Last week this blog talked about several corporate tax loopholes – corporate jets and the carried interest issue. This week we cover the ethanol tax credit, oil industry tax breaks and the ever fascinating LIFO inventory method of accounting. How do these work? Ethanol Tax Credit. This is considered by many to be one of [...]

There is lots of talk these days in Washington DC about “tax expenditures” and “corporate tax loopholes.” This blog will try to deconstruct these concepts and describe some of the most commonly discussed loopholes. Tax Expenditure A “tax expenditure” is a tax deduction or tax credit that is specially designed to benefit a particular industry [...]

As the debt ceiling crisis continues, some politicians and scholars are encouraging President Obama to exercise his purported rights under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution to lift the debt ceiling if Congress continues to fail to get its own act together.  President Clinton,  Senator John Kerry and Senator Tom Harkin are among those encouraging [...]

                In the next several years, a case challenging the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (a/k/a “Obamacare”) will likely reach the US Supreme Court. Some predict this could happen as early as 2012.  More than 30 cases challenging the constitutionality of Obamacare has been filed in courts across the country, including [...]

When accepting the Oscar for best documentary,  Inside Job (which by the way I have seen and is a masterful recount of the underlying causes of the financial crisis), the director, Charles Ferguson, pointed out that “three years after a horrific financial crisis caused by massive fraud, not a single financial executive has gone to [...]

Do Plants Have Feelings? I recently read a fascinating essay in the New York Times entitled “No Face, but Plants Like Life Too” by Carol Kaesuk Yoon, who had foresworn meat after a long drive behind a truck full of squealing pigs on their way to slaughter.     Concluding that the pain, fear and death suffered [...]

  Flog: to sell, especially aggressively or vigorously; to promote; publicize Blog: to write about your own experiences, observations, opinions, etc. on the Internet, often including images and links to other Websites. Welcome to Revenge Is… new “flogging and blogging” feature.  We will be posting our views of the issues of today while introducing you to [...]

“If the U.S. fails to adopt an economy-wide carbon abatement program, we will continue to cede leadership in energy technology to other nations. The U.S. is now home to only two of the ten largest solar Photo-Voltaic producers in the world, two of the top ten wind turbine producers and one of the top ten [...]

The European division of McDonald’s has embarked on a pilot program to significantly improve the welfare of its suppliers’ farm animals and produce higher quality products. Seven suppliers (to be increased by six more this summer) provide amenities to their farm animals unheard of in the US.  (From the International Herald Tribune, June 20-21, 2009) [...]

A resurgence in the seeming importance not only of coal, but more specifically “clean coal” as the solution to repowering America at relatively low cost and with minimal impact on the environment is underway.  A quick visit to Americaspower.org will have you believing that with this new clean coal technology, backed mainly by studies pointing to the feasibility of carbon capture and sequestration, a still contentious topic, [...]