Joe Kristan

Retired accountant. Recovering tax blogger. Views are mine alone. (who else would want them?)

[A City That Works @acitythatworks]

Better transit requires better leadership, and this is the Chicago region’s last and best chance to fully realize a world-class transit system.

Read the full article: https://t.co/WIrYud2ems

[Joe Kristan @joebwan]

@DailyTaxMemes Go big AND go home.

[Joe Kristan @joebwan]

Then there are pardons for things that are more in the nature of "theft" than fraud. Take like Paul Walczak, admitted using withheld millions in taxes from nursing home employees for living large, including a yacht.

[David J. Bier @David_J_Bier]

Setting aside the fact that Trump was convicted of fraud, here are all the people who committed fraud and were pardoned by Trump:
Rod R. Blagojevich (Wire fraud under color of official right (8 counts)), Brian KelseyBrian Kelsey (Conspiracy to defraud the United States), Devon Archer (Conspiracy to commit securities fraud; securities fraud), Trevor Milton (Securities fraud; wire fraud (2 counts)), Jason Galanis (Conspiracy to commit securities fraud (2 counts); securities fraud; investment adviser fraud), Ozy Media, Inc. (Conspiracy to commit securities fraud; conspiracy to commit wire fraud), Carlos Roy Watson (Conspiracy to commit securities fraud; conspiracy to commit wire fraud), Michele Fiore (Conspiracy to commit wire fraud; wire fraud (6 counts)), Scott Howard Jenkins (Honest services mail fraud; honest services wire fraud (3 counts)), Julie Chrisley (Conspiracy to commit bank fraud; bank fraud (5 counts); wire fraud), Todd Chrisley (Conspiracy to commit bank fraud; bank fraud (5 counts)), Lawrence S. Duran (Conspiracy to commit health care fraud; health care fraud (11 counts)), Michael Gerard Grimm (Aiding/assisting preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns), Marian I Morgan (Conspiracy to defraud the United States; wire fraud (7 counts); transfer of funds taken by fraud (5 counts)), John G. Rowland (Conspiracy to defraud the United States), Charles Overton Scott (Conspiracy to commit securities fraud; securities fraud), George Anthony Devolder Santos (Wire fraud — the Party Program Scheme), Glen Casada (Conspiracy to defraud the United States; honest services wire fraud (4 counts); use of fictitious name to carry out a fraud), Cade Cothren (Conspiracy to defraud the United States; honest services wire fraud (6 counts)), Robert Henry Harshbarger, Jr. (Health care fraud), Joseph Lewis (Conspiracy to commit securities fraud; securities fraud (2 counts)), David Gentile (Conspiracy to commit securities fraud; conspiracy to commit wire fraud; securities fraud; wire fraud (2 counts)), Enrique Roberto Cuellar (Honest services wire fraud; honest services wire fraud conspiracy), Imelda Rios Cuellar (Honest services wire fraud; honest services wire fraud conspiracy), Jacob Deutsch (Conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud), Adriana Isabel Camberos (Conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud; wire fraud (7 counts)), Andres Enrique Camberos (Conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud; wire fraud (7 counts)), Julio M. Herrera Velutini (Honest services wire fraud (2 counts)), David Levy (Conspiracy to commit securities fraud; securities fraud), Hollie Ann Nadel (Conspiracy to commit money laundering and bank fraud), Mark T. Rossini (Honest services wire fraud), Wanda Vazquez Garced (Honest services wire fraud), Terren Scott Peizer (Securities fraud; insider trading (2 counts)), Timothy S. Smith (Conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service), Stephen E. Buyer (Securities fraud (4 counts)), Joshua L. Davis (Conspiracy to defraud the United States and violate the Clean Air Act), Matthew Sidney Geouge (Conspiracy to defraud the United States and violate the Clean Air Act; tax evasion), Adam R. Kidan (Conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud; wire fraud), Danny Preston Conrad (Embezzling by postal employee), Jack Charles Harvard (False statement to a federally insured bank, and aiding and abetting), Jeremy Young Hutchinson (Conspiracy to commit bribery; aiding and abetting filing of false income tax return; conspiracy; criminal forfeiture)

[Andrew Lautz @andrew_lautz]

This is basically a gigantic intergenerational transfer of wealth:

➡️ To Boomer and Gen X retirees who, for a moment, are guaranteed full benefits.
⬅️ From young workers, families, and near retirees who suffer from higher borrowing costs, market shocks, and slower econ growth.

[Joe Kristan @joebwan]

@ForemanTaxLaw

[Joe Kristan @joebwan]

https://t.co/6qvMqOXxMU

The pardon came through after his mother attended a $1 million/plate Trump fundraiser. https://t.co/6qvMqOXxMU

[Joe Kristan @joebwan]

@GeitnerSimmons And US interests are to free consumers to buy from whoever they wish. They are to allow our producers to buy their inputs from whoever they want to, to enable them to compete with other producers whose inputs are not tariffed. That would simplify the negotiations.

[David J. Bier @David_J_Bier]

Biden and Trump imprisoned this guy for 13 months for no other reason than that he was fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine to the USA, and they didn't want him to do that. Then they sent him back to his persecutors, directly aiding Putin's crackdown on dissenters

[Andy Masley @AndyMasley]

In all seriousness I think this represents both a disturbing society-level inability to process basic facts that involve numbers, a lurch toward degrowth on the left and right, and a failure of mainstream journalism to go beyond just nodding along to the "concerns" of everyday people without checking to see if they're the result of a game of telephone that leads back to nothing

[Patrick Hedger @pat_hedger]

Literally *all* of Google’s data centers use 50 golf courses worth of water.

There are 175 golf courses in Palm Springs, California alone.

[Joe Kristan @joebwan]

Honky Tonk Thursday on Navy Pier.

[Stuart Loren @StuLoren]

Cool. After all, why would we want to bring new taxpayers into the city when we could just increase taxes on current residents and businesses?…

[Joe Kristan @joebwan]

@paulvieira Cubs fans:

[Joe Kristan @joebwan]

@GeitnerSimmons Good writer, but it’s bad to try to prevent your neighbors from monetizing their opportunities in order to suit your own aesthetic preferences.

[Kelly Phillips Erb @taxgirl]

Sooo, I have some news: This is my last full week at Forbes.
As of 8.26, I’ll be back at https://t.co/InpA8jbF3w, and yes, there will be a newsletter: tax news, Ask The Taxgirl, Taxes From A to Z, and deep dives when the tax world gets weird.
Join me → https://t.co/bD9mnSv2Yf

[Dominic Pino @DominicJPino]

The people have spoken. They want unlimited ice cream for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This is a vote of no confidence against balanced diet fundamentalism.

[Billy Binion @billybinion]

After the government charged Abrego Garcia, it said it would deport him to Costa Rica if he pleaded guilty. He declined to plead guilty but agreed to be deported. So the admin is seeking revenge by dragging this out & trying to send him to Africa. That’s the story.

[Joe Kristan @joebwan]

What Finland can tell us about what it means to be a high-tax country. https://t.co/lmD1KvmIQ5

[Dominic Pino @DominicJPino]

Should hotels by the beach be forced to charge the same rates all year?

Should airline tickets cost the same whether you book them five months in advance or the day before?

Should happy hours be banned?

If you answered "no" to any of these, you support dynamic pricing.

[Advocates for Self-Government @TheAdvocates]

Norway’s welfare state isn’t funded by taxing a handful of billionaires.

Ordinary workers pay for it through much higher income, payroll, and consumption taxes.

The benefits are real. So is the price.
https://t.co/Bh10S99WQ8