Daily Archives: April 15, 2005

AMT Snaring More Taxpayers

Posted on by

Avrum Lank takes a look at the AMT – extensively discussed here:

“It’s just another example of smoke and mirrors,” said Paul S. Wickert, owner of Acc-U-Rite Tax & Financial Services Inc., a tax preparation firm on Milwaukee’s south side. “They show you a 20 percent rate with one hand while their other hand is in your back pocket” grabbing more. The AMT tax rate varies from 26% to 28% of earned income, while regular tax brackets go from 10% to 35%.

The impact is especially great for large, middle-class families in states with high income and property taxes, such as Wisconsin. The AMT disallows deductions for local taxes, and does not take into account all of the personal exemptions allowed under the regular tax law.

Running Out of Cheap Gas to Guzzle

Posted on by

James Howard Kunstler:

A few weeks ago, the price of oil ratcheted above fifty-five dollars a barrel, which is about twenty dollars a barrel more than a year ago. The next day, the oil story was buried on page six of the New York Times business section. Apparently, the price of oil is not considered significant news, even when it goes up five bucks a barrel in the span of ten days. That same day, the stock market shot up more than a hundred points because, CNN said, government data showed no signs of inflation. Note to clueless nation: Call planet Earth.
Carl Jung, one of the fathers of psychology, famously remarked that “people cannot stand too much reality.” What you’re about to read may challenge your assumptions about the kind of world we live in, and especially the kind of world into which events are propelling us. We are in for a rough ride through uncharted territory.

The Walker Reopens

Posted on by

Holland Cotter:

The Walker is one of the country’s liveliest and most personable museums. It has been collecting shrewdly and imaginatively for the better part of a century. Of the several hundred works from its permanent holdings that make up its reopening suite of seven inaugural shows, many are being shown for the first time, and very few strike me as expendable. And now there is room for more.