018-06-28T19:36:00.003-04:002018-06-28T19:36:22.265-04:00Redstone Family Saga Writ Large In Favorable Tax Court Decision<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><p>This post was originally published on <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/#36b7c0ef6271" target="_blank">Forbes</a> Oct 31, 2015</p><br><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4421006301341157258" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>The Estate of Edward Redstone, brother of <span activated="false" active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" deactivated="true" display="Viacom" exchange="NASDAQ" key="viacom" natural_id="fred/company/4604" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" subtype="company" ticker="VIAB" type="organization">Viacom</span> Chairman <span activated="false" active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" deactivated="true" display="Sumner Redstone" key="sumner-redstone" natural_id="faris/5220" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="person">Sumner Redstone</span>, received a<a data-mce-href="http://ustaxcourt.gov/UstcInOp/OpinionViewer.aspx?ID=10576" href="http://ustaxcourt.gov/UstcInOp/OpinionViewer.aspx?ID=10576"> favorable ruling from the Tax Court</a> in its challenge of an IRS assertion of a gift tax deficiency. <span class="tweet_quote" display="$15.5 million in interest on a $737,000 tax. Yowzers!" style="color: #00acee;">The tax was $737,625 and an assertion of fraud or alternatively negligence and failure to file could have tacked on as much as $553,219, but the stakes were much higher. Even without the penalties, by my somewhat rough computation, the interest on the tax would have been around $15.5 million.<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="tweet_quote" display="$15.5 million in interest on a $737,000 tax. Yowzers!" style="color: #00acee;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">As Abraham Lincoln said, you have to be careful about quotes cited on the internet but the one<a data-mce-href="http://www.quotesonfinance.com/quote/79/Albert-Einstein-Compound-interest" href="http://www.quotesonfinance.com/quote/79/Albert-Einstein-Compound-interest"> attributed to Albert Einstein </a>that compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe, is something he should have said whether he did or not. Interest on tax deficiencies has been compounding daily since 1982, nearly a decade after the gift tax return that the IRS claims Edward Redstone neglected was due for gifts made in 1972.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>A <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Family Business" key="/family-business" natural_id="channel_1section_296" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="section">Family Business</span></b></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b><span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Family Business" key="/family-business" natural_id="channel_1section_296" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="section"><br />
</span></b></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span activated="false" active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" deactivated="true" display="Sumner Redstone" key="sumner-redstone" natural_id="faris/5220" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="person">Sumner Redstone</span>, famously took his father's theater chain National Amusements to another level by investing in companies that produced content, coining the term "Content is king". The Redstone family saga would probably make some great content. It has elements of Greek tragedy about it, but there are<a data-mce-href="http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2007/1112/108.html" href="http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2007/1112/108.html"> other Forbes contributors </a>who cover that sort of thing much better than I can. This particular Tax Court decision relates to one of the elements of the family drama, the buyout of Edward from National Amusements.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">The stock ownership of National Amusements was equal among the founding father, Mickey, and the two brothers. That ownership went back to the company's founding in 1959. While building the drive-in <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="business" key="business" natural_id="channel_1" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="channel">business</span> Mickey's practice had been to have <span class="tweet_quote" display="3 corporations per drive-in - one to own real estate, one for the theater operation one for the refreshments." style="color: #00acee;">three corporations for each drive-in - one to own the real estate, one for the theater operation and one for the refreshments.<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="tweet_quote" display="3 corporations per drive-in - one to own real estate, one for the theater operation one for the refreshments." style="color: #00acee;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">That sort of thing could save a lot of corporate income tax back in the day - meaning before the Tax Reform Act of 1969 forced corporations with common ownership to share one set of favorable tax attributes such as surtax exemptions or used property investment credit limitations among them. The complicated structure created difficulties with financing, which is why the holding company was formed.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">The various corporations had different ownership percentages. If the holding company stock had been assigned based on book value in the subsidiaries the ownership would have worked out 47.88% Mickey, 26.49% Sumner and 25.63% Edward. The stock was issued equally and the three stock certificates, each for 100 shares were kept in the company safe. When it came to jobs there was a difference between Edward and Sumner.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;">Mickey gave Sumner, his elder son, the more public and glamorous job of working with movie studios and acquiring new theaters. Edward had principal responsibility for operational and back-office functions. His duties included maintaining existing properties and developing new properties.</span></blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Dad Made Him Do It</strong><br />
<img alt="" class="wp-more-tag mce-wp-nextpage" data-mce-placeholder="1" data-mce-resize="false" data-wp-more="nextpage" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("images/pagebreak.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: center center; background-repeat: repeat-y; background-size: initial; border-radius: 0px; border: 0px; box-shadow: none; cursor: default; display: block; height: 16px; margin: 15px auto 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 573.683px;" title="Page break" /><br />
More drama.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Edward's son Michael has issues, that I would just as soon leave for others to discuss. Mickey did not think Edward had handled things well, which created family tension.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">About this time Edward began to feel marginalized, not only within his extended family, but also within the <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="family business" key="/family-business" natural_id="channel_1section_296" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="section">family business</span>. He became dissatisfied with his role at NAI, with certain <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="business" key="business" natural_id="channel_1" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="channel">business</span> decisions that Mickey and Sumner had made, and with what he regarded as a lack of respect for his views. He began to discuss, in general terms, the possibility that he might leave the family business. This possibility became more concrete when Sumner, without first discussing the matter with Edward, hired Jerry Swedrow to take over Edward's responsibilities for NAI operations. When Edward learned of this he became incensed. In June 1971 he abruptly quit the family business.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">At this point the contribution discrepancy back in 1959 came into play.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Mickey and his attorneys also developed an argument that a portion of Edward's stock, though registered in his name, had actually been held since NAI's inception in an “oral trust” for the benefit of Edward's children. This argument built on the fact that Mickey in 1959 had contributed 48% of NAI's capital yet had received only 33.33% of its stock. In effect, Mickey contended that he had gratuitously accorded Edward more stock than he was entitled to, and that, to effectuate Mickey's intent in 1959, the “extra” shares should be regarded as being held in trust for Edward's children. Mickey initially insisted that at least half of Edward's shares were covered by this alleged oral trust.<br />
The parties negotiated for six months in search of a resolution. They explored, without success, various options whereby Edward would remain in the business as an employee or consultant. Edward offered to sell his 100 shares back to NAI, and the parties explored various pricing scenarios under which this might occur. As the family patriarch, however, Mickey had most of the leverage, and he insisted that Edward acknowledge the existence of an oral trust for the benefit of Edward's children. Mickey's insistence on an oral trust was a “line in the sand” and a “deal breaker.”</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Litigation commenced, but finally there was a settlement. Edward was paid $5 million for 66 2/3rds of his 100 shares and agreed that the other 33 1/3rd were held in trust for his kids. Edward's accountant did not think that a gift tax return was required, because there had been no donative intent.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Who's Gonna Know?</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="tweet_quote" display="We used to have an expression at Joseph B Cohan and Associates - &quot;old and cold&quot;." style="color: #00acee;">We used to have an expression at Joseph B Cohan and Associates - "old and cold".<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span> The idea was that if something happened long enough ago, it was not going to be questioned. So you would think that after 40 years the transfer of those shares to a trust would be "ancient and frozen", but apparently not as far as the IRS is concerned. <a data-mce-href="http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bostonglobe/obituary.aspx?n=Edward-Stanton-Redstone&pid=155226964" href="http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bostonglobe/obituary.aspx?n=Edward-Stanton-Redstone&pid=155226964"> Edward died late in 2011</a>, so perhaps it was diligence on the part of the estate tax auditor who would have been clued into the "oral trust" story because of<a data-mce-href="http://masscases.com/cases/sjc/452/452mass537.html" href="http://masscases.com/cases/sjc/452/452mass537.html"> messy litigation commenced</a> in 2006 by Michael and trustees for trusts set up for Sumner's children Brent and Shari and Edward's children Michael and Ruth Ann.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Not A Gift</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">The Tax Court ruled that Edward's transfer of shares to a trust for his children in 1972 was not a gift as it satisfied the three requirements to be a transaction in the "ordinary course of business". It was "bona fide":</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;">Edward's agreement to release his claim to 33 1/3 shares of NAI stock represented a bona fide settlement of this dispute. Although Edward had a reasonable claim to all 100 shares registered in his name, Mickey had possession of these shares and refused to disgorge them, forcing Edward to commence litigation. The “oral trust” theory on which Mickey relied was evidently a theory in which he passionately believed. And it had some link to historical fact: at NAI's inception, Edward was listed as a registered owner of 33.33% of NAI's shares even though he had contributed only 25.6% of its assets.</span></blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">It was "arms length":</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;">All the elements of arm's-length bargaining existed here. There was a genuine controversy among Edward, Mickey, and Sumner; they were represented by and acted upon the advice of counsel; they engaged in adversarial negotiations for a protracted period; the compromise they reached was motivated by their desire to avoid the uncertainty and embarrassment of public litigation; and their settlement was incorporated in a judicial decree that terminated the lawsuits.</span></blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">There was no "donative intent":</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;">Edward's objective throughout the 1971-1972 dispute was to obtain for himself ownership of (or full payment for) the 100 NAI shares originally registered in his name. Mickey floated in late 1971 the concept that Edward had held a portion of these shares since 1959 in trust for his children. If Edward had been motivated by donative intent toward his children, he could have embraced Mickey's concept at once and resolved the dispute without the expense and family disharmony generated by filing two lawsuits. Edward filed these lawsuits because he refused to embrace the “oral trust” theory and wished to obtain possession, in his own name, of all 100 shares</span></blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong> There May Be More</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="tweet_quote" display="Sumner Redstone also has a Tax Court case in process related to 1972 gift tax." style="color: #00acee;">Sumner also has a Tax Court case in process related to 1972 gift tax.<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span> There was an attempt to get the Tax Court to rule in his favor on a summary basis under the doctrine of laches, but the <a data-mce-href="https://www.ustaxcourt.gov/InternetOrders/DocumentViewer.aspx?IndexSearchableOrdersID=119858" href="https://www.ustaxcourt.gov/InternetOrders/DocumentViewer.aspx?IndexSearchableOrdersID=119858">Tax Court ruled against that</a>. The IRS is pursuing Sumner for the same amount of gift tax that it was seeking from Edward. Presumably when Edward transferred the 33 1/3 shares of stock to a trust for Michael and Ruth Ann, Sumner did the same to a trust for Brent and Shari.<br />
<img alt="" class="wp-more-tag mce-wp-nextpage" data-mce-placeholder="1" data-mce-resize="false" data-wp-more="nextpage" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("images/pagebreak.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: center center; background-repeat: repeat-y; background-size: initial; border-radius: 0px; border: 0px; box-shadow: none; cursor: default; display: block; height: 16px; margin: 15px auto 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 573.683px;" title="Page break" /><br />
I'm thinking that the Government will have an incentive to settle with Sumner, since some, although not all, of the arguments Edward's estate made should work for Sumner.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Other Coverage And Comments</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><a data-mce-href="http://taishofflaw.com/2015/10/30/an-answer-youve-all-been-waiting-for/" href="http://taishofflaw.com/2015/10/30/an-answer-youve-all-been-waiting-for/">Lew Taishof</a>f is suspending judgment on Edward's case, but he had done something on the<a data-mce-href="http://taishofflaw.com/2013/12/09/the-flavor-du-jour/" href="http://taishofflaw.com/2013/12/09/the-flavor-du-jour/"> interim decision in Sumner's case</a>.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> On another topic, Peter Reilly, CPA, Forbes’ formidable blogger, asked if I had any comment on Estate of Edward S. Redstone, Deceased, Madeline M. Redstone, Executrix, 145 T. C. 11, filed 10/26/15. ....<br />
Reflecting, it might just be that Edward’s favorable result might bail out Sumner as well, as IRS’s case depends upon various stock transfers being gifts, and Edward beat that one. But I’d need to see more facts before coming to that conclusion. And that’s why I’m reserving comment at this time.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Jack Townsend had a post about the case in a somewhat surprising place, his DOJ Tax Division Alumni Blog - with the title - <a data-mce-href="http://dojtaxalumni.blogspot.com/2015/10/tax-division-alumnus-in-tax-news-102715.html" href="http://dojtaxalumni.blogspot.com/2015/10/tax-division-alumnus-in-tax-news-102715.html">Tax Division Alumnus in the Tax News</a>. The alumnus is none other than Sumner who did a stint with DOJ Tax before joining the family business in 1954. The stint at DOJ Tax is not even the most intriguing piece of Sumner's biography. While still an undergraduate at Harvard, he was recruited by the<a data-mce-href="http://www.military.com/veterans-day/sumner-redstone.html" href="http://www.military.com/veterans-day/sumner-redstone.html"> Army to help break Japanese codes</a>.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Joe Kristan had a post titled - <a data-mce-href="http://rothcpa.com/2015/10/tax-roundup-102815-tax-court-blocks-irs-assessment-of-gremlin-era-gift-tax-and-impeachment-is-too-good-for-him/" href="http://rothcpa.com/2015/10/tax-roundup-102815-tax-court-blocks-irs-assessment-of-gremlin-era-gift-tax-and-impeachment-is-too-good-for-him/">Tax Court blocks Assessment of Gremlin-era gift tax.</a></div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><div data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666;"><strong>The Moral? </strong>First, there’s no gift to the thief who points a gun at you, and there’s no gift when you transfer shares because you have to.</div><div data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666;">Perhaps more importantly, gift tax can be assessed forever if you don’t file a gift tax return. If there is any question on whether a gift might have happened, or realistic risk that the IRS will challenge the amount of a gift, it’s wise to file a gift tax return even when it doesn’t appear gift tax is owed. Otherwise the statute of limitations never starts running, and you might be fighting a forty-years war with the tax man.</div></blockquote><div data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Joe's advice is sound, although I'm not sure it would have helped Edward, because I believe that zero liability gift tax returns did not start the statute running back in the day.</div><div data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> Joe was kind enough to check my interest computation by running it through a program which I am too cheap to buy and confirmed that I was within a few thousand dollars. If you have trouble wrapping your head around a three-quarter million deficiency generating $15.5 million in interest, you can try the following.</div><div data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">The pre-TEFRA simple interest which started at 6% and had gone as high as 20% in 1982 added about 87% to the tab. The daily compounded rates since 1982 started out high - 16%. The average rate over the 33 years since then has been about 7.5%. Using the <a data-mce-href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/ruleof72.asp" href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/ruleof72.asp">rule of 72 </a>that will cause you to double not quite 4 times in 33 years. That won't give you the answer I came up with after a couple of hours on excel or that Joe came up with because he spent maybe $150, I'm too cheap to lay out, but it will be in the general neighborhood.</div><div data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">There was a write-up on <a data-mce-href="http://www.charitableplanning.com/commentary/comments/2167525" href="http://www.charitableplanning.com/commentary/comments/2167525">CharitablePlanning.com </a>. Taxnotes <a data-mce-href="http://www.taxnotes.com/federal-research-library" href="http://www.taxnotes.com/federal-research-library">has something </a>, but you have to remember what I said about how I am a cheapskate. <a data-mce-href="http://wealthmanagement.com/estate-planning/estate-not-liable-gift-tax" href="http://wealthmanagement.com/estate-planning/estate-not-liable-gift-tax">Wealthmanagement.com </a>has a fairly lengthy write-up by Dawn S. Markowitz.</div><div data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">My friend Matt Erskine, who has a<a data-mce-href="http://www.erskineco.com/" href="http://www.erskineco.com/"> boutique practice</a> focusing on estate issues and unique assets wrote me:</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">In my opinion, the tax court is correct. The transfer of stock to the trust for the children is not a gift. The taxpayer met the standards for the exemption to the gift tax as in the due course of settlement of a business dispute. The father was not going to be able to get anything if he did not settle the dispute on the "oral trust" for his children. Looking at the totality of the transaction, it is apparent it is not a gift. </blockquote><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">This is a case where, again, the IRS is taking a highly technical approach of compliance with nuances of the code and blowing them up into fatal flaws when in fact they never had a case on the facts in the first place.</blockquote><div data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">In terms of lessons learned, referring to the "oral trust" Matt's comment was:</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><div data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666;"><span data-mce-style="color: #222222;" style="color: #222222;">This is an example of one of the greatest dangers, in fact the greatest danger, for a family controlled company - nothing is written down. </span></div></blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Being in the movie business and all you would think the Redstones. would have been familiar with the remark attributed to Samuel Goldwyn - "A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on."</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">My own closing comment is that even though there was a favorable result here, I don't think that it would be wise to attempt to do something like this on purpose.</div><div><br />
</div>William Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13242879521144339841noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4421006301341157258.post-13406798336901662682018-06-28T19:32:00.003-04:002018-06-28T19:32:29.610-04:00IRS Commissioner Koskinen Impeachment Trial Would Be Historic<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><p>This post was originally published on <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/#36b7c0ef6271" target="_blank">Forbes</a> Oct 28, 2015</p><br><br />
Unless, like a sensible person, you have been shielding yourself from learning about developments in the interminable, never-ending IRS scandal, now on<a data-mce-href="http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2015/10/the-irs-scandal-day-902.html" href="http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2015/10/the-irs-scandal-day-902.html"> Day 902 by Tax Prof count</a>, you are aware that <a data-mce-href="https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/1027-Impeachment-Resolution.pdf" href="https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/1027-Impeachment-Resolution.pdf">impeachment articles</a> against IRS Commissioner John Koskinen have been drawn up.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4421006301341157258" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4421006301341157258" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>If the House votes to impeach Mr. Koskinen, he gets tried by the Senate. Two-thirds of the senators have to vote in favor for there to be a conviction. The effect of conviction would be that Koskinen would be immediately fired and if they want to rub it in disqualified from ever holding federal office. There is no appeal.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>It's About The E-mails</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Mr. Koskinen came into the IRS after what I call the "core scandal", delays and intrusive inquiries on tax-exempt application by Tea Party and similar groups. His "high crimes and misdemeanors" relate to IRS response to the investigation by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives. IRS employees in Martinsburg, West Virginia erased 422 backup tapes destroying as many as 24,000 Lois Lerner e-mails. A couple of months later Mr. Koskinen testified that nothing had been destroyed. He also testified that backup tapes from 2011 had been recycled. Previously he had promised to provide all the Lois Lerner e-mails. He was slow in informing the Committee that there were problems with crashed hard drives and backup tapes. Subsequently TIGTA investigators found more than 1,000 Lois Lerner e-mails that the IRS had missed in all its rooting around. This video dramatizes it if you don't want to slog through<a data-mce-href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/interactive/2015/10/27/resolution-impeaching-john-andrew-koskinen-commissioner-internal-revenue/" href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/interactive/2015/10/27/resolution-impeaching-john-andrew-koskinen-commissioner-internal-revenue/"> the resolution.</a></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9a7w-THsm10/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9a7w-THsm10?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Is John Koskinen Worried?</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Most of what I know about the workings of large organizations comes from reading history and biography and reports from college classmates. There was also this brief interlude in the "twilight" of my career where I was a managing director in a not-quite Big 4 firm. Overall the impression I have is that the larger the organization the more it is dominated by people who are worried about their careers. People who aren't worried about their careers can accomplish lot until they get fired.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Probably the best-known example of this principle is John Boyd, who is considered by some to be a military thinker on the level of <a data-mce-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Tzu" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Tzu">Sun Tzu</a>. He would tell young officers that they would come to a point in their career where they have to decide whether they want to be somebody or do something.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">If you decide you want to do something, you may not get promoted and you may not get the good assignments and you certainly will not be a favorite of your superiors. But you won’t have to compromise yourself. You will be true to your friends and to yourself.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">One of my classmates told me a story once. He had been warned that a particular person had a lot of power. So he asked what that person could conceivably do to him. The answer was that he might have the power to see that he had to retire as a lieutenant colonel. Trust me, that is not how you terrify somebody who grew up working class.<br />
<br />
John Koskinen is 76 years old and is being threatened with losing his IRS job a couple of years early and "Oh the horror" of being ineligible for another government job. I'm betting that the impeachment threat is not scaring him at all and that he took the IRS job to do something, rather than be somebody. Koskinen could have come into the IRS and thrown as many people under the bus as possible in order to look good, but he made a different choice. He said in an interview.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">I was telling somebody earlier , my experience in organizational turnarounds is that people are never the problem. It’s the structure, the leadership, the resources you’re given. This is the best workforce I’ve ever been associated with at the front end of a start-up, and it’s because there’s a mission.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong> History</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">There have only been nineteen impeachments since the Constitution went into effect in 1789. Three Presidents, a senator, fourteen judges and a Secretary of War. There have been seven acquittals. The charges cover a range of behavior. Have you ever heard the <span class="tweet_quote" display="Expression &quot;sober as a judge&quot;? Well Judge Mark Delahay, not so much." style="color: #00acee;">expression "sober as a judge"? Well Judge Mark Delahay, not so much.<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span> He was impeached for being drunk on the bench and ended up resigning in 1873. Judge West Hughes Humphreys was impeached for supporting the Confederacy. He kept his job as a Confederate judge, until they, you know, lost the war. William Belknap, Secretary of War under Ulysses Grant is the only appointed executive branch official<a data-mce-href="http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/War_Secretarys_Impeachment_Trial.htm" href="http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/War_Secretarys_Impeachment_Trial.htm"> ever impeached.</a></div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">A House of Representatives’ committee uncovered evidence supporting a pattern of corruption blatant even by the standards of the scandal-tarnished Grant administration. </blockquote><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">The trail of evidence extended back to 1870. In that year, Belknap’s luxury-loving first wife assisted a wheeler-dealer named Caleb Marsh by getting her husband to select one of Marsh’s associates to operate the lucrative military trading post at Fort Sill in Indian territory. Marsh’s promise of generous kick-backs prompted Secretary Belknap to make the appointment. Over the next five years, the associate funneled thousands of dollars to Marsh, who provided Belknap regular quarterly payments totaling over $20,000.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Interestingly, he had served as Iowa Collector of Revenue under Andrew Johnson. He resigned before the House voted his impeachment but they went ahead anyway. He was acquitted.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>How Might Koskinen's Trial Play Out?</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">I'm thinking that the impeachment charge closest to that of Koskinen's would be the one against Andrew Johnson for violating the "Tenure in Office Act" by removing <a data-mce-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Stanton" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Stanton">Edwin Stanton as Secretary of War</a>. Fundamentally, the dispute was probably more about Johnson being "in their face" with Radical Republicans. Of course, those Radical Republicans had a very different set of concerns than the current batch. They were kind of hoping the federal government might enforce civil rights legislation to protect the recently liberated African Americans. Johnson not so much.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">At any rate, I tend to think that the Koskinen impeachment might not play out that well for Republicans. I could see Koskinen turning the tables on them in his defense in the Senate and making a case that Issa's committee never was interested in finding out what actually happened, but was mainly looking for stupid remarks by Lois Lerner that could be played up by <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Fox" key="fox" natural_id="fred/company/91215" style="background: rgb(221 , 221 , 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" subtype="company" type="organization">Fox</span> News.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2I8w1sRePrM/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2I8w1sRePrM?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><br />
<br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">According to my legal brain trust, the rules for the impeachment trial may be set by the Senate on a more or less ad hoc basis, since it does not come up that often, so it might be arranged to avoid discovery that Republicans would find embarrassing.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Other Coverage</b><br />
<b><br />
</b></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Joe Kristan is a tax blogger with whom I feel very simpatico, as we were both working tax CPAs in regional firms. Joe still is, while I am sem-retired strving to be the first tax blogger to give up his day job entirely. We differ a bit in our view of the Commissioner. Even after Koskinen did us all a big solid by easing up the compliance requirements of the repair regs, Joe did not become a fan. Even so, Joe does not think the impeachment is such a hot idea.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">A resolution has been introduced to impeach IRS Commissioner Koskinen. While his conduct in office has been awful, I hope they don’t really try to make it happen. It could backfire, and even if he were impeached, there will never be a conviction. I would rather they spend the time and energy reducing the powers of all IRS commissioners by reducing the power of the IRS through tax reform.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">I would further add that even if he is convicted - So what?</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">You will be able to find links to a wealth of commentary on the Tax Prof Blog - <a data-mce-href="http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2015/10/the-irs-scandal-day-902.html" href="http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2015/10/the-irs-scandal-day-902.html">The IRS Scandal Day 902</a>.. If you have been following this you will probably not be <a data-mce-href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/27/politics/john-koskinen-irs-impeach/" href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/27/politics/john-koskinen-irs-impeach/">surprised to learn </a>that Elijah Cummings does not think the impeachment proposal is such a good idea. "<span class="tweet_quote" display="Calling Koskinen impeachment resolution a stunt or a joke would be insulting to stunts and jokes.&quot;" style="color: #00acee;">Calling this resolution a stunt or a joke would be insulting to stunts and jokes."<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div>William Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13242879521144339841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4421006301341157258.post-11209612948029045512018-06-28T19:29:00.003-04:002018-06-28T19:29:32.515-04:00Interview With Student Loan Activist Alan Collinge On Bankruptcy Protection<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><p>This post was originally published on <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/#36b7c0ef6271" target="_blank">Forbes</a> Oct 28, 2015</p><br><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4421006301341157258" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><em>I<a data-mce-href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2015/07/05/something-borrowed-makes-you-blue-student-debt-and-joint-returns/" href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2015/07/05/something-borrowed-makes-you-blue-student-debt-and-joint-returns/"> recently wrote </a>about an article by Professor Victoria Haneman concerning the interaction of student debt planning with joint income tax filing. One of the things I discussed with her is a disturbing trend of schools coaching students to minimize their adjusted gross income in order to maximize the amount of their loan that will be forgiven if they stick with Income Based Repayment or similar programs. That brought up the subject of the future debt bomb.</em></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><em><br />
</em></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><em> When graduates complete their term in Income Based Repayment or something like it (twenty or twenty five years generally) the remaining debt is discharged. Depending on what they have been doing, the discharge might be taxable as COD income. If we think of someone who after getting a Ph.D. in history, toils for twenty years as an adjunct when not washing cars or waiting on tables, the amount of the discharge will be some multiple of the original debt, giving them a tax liability perhpaps as much as the original debt. The program is new enough that this has not happened to anybody - yet.</em></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><em><br />
</em></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><em>Bankruptcy is a better a deal, becaue debt discharge income while bankrupt is excluded from taxable income. But you can't get out of student debt through bankruptcy. Or can you? There have been murmurmings that it can be done. I heard from <a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/alan.collinge.50" href="https://www.facebook.com/alan.collinge.50">Alan Collinge</a> of<a data-mce-href="http://studentloanjustice.org/about.htm" href="http://studentloanjustice.org/about.htm"> Student Loan Justice.Org</a>. Alan argues that the chance of bankruptcy relief for people buried under student debt remains remote, and that the murumurrers may be consultants who are engaging in bait and switch</em>.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Peter J Reilly: </strong> So Alan<span class="tweet_quote" display="Is bankruptcy relief becoming more available for student loans?" style="color: #00acee;">,is bankruptcy relief becoming more available for student loans?</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="color: #00acee;"><br />
</span><span class="tweet_quote" display="Is bankruptcy relief becoming more available for student loans?" style="color: #00acee;"><span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Alan Collinge: </strong>In recent months, a false impression has been sewn in the mainstream media about student loans being dischargeable in bankruptcy. These articles, usually written by debt "coaches", credit counselors, and others with suspicious motives, cite statistics showing that 40-50% of people who attempt to get their student loans discharged win relief. These articles usually are accompanied by a litany of advertisements for the services that these people render. But when looking more closely at the statistics being thrown around, it becomes obvious that most of these articles are selling false hope to distressed borrowers, and that bankruptcy for student loans is impossible for the vast majority.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Reilly: </strong>How are they selling false hope?</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Collinge</strong>: <span data-mce-style="color: #222222;" style="color: #222222;">In these articles, one of the more frequently cited papers is from</span><a data-mce-href="http://poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=722009025090069122095001096083126002000071009031061037125097092119008098109102119101099038107061010025028092090080117065101099007010093003076115097108118012093105029057035000101075107083125007002067028021127123093086125094074109117069068104119009078017&EXT=pdf" data-mce-style="color: #1155cc;" href="http://poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=722009025090069122095001096083126002000071009031061037125097092119008098109102119101099038107061010025028092090080117065101099007010093003076115097108118012093105029057035000101075107083125007002067028021127123093086125094074109117069068104119009078017&EXT=pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"> Jason Juliano</a><span data-mce-style="color: #222222;" style="color: #222222;"> (<span activated="false" active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" deactivated="true" display="Harvard University" key="harvard-university" natural_id="fred/college/8" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" subtype="college" type="organization">Harvard University</span> Law School). Juliano found that about 40% of people attempting to get their student loans discharged in 2007 actually got some level of relief (either a partial or full discharge of the debt. Steve Rhode, a debt coach and blogger at the Huffington post claims that this has risen to 58% according to </span><a data-mce-href="https://getoutofdebt.org/53098/federal-student-loans-discharged-in-bankruptcy-surprising-2012-data-cases" data-mce-style="color: #1155cc;" href="https://getoutofdebt.org/53098/federal-student-loans-discharged-in-bankruptcy-surprising-2012-data-cases" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">his own research</a><span data-mce-style="color: #222222;" style="color: #222222;">. </span><br />
<br />
<strong>Reilly: <span data-mce-style="font-weight: normal; color: #222222;" style="color: #222222; font-weight: normal;">Well that sounds promising, Right?</span></strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><span data-mce-style="font-weight: normal; color: #222222;" style="color: #222222; font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span></strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Collinge: </strong>Wrong. First of all, Juliano's 2007 study could only find 213 cases where people actually tried to get a discharge for their loans. 213 people, compared to about 35 million student borrowers at the time. This is a ridiculously small sample size. But it gets worse. Rhode could only find 35 attempts to get student loans discharged in 2012 out of more than 40 million borrowers. If the first study's sample was ridiculously small, the sample Rhode used was nearly non-existent! To make any pronouncements about the likelihood of getting a bankruptcy discharge based on data as scant as these is an affront to science itself.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">What's more, Rafael Pardo did a study from 2007, where he found that the debt-to-income ratio of the tiny number of people who attempted to get a discharge of their student loan debt was an "astronomical" 4.2 (Pardo's words, not mine) compared to a ratio of 1.2 for the average citizen filing for bankruptcy that year. It makes sense that the tiny number of people attempting to get their student loans discharged would be among the most extreme, severe cases. That only 40-50% of these get any sort of relief speaks volumes about the chances for ordinary citizens.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Reilly:</strong> Why do so few people attempt to get their students loans discharged in bankruptcy?</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Collinge:</strong><span data-mce-style="color: #222222;" style="color: #222222;">There are very good reasons that so few people even attempt bankruptcy for their student loans. Almost no well-versed lawyers will recommend it because of the unlikelihood of winning. Also It is an expensive, stressful, and difficult process. What is more, since 2007, various repayment programs have been implemented that make "undo hardship" almost impossible to prove except for borrowers who have less than 20 years left to live, like a </span><a data-mce-href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-08/this-court-case-could-unshackle-americans-from-student-debt" data-mce-style="color: #1155cc;" href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-08/this-court-case-could-unshackle-americans-from-student-debt" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">recent case</a><span data-mce-style="color: #222222;" style="color: #222222;"> that is being falsely touted as a game changer by many of the same "snake oil salesmen" I alluded to earlier. These repayment programs- even though they are being </span><a data-mce-href="http://www.aacrao.org/resources/resources-detail-view/hundreds-of-thousands-of-borrowers-fall-out-of-income-based-repayment-plans" data-mce-style="color: #1155cc;" href="http://www.aacrao.org/resources/resources-detail-view/hundreds-of-thousands-of-borrowers-fall-out-of-income-based-repayment-plans" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">shamelessly administered</a><span data-mce-style="color: #222222;" style="color: #222222;"> to kick as many people out as possible- nonetheless serve as a basis for defeating the hardest "prong" of proving undue hardship; that the borrower is unlikely to be able to ever repay the debt.</span><br data-mce-style="color: #222222;" style="color: #222222;" /><br data-mce-style="color: #222222;" style="color: #222222;" /><span data-mce-style="color: #222222;" style="color: #222222;">And make no mistake, even for the most destitute borrowers, the Department of <span activated="false" active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" deactivated="true" display="Education" key="/education" natural_id="channel_6section_92" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="section">Education</span>, ECMC, and the entire lending industry are continuing to pour massive resources into defeating them in bankruptcy court by using shameless fear tactics with the judges, who they </span><a data-mce-href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-14/obama-administration-hits-back-at-student-debtors-seeking-relief" data-mce-style="color: #1155cc;" href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-14/obama-administration-hits-back-at-student-debtors-seeking-relief" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">pressure ceaselessly</a><span data-mce-style="color: #222222;" style="color: #222222;"> - and usually successfully- to make bankruptcy determinations against, these most impoverished individuals rather than for them. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that the already tiny number of people trying to use the bankruptcy laws for student loans has shrunk dramatically since 2007.</span><br data-mce-style="color: #222222;" style="color: #222222;" /><br data-mce-style="color: #222222;" style="color: #222222;" /><span data-mce-style="color: #222222;" style="color: #222222;"><span class="tweet_quote" display="Saying that bankruptcy is possible for student loan borrowers is like saying that winning the lottery is possible" style="color: #00acee;">Saying that bankruptcy is possible for student loan borrowers is like saying that winning the lottery is possible<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span> - you can say it, but it ain't going to happen for the overwhelming majority of borrowers, even if they go through the expensive and difficult process of trying. The "debt coaches", and others perpetuating this myth have no intentions of guiding distressed borrower successfully through bankruptcy. Most are just trying to get them "in the door", so that they can sell them </span><a data-mce-href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/06/13/984707/-Student-Loan-Rehabilitation-Predatory-Lending-in-its-Lowest-Form" data-mce-style="color: #1155cc;" href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/06/13/984707/-Student-Loan-Rehabilitation-Predatory-Lending-in-its-Lowest-Form" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">"loan rehabilitation"</a><span data-mce-style="color: #222222;" style="color: #222222;">, where the borrowers pay 10 months worth of payments (which goes into the pocket of the collection companies), the loan is repackaged as a much larger loan, and ultimately resold. The nearly 20% commission on these "rehabilitated" loans make this a hugely lucrative endeavor. Never mind that 60% of rehabilitated loans or more wind up defaulting a second time. This is among the scummiest and harmful components of the</span><a data-mce-href="http://www.beacon.org/The-Student-Loan-Scam-P783.aspx" data-mce-style="color: #1155cc;" href="http://www.beacon.org/The-Student-Loan-Scam-P783.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"> Student Loan Scam.</a></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Reilly: </strong>Are there other aspects of this that trouble you?</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Collinge: <span data-mce-style="font-weight: normal; color: #222222;" style="color: #222222; font-weight: normal;">Yes. There is a larger, more sinister phenomenon at work here: the student loan industry cherry-picks data like these and pushes them in the media for the sole purpose of keeping bankruptcy gone from student loans, something that has allowed them to rob billions of dollars from millions of people over the years. This is a predatory cash cow for them, and they will grasp at the flimsiest of data in order to make the predatory student loan system look better, and to perpetuate the shocking financial carnage that is being inflicted upon millions, and is poised to devastate far more Americans going forward, and to a far greater degree. </span></strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><span data-mce-style="font-weight: normal; color: #222222;" style="color: #222222; font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span></strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Reilly: </strong>So is there a solution to this problem?</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Collinge:</strong> <span data-mce-style="font-weight: normal; color: #222222;" style="color: #222222;">There are</span><a data-mce-href="http://facebook.com/groups/sljgroup" data-mce-style="font-weight: normal; color: #1155cc;" href="http://facebook.com/groups/sljgroup" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"> three good</a><strong><a data-mce-href="http://facebook.com/groups/sljgroup" data-mce-style="font-weight: normal; color: #1155cc;" href="http://facebook.com/groups/sljgroup" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #1155cc; font-weight: normal;" target="_blank"> bills</a><span data-mce-style="font-weight: normal; color: #222222;" style="color: #222222; font-weight: normal;"> in Congress right now that would </span><a data-mce-href="http://www.studentloanjustice.org/" data-mce-style="font-weight: normal; color: #1155cc;" href="http://www.studentloanjustice.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #1155cc; font-weight: normal;" target="_blank">solve this problem</a><span data-mce-style="font-weight: normal; color: #222222;" style="color: #222222; font-weight: normal;"> by, at long last, forcing the student loan industry to contend with the same bankruptcy protections that every other lender for every other type of loan must contend with. </span></strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><span data-mce-style="font-weight: normal; color: #222222;" style="color: #222222; font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span></strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><em>Alan has labored long on this issue. I first encountered him while covering - from afar - Occupy <span activated="false" active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" deactivated="true" display="Wall Street" key="/wall-street" natural_id="channel_1section_6" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="section">Wall Street</span> and he had already been at it a long time. He is the author of <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Student-Loan-Scam-Oppressive-History/dp/0807042293/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1446042856&sr=8-1" href="http://www.amazon.com/Student-Loan-Scam-Oppressive-History/dp/0807042293/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1446042856&sr=8-1">The Student Loan Scam: The Most Oppressive Debt in U.S. History - and How We Can Fight Back.</a> Here is a <a data-mce-href="http://activepassivitiesandothermoronicoxen.blogspot.com/2015/08/alan-collinge-still-fighting-for.html" href="http://activepassivitiesandothermoronicoxen.blogspot.com/2015/08/alan-collinge-still-fighting-for.html">somewhat dated update</a> on his efforts.</em></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div>William Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13242879521144339841noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4421006301341157258.post-57041435453534511382018-06-28T19:28:00.003-04:002018-06-28T19:28:28.798-04:00Maureen O'Hara's Ill Fated Cuban Oil Tax Shelter<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><p>This post was originally published on <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/#36b7c0ef6271" target="_blank">Forbes</a> Oct 27, 2015</p><br><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4421006301341157258" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a data-mce-href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/movies/maureen-ohara-irish-born-actress-known-as-queen-of-technicolor-dies-at-95.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fobituaries&action=click&contentCollection=obituaries&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/movies/maureen-ohara-irish-born-actress-known-as-queen-of-technicolor-dies-at-95.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fobituaries&action=click&contentCollection=obituaries&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront">Maureen O'Hara, who died Saturday, </a>was a classic actress in some classic movies. So I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that she took a whirl at the classic tax shelter - oil wells. <a data-mce-href="http://julianblocktaxexpert.com/" href="http://julianblocktaxexpert.com/">Julian Block </a>sometime ago got me into checking whether celebrities who pass away played a role in tax history. That led me to <a data-mce-href="https://casetext.com/case/fitzsimons-v-commissioner-of-internal-revenue" href="https://casetext.com/case/fitzsimons-v-commissioner-of-internal-revenue">Fitzsimons v Commissioner (37 TC 179)</a>, which was decided by<a data-mce-href="http://www.ustaxcourt.gov/press/041300.pdf" href="http://www.ustaxcourt.gov/press/041300.pdf"> Judge William Fay in 1961</a> in the first year of his service on the court. Judge Fay helpfully mention that "The petitioner is a motion picture actress known professionally as Maureen O'Hara.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>The Need For Shelter</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">The years at issue were 1954 and 1955 and you can understand why Ms. O'Hara would have been seeking shelter. There are 14 films in her filmography from <a data-mce-href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000058/" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000058/">1950 to 1955</a> including the classic Quiet Man in 1952</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/SH4OFXlvzKA/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SH4OFXlvzKA?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">and two of my favorites The Long Gray Line in 1955</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/3aDd5qc7lC4/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3aDd5qc7lC4?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">and Rio Grande in 1950</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oo7CHY544HY/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oo7CHY544HY?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
<br />
The top marginal rate in those days was 91%. A big attraction of oil as an investment was the percentage depletion deduction. What is great about percentage depletion is that you can keep deducting even after you have recovered your cost, which is <span class="tweet_quote" display="Percentage depletion -why owning a gold mine is like owning a gold mine" style="color: #00acee;">why owning a gold mine is like owning a gold mine<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span> , while owning an oil well can be even better. Percentage depletion for oil wells was 27.5% of revenue limited to 50% of net income from the property. And this was before they started with all those silly alternative minimum tax things and passive activity loss rules were not even on the horizon.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Too Aggressive</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">The problem for Ms. O'Hara was that her advisers (I'm thinking it was her advisers anyway) were a bit too aggressive. She made two $50,000 lease payments in 1954 and 1955</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;">On December 20, 1954, the petitioner acquired a lease from the Cuban Corporations under which she would have the right to select 250,000 hectaries of the land covered by the grants from the Cuban Government. The lease was to run for 2 years and for so long as exploration or drilling operations were being conducted and thereafter for so long as oil, gas, or other hydrocarbon substance was being produced in commercial quantities from the selected land.</span></blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Judge Fay ruled that since the payments would provide benefits beyond the two years they had to be capitalized.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">In any event, these bonus payments are not deductible. A payment may not be deducted solely on the grounds that it is not a capital payment. It must be shown further that the payment is an ordinary and necessary expense.York Water Co. , 36 T.C. 1111 (1961). In the present case the payment of the bonus resulted in a longstanding direct benefit to the petitioner. This benefit was to extend into the indefinite future. Therefore, it cannot reasonably be said that the payment was an ordinary and necessary expense to be deducted in a single year.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">There has to be a sort of cruel irony about Ms. O'Hara being told that she needed to have capitalized her 1954 and 1955 payments to acquire Cuban oil interests in <strong>1961 </strong>of all years just a few months after the ill-fated Bay of Pigs Invasion and less than a year before the missile crisis. Hopefully, the deficiency didn't eat up everything from the Parent Trap.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6KYPP4G0xXs/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6KYPP4G0xXs?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>About Oil Deals And High Marginal Rates</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">I remember learning about what an abuse oil and gas depletion was when I was a high school lad, before I knew anything else about taxes (There was an article about it in <a data-mce-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramparts_(magazine)" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramparts_(magazine)">Ramparts</a>). The rate was cut to 22% in 1969 and 15% in 1975 and percentage depletion in excess of basis became an AMT preference. Tax shelters became such an important factor in the oil industry that when the Tax Reform Act of 1986 killed most classic shelters, a special exception for "working interests in oil and gas property" was carved out (Section 469(c)(3)). You will still see things about limiting oil and gas tax breaks as in this <a data-mce-href="http://fuelfix.com/blog/2015/02/02/obama-budget-would-slash-oil-tax-breaks-while-boosting-renewables/" href="http://fuelfix.com/blog/2015/02/02/obama-budget-would-slash-oil-tax-breaks-while-boosting-renewables/">discussion of President Obama's budget.</a></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Republican presidential candidates have been calling for cuts in the top marginal rate from 39.6%. Democrats, except for Lincoln Chafee, who has dropped out, have not come out with any proposed rates. Bernie Sanders has indicated that his top rate might be over 50%.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4-gDFjzbR80/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4-gDFjzbR80?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">I'm afraid that a move like that would send us back to the days of obsessive sheltering, but we'll see.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div>William Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13242879521144339841noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4421006301341157258.post-30715667234207861472018-06-28T19:26:00.002-04:002018-06-28T19:26:23.002-04:00God May Bless Your Pot Shop - Tax Court Not So Much<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><p>This post was originally published on <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/#36b7c0ef6271" target="_blank">Forbes</a> Oct 24, 2015</p><br><br />
According to this story in the <a data-mce-href="http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/health-and-medicine/article2576097.html" href="http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/health-and-medicine/article2576097.html">Sacramento Bee</a>, <span class="tweet_quote" display="Bryan Davies thought that Satan had planted the idea of opening a medical marijuana dispensary in his mind" style="color: #00acee;">Bryan Davies thought that Satan had planted the idea of opening a medical marijuana dispensary in his mind<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span> . After praying about it though, he determined that it was a message from God. So at his Canna Care dispensary even though you had to pay for your medical marijuana, the bibles were free. There were also regular prayer services. Unfortunately, <span class="tweet_quote" display="God has not yet spoken to the IRS on marijuana." style="color: #00acee;">God has not yet spoken to the IRS on the matter.<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span> Even though medical marijuana is legal in California, it is still a schedule I controlled substance under federal law and<a data-mce-href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/280E" href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/280E"> Internal Revenue Code Section 280E </a>- Expenditures in connection with the illegal sale of drugs - holds:</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">No deduction or credit shall be allowed for any amount paid or incurred during the taxable year in carrying on any trade or <span activated="false" active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" deactivated="true" display="business" key="business/mycsf" natural_id="channel_17" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="channel">business</span> if such trade or <span activated="false" active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" deactivated="true" display="business" key="business/mycsf" natural_id="channel_17" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="channel">business</span> (or the activities which comprise such trade or <span activated="false" active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" deactivated="true" display="business" key="business/mycsf" natural_id="channel_17" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="channel">business</span>) consists of trafficking in controlled substances (within the meaning of schedule I and II of the Controlled Substances Act) which is prohibited by Federal law or the law of any State in which such trade or <span activated="false" active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" deactivated="true" display="business" key="business/mycsf" natural_id="channel_17" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="channel">business</span> is conducted.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Canna Care Inc was<a data-mce-href="http://www.ustaxcourt.gov/USTCInOP/OpinionViewer.aspx?ID=10586" href="http://www.ustaxcourt.gov/USTCInOP/OpinionViewer.aspx?ID=10586"> before the Tax Court challenging</a> deficiencies totaling over $800,000 for the years 2006, 2007 and 2008.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4421006301341157258" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/km4vA-PyqOs/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/km4vA-PyqOs?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4421006301341157258" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>It Is What It Is</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Unless you can figure out a way to combine high margins and low operating expenses Section 280E will kill a <span activated="false" active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" deactivated="true" display="business" key="business/mycsf" natural_id="channel_17" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="channel">business</span> or force it underground. Of course probably when TEFRA was passed in 1982, all illegal drug businesses were underground. Presumably the legislation comes from the "That's how they got Al Capone" syndrome reflecting a desire to use the tax law as one more weapon in the War on Drugs. Nancy Reagan, notwithstanding, people were often saying yes, rather than just saying no. Unanticipated was the "kind of legal in some places" status of marijuana that our federal system has evolved.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">The decision was pretty cut and dried. an illustration of <a data-mce-href="http://ytmp.blogspot.com/p/reillys-laws.html" href="http://ytmp.blogspot.com/p/reillys-laws.html">Reilly's First Law of Tax Planning - It is what it is. Deal with it.</a> There are three elements to make Section 280E applicable. There is a trade or <span activated="false" active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" deactivated="true" display="business" key="business/mycsf" natural_id="channel_17" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="channel">business</span>. There is trafficking. There is a controlled substance.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Trade or <span activated="false" active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" deactivated="true" display="Business" key="business/mycsf" natural_id="channel_17" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="channel">Business</span> - Check</strong></div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Whether petitioner was operated in accordance with California law's restrictions on profiting from the distribution of marijuana is not an issue before us, and it does not affect our finding that petitioner was engaged in the <span activated="false" active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" deactivated="true" display="business" key="business/mycsf" natural_id="channel_17" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="channel">business</span> of distributing marijuana for purposes of section 280E. There is no doubt that Mr. Davies incorporated petitioner to produce income. In fact, it was clear from Mr. Davies' testimony that he entered into the medical marijuana business in order to cure his family's financial difficulties. Mr. Davies and the other shareholders received wages well in excess of those paid to petitioner's other employees, and the payment of such wages would not have been possible if petitioner had not had income.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Trafficking - Check</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">For trafficking the Tax Court went to its decision in the case of <a data-mce-href="http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2015/07/09/13-70510.pdf" href="http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2015/07/09/13-70510.pdf">Martin Olive.</a>(That's right this is not the Tax Court's first time at this rodeo.)</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">We have previously held the sale of medical marijuana pursuant to California law constitutes trafficking within the meaning of section 280E. Olive v. Commissioner, 139 T.C. at 38 (”[A] California medical marijuana dispensary's dispensing of medical marijuana pursuant to the *** [CUA] was `trafficking' within the meaning of section 280E.”); CHAMP, 128 T.C. at 182. DOJ memoranda and FinCEN guidance released after the years at issue that represent exercises of prosecutorial discretion do not change the result in this case. Petitioner regularly bought and sold marijuana. This activity constitutes trafficking within the meaning of section 280E even when permitted by State law.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">It seems to me that there should be an argument there, since trafficking has this negative connotation and DOJ has indicated that legal marijuana regulated by state law does not impact traditional federal enforcement priorities, that Congress would not consider what was going on at Canna Care to be trafficking. In the Committee Report on TEFRA the rationale for 280E is:</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">There is a sharply defined public <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="policy" key="/law" natural_id="channel_5section_86" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="section">policy</span> against drug dealing to allow drug dealers the benefit of business expense deductions at the same time that the U.S. and its citizens are losing billions of dollars per year to such persons is not compelled by the fact that such deductions are allowed to other, legal, enterprises. Such deductions must be disallowed on public <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="policy" key="/law" natural_id="channel_5section_86" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="section">policy</span> grounds.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">It does not seem to me that that rationale applies to medical marijuana in California. The public <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="policy" key="/law" natural_id="channel_5section_86" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="section">policy</span> is now quite a bit fuzzy. Note the term "drug dealers", which also has a very negative connotation. I would have been inclined to let them have the deduction on that basis, but unfortunately my appointment to the Tax Court will not be coming anytime soon.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Controlled Substance-Check</strong><br />
<br />
This one is definitely is an "is what it is". Congress made a list and marijuana is on it.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span data-mce-style="color: #252525;" style="color: #252525;">Petitioner advances numerous arguments as to why marijuana should no longer be considered a schedule I controlled substance. We reject these arguments. Marijuana was a schedule I controlled substance during the years at issue. As recently stated by the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, to which an appeal in this case would lie: "[T]he only question Congress allows us to ask is whether marijuana is a controlled substance `prohibited by Federal law.' *** If Congress now thinks that the <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="policy" key="/law" natural_id="channel_5section_86" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="section">policy</span> embodied in </span><a class="mce-item-anchor" data-mce-style="color: #252525;" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" id="ADVTCM:5280.26" name="ADVTCM:5280.26" style="-webkit-user-modify: read-only; background: url("img/anchor.gif") center center no-repeat rgb(213, 213, 213); border: 1px dotted rgb(58, 58, 58); color: #252525; cursor: default; display: inline-block; height: 9px !important; user-select: all; width: 9px !important;"></a><span data-mce-style="color: #252525;" style="color: #252525;">§ 280E is unwise as applied to medical marijuana sold in conformance with state law, it can change the statute. We may not.” </span></blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Another Way?</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Given everything else that was going on at Canna Care Inc - the prayer meetings and bible distribution most notably - I would have been inclined to taking a shot at church status with the provision of medical marijuana being an integral part of the ministry. That would take 280E out of the picture.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Does 280E Make Any Sense?</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><a data-mce-href="http://rothcpa.com/2015/10/tax-roundup-102315-tax-court-dispenses-with-pot-dispensary-deductions-and-irs-scam-call-captured-on-tape/" href="http://rothcpa.com/2015/10/tax-roundup-102315-tax-court-dispenses-with-pot-dispensary-deductions-and-irs-scam-call-captured-on-tape/">Joe Kristan makes a strong argument t</a>hat it does not.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span data-mce-style="color: #666666;" style="color: #666666;">Don’t use the tax law to do anything other than measure income and collect taxes. Special carve-outs, whether punitive or beneficial, linger long after the moral panic surrounding their enactment passes. </span></blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">I wonder if Joe is feeling the Bern.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Probably not, but I can't resist asking. I agree with Joe's analysis and as a matter of fact think that 280E violates <a data-mce-href="http://ytmp.blogspot.com/p/reillys-laws.html" href="http://ytmp.blogspot.com/p/reillys-laws.html">Reilly's First Law Of Tax Policy</a> - Make tax <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="policy" key="/law" natural_id="channel_5section_86" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="section">policy</span> the Switzerland of the culture war.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><a data-mce-href="http://taishofflaw.com/2015/10/22/he-canna-care/" href="http://taishofflaw.com/2015/10/22/he-canna-care/">Lew Taishoff also covered the case</a>. Lew was taken with Bryan Davies being on a mission from God in his pot dispensing.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;">Well, after nearly forty-nine (count ‘em, forty-nine) years during which I’ve practiced law in a highly-urban environment, I thought I’d heard it all, but Tax Court is an endless “medley of extemporanea.”</span></blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Larry Brant also had something titled -<a data-mce-href="http://www.larrystaxlaw.com/2015/10/a-real-bummer-for-the-marijuana-industry/" href="http://www.larrystaxlaw.com/2015/10/a-real-bummer-for-the-marijuana-industry/"> A Real Bummer for The Marijuana Industry</a> as did Russ <span activated="false" active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" deactivated="true" display="Fox" key="fox" natural_id="fred/company/91215" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" subtype="company" type="organization">Fox</span> with - <a data-mce-href="http://www.taxabletalk.com/2015/10/22/up-in-smoke-again-2/" href="http://www.taxabletalk.com/2015/10/22/up-in-smoke-again-2/">Up In Smoke, Again.</a></div><div><br />
</div>William Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13242879521144339841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4421006301341157258.post-63044930074885179262018-06-28T19:24:00.003-04:002018-06-28T19:24:21.325-04:00No Orange Jumpsuit For Lois Lerner<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><p>This post was originally published on <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/#36b7c0ef6271" target="_blank">Forbes</a> Oct 23, 2015</p><br><br />
The Department of Justice has informed Congress that there will be no prosecutions from its investigation into whether any IRS officials committed crimes in connection with the handling of tax-exemption applications filed by Tea Party and ideologically similar organizations. The decision was relayed i<a data-mce-href="http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/IRS1023.pdf" href="http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/IRS1023.pdf">n a letter </a>signed by Peter J. Kadzik. The letter outlines the exhaustive nature of the investigation.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">We conducted more than 100 witness interviews, collected more than one million pages of IRS documents, analyzed almost 500 tax-exemption applications, examined the role and potential culpability of scores of IRS employees, and considered the applicability of civil rights, tax administration, and obstruction statutes.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4421006301341157258" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>The investigation found mismanagement, poor judgment, and institutional inertia, but no crimes.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>What Crimes Could There Have </strong>Been<strong>?</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">One question I have explored a bit is exactly what crime Lois Lerner or her minions could conceivably been charged with. Here is what they considered.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">The Department searched exhaustively for evidence that any IRS employee deliberately targeted an applicant or group of applicants for scrutiny, delay, denial, or other adverse treatment because of their viewpoint. Intentional viewpoint discrimination may violate civil rights statutes, which criminalize acting under color of law to willfully deprive a person of rights protected by the Constitution or federal law. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 241, 242. Intentional viewpoint discrimination may also violate criminal tax statutes that prohibit IRS employees from committing willful oppression under color of law, for example by deliberately failing to perform official duties with the intent of defeating the due administration of revenue laws, or by corruptly impeding or obstructing the administration of the Tax Code. See 26 U.S.C. §§ 7214(a)(l ), 7214(a)(3), 7212(a). These statutes require proof beyond a reasonable doubt that an IRS official specifically intended to violate the Constitution, Tax Code, or another federal law.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">The problem that prosecutors would have had with bringing those charges was proving criminal intent.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Proof that an IRS employee acted in good faith would be a complete defense to a criminal charge; and proof that an IRS employee acted because of mistake, bad judgment, ignorance, inertia, or even negligence would be insufficient to support a criminal charge.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">There was also the matter of the hard drive crashes and backup tape erasures.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">We also carefully considered whether any IRS official attempted to obstruct justice with respect to their reporting function to Congress, the collection and production of documents demanded by the Department and Congress, the delayed disclosure of the consequences of Ms. Lerner's hard drive crash, or the March 2014 erasure of electronic backup tapes. See, e.g., 18<br />
U.S.C. §§ 1503, 1512, 1515, 1519.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Where Is Deep Throat?</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">A portion of the letter that I found most intriguing is this:</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Throughout the investigation, not a single IRS employee reported any allegation, concern, or suspicion that the handling of tax-exempt applications-or any other IRS function was motivated by political bias, discriminatory intent, or corruption. Among these witnesses were several IRS employees who were critical of Ms. Lerner's and other officials' leadership, as well as others who volunteered to us that they are politically conservative. Moreover, both TIGTA and the IRS's Whistleblower Office confirmed that neither has received internal complaints from IRS employees alleging that officials' handling of tax-exempt applications was motivated by political or other discriminatory bias.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">An IRS employee who would step forward with a story that contradicts this statement would be an overnight sensation on <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Fox" key="fox" natural_id="fred/company/91215" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" subtype="company" type="organization">Fox</span>. It will be interesting to see if that develops.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>What About?</b></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">It is interesting to note that this particular investigation was about what I call the "core scandal" (i.e. the handling of exempt applications and related cover-up allegations). There is no discussion of matters such as disclosure of the National Organization for Marriage's donor list, the Z Street "special Israel policy" or the disclosure of documents to the FBI to promote criminal prosecutions of people who might have fibbed when they said that their 501(c)(4) was not going to be all that political. That was the one thing that was suggested to me as a charge that might be brought against Lois Lerner - Lois The Discloser. The expert who mentioned it did not think it would stick very well.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Who Is This Good For?</strong><br />
<br />
I think that politically this decision might actually break in favor of conservatives who have adopted the scandal narrative as a matter of faith. An actual prosecution of Lois Lerner would make for an epic trial in which her defense would put the whole question of "dark money" flooding into the political system on trial. Right now, there does not seem to be anybody who likes her very much, but a trial could turn her into a martyr for the cause of transparency. Instead this decision by DOJ will become one more strand in the scandal narrative. <span class="tweet_quote" display="Republican candidates can compete on how vigorous they will be in ordering DOJ to reopen its IRS investigation." style="color: #00acee;">Republican candidates can compete on how vigorous they will be in ordering DOJ to reopen its investigation.<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div>William Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13242879521144339841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4421006301341157258.post-2344691620741837852018-06-28T19:23:00.004-04:002018-06-28T19:23:33.810-04:00IRS Should Be Asking For Cooperation Not Volunteering<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><p>This post was originally published on <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/#36b7c0ef6271" target="_blank">Forbes</a> Oct 23, 2015</p><br><br />
The passing of Irwin Schiff, grandfather of the contemporary tax protester (or "tax honesty", if you will) movement, makes a recent article by <a data-mce-href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackmanhire" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackmanhire"> Jack Manhire</a> rather timely. The article is titled <a data-mce-href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2601613" href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2601613">What Does Voluntary Compliance Mean?: A Government Perspective</a>. In <a data-mce-href="http://www.givemeliberty.org/NoRedress/Schiff/FederalMafiaChap1.pdf" href="http://www.givemeliberty.org/NoRedress/Schiff/FederalMafiaChap1.pdf">The Federal Mafia</a>, Irwin Schiff leads with statements from IRS officials on voluntary compliance. Like Jerome Kurtz in the Internal Revenue Annual Report of 1980 - "The IRS' primary task is to collect <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="taxes" key="/taxes" natural_id="channel_2section_15" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="section">taxes</span> under a voluntary compliance system" or Johnie M. Walters in 1971 "Each year American taxpayers voluntarily file their tax returns and make a special effort to pay the <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="taxes" key="/taxes" natural_id="channel_2section_15" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="section">taxes</span> they owe". Schiff goes on for several pages citing examples.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>What's In A Name?</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">When it comes to military service, we make the distinction between volunteering and being drafted. So why is the term "voluntary" used in connection with taxation? Irwin Schiff believed that there really was no requirement that people pay individual income tax. His theory did not go over well in the courts, which accounts for his dying in prison. Professor Manhire writes:</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4421006301341157258" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>To the common ear, the term "voluntary compliance" may seem an odd, even Pickwickian, turn of phrase. It implies that compliance with the federal tax laws is voluntary. The Tax Court, however, has labeled such an interpretation as "arrogant sophistry". Taxpayers have a legal obligation to comply with tax laws, just as they are obligated to comply with all rules that carry the force and effect of law. Penal sections of the tax code reinforce this obligation. Therefore, the government's position is that taxpayers behave in a way required by law, but without <em>direct </em>compulsion from the IRS.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Still it is a confusing term. First he looks at scholastic philosophy and notes that in the view of Thomas Aquinas, the voluntary nature of an act was not changed because you acted out of fear of the consequences.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">For example, if I am a a band leader and Luca Brasi holds a gun to my head while Vito Corleone demands that I sign a release on the contract of my favorite crooner, that act of signing, according to scholastics, is still voluntary.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Nothing like a Godfather reference in a tax article.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/idP5-vtkhBE/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/idP5-vtkhBE?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">So I guess if it were 1260 or thereabout rather than 2015, people wouldn't be getting so confused about this voluntary thing. Professor Manhire does not think that it is all explained by some theology majors who ended up working at the IRS, indicating that there is no evidence that the IRS meant to use the term in a scholastic sense.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Early in the history of the modern income tax, it was recognized that the IRS did not have sufficient resources to directly assess every taxpayer or even audit more than a fraction of those who self-assessed.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Since the IRS cannot execute either of these practices, it instead relies on individual taxpayers to accurately assess their own tax liability on individual taxpayers to accurately assess their own tax liability on annual returns and timely pay the correct amount due.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Professor Manhire proposes that it would be more accurate to characterize the system as "self-assessment-with-a-low-audit-rate" rather than "voluntary", but that just does not sound that good.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>What's The Solution?</strong><br />
<br />
Professor Manhire presents a four cell quadrant that illustrates the choices available to taxpayers - cooperate or evade - and the IRS - audit or don't audit. He notes that the ideal situation is one in which the taxpayer cooperates and the IRS does not audit at all or at least not very often is the ideal. Lots of audits of compliant taxpayers feels like harassment. Audits of non-compliant taxpayers will have them "busted" which is unpleasant, whereas non-compliant taxpayers not being audited make the rest of us feel like chumps.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">So it would be less confusing if the IRS were to say that the system is based on "cooperative compliance". Since most people cooperate, enforcement resources can focus on those that do not. It actually sounds like a pretty good idea. We'll see if it takes off.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div>William Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13242879521144339841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4421006301341157258.post-39989345135756449802018-06-28T19:22:00.002-04:002018-06-28T19:22:19.398-04:00Too Much Assuming Leads To Over Quarter Million Late File Penalty<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><p>This post was originally published on <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/#36b7c0ef6271" target="_blank">Forbes</a> Oct 22, 2015</p><br><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4421006301341157258" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>Lesley West, Peter West and John West were the executors of the estate of their mother (June West). The estate got hit with pretty nasty late file/late pay penalties - $317,821.05. The executors were in<a data-mce-href="http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/virginia/vaedce/1:2015cv00131/313379/38/" href="http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/virginia/vaedce/1:2015cv00131/313379/38/"> district court seeking a </a>refund, because they thought they had a reasonable cause for being late. Things did not go well for them.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>When To File</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">If you ever are wondering whether, where and when to file a particular tax form, here is what you should do. Go to the instructions, which generally you can find on-line and scan the first couple of pages. You will likely find paragraphs with labels like "When To File". For the United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return Form 706, "When To File" is on<a data-mce-href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i706.pdf" href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i706.pdf"> page 3 of the instructions</a> and it tells you that the form is due within nine months of the date of the decedent's death and that you can use <a data-mce-href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-access/f4768_accessible.pdf" href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-access/f4768_accessible.pdf">Form 4768 to apply for a six-month extension.</a></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">If you are responsible for an estate that has to file (see Which Estate Must File on page 2), you may well need professional assistance, which the estate more than likely will be able to afford. Nonetheless, that due date thing is something which is not hard to find and it is very precise, not at all vague.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Another Approach</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="tweet_quote" display="June West died December 27, 2009. -a few more days, all these problems would have been avoided" style="color: #00acee;">June West died December 27, 2009. (If only she had held on for a few more days, all these problems would have been avoided).<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span> Peter West sent an e-mail on January 3, 2010 to John Rodgers, June West's attorney seeking guidance as to "what legal followups are needed in the short term". Rodgers responded that they would:</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">“need to pay [June West's] final bills, and...possibly file a Federal Estate tax return, [June West's] final 1040, and a trust income tax return.”. Rodgers went on to explain that “[t]his all takes as short as a few months or (if an estate tax return is required) as long as [two] years.” The following day, Peter West, again via email, responded that he was “sure there will be tax due” on the estate and that he “assume[d]” that John Renner, the accountant hired to do June West's 2009 taxes, “would also take care of preparing estate taxes.”</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Heads up here. Estate tax returns are not something that the preparers of income tax returns just kind of throw in with the final income tax return. Now that word "assumed" is an interesting one. <span class="tweet_quote" display="At Joseph B Cohan and Associates we had a saying about the word &quot;assume&quot;" style="color: #00acee;">At Joseph B Cohan and Associates we had a saying about the word "assume"<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span> , which like many of the JBC sayings might violate the contributor guidelines. It relates to the first three letters.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Another Assumption</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Peter got back to John Rodgers in November 2010, which you and I know was a bit past the due date, which was in September.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span data-mce-style="color: #252525;" style="color: #252525;">In November, Peter West met with his siblings around Thanksgiving and thereafter emailed Rodgers inquiring as to what plaintiffs “need[ed] to do next in order to start work on the estate taxes.” Rodgers interpreted this question as Peter West's hiring him to prepare the estate taxes, and Rodgers began work preparing the estate tax return in December 2010.</span><span data-mce-style="color: #252525;" style="color: #252525;">Rodgers was not concerned that the deadlines had already passed and he never mentioned this fact to plaintiffs, as he mistakenly assumed that Renner, the accountant, had obtained the appropriate extensions, as Peter West had earlier advised Rodgers that Renner would “take care of preparing estate taxes.” </span></blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">This is the part that is a little difficult to understand. The final income tax return of the decedent (Form 1040), the estate's fiduciary income tax return (Form 1041) and the estate tax return (Form 706) interact with one another in a variety of ways. Ideally the people doing these things need to coordinate. And if I were hired to prepare a return that I "assumed" had been extended, I would be inclined to ask for a copy of the extension, but maybe that's just me.<br />
<br />
Rodgers prepared the return and informed the Wests that the federal estate tax due was $1,258,019. Lesley West filed the return on March 28, 2011 (Which I think would have been spot on timely if there had been an extension, since the 27th was a Sunday. Although frankly, I tend to avoid cutting it that fine on things like this.) Regardless the estate was hit with $275,032.72 in late file and $42,783.33 in late pay penalties.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Reasonable Cause?</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">The refund claim was based on the theory that the e-mail that stated that it could take as long as two years "constituted legal advice as to the required deadlines for filing ad paying estate tax on which plaintiff's could reasonably rely". The Court found that it was not.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Simply put, Rodgers' January 4, 2010 email to Peter West was not legal advice as to the date of a filing or payment deadline. The language on which plaintiffs seize is Rodgers' comment that “[t]his all takes as short as a few months or (if an estate tax return is required) as long as [two] years.” This is insufficient as a matter of law to constitute legal advice as to tax filing or payment deadlines for several reasons. First, nothing in the record indicates that plaintiffs ever asked for a deadline, even before the January 4 email was sent. Indeed, Peter West's January 3 email that prompted Rodgers' January 4 response email simply asked what needed to be done in the “short term.” Thus, Rodgers was clearly not responding to a request for specific information about a deadline. Moreover, the email does not contain the language characteristic of advice as to deadlines, e.g., “pay by,” “due on,” or “file within.” Finally, there is no objective basis to determine from what date Rodgers would even calculate a two-year deadline.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Lessons </strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">I think that the result in this case is rather harsh. Given how compliant the taxpayers were once they got their act together, I think the government should have been satisfied with the late pay penalty. The <span class="tweet_quote" display="Problem would have been easily avoided if they had been more proactive in communicating with their professionals" style="color: #00acee;">problem would have been easily avoided if they had been more proactive in communicating with their professionals and if the professionals had been communicating with one another.<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span> You can't tell from the decision why the proactivity was not happening. There may have been an understandable desire to minimize fees. If that is the case it was kind of a penny wise, pound foolish result.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">I think that you could use this case as an object lesson in why you might want to consider involving a professional as at least a co-executor, if you have a significant estate. At any rate, you should try to arrange things so that your advisers and heirs/executors will work as a team.</div><div><br />
</div>William Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13242879521144339841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4421006301341157258.post-71927840195366474562018-06-28T19:21:00.004-04:002018-06-28T19:21:30.419-04:00Massachusetts Hits Staples For $10 Million On Sham Interest Deductions<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><p>This post was originally published on <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/#36b7c0ef6271" target="_blank">Forbes</a> Oct 20, 2015</p><br><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4421006301341157258" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Staples" exchange="NASDAQ" key="staples" natural_id="fred/company/4061" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" subtype="company" ticker="SPLS" type="organization">Staples</span> has a sophisticated cash management system. Cash is stripped from subsidiaries and all bills are paid from a central account. I could see that there must be all sorts of operational advantages to that sort of system, but some bright bulbs in the <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Staples" exchange="NASDAQ" key="staples" natural_id="fred/company/4061" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" subtype="company" ticker="SPLS" type="organization">Staples</span> tax department or perhaps a consultant dreamed up another advantage of the cash management system (CMS). Instead of looking at it as the parent taking the money from the subsidiaries, let's look at it as the subsidiaries loaning to the parent. The interest income and expense going back and forth will wash out for federal income tax and GAAP financial statement purposes, but if it breaks right it will save state income tax - unless state revenue departments catch on.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Massachusetts Catches On</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Last month <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Staples" exchange="NASDAQ" key="staples" natural_id="fred/company/4061" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" subtype="company" ticker="SPLS" type="organization">Staples</span> was in front of the <a data-mce-href="http://www.mass.gov/anf/hearings-and-appeals/decisions/tax-appeal-decisions/findings-promulgated-during-2015/july-2015-to-dec-2015/" href="http://www.mass.gov/anf/hearings-and-appeals/decisions/tax-appeal-decisions/findings-promulgated-during-2015/july-2015-to-dec-2015/">Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board</a> (You have to scroll down a bit to get to decision) to defend its practice of treating intercompany transfers as interest bearing loans. There was a bit over $10,000,000 in tax at stake. Massachusetts corporate excise has both an income and net worth component. Both were affected by the question of whether the intercompany balances between parent and subsidiary were valid debt. <a data-mce-href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/791519/000079151915000004/spls10-k01312015.htm" href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/791519/000079151915000004/spls10-k01312015.htm">According to its 10-K</a>, S<span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="staples" exchange="NASDAQ" key="staples" natural_id="fred/company/4061" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" subtype="company" ticker="SPLS" type="organization">taples</span> had over $22 billion in sales last year and finished the year with assets over $10 billion, so $10 million might not seem like that much, but compared to a worldwide tax provision of $133 million, $10 million is as we say "a number".</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Given the not insignificant stakes <span class="tweet_quote" display="I was surprised at how poorly Staples had executed the scheme" style="color: #00acee;">I was surprised at how poorly Staples had executed the scheme<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span> and the apparent weakness of the defense they put on.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Why Don't You Have Somebody Who Knows What Happened?</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><a data-mce-href="https://www.linkedin.com/pub/dina-courchesne/12/877/55a" href="https://www.linkedin.com/pub/dina-courchesne/12/877/55a">Dina Courchesne</a> testified for <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Staples" exchange="NASDAQ" key="staples" natural_id="fred/company/4061" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" subtype="company" ticker="SPLS" type="organization">Staples</span>. Ms. Courchesne has certainly had an impressive career. A 1995 Bentley graduate, she joined <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Staples" exchange="NASDAQ" key="staples" natural_id="fred/company/4061" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" subtype="company" ticker="SPLS" type="organization">Staples</span> after 7 years with <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Deloitte" key="deloitte-touche-tohmatsu" natural_id="fred/company/12568" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" subtype="company" type="organization">Deloitte</span>. She served as manager of external reporting, manager of international accounting and at the time of the hearing was the director of corporate accounting making her responsible, among other things, for the financial statements filed with the SEC. There was a problem with her testimony. Essentially she didn't know a thing about the incestuous transactions between the parent and the subsidiaries. This is perfectly understandable, given that these transactions get eliminated in the consolidated financial statements, but her testimony probably reinforced the notion that the loans were not real.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;">Ms. Courchesne testified that </span><span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Staples" exchange="NASDAQ" key="staples" natural_id="fred/company/4061" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" subtype="company" ticker="SPLS" type="organization">Staples</span><span data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;"> held cash on behalf of the CMS subsidiaries and credited interest as a bookkeeping entry owed to those subsidiaries that had cash on deposit. Ms. Courchesne did not know the rate of interest credited to the subsidiaries and whether the rate was competitive with what a bank would have paid on deposit.</span></blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Ms. Courchene's lack of knowledge of the nature of the arrangements was really emphasized in the decision with some of her testimony highlighted.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;">Q: Here in the CMS system was there a ceiling on the amount that any of the subsidiaries put into the system? </div></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;">A: I'm not aware — I'm not certain. Our treasury and legal department would have coordinated that. We're just doing the accounting behind the underlying transactions. </div></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;">Q: Was there a ceiling with respect to the amount of money that the subsidiaries could take out of the cash management system?</div><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;">A: Again, that would be something that our treasury and legal department would handle. </div></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;">[BOARD'S PRESIDING COMMISSIONER]: Is your answer to both those questions, “I don't know”? </div></blockquote><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;">A: I do not know.</div></blockquote><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">I'm wondering what the <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Staples" exchange="NASDAQ" key="staples" natural_id="fred/company/4061" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); padding: 1px;" subtype="company" ticker="SPLS" type="organization">Staples</span> lawyers were thinking. Being lawyers and all, I can understand them being clueless about who is likely to know about particular aspects of a transaction, but you would think that they would have prepped her better. On the other hand, it may be that testimony from the people who did know what was going on would have doomed them.</div><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Reilly's Fourth Law</strong></div><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">This case is a beautiful illustration of my <a data-mce-href="http://ytmp.blogspot.com/p/reillys-laws.html" href="http://ytmp.blogspot.com/p/reillys-laws.html">fourth law </a><a data-mce-href="http://ytmp.blogspot.com/p/reillys-laws.html" href="http://ytmp.blogspot.com/p/reillys-laws.html">of tax planning</a> - <span class="tweet_quote" display="Execution isn't everything, but it is a lot" style="color: #00acee;">Execution isn't everything, but it is a lot<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span> . There actually were promissory notes, which is good. The problem is that nobody seems to have paid any attention to them.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">However, despite these provisions, the appellants offered no evidence of any payments on these Promissory Notes. The evidence offered — standalone balance sheets — showed bookkeeping entries of amounts generally characterized as due to or due from <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Staples" exchange="NASDAQ" key="staples" natural_id="fred/company/4061" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" subtype="company" ticker="SPLS" type="organization">Staples</span> pursuant to the CMS. If interest accrued to a subsidiary, it was merely credited as a bookkeeping entry.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">As long as <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Staples" exchange="NASDAQ" key="staples" natural_id="fred/company/4061" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" subtype="company" ticker="SPLS" type="organization">Staples</span> was profitable overall, you would expect that the amount that the parent "owed" the subsidiaries would just grow. That is what happened. At 1/31/2005, the balance had ballooned to over $2.4 billion. At the end of its most recent fiscal year <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Staples" exchange="NASDAQ" key="staples" natural_id="fred/company/4061" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" subtype="company" ticker="SPLS" type="organization">Staples</span> consolidated book value was $5.3 billion.<br />
<br />
<strong>Decision</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">The Board's analysis of why the arrangement was not a bonafide loan goes to some length, but it is probably summed up here.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;">...there were no repayment schedules, no history of repayments, and no other evidence indicating that there was any actual repayment or intent to repay the excess cash retained by <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Staples" exchange="NASDAQ" key="staples" natural_id="fred/company/4061" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); padding: 1px;" subtype="company" ticker="SPLS" type="organization">Staples</span>. This perpetual and unlimited stream of cash flowing up to <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Staples" exchange="NASDAQ" key="staples" natural_id="fred/company/4061" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); padding: 1px;" subtype="company" ticker="SPLS" type="organization">Staples</span> led to the net accounts-payable balances growing well beyond the original Promissory Note amounts. </span></blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">The cause might have been hopeless, but some attention to detail might have helped. This case makes me wonder how solid many other corporate tax schemes would turn out to be if subject to much in the way of scrutiny. Accountants tend to think that journal entries are deeply meaningful, but it seems that whenever they are tested in court, <span class="tweet_quote" display="Judges are dismissive of &quot;mere bookkeeping entries&quot;." style="color: #00acee;">judges are dismissive of "mere bookkeeping entries".<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="tweet_quote" display="Judges are dismissive of &quot;mere bookkeeping entries&quot;." style="color: #00acee;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Other Coverage</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><a data-mce-href="http://m.reedsmith.com/massachusetts-denies-true-debt-treatment-for-cash-management-obligations-09-08-2015/" href="http://m.reedsmith.com/massachusetts-denies-true-debt-treatment-for-cash-management-obligations-09-08-2015/">ReedSmith </a> and <a data-mce-href="http://news.cchgroup.com/index.php/tax-headlines/state-tax-headlines/massachusetts-corporate-income-tax-interest-payments-for-intercompany-transfers-from-cash-management-system-not-deductible/" href="http://news.cchgroup.com/index.php/tax-headlines/state-tax-headlines/massachusetts-corporate-income-tax-interest-payments-for-intercompany-transfers-from-cash-management-system-not-deductible/">CCH</a> had brief mentions of the case. <a data-mce-href="http://www.pwc.com/us/en/state-local-tax/publications/assets/pwc-massachusetts-debt-not-bona-fide-debt.pdf" href="http://www.pwc.com/us/en/state-local-tax/publications/assets/pwc-massachusetts-debt-not-bona-fide-debt.pdf">PWC </a>has a long analysis concluding that:</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Taxpayers should take care that their debt instruments satisfy state requirements for bona fide debt.</blockquote><pre data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="font-family: Consolas, Monaco, monospace; font-size: 16px;"> </pre><div><br />
</div>William Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13242879521144339841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4421006301341157258.post-80696152561230687822018-06-28T19:20:00.003-04:002018-06-28T19:20:33.205-04:00 Irwin Schiff Famed Tax Protester Dies In Prison<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><p>This post was originally published on <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/#36b7c0ef6271" target="_blank">Forbes</a> Oct 17, 2015</p><br><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4421006301341157258" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span class="tweet_quote" display="Irwin Schiff, grandfather of the contemporary tax protest movement, died Friday" style="color: #00acee;">Irwin Schiff, grandfather of the contemporary tax protest movement, died Friday<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span> according to the <a data-mce-href="http://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/" href="http://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/">Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator.</a> Schiff promoted a theory that the federal income tax was very limited in its application and that ordinary Americans are tricked into paying it. He is the author of <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Irwin-Schiffs-Anyone-Paying-Income/dp/0930374037/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1445104340&sr=8-1&keywords=Irwin+schiff" href="http://www.amazon.com/Irwin-Schiffs-Anyone-Paying-Income/dp/0930374037/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1445104340&sr=8-1&keywords=Irwin+schiff">How Anyone Can Stop Paying Income Tax</a>, <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Federal-Mafia-Illegally-Unlawfully-Collects/dp/0930374096/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1445104340&sr=8-2&keywords=Irwin+schiff" href="http://www.amazon.com/Federal-Mafia-Illegally-Unlawfully-Collects/dp/0930374096/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1445104340&sr=8-2&keywords=Irwin+schiff">Federal Mafia: How It Illegally Imposes and Unlawfully Collects Income Taxes</a>, and <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Biggest-Con-How-Government-Fleecing/dp/0930374010/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1445104340&sr=8-3&keywords=Irwin+schiff" href="http://www.amazon.com/Biggest-Con-How-Government-Fleecing/dp/0930374010/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1445104340&sr=8-3&keywords=Irwin+schiff">The Biggest Con: How the Government Is Fleecing You,</a></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Schiff, 87, had been diagnosed with lung cancer and his son Peter had been seeking compassionate release. Both Peter Schiff and his brother Andrew believed that their father's theories were correct but advised people to not follow them.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Irwin Schiff's theory on the extremely limited applicability of the income tax was based on readings of Supreme Court decisions from the period near the passage of the sixteenth amendment. Most important were probably <a data-mce-href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/255/509#writing-type-1-CLARKE" href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/255/509#writing-type-1-CLARKE">Merchants' Loan and Trust Co. v Smietanka </a> and <a data-mce-href="http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/240/1.html" href="http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/240/1.html">Brushaber v <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Union Pacific" exchange="NYSE" key="union-pacific" natural_id="fred/company/4502" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" subtype="company" ticker="UNP" type="organization">Union Pacific</span></a>. I am among those who have found Irwin's arguments entirely unpersuasive. My view of course is unimportant, but any federal judge who has opined on them has been similarly unpersuaded. The best evaluation of Irwin's arguments that I have ever seen was done by his own attorneys in his recent appeal</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;">even though these cases, properly understood, do not support Mr. Schiff’s professed beliefs, they do contain language which, if honestly misconstrued and read out of context, could lead someone without legal training to believe that taxable income is limited to corporate profits</span></blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">When I first encountered Schiff's arguments in the nineties I was so impressed by how well put together they were, that I found it difficult to believe that they were constructed by someone who believed them, as citations always checked out, but were wildly out of context. Irwin, however, has proved his sincerity. That doesn't make his arguments right, but it does merit some grudging admiration.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="tweet_quote" display="I was sad that Peter Schiff was not able to bring his father Irwin home for his last days," style="color: #00acee;">I was sad that Peter Schiff was not able to bring his father home for his last days,<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="tweet_quote" display="I was sad that Peter Schiff was not able to bring his father Irwin home for his last days," style="color: #00acee;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Reactions</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">You will be able to find remarks viewing Schiff as a martyr on the <a data-mce-href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Anarcho_Capitalism/comments/3p2xr4/rip_irwin_schiff/" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Anarcho_Capitalism/comments/3p2xr4/rip_irwin_schiff/">Anarcho-Capitalism Reddit </a>site. <a data-mce-href="https://mises.org/blog/irwin-schiff-rip" href="https://mises.org/blog/irwin-schiff-rip">Mises Institute,</a> which focuses on Austrian Economics wrote:</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Irwin Schiff, imprisoned for his resistance to the federal income tax, died yesterday. Efforts by his son, the noted financial commentator Peter Schiff, to secure his release from prison so that he could die with his family, were unsuccessful. Schiff's sad passing illustrates an essential truth about the state: if you resist its orders, you will be dealt with by force.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">There are other brief mentions on a number of sites most of which see Schiff as a martyr as is the general view on twitter. So far there does not appear to be any mainstream reaction or comment from his family,</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><h1 class="a-spacing-none" data-mce-style="font-weight: bold; color: #111111;" id="title" style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif;"> </h1>William Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13242879521144339841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4421006301341157258.post-83372477731670515112018-06-28T19:19:00.005-04:002018-06-28T19:19:46.989-04:00Montana Court Rules For And Against Online Travel Companies<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><p>This post was originally published on <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/#36b7c0ef6271" target="_blank">Forbes</a> Oct 17, 2015</p><br><br />
There are certain commercial practices that annoy me - a lot. Worst are car rental companies. Besides trying to intimidate you into buying overpriced insurance, they play this game with the gas. You can opt to commit to bring the car back with a full tank at the risk of being charged an outrageous per gallon price if you slip up, seeing as how you are maybe trying to catch a plane or something. Or - and this is pure genius - you can pay for a full tank and bring it back empty. If you're like me, you probably don't allow yourself the time to circle the airport numerous times to be able to coast in on fumes. So the rental company gets to sell the same couple of gallons of gas over and over and over.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4421006301341157258" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>Almost as annoying is the practice of on-line reservations companies. Usually when a vendor charges you tax, you can be confident that they are remitting the tax to the taxing authority or risking dire penalties. On-line reservations companies don't usually charge you tax though. They charge you a "tax recovery amount". If the actual tax works out less they keep the difference.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Taxing The Gross Or The Net</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">The reason that on-line companies have to charge an estimated tax is because, they don't charge tax on what you pay them for the room. The hotel operator charges the on-line company room tax on the lesser amount that the operator pays the hotel. That is how the on-line companies prefer it anyway. States and local government generally would prefer to collect room tax on the entire amount charged to the customer. This has led to much litigation. There is no broad federal issue at stake, so the cases turn on the precise wording of state statutes and sometimes state constitutions. The latest round I noticed in this ongoing battle was a decision by the Montana Supreme Court that pitted the <a data-mce-href="http://www.sutherland.com/portalresource/OTCcase" href="http://www.sutherland.com/portalresource/OTCcase">Montana Dept of Revenue against the usual suspects (Priceline, Expedia, Travelocity.com, etc)</a>.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Montana Takes Them On</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Here is how the case got started.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">In June and July 2010, the Department sent letters to several OTCs, stating, “It has come to our attention that you may not be registered with the Montana Department of Revenue and/or collecting the 4% Lodging Facility Use Tax, the 3% Lodging Facility Sales Tax[,] and/or the 4% Rental Vehicle Sales Tax.” The OTCs responded that they had no obligation to register with the Department or to collect the requested taxes. On November 8, 2010, the Department filed suit against the OTCs, arguing that the OTC fees are taxable under both the Lodging Facility Use Tax and the Sales Tax. The OTCs responded by denying responsibility to collect tax on OTC fees received from customers, and contending that they are not taxpayers with regard to the Lodging Facility Use Tax or Sales Tax. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment on these issues.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">You wouldn't think that the court would come up with a split decision on a case like this, but that is what happened and it turns on precise wording of statutes.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>The Lodging Facility Use Tax</strong><br />
<br />
The statute indicates that the lodging facility use tax is to be collected by the "operator of the facility". It is pretty obvious that Priceline and Expedia and the rest are not operating any facilities.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;"> The OTCs do not participate in the day-to-day bookkeeping of a facility, make management decisions, or decide how a facility will spend its revenue. In short, they are not responsible for the financial affairs of a facility. Accordingly, the OTCs are not owners or operators under the Department's administrative definition.</span></blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Sales Tax Is A Different Story</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Then it gets tricky. The court determined that:</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;">Because the OTCs are not owners or operators of facilities, their fees are not subject to the Lodging and Facility Use Tax. By contrast, the Sales Tax taxes the purchaser on the sales price of an accommodation or rental vehicle, which specifically includes the value of services. Accordingly, the statutes need not be construed<strong> in pari materia. </strong>(<em>Emphasis added)</em></div></blockquote><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">I always like it when a decision gets me to brush up my Latin. I found in<a data-mce-href="http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/pari+materia" href="http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/pari+materia"> The Free Dicitionary </a> that "pari materia" means:</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;">Of the same matter; on the same subject.] The phrase used in connection with two laws relating to the same subject matter that must be analyzed with each other.</div></blockquote><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">An example of that are federal transfer taxes - estate and gift - which are meant to work together.</div><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Montana does not have a general sales tax, but a number of special ones including lodging and car rental. That applies to the on-line companies.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;">The plain meaning of the Sales Tax requires taxing OTC fees. It also requires the OTCs, who are “sellers” because they “make[] sales ... of services,” to collect and remit to the Department taxes on those fees.</div></blockquote><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>And It Is Retroactive</strong></div><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">The on-line companies argued that if they lost, the effect should only be prospective, but they lost on that contention also.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">The OTCs argue that it would be inequitable to apply the Sales Tax retroactively because they relied on the Department's guidance, rules, and forms in considering the Lodging Tax and Sales Tax coextensive. This argument has merit as applied to the enforcement of the Sales Tax prior to the Department filing suit. However, from the time that the Department filed suit against the OTCs, alleging that they were liable for collecting the Sales Tax, the OTCs were unambiguously on notice that the Department considered them liable for collection of the Sales Tax.</blockquote><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">So they are liable for the uncollected sales tax going back to 2010.</div><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Big Picture</strong></div><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">It strikes me that this particular dispute illustrates one of the downsides of federalism,. The same issue is being fought all over the country with disparate results. It may be the type of thing that it would pay to have some sort of uniform law on. I have not found anything going on in that area, but I would be happy if one of my commenters embarrassed me on that.</div><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">According to<a data-mce-href="http://skift.com/2015/08/03/expedias-tax-problems-go-global-with-vat-challenges-in-europe/" href="http://skift.com/2015/08/03/expedias-tax-problems-go-global-with-vat-challenges-in-europe/"> this </a>story there have been 88 lawsuits on this issue since 2004 and now it is becoming a problem in. Priceline devotes several paragraphs to the issue in its<a data-mce-href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1075531/000107553115000007/pcln-20141231_10k.htm" href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1075531/000107553115000007/pcln-20141231_10k.htm"> financial statement</a> and mentions thirty specific cases. The bottom line is:</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">As a result of this litigation and other attempts by jurisdictions to levy similar taxes, the Company has established an accrual (including estimated interest and penalties) for the potential resolution of issues related to transaction taxes in the amount of approximately $52 million at December 31, 2014 compared to approximately $55 million at December 31, 2013. The Company's legal expenses for these matters are expensed as incurred and are not reflected in the amount accrued. The actual cost may be less or greater, potentially significantly, than the liabilities recorded. An estimate for a reasonably possible loss or range of loss in excess of the amount accrued cannot be reasonably made.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Other Coverage</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chris Mehrmann and Charlie Kearns give a summary of the case in a blog with the clever title <a data-mce-href="http://www.stateandlocaltax.com/noteworthy-cases/huckleberry-sound-montana-supreme-court-orders-otcs-to-collect-sales-tax-on-reservation-fees/" href="http://www.stateandlocaltax.com/noteworthy-cases/huckleberry-sound-montana-supreme-court-orders-otcs-to-collect-sales-tax-on-reservation-fees/">SALT shaker.</a></div>William Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13242879521144339841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4421006301341157258.post-9517964326846469082018-06-28T19:18:00.004-04:002018-06-28T19:18:36.411-04:00Why Don't We Eliminate The Charitable And Mortgage Interest Deductions?<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><p>This post was originally published on <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/#36b7c0ef6271" target="_blank">Forbes</a> Oct 16, 2015</p><br><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4421006301341157258" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>I've read enough candidate tax plans to make me believe that we could use something a little different and out of the box.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Most, if not all of the Republican tax plans have called for at all costs maintaining the mortgage interest deduction and the deduction for charitable contributions. None of the Democrats have come out with a comprehensive plan except for arguably Lincoln Chafee who thinks the Internal Revenue Code is not so bad, but it needs an extra bracket and higher exemptions. Bernie Sanders has not come out with a formal plan, but his campaign sent me a summary with several fairly predictable items, but not the rates.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Being something of a contrarian, I decided that I would come up with a plan that leaves the Code pretty much alone like Chafee recommends, but bucks Bernie and the Republicans. The way I threaded that needle was by reflecting on the fact that the only two words that come out of Bernie's mouth more often than "<span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Pope Francis" key="pope-francis" natural_id="faris/194483" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="person">Pope Francis</span>" and "Koch Brothers" are "middle class". So my plan has three principles.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="tweet_quote" display="The first principle of my plan is that the current Internal Revenue Code isn't so bad." style="color: #00acee;">The first principle of my plan is that the current Internal Revenue Code isn't so bad.<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span> There is a bunch of stuff that I would cut out, but it turns out that any individual piece has somebody who loves it. Like the way the Knights of Columbus will jump on you if you threaten 501(c)(8). The second principle of the plan is why should I care about the middle class? Nobody seems to have a clear definition of who is in it and according to Bernie Sanders it has been disappearing for forty years, so how much of it can be left? The third principle is that I wanted to come up with something really provocative and out of the box.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>I Only Want To Eliminate Two Things</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">The only two things I will eliminate are the charitable contribution and the mortgage interest deduction. The reason I picked them is because in most, if not all, of the Republican plans, those are the only two itemized deductions that are kept. Frankly if you blew those away, I think you would end up with a lot of non-itemizers, except in the high tax states, but let the chips fall where they may.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>But That's Not All</strong><br />
<br />
The additional revenue will be used to send a check to every single man woman and child in the country. The check will arrive around December 15. I'm not going to say why I picked that particular date, but I think you can figure it out. My back of the envelope computation was $300, but I have been able to do better than that.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>The Tax Foundation</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">I asked<a data-mce-href="http://taxfoundation.org/staff/scott-greenberg" href="http://taxfoundation.org/staff/scott-greenberg"> Scott Greenberg at the Tax Foundation </a>to score my plan and we went back a forth a bit. Then I asked him to figure out the break-even check , which will be indexed for inflation. He told me it would be $480. Here is the bottom line.</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span data-mce-style="color: #222222;" style="color: #222222;"><span class="tweet_quote" display="Eliminating mortgage and charitable deductions - revenue to provide a $480 credit to every adult and child." style="color: #00acee;">By eliminating the mortgage interest and charitable deductions, you could raise enough revenue to provide a $480 refundable credit to every adult and child. T<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span> his proposal would be roughly revenue neutral on a static basis, although on a dynamic basis, it would lose $88 billion over 10 years, due to a smaller economy.</span></blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">You know what. I think they might be wrong on the dynamic scoring. All those people getting checks a week before - you know - would have an awesome effect on retail spending. Ho! Ho! Ho!</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ss3XnpLXTDY/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ss3XnpLXTDY?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Distributional Effects</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">This is where it is beautiful. Everybody below $50,000 gets a good bump in their after-tax adjusted gross income - 15% for those under $5,000. From there it starts costing but it never gets much over 3% (Worst is $250,000 to $500,000. I used to live in that neighborhood. They can handle it.) Here is the table that Scott sent me.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><table class="mce-item-table" style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="185">AGI</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="192">Static Distributional Effects - % change in after-tax AGI</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="210">Dynamic Distributional Effects - % change in after-tax AGI</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="185">$0 - $5,000</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="192">15.19%</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="210">14.81%</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="185">$5,000 - $10,000</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="192">7.26%</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="210">6.90%</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="185">$10,000 - $20,000</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="192">5.20%</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="210">4.84%</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="185">$20,000 - $30,000</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="192">3.49%</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="210">3.10%</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="185">$30,000 - $40,000</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="192">2.32%</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="210">1.93%</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="185">$40,000 - $50,000</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="192">1.48%</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="210">1.11%</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="185">$50,000 - $75,000</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="192">0.65%</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="210">0.29%</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="185">$75,000 - $100,000</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="192">-0.07%</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="210">-0.42%</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="185">$100,000 - $150,000</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="192">-1.25%</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="210">-1.58%</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="185">$150,000 - $200,000</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="192">-2.07%</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="210">-2.41%</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="185">$200,000 - $250,000</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="192">-2.61%</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="210">-2.94%</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="185">$250,000 - $500,000</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="192">-2.<span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="77" key="77" natural_id="fred/company/103077" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" subtype="company" type="organization">77</span>%</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="210">-3.11%</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="185">$500,000 - $1,000,000</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="192">-2.49%</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="210">-2.84%</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="185">> $1,000,000</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="192">-2.03%</td><td style="border: 1px dashed rgb(187, 187, 187); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; min-width: 20px;" width="210">-2.42%</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">I was thinking of doing this as a satirical article where I talked about my own Presidential run. My covivant, who I enlisted as my exploratory committee told me that seeing as how I had no political experience am not a good speaker and was subpar in executive presence while a partner in a regional accounting firm, I probably would not do to well. She also wondered whether she would be First Lady since we are not, you know, married. That was really the only funny part and the more I'm looking at this proposal, which started as satire, the better I am liking it.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">We'll see how the comments go.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div>William Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13242879521144339841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4421006301341157258.post-49613858178687725822018-06-28T19:17:00.003-04:002018-06-28T19:17:27.824-04:00Santorum 20/20 Flat Tax Might Be Hard On Many Small Businesses<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><p>This post was originally published on <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/#36b7c0ef6271" target="_blank">Forbes</a> Oct 15, 2015</p><br><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4421006301341157258" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>Rick Santorum rolled out his tax plan with a piece in The <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Wall Street" key="/wall-street" natural_id="channel_1section_6" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="section">Wall Street</span> Journal-<a data-mce-href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-flat-tax-is-the-best-path-to-prosperity-1444600639" href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-flat-tax-is-the-best-path-to-prosperity-1444600639">A Flat Tax Is The Best Path To Prosperity</a>- . I have to say that the <span class="tweet_quote" display="Republicans are doing a much better job of providing me with material than the Democrats." style="color: #00acee;">Republicans are doing a much better job of providing me with material than the Democrats.<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span> Getting specific tax proposals from the Dems is like pulling teeth. There is Bernie Sanders with about 90% of a plan still holding back on the rates and the rest of the bunch don't even have that much all put together, except for Chafee who thinks the Code is OK as is and just wants to add a new top rate and increase exemptions a bit. Santorum's plan has significant substance to it, although, as always there are devilish details I'd like to know more about. The most detailed version <a data-mce-href="https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/santorum/pages/391/attachments/original/1444661116/Santorum_Economic_Freedom_Agenda.pdf?1444661116" href="https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/santorum/pages/391/attachments/original/1444661116/Santorum_Economic_Freedom_Agenda.pdf?1444661116">I could find is here.</a></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Scoring</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">The <a data-mce-href="http://taxfoundation.org/article/details-and-analysis-senator-rick-santorum-s-tax-plan" href="http://taxfoundation.org/article/details-and-analysis-senator-rick-santorum-s-tax-plan">Tax Foundation scored Santorum's plan </a>. Over ten years it gives up $3.2 trillion in revenue scored statically - $1.1 trillion scored dynamically. (Dynamic scoring accounts for the positive effect the cuts have on the economy) Santorum has a "piece of cake method for taking"care of the revenue loss - Repeal Obamacare - Huzzah!! At any rate, if you care about the deficit, this plan compares very favorably to Trump and Jindal who are both in the neighborhood of $10 trillion in lost revenue with their plans.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>In A Nutshell</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Santorum calls for a 20% flat rate for both individual and corporations. Individuals get a $2,750 per person refundable credit plus retention of the Child Tax Credit. I'm reading that to work out to $7,500 for a family of 4. So you would have zero tax till you got to $37,500. Personal exemptions, dependency deductions and most itemized deductions are blown away as is the Alternative Minimum Tax and the Estate Tax.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>The Sacredness Of Mortgage Interest And Charity</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">There is an uncapped itemized deduction for charity and a residence mortgage interest deduction capped at $25,000 (That's a lot simpler than the current cap which is based on mortgage balance). It is getting tough to keep track but blowing away all itemized deductions except charity and mortgage interest is a pervasive feature of the Republican plans. It is getting so I would really like to have some candidate come out and say that they want to leave everything in the tax code just like it is except that the mortgage interest and charitable deductions will be eliminated and every man woman and child in the country will get a check for $300 around Christmas time. I have a request in to the Tax Foundation to score that, but I'm not real optimistic about getting an answer.<br />
<br />
<strong><span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Business" key="business/mycsf" natural_id="channel_17" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="channel">Business</span> Provisions</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">It is not crystal clear to me that the <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="business" key="business/mycsf" natural_id="channel_17" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="channel">business</span> provisions apply to flow throughs that will be taxed to individuals. I'm going to go with that assumption, though. The big new benefit is "expensing of all capital investments in plant and equipment including inventories". I don't recall seeing inventory expensing in other plans. Before getting too excited, we have to note the big takeaway - no more deductions for business interest. This coupling of expensing with eliminating interest deductibility is something that you will see economists arguing for. It is part of the Bush plan. I find it very troubling.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Simplistically put, big companies with access to <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Wall Street" key="/wall-street" natural_id="channel_1section_6" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="section">Wall Street</span> can raise equity. The little guys - Main Street so to speak - tend to be fueled by bank debt. Think about somebody who owns a small shopping mall that is pretty well depreciated. Say it is worth $5,000,0000 and has net operating income of $300,000 and a $3,000,000 5% mortgage. Instead of being taxed on $150,000, the owners will now be taxed on $300,000 which takes all the fun out of the rate decrease. More dire is the situation of a small business that generates just enough operating income in a year to cover its debt service. Under this plan a company like that could still have a big income tax bill and no net income to pay it.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">The Bush plan has a similar provision which<a data-mce-href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2015/09/13/jeb-bush-tax-plan-could-disrupt-real-estate-and-small-business/" href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2015/09/13/jeb-bush-tax-plan-could-disrupt-real-estate-and-small-business/"> I discussed here</a>. <span class="tweet_quote" display="Bush's plan, which is not flat, scores similarly to Santorum's" style="color: #00acee;">Bush's plan, which is not flat, scores similarly to Santorum's<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span> .</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Nobody Seems To Notice</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="tweet_quote" display="Why no excitement about business interest deduction being eliminated in Bush and Santorum tax plans?" style="color: #00acee;">I don't understand why there does not seem to be more excitement about the elimination of business interest deductions.<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span> Based on anecdotal evidence there are quite a few small business people who would be devastated by the change and the lower rates and expensing would not offset it. If I was cynical, I would think that this is a plot for people who can tap the equity markets to snap up small businesses at a discount</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>The Silly Part</strong></div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">End the IRS as we know it. Dramatically downsize, restructure, and reform the Internal Revenue Service to eliminate a culture of corruption and taxpayer abuse. Prosecute violations of taxpayers’ rights and privacy by IRS administrators and employees. Create a zero-tolerance policy for taxpayer abuse.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">I'm willing to give on the "eliminate a culture of corruption and taxpayer abuse" as a kind of faith-based rendering of the interminable IRS Scandal - now on <a data-mce-href="http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2015/10/the-irs-scandal-day-888.html" href="http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2015/10/the-irs-scandal-day-888.html">Day 888</a> by TaxProf count. It is the "dramatically downsize" that I have a hard time with. Most of the complexity and most of the controversy around the income tax, turns on the definition of income and also people simply omitting income or entirely fabricating business deductions. The IRS also spends time and energy, probably not enough, collecting from people and businesses who have not paid taxes about which there is no controversy. This new system does not eliminate those issues. Expensing of capital items and inventory will simplify business returns, but there will still be issues.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">It would be easier to take these proposals more seriously in their simplification claims, if they were accompanied by a copy of the proposed Internal Revenue Code of 2017. The emoting about the 70,000 pages or 4 million words that are a part of these proposals misses a couple or realities. One is that there is inherent complexity in defining income. That is why there is, for example, a section for insurance companies, which need to be providing for claims that might not be paid for a really long time. The other is that statutes need to be devised to squash obvious and not so obvious ways that people will use to game the system.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">A progressive rate table may be a good or bad idea, but it is really not that complicated. Even if you are doing a return by hand figuring out the tax on a progressive table once you have gotten to taxable income could be turned over to a bright fourth grader. Boiling the 29 line Schedule A down to 2 lines might seem like a massive reduction in complexity, but all the various Code Sections that address potentially abusive transaction will need to stay in some form or other and you will still need special provisions for insurance companies and financial institutions. So the page count will not come down all that much, but the page count is not a real problem, since nobody is affected by all the pages and regular people only have to worry about a few of them</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">It is worth noting that the core IRS Scandal was about the processing of exempt applications, something which would continue to be required under Santorum's plan.</div><div><br />
</div>William Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13242879521144339841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4421006301341157258.post-66634047598734221902018-06-28T19:15:00.004-04:002018-06-28T19:15:55.128-04:00A Twisted Tale Of New Jersey Use Tax<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><p>This post was originally published on <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/#36b7c0ef6271" target="_blank">Forbes</a> Oct 14, 2015</p><br><br />
If you ever bought one of those big soft pretzels at a mall or a stadium, you probably didn't worry about where the "pretzel warmer" that held it at the proper temperature for your enjoyment came from. I'm going to tell you anyway. <a data-mce-href="http://www.jjsnack.com/jjdocumentbank/pdf/SUPERPRETZEL_Brochure_2013.pdf" href="http://www.jjsnack.com/jjdocumentbank/pdf/SUPERPRETZEL_Brochure_2013.pdf">J&J Snack Food Sales Corp</a> makes soft pretzels under a variety of brands including Suprerpretzel, Mr. Pretzel and Seriously Twisted.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4421006301341157258" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a data-mce-href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/785956/000143774914021361/jjsf20140930_10k.htm" href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/785956/000143774914021361/jjsf20140930_10k.htm">According to its </a>10-K , soft pretzels accounted for 22% of the company's over $900 million in sales and it believes that it is the only national distributor of soft pretzels. You can buy a pretzel warmer, which also serves as a kind of display case, from J&J, but if you are a good enough customer, the company will loan you one. The warmers are assembled and tested on an as-needed basis in Bellmawr, NJ. It is possible that the Bellmawr location is strategic as it is about an hour and a half drive from New York City, where many soft pretzels are consumed, and a similar distance from Lancaster PA. <a data-mce-href="http://reallancastercounty.com/local-eats/sips-sweets-and-crunchy-treats/pretzels/" href="http://reallancastercounty.com/local-eats/sips-sweets-and-crunchy-treats/pretzels/"> Lancaster County</a> considers itself the pretzel capital of America.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6qal-ZKXJ8E/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6qal-ZKXJ8E?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">I hope that Bellmawr's critical role in the pretzel world has not been jeopardized by the<a data-mce-href="http://law.justia.com/cases/new-jersey/appellate-division-unpublished/2015/a2609-13.html" href="http://law.justia.com/cases/new-jersey/appellate-division-unpublished/2015/a2609-13.html"> recent decision Superior Court of New Jersey </a>upholding a decision of the New Jersey Tax Court that found J&J liable for $258,226.99 in use tax on the parts to assemble the pretzel warmers. J&J had been audited on this issue in 1992 and was told that it needed to pay use tax on warmers which were sold or loaned to New Jersey customers. In the audit that gave rise to the litigation, it was noted that the appropriate amount was being paid on said warmers although it was incorrectly reported as sales tax. So no harm, no foul, no change? Not so fast.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">On this audit the state took the position that J&J needed to pay use tax on all the parts used to assemble warmers regardless of where they are sent. New Jersey was thus demanding use tax on pieces of metal, plastic and glass that were in the state for a couple of days being assembled into a warmer that went to another state. In the end the courts agreed with the state's position knocking out several seemingly solid arguments that J&J raised:</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">(1) mere storage and withdrawal from storage of the Warmers plaintiff manufactures in New Jersey exempts the Warmers from use tax; (2) the Warmers are use tax exempt because plaintiff uses the Warmers as part of the manufacturing and processing of pretzels; (3) the Division should be equitably estopped from its assessment because of its 1992 Final Determination; (4) the Division should not be permitted to assess plaintiff use tax on the Warmers based on the equitable principle of laches;</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Actually I had no idea as to what the "equitable principle of laches" is, but it sounded good. There were a couple of other arguments I didn't get at all.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Maybe They Might Do Better <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Next" key="next" natural_id="fred/company/3064" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" subtype="company" type="organization">Next</span> Time Around</strong></div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">The Tax Court determined plaintiff's purchase, assembly and distribution of the Warmer parts in New Jersey fell within the Act's broad ambit and were therefore subject to a use tax, regardless of whether they were shipped to in-state or out-of-state customers. We agree. </blockquote><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Plaintiff first challenges the application of N.J.S.A. 54:32B-6(A) by arguing the Tax Court erred in presuming its purchase of Warmer parts was a “retail sale.” N.J.S.A. 54:32B-2(e) defines “retail sale” as “any sale, lease, or rental for any purpose, other than for resale, sublease, or subrent.” (emphasis added). Plaintiff alleges the Warmer parts are purchased for resale, “as a component part of a product produced for sale by the purchaser,” whether the Warmers are loaned or sold and, therefore, no use tax applies. </blockquote><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">However, plaintiff did not present this argument to the Tax Court, notwithstanding that the opportunity to do so was available. We note that plaintiff consistently argued two separate theories, in the alternative, for the Warmers' exemption from the use tax, each denied by the Tax Court. We will decline consideration of an issue not properly raised before the trial court, unless the jurisdiction of the court is implicated or the matter concerns an issue of great public importance. Zaman v. Felton, 219 N.J. 199, 226-27 (2014) (citing Nieder v. Royal Indem. Ins. Co., 62 N.J. 229, 234 (1973) ). Neither situation exists here and, therefore, we decline to consider plaintiff's contention on this point.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>The Real Lawyerly Stuff Didn't Work Either</strong><br />
<br />
The equitable estoppel and laches arguments go back to the 1992 audit. Laches is an equitable remedy <span data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;">“'invoked to deny a party enforcement of a known right when the party engages in an inexcusable and unexplained delay in exercising that right to the prejudice of the other party.". It seemed pretty solid to me. J&J was audited for 1992 and adjusted their practices and then they are told something different. The Court, however, did not find any "inexcusable delay".</span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span data-mce-style="color: #000000;" style="color: black;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>SALT Is Hard</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">The quarter million dollar assessment is not going to break J&J which earned nearly $72 million in the year ended September 27, 2014 and is debt-free. Still <span class="tweet_quote" display="New Jersey has just given the company an incentive to outsource the warmer assembly" style="color: #00acee;">New Jersey has just given the company an incentive to outsource the warmer assembly and have them direct shipped to wherever they are being used.<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span> The case also illustrates how tricky sales and use tax issues are.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Other Coverage</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><a data-mce-href="http://us.altusgroup.com/newsroom/blog/2015/salt-roundup-09212015/" href="http://us.altusgroup.com/newsroom/blog/2015/salt-roundup-09212015/">Altus Group</a> had a brief write-up. <a data-mce-href="http://www.bna.com/sales-tax-slice-b57982059062/" href="http://www.bna.com/sales-tax-slice-b57982059062/"> Ernest Hunter of BNA </a>noted that the case might have gone differently in Wyoming</div><blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Had the case arisen in Wyoming, a Wyoming court might have found differently on this issue. A recent Wyoming ruling dealt with broadband equipment brought into the state to be prepared for out-of-state use. The Wyoming Department of Revenue held that temporarily storing and sorting broadband equipment in the state was not a taxable use, because the owner would ultimately use the equipment for its intended purpose out-of-state. If the New Jersey court had adopted this reasoning, things might have ended more favorably for J&J.</blockquote><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">I don't know. Wyoming seems awful far from the heart of pretzeldom in Lancaster, so that is not a lot of help.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div>William Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13242879521144339841noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4421006301341157258.post-48506966950834568062018-06-28T19:14:00.002-04:002018-06-28T19:14:36.932-04:00Democrats Have Civil Debate With No New Tax Positions<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><p>This post was originally published on <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/#36b7c0ef6271" target="_blank">Forbes</a> Oct 14, 2015</p><br><br />
I covered the Democratic debate from the <a data-mce-href="http://www.eatsahara.com/" href="http://www.eatsahara.com/">Sahara Restaurant i</a>n Worcester Mass which had been taken over by<a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/We-Want-Bernie-Worcester-505418432941332/timeline/" href="https://www.facebook.com/We-Want-Bernie-Worcester-505418432941332/timeline/"> We Want Bernie - Worcester</a> for the evening. I was mainly looking for new bits of tax information from each of the candidates. There was nothing. The tax comments were interspersed in discussions of other issues. The candidates were very civil with one another and avoided taking advantage of the few zingers that were put in the question. Here is what I noted the most.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Jim Webb</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4421006301341157258" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>I have nothing on Jim Webb's tax thinking going into thinking into the debate, although I did pick up a scrap on youtube, about him being in favor of some sort of favored rate to encourage corporations to bring money onshore.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Nothing on taxes from Webb. The one thing they tried to embarrass him about was a remark he had made about affirmative action. He indicated that he had never opposed affirmative action for African Americans given the special history of slavery and Jim Crow, but that the more expansive concept of "people of color" can leave out recognition of historically disadvantaged white groups.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">He was handed a chance to embarrass Sanders over Sanders conscientious objector status in Vietnam while Webb was a decorated Marine. He passed on that, while still indicating that he, Webb, was most qualified to be Commander in Chief. Webb stood out when foreign <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="policy" key="/law" natural_id="channel_5section_86" style="background: rgb(221 , 221 , 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="section">policy</span> was discussed by mentioning China's activities in the South China Sea and its cyberwarfare.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">His best line was right at the end when the candidates were asked about who the enemies they had made were. Webb went last and after Hillary mentioned the Republicans and Bernie mentioned <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Wall Street" key="/wall-street" natural_id="channel_1section_6" style="background: rgb(221 , 221 , 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="section">Wall Street</span>, Webb said it was probably the guy who threw a grenade at him, but that guy is not around anymore.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Bernie Sanders</strong><br />
<br />
I got quite a bit on tax <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="policy" key="/law" natural_id="channel_5section_86" style="background: rgb(221 , 221 , 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="section">policy</span> from the Sanders campaign, which I <a data-mce-href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2015/08/30/tax-planning-for-the-risk-of-a-bernie-sanders-win/" href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2015/08/30/tax-planning-for-the-risk-of-a-bernie-sanders-win/">covered here.</a> Some of the high points are lower thresholds and higher rates for estate tax, elimination of favorable rates on capital gains and dividends and elimination on cap on earnings subject to social security tax.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="tweet_quote" display="Sanders mentioned taxing Wall Street speculation for college funding. Genuflected to Pope Francis on carbon tax." style="color: #00acee;">Sanders mentioned his tax on Wall Street speculation in the context of college funding. On climate change after genuflecting to Pope Francis he mentioned supporting a carbon tax.<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Bernie's finest moment was when he was handed a chance to bust Hillary about e-mails and he told her that everybody is sick of hearing about her damn e-mails and they shook hands.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4421006301341157258" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-RGmBwaTuz0/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-RGmBwaTuz0?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">The other interesting thing was that in the intro, Bernie did not talk about his wife and children and grandchildren but went straight into the issues.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong><span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Hillary Clinton" key="hillary-clinton" natural_id="faris/13175" style="background: rgb(221 , 221 , 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="person">Hillary Clinton</span></strong><br />
<strong><span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Hillary Clinton" key="hillary-clinton" natural_id="faris/13175" style="background: rgb(221 , 221 , 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="person"><br />
</span></strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Hillary is center stage because of her rating in the polls. Her<a data-mce-href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2015/10/13/hillary-clinton-and-tax-complification/" href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2015/10/13/hillary-clinton-and-tax-complification/"> campaign tax positions</a> so far indicate that you shouldn't vote for Hillary if you want a shorter Internal Revenue Code.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="tweet_quote" display="Hillary mentioned her profit sharing proposal in the intro, where she also mentioned that she is a grandmother" style="color: #00acee;">Hillary mentioned her profit sharing proposal in the intro, where she also mentioned that she is a grandmother<span class="tweet_icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("/assets/images/tweet_quote_span.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 15px; left: 2px; position: relative; top: 2px; width: 18px;"></span></span> . When she was questioned about not being consistently progressive, she said that she was a progressive who liked to get things done.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Martin O'Malley</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">O'Malley's campaign indicated they would get to me after the debate, so he is a blank slate.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">O'Malley's remains a blank slate on taxes. His toughest moment was when he was asked about violence in Baltimore.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Lincoln Chafee</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2015/10/13/lincoln-chafee-ok-with-tax-code-as-is-with-higher-top-rate-and-exemptions/" href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2015/10/13/lincoln-chafee-ok-with-tax-code-as-is-with-higher-top-rate-and-exemptions/">Chafee seems to think</a> the Internal Revenue Code isn't so bad, but he would like to see a 45% bracket kick in at $750,000.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chafee managed to work in a mention of his call for a higher tax bracket. He kind of reminds me a bit of Mr. Rogers, which maybe wouldn't be such a bad thing.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><strong>Summary</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", "Bitstream Charter", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">A good time was had by all in the Sahara in spite of sound system difficulties and a couple of regulars who did not think a few dozen Bernie Sanders supporters trying to watch a debate should prevent them from shooting the breeze as per usual. The next meeting which I will not make is at Jillians. There were a group of students mainly from <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Clark University" key="clark-university" natural_id="fred/college/160" style="background: rgb(221 , 221 , 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" subtype="college" type="organization">Clark University</span> in a circle talking at the end. One of them was talking about a million student march on <span active="false" class="forbes_entity" data-mce-style="padding: 1px; color: #000; background: #ddd;" display="Washington" key="/washington" natural_id="channel_1section_7" style="background: rgb(221 , 221 , 221); color: black; padding: 1px;" type="section">Washington</span> to demand free public college and student debt forgiveness. Here is <a data-mce-href="http://www.angrymillennials.com/?p=1372" href="http://www.angrymillennials.com/?p=1372">something on that.</a> All in, it was a good night, although my<a data-mce-href="http://ytmp.blogspot.com/2015/10/live-blogging-from-debate-night-with-we.html" href="http://ytmp.blogspot.com/2015/10/live-blogging-from-debate-night-with-we.html"> attempt at live blogging </a>was pretty much a bust.</div><div><br />
</div>William Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13242879521144339841noreply@blogger.com0