Focused Searching- November 30, 2006 You can now find on the right side of the page a search box below the title "Search Tax & Business Law Commentary Google Co-op Search Engine." This will allow readers to conduct Google searches that are limited to various tax and business blogs and other related sites. Thus far, the search engine is limited to searching the following sites:TaxProfataxingmatterDeath and TaxesMauled AgainRoth & Company, P.C.Center for Tax StudiesTaxaliciousThe Tax FoundationCitizens for Tax JusticeStart...http://taxbiz.blogspot.com/2006/10/focused-searching.html Comment on the 2006 Elections- November 29, 2006 There has been a lot of hoo-ha in the media about how the voter shift to the Democrats was not nearly as great as is typically the case in mid-term elections. Just to check, I compared the overall vote for the House of Representatives in 1994 with the vote this year.In 1994, allegedly a banner year for the Republicans, the Republicans got 51.5% of the popular vote for members of the House compared to 44.7% for the Democrats, a little less than a 7 point spread. See here.This time out, the...http://taxbiz.blogspot.com/2006/11/comment-on-2006-elections.html Limited Liability and Its Discontents (Gilbert and Sullivan Edition)- November 27, 2006 Apparently, critics of limited liability have been around for a long time. From Gilbert and Sullivan's Utopia, Limited, the song Limited Liability:MR. GOLDBURY. Some seven men form an Association, (If possible, all Peers and Baronets) They start off with a public declaration To what extent they mean to pay their debts. That's called their Capital: if they are wary They will not quote it as a sum immense. The figure's immaterial--it may vary From eighteen million down to eighteen pence. .http://taxbiz.blogspot.com/2006/11/limited-liability-and-its-discontents.html Focused Searching Update- November 17, 2006 I've added several more blogs to the Co-Op Search:California Estate and Business Law BlogBusiness Law ProfDelaware Corporate and Commercial Litigation BlogFlorida Asset Protection BlogandIdeoblog (Larry Ribstein)Again, any suggestions as to additional blogs or websites is welcome.http://taxbiz.blogspot.com/2006/10/focused-searching-update.html Knaves--Airbrush Edition- November 7, 2006 "As a result of Stalin's purges, and later destalinization, many photographs of officials from the periods show extensive airbrushing, often entire people have been removed. The term 'airbrushed out' has come to mean rewriting history to pretend that something was never there."Just in case you've forgotten what this election is about.Hat tip: Brainshrub.com and Eric.http://taxbiz.blogspot.com/2006/11/knaves-airbrush-edition.html An Aside on Employment Numbers- November 5, 2006 In a recent post, I commented on two articles in the WSJ, one in the news section and one on the Op-Ed page. The employment numbers used in the Op-Ed piece seemed to me not to be credible. After some investigation, I discovered that the Op-Ed piece used the so-called "household survey" which reported significantly greater employment growth than the "payroll (or establishment) survey."In yesterday's WSJ, Greg Ip focused on the two surveys and their divergent numbers (Divergent Data Raise...http://taxbiz.blogspot.com/2006/11/aside-on-employment-numbers.html Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)- November 4, 2006 At least as long ago as 1947, it was widely known that cigarette smoking was unhealthy, hence the caption on this post from the title of a famous popular song of that year. Apparently, the people at the Tax Foundation haven't figured out that this represents a public health issue. They oppose an increase in cigarette excise taxes because of a perceived spur to the criminal enterprise of cigarette bootlegging. (And see here.)As long ago as 1981, the cigarette industry realized that:Given a...http://taxbiz.blogspot.com/2006/11/smoke-smoke-smoke-that-cigarette.html Focused Searching Update II- November 1, 2006 Today, I added four sites to the Google Co-Op search engine. Two are tax specific, Tax Playa and Andrew Mitchell International Tax Services. (The Andrew Mitchell site has the incredible collection of tax flow charts that Jim Maule, justifiably, raves about.) The other two, Docuticker and Open CRS Network, have a large amount of research material. While the majority of the material on those sites is not tax or business related, the quality of what can be found there makes it almost imperative.http://taxbiz.blogspot.com/2006/11/focused-searching-update-ii.html |