Deficit Hawks, Tax Chickens

We just liked this headline. From the New York Times economix blog:

"I’m not sure who invented the term “deficit hawk,” but it seems an odd name for a creature too chicken to raise taxes."

Nicely put. And it's a nice article too.

Putting the same point, but in a different way, we have Professor Calvin H. Johnson of the University of Texas saying:

"The (deficit) commission got distracted from its mission. It wants to hand out sweets by cutting revenues and providing tax incentives. This is not the time, how- ever, to be reducing the tax revenue from corporations.

Somebody else should hand out the sweets. The job of the commission is to make us take cod liver oil."

Also worth reading (hat tip: Taxprof). With gems such as:

We should be spending $4 million a year right now to pay for 20 top-flight professionals to go on search- and-destroy missions for tax shelters. . . The Shelf Project, which I am a part of, has proposed 50 different ways to raise $1 trillion a year. Each project can be used independently when Congress is ready to raise revenue. All the proposals would make the tax system fairer and more efficient.

The proposal is here. With an interesting table attached.

And on U.S. tax changes, this fiery piece from Michael Hudson is, as always, worth reading.