The IRS Can Reunite Families, If We Let It
December 30, 2010The IRS cooperates with other agencies to collect past-due child support, federal agency non-tax debts and state income tax obligations. Yet when it comes to working with investigators to reunite abducted children with their legal guardians, the Service says “no can do.” About 200,000 family abductions are reported annually in the United States. These cases, in which a non-custodial relative illegally takes a child from the custodial parent or guardian, …
A New ‘Sputnik Moment,’ As Misleading As The First
December 29, 2010Our public schools are awash in high-stakes testing, but we aren’t doing well enough. We know this, of course, because the latest test results tell us so. “To be brutally honest…a host of developed nations are out-educating us,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said earlier this month in response to recently released international rankings produced by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The United …
Sense Of Mall
December 28, 2010When my older daughter was 15, we visited a mall neither of us had seen before. While I looked for a directory, my daughter assured me that her “sense of mall” would take us where we needed to go. Amazingly, it did. Teens are an adaptable species, capable of occupying many habitats. They thrive in summer camps, football stadiums, dance studios and even, when necessary, classrooms. But for the suburban …
Unintended Results: Reviving The Single-Payer Option
December 27, 2010If the government wants me to pay for a service — let’s use health care as an example — it can tax me, and then decide how and when I can use the service. I pay a lot of tax money for Medicare and Medicaid, though I do not qualify for those benefits. Maybe this is fine with me; maybe it isn’t. I can express my feelings here or at …
Mad Men, And Women With Reason To Be
December 23, 2010Like many people, I count AMC’s “Mad Men” among my favorite television shows. Unlike many of the show’s critics, I do not find it to be sexist. In a thought-provoking article in The Washington Post, historian Stephanie Coontz praises “Mad Men” as “quite simply, one of the most historically accurate television series ever produced.” Coontz addresses complaints from viewers who say the boorish behavior of the show’s men and the …
Another Problem For LTC Insurance: Earlier Alzheimer’s Diagnosis
December 22, 2010As Anna Pfaehler wrote here on Monday, long term care (LTC) insurance is on shaky ground. New diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer’s disease will likely make the problem even worse. Scientists and doctors have lately developed ways of detecting the disease at earlier stages than previously possible. A recent study of a new imaging technique, known as diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) or diffusion MRI, revealed that this method holds even more …
New York’s ‘Wiseguy’ Revenue Raisers
December 21, 2010Many states are struggling to find ways to balance their budgets, but it seems New York is borrowing some of its approaches from The Sopranos: a combination of intimidation and, shall we say, less-than-perfect bookkeeping. New York’s budget crisis isn’t news; the state has been struggling to reconcile its budget for some time. Taxpayers first became aware of Albany’s plan to use them as a more lucrative revenue source in …
Crumbling Economics Undermine Long-Term Care Offerings
December 20, 2010All publicity may not be good publicity after all, the long-term care (LTC) insurance industry discovered last month. The industry named November “National Long-Term Care Insurance Month” in hopes of raising awareness of the “need” for the product. However, the bulk of the month’s press highlighted LTC’s drawbacks as it focused on the woes of two key insurers, MetLife and John Hancock. In early November, MetLife announced that it will …
Jonathan Bergman in FoxBusiness
December 17, 2010FoxBusiness, December 17, 2010Jonathan Bergman explains some of the benefits of the newly signed tax legislation.
The Best Tax Law Money Can Rent
December 17, 2010Congress used to give us the best laws money could buy. Nowadays, however, the legislative process is not for sale; it can only be rented. After a mere decade of dithering, last night Congress got around to telling us what income, gift and estate taxes will look like — for the next two years. Then we’ll renew our debate about “permanent” tax laws. Ridiculous? OK. Irresponsible? You’ll get no argument …
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