Penalty Killer

In a new report, Robert Weissman of Multinational Monitor points to twelve deregulatory steps that led to the financial meltdown. It also does an analysis of the amount of money Wall Street poured into Washington in campaign contributions and lobbying over the last ten years. Their answer? A staggering $5.1 billion over the past decade.

The Obama administration says its repeal of Bush-era tax cuts for wealthier Americans will help pay for a $634 billion reserve fund for what it calls its top fiscal priority: healthcare reform. But can the US achieve real healthcare reform without adopting single-payer? We host a debate between Dr. David Himmelstein of Physicians for a National Health Program and Len Nichols of the New America Foundation.

After a month in office, the Obama administration has surprised many of its supporters by embracing or appearing receptive to key parts of the Bush administration’s counterterrorism strategy, from indefinite detention, to kidnapping and rendition, to invoking “state secrets” privileges. Salon.com blogger Glenn Greenwald joins The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer to discuss.

The IRS has some great tax tips for California's taxpayers. Take a look at a recent tax tip about selecting your tax preparer. Here's what it said:

You are legally responsible for what’s on your tax returns even if they are prepared by someone else. So, it’s important to find a qualified tax professional. If you will be paying someone to do your tax return, choose a tax preparer wisely.

The most reputable preparers will request to see your records and receipts and will ask you multiple questions to determine your total income and your qualifications for expenses, deductions, and other items. By doing so, they have your best interest in mind and are trying to help you avoid penalties, interest, or additional taxes that could result from later IRS contacts.

Most tax return preparers are professional, honest and provide excellent service to their clients; you can use the following tips to choose a preparer who will offer the best service for their tax preparation needs.

Find out what the service fees are before the return is prepared. Avoid preparers who base their fee on a percentage of the amount of your refund or who claim they can obtain larger refunds than other preparers.

Only use a tax professional that signs your tax return and provides you with a copy for your records.

Avoid tax preparers that ask you to sign a blank tax form.

Choose a tax preparer that will be around to answer questions after the return has been filed.
Ask questions. Do you know anyone who has used the tax professional? Were they satisfied with the service they received?

Check to see if the preparer has any questionable history with the Better Business Bureau, the state’s board of accountancy for CPAs or the state’s bar association for attorneys. Find out if the preparer belongs to a professional organization that requires its members to pursue continuing education and also holds them accountable to a code of ethics.

Determine if the preparer’s credentials meet your needs. Does your state have licensing or registration requirements for paid preparers? Is he or she an Enrolled Agent, Certified Public Accountant, or Attorney? If so, the preparer can represent taxpayers before the IRS on all matters – including audits, collections, and appeals. Other return preparers can represent taxpayers only in audits regarding a return signed as a preparer.

Before you sign your tax return, review it and ask questions.

Almost everything we now do on a regular basis, from sending emails, taking photographs, writing text messages, calling on our cell phones, downloading music, typing on our computers, and using our credit and ATM cards, all of it generates information. And every single day the endless information generated by our ever-expanding digital footprints is recorded, tracked, searched through, sold, analyzed, and saved forever. Some might call this hyper-networked digital explosion and its potential for collaboration and innovation a kind of utopia. But others warn that it also raises important concerns about privacy, identity, freedom of expression, accountability, and the future of democracy.

As the new tax filing season begins, the IRS is taking steps to help people who owe back taxes. The IRS can help in the following areas, to mention just a few:

Hardship Situation. Postponement of Collection Actions: IRS employees will have greater authority to suspend collection actions in hardship cases where you are unable to pay. If you recently lost a job or face other financial problems, IRS assistors may be able to suspend collection in some situations without documentation to minimize the burden on you.

Home Equity Values in Flux Result in An Additional Review for Offers in Compromise: An Offer in Compromise (OIC), an agreement between a taxpayer and the IRS that settles the taxpayer’s tax debt for less than full amount owed, may be a viable option for taxpayers experiencing economic difficulties. However, the equity taxpayers have in real property can be a barrier to an OIC being accepted. With the uncertainty in the housing market, the IRS recognizes that the real-estate valuations used to assess ability to pay are not necessarily accurate. So in instances where the accuracy of local real-estate valuations is in question or other unusual hardships exist, the IRS is creating a new, second review of the information to determine if accepting an offer is appropriate.

The IRS May Provide Added Flexibility Where Installment Agreement Payments Are Missed: The IRS is allowing more flexibility for individuals with existing Installment Agreements who have difficulty making payments because of a job loss or other financial hardship. Depending on the situation, the IRS may allow a skipped payment or a reduced monthly payment amount. If you are in this situation you should contact the IRS.

Speedier Levy Releases: The IRS will speed the delivery of levy releases by easing requirements on taxpayers who request expedited levy releases for hardship reasons. Taxpayers seeking expedited releases of levies to an employer or bank should contact the IRS number shown on the notice of levy to discuss available options. When calling, taxpayers requesting a levy release due to hardship should be prepared to provide the IRS with the fax number of the bank or employer processing the levy.

Prevention of Offer in Compromise Defaults: Taxpayers who are unable to meet the periodic payment terms of an accepted OIC will be able to contact the IRS office handling the offer for available options to help them avoid default.

A political/emotional/financial whirlwind is brewing in the Kansas Senate over a bill that would repeal the state’s death penalty law.

The issue is one most Kansans—and politicians—haven’t had reason to consider for about 15 years.

Former Gov. Joan Finney—a pro-life Catholic—allowed the death penalty to become law because the Legislature passed it, but without her signature because she didn’t believe in taking a life under any circumstances. Not once in 15 years, though there have been many murders committed in Kansas that met the criteria for a sentence of death, has Kansas executed anyone.

Among the uglier issues swirling around the repeal bill is just plain politics.

The bill was nearly sent to a summer study committee to emerge into the spotlight of debate next year. That’s an election year.

A vote to keep Kansas’ death penalty statute sounds pretty tough on crime, doesn’t it? That’s why the issue could be a key to a campaign for attorney general or by a legislator in a district made uneasy and fearful by a recent murder.

Along with the politics is the raw emotion of a capital murder trial. Loved ones of murder victims become prominent and our hearts go out to them. But, capital punishment isn’t about bringing comfort or closure to survivors.

Murder is a crime against the state. Kansas law includes a death penalty because the state—on behalf of all of us—won’t stand for anyone killing a Kansan. It sounds ironic, but murder is a crime against all the people of the state of Kansas, not specifically the victim or his/her family.

Government doesn’t do individual “get even” punishment. You wouldn’t want it to.

Oh, and the peg on which the repeal of the death penalty hangs this session is its cost. It’s cheaper to lock an already-convicted murderer away for the rest of his/her life than pay for the high-cost defense on the single issue of the possibility of execution.

Not an especially noble issue with which to frame the debate, but in tight budget times, it is at least worth considering.

The whole issue is at once unpleasant, emotional, political, and intriguing in a “drive slowly past the wreck” way.

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