Politics

Frequently we look for political solutions to income inequality and the wealth gap. While the issues can be improved slightly from political action, there are two additional ways to close the wealth gap and level income.

Politics is the messiest way to fix these problems and history offers ample warning for those who seek answers from this source. One need not look further than Mao’s China or Stalin’s Russia to see how abysmal political leveling can be. North Korea is a modern example of how not to level the playing field. 

Let’s turn our attention to the second way income inequality can be reduced. Walter Scheidel in his book The Great Leveler provides what he calls the “Four Horsemen” of leveling: war, revolution, collapse and plague. Historically these four horsemen have been the leading cause of leveling income and wealth. 

Once again this is not a comforting thought. You can read Scheidel’s work for an in-depth review of his research. The record is clear, however; it takes great dislocation, pain, suffering and death for income and wealth to level naturally.

In recent times we were told the U.S. was caput because  a womanizer like Clinton was president. Did anyone take the time to research Franklin and Jefferson? Caput! I think not!

Then Bush was a sign of the End Days. Nope! President George W. Bush proved to have human failing, but we did fine.

President Obama was the worst. I had clients who came into my office saying their life;s mission was to prevent Obama from getting a second term. What a waste of time! The economy grew, the stock market was up and America and the world did great after a serious economic debacle.

And now we have the hated President Trump. Many tears have been shed. The Supreme Court is forever tainted (unless you read few history books where you’ll discover it was always tainted). I’m not a fan of Trump. I disagree with many of his policies. But not all! An honest person will find issues where agreement exists. Who doesn’t like lower taxes? We can debate who gets how much and the fairness of taxes, but com’on! I also agree with more infrastructure spending. I’m against tariffs which are nothing more than a tax on consumers. Call it a quasi value added tax, if you will.

If you’re reading this the day it’s published it means this is the due date for extensions for partnerships and corporations. If you work in a tax office and things are quiet you might want to consider another job. (This is an inside joke directed at a former employee who struck out on her own. If you need bookkeeping in Vegas I know a qualified person to handle that. Seriously.)

I thought today would be the perfect day for me to announce my candidacy for president with a few tax policies I’ll sign into law via executive order if elected. Some of you might be darn excited about this unwelcome event as you think I’m a Democrat. Other might be excited because they think I’m a Republican. The truth is I’m neither. I prefer to waffle between both side of the aisle or as the police call it: walking in a drunken stupor.

Hatred is in the air and it’s costing the nation plenty and a whole lot more to those who harbor the hate. The President has now banned transgender people from the military and the alt-right is cheering. And it’s a stupid idea.

It is easy to see how dumb this policy is if you think about it for even a moment. If we exclude gays and transgender people from the military because it might hurt morale, why not exclude these people from all areas of society. Think about it. We can complain when they work and complain when they don’t. We can really mess with these people.

But let’s not stop there, my Aryan Judeo-Christian friends. As long as we are excluding those we consider undesirable we need to name the groups we want out. The gays and transgender people are only the beginning. We had a little thing called the Civil War that started 156 years ago. The discussion was slavery if memory serves me right, but it might be fake news. Women gained suffrage in 1920 in the U.S. with ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. White men haven’t heard the end of it ever since.

Eight years ago Barack Obama was hitting full stride in his first term as President. The economy was in tatters. The banking industry was only beginning to come to terms with the level of bad loans they had on their books. The largest insurance company (AIG) required a bailout to survive; the largest domestic automakers needed a bailout to preserve jobs; nearly every bank required assistance and every money center bank actually took assistance to weather the storm. This easily could have been another Great Depression.

So what did President Obama do in this desperate environment? Why, tackle health care reform, of course.

Every President has a short window of opportunity to build a coalition at the beginning of their Presidency to pass a key piece—or if lucky, several pieces—of legislation. These are the tough issues, things like major infrastructure investments and tax reform.

Disclaimer: This is not a political rant! The time is ripe for this message and Trump happens to be President. It is meant as satire wrapped around a serious message you must follow or suffer the financial consequences.

Nothing is more fun than good times. The recent run in the stock market in nothing short of incredible. After years of slow growth economy and low inflation coupled with a rising stock market, the stock market has exploded. The chart has gone parabolic! But this is not a story about investing or the stock market, however. This story is about pissing off Donald Trump.

Promises of faster economic growth and more high paying jobs face reality after Election Day. President Trump has hitched his wagon to a promise of hyper economic growth, in the neighborhood of 4% or higher. Depending on the day, a lot higher. I’m guessing if things go well we can see wages double every three, maybe four, years. And the best part, no inflation while the government pays off the national debt and increases spending across the board. Such are the promises of politicians.