Short Quiz

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johnkarls
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Short Quiz

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Short Quiz


A. Introduction

A-1. Is our focus book (“A Fine Mess”) a good primer for understanding the basics of taxation?

A-2. However, does our focus book focus on “the trees” at the expense of “the forest” -- the really-important policy questions which are ignored?


B. Value-Added Taxes (VAT’s)

B-1. Does Chapter 12 (pp. 227-248) focus on Value-Added Taxes (VAT’s)?

B-2. Does Chapter 12 provide a decent explanation of the basics of VAT’s?

B-3. However, does Chapter 12 fail to explain that VAT’s act as import tariffs and export subsidies?

B-4. And does Chapter 12 fail to explain that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has for many decades coached developing and transition countries to convert their turnover taxes, manufacturer’s tax, retail sales tax, and other indirect taxes to VAT's?

B-5. In other words, does Chapter 12 fail to explain that the IMF coaches the rest of the world to PROTECT THEIR WORKERS while The American Establishment (which we have always defined as the billionaires who, since 1992, have “owned” virtually all of the pols of both political parties, who “own” many (if not most) members of The Mainstream Media, and who “own” many members of academia) have refused, as part of their “War on American Workers,” to permit the U.S. to protect American workers with a VAT!!!???

[Questions B-3 through B-5 were addressed in a 11/29/2016 topic proposal that expired because it failed to receive any votes for the next 6 meetings. Indeed, Questions B-4 and B-5 are effectively quoting from the proposal’s description of “Value Added Tax: A Comparative Approach (Cambridge Tax Law Series)” (Cambridge University Press - 2/2/2015 - 570 pages).]

[The 11/29/2016 topic proposal will be posted separately with this Short Quiz in the Participants’ Comments Section of http://www.ReadingLibererally-SaltLake.org for our 10/4/2017 meeting.]


C. Supposedly “Off Shore” Corporate Funds About To Cause Another Economic Meltdown

C-1. Does our author “Drink the Kool Aid” that the 2008 Economic Meltdown was NOT caused by the so-called “American Jobs Creation Act of 2004” which permitted $4 TRillion -$5 TRillion of earnings that had piled up in TAX-HAVEN SUBSIDIARIES and represented the profits FROM EXPORTING AMERICAN JOBS, to be repatriated as dividends to the U.S. BASED MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES (MNC’S) THAT HAD EXPORTED AMERICAN JOBS at a special one-time 5.25% corporate income tax rate (vs. the normal 35%)???

C-2. Had those supposedly “off shore” funds been long-since loaned by the US MNC’S THAT HAD EXPORTED AMERICAN JOBS to the CHUMP AMERICAN COMPANIES THAT HAD NOT EXPORTED AMERICAN JOBS???

C-3. Accordingly, did the so-called “American Jobs Creation Act of 2004” force the CHUMP AMERICAN COMPANIES THAT HAD NOT EXPORTED AMERICAN JOBS to REDUCE AMERICAN PAYROLL AND CAPITAL EXPENDITURES 2005-2007 by $4 TRillion - $5 TRillion so that they could repay the US MNC’S THAT HAD EXPORTED AMERICAN JOBS???

C-4. Did the US MNC’S THAT HAD EXPORTED AMERICAN JOBS use virtually all of the $4 TRillion - $5 TRillion to re-purchase their own corporate stock???

C-5. Did the Federal Reserve exhibit a complete lack of understanding of what was happening as it lamented throughout the meltdown that the CHUMP AMERICAN COMPANIES THAT HAD NOT EXPORTED AMERICAN JOBS were in desperate need of loans which they could not obtain???

C-6. Since the American economy at the time had a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of only approx. $15 TRillion, is it any surprise that if Congress was going to require the CHUMP AMERICAN COMPANIES THAT HAD NOT EXPORTED AMERICAN JOBS to reduce their payroll by more than 10% (i.e., by $4.5 TRillion over 2005-2007) there would be an economic meltdown???

C-7. And should anyone be surprised that if Congress was going to require the CHUMP AMERICAN COMPANIES to throw 10% of the American workforce out of work, there would be an economic meltdown WHETHER OR NOT THERE HAD EVER BEEN A SUB-PRIME MORTGAGE???

C-8. In other words, doesn’t this batch of Kool Aid comprise nothing more than a successful attempt by the Pols (and their Praetorian Guard, the Mainstream Media) to pretend that Congress was not THE BASIC CAUSE of the 2008 Economic Meltdown?

C-9. Just like crab grass, has another $4 TRillion - $5 TRillion of profits FROM EXPORTING AMERICAN JOBS piled up in the tax-haven subsidiaries of the US MNC’S THAT HAVE EXPORTED AMERICAN JOBS???

C-10. And just like the situation before the so-called “American Jobs Creation Act of 2004,” has the $4 TRillion - $5 TRillion been long-since loaned to the CHUMP AMERICAN COMPANIES THAT HAD NOT EXPORTED AMERICAN JOBS???

C-11. Therefore, just like 2008, are we poised to suffer another Economic Meltdown as the CHUMP AMERICAN COMPANIES THAT HAD NOT EXPORTED AMERICAN JOBS are forced to throw American workers out of their jobs so that they can repay what they owe the tax-haven subsidiaries of the US MNC’S THAT HAVE EXPORTED AMERICAN JOBS???

C-12. Did we mount Six-Degrees-Of-Separation E-mail campaigns on this problem following our meetings of 11/14/2012 and 5/11/2011???

C-13. Is the “last clear chance” (a legal concept that blames an accident 100% on the negligent party that had the “last clear chance” to avoid the accident) to avoid the Great Economic Meltdown of 2018-20?? possessed by the Federal Reserve, each of whose Regional Banks has authority to make emergency loans to businesses in its area???

C-14. Since our “Cassandra” warnings on this problem have been ignored, had Yours Truly been intending when the Tax Reform Act clears Congress to write Certified Mail – Return Receipt letters to each of the Presidents of the Regional Federal Reserve Banks to explain the problem and put them on notice that the Great Economic Meltdown of 2018-20?? will be their fault under the Doctrine of Last Clear Chance???

C-15. Would the Regional Federal Reserve Banks’ acquisition of $4 TRillion - $5 TRillion of indebtedness of the CHUMP AMERICAN COMPANIES THAT HAVE NOT EXPORTED AMERICAN JOBS constitute a de facto expansion of the monetary supply???

C-16. Would that de facto expansion of the monetary supply have to be countered by The Fed’s Open Market Committee which regulates such things as short-term interest rates???

C-17. Since the Federal Debt already exceeds annual GDP, so that any increase in the interest rates paid by the U.S. Government would quickly mean that all of its tax revenues are consumed by interest payments WITH NOTHING LEFT FOR SUCH THINGS AS DEFENSE, are we headed for a catastrophe???

C-18. In other words, hasn’t the Fed been forced, for quite some time, to KEEP AMERICAN EMPLOYMENT LOW (!!!) so that it doesn’t have to raise interest rates significantly (they peaked at more than 20% under Jimmy Carter) which would bankrupt the U.S. Government???


D. Does Our Author “Drink The Kool Aid” on Zillions of Other Topics??? For example --

D-1. The Kool Aid that income/wealth disparity is caused by a failure to tax the rich, rather than caused predominantly by The Establishment’s War on American Workers which includes Exporting American Jobs???

D-2. The Kool Aid that income tax rates affect American employment???

D-2-a. In other words, that The Establishment’s Export of American Jobs will not stop until American wages have been reduced to third-world levels???

D-2-b. And our author’s apparent “love affair” with Flat Taxes (Chapter 6, pp. 93-114, reinforced by Chapter 4’s (pp. 49-70) worshipful treatment of Broad-Based Low-Rate (BBLR) taxes) which predominated in Eastern Europe for a while immediately following the collapse of the Old Soviet Union and were mistakenly credited with producing explosive growth rates??? Rather than the fact that Eastern Europe had incredibly low wage levels (COMPARABLE TO THIRD-WORLD LEVELS) which made them a magnet for capital investment from Western Europe and from The American Establishment?

D-3. The Kool Aid that the size of the Internal Revenue Code can be substantially reduced by simply eliminating various deductions/credits and only taxing U.S.-source income??? After all, regardless of however much rates might be reduced, doesn’t the Internal Revenue Code still have to retain all of the zillions of provisions that determine whether income is U.S. source??? And all of the zillions of provisions about how various entities (corporations, partnerships, trusts, etc.) are distinguished from each other and taxed differently??? And all of the zillions about how financial instruments (debt vs. equity, lease vs. ownership, etc., etc.) are categorized and taxed differently???


E. Miscellaneous

E-1. Does our author ignore one of the most important issues with current Tax Reform – whether there will be “Static Scoring” or “Dynamic” Scoring??? In other words, will “Tax Reform” be “paid for” or will it “break the bank” accompanied by the argument that it will produce growth which will mean increased future tax revenues about which it is hoped that anybody concerned with the national debt, will believe that the increased revenues will be sufficient to “pay for” the tax reform???

E-2. Is our author correct that Apple Inc. (with collaboration from Price Waterhouse Coopers) and Caterpillar Tractor have engaged in tax fraud???

E-3. Is our author correct that so-called “corporate inversions” (moving the headquarters of U.S. companies to tax havens) are effective???

E-4. Does our author describe the “standard structure” for EXPORTING AMERICAN JOBS which we have discussed so often over the years and pursuant to which a U.S.-Based Multi-National Company (MNC) has a tax-haven subsidiary (typically a “Non-Resident Singapore Company”) contract with an independently-owned company that the MNC has established (and, typically, financed) in China or other low-wage country to manufacture the MNC’s products to the MNC’s specifications using the MNC’s technology and “know how” UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF THE EMPLOYEES OF THE TAX-HAVEN SUBSIDIARY???

E-5. Unlike the Apple Inc. structure addressed by Question E-2, does the “standard structure” described in Question E-4 capture in the tax-haven subsidiary virtually all of the MNC’s profit ON U.S. SALES as well as Non-U.S. Sales???

E-6. And unlike the Apple Inc. structure which our author thinks comprises tax fraud, is the “standard structure” rock solid in terms of qualifying for deferral of the U.S. income tax on tax-haven income until it is distributed (or deemed distributed) as a dividend to the MNC under the “substantial transformation” rule???

E-7. Why doesn’t our author recognize that combatting The Establishment’s Export of American Jobs can be accomplished by “the stroke of a pen” -- Renewing 1968 Executive Order 11387 to halt the Export of American Capital???

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