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Gerald E. Scorse is a freelance writer living in New York. His op-eds have appeared in newspapers across the United States
OpEd News Member for 491 week(s) and 3 day(s)
41 Articles, 0 Quick Links, 104 Comments, 1 Diaries, 1 Series, 0 Polls
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Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Pandemic fallout includes handout to rich retirees The suspension of required minimum distributions for 2020 is just one more confirmation of a basic American truth: it's those with the most who get taken care of first. Even a pandemic didn't change that.
Wednesday, May 13, 2020Pandemic fallout includes handout to rich retirees The suspension of required minimum distributions for 2020 is just one more confirmation of a basic American truth: it's those with the most who get taken care of first. Even a pandemic didn't change that.
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Tuesday, April 21, 2020
SECURE Act leaves millions of workers as insecure as ever America's private-sector retirement system is in deep trouble: too few people saving too little money, if any. The SECURE Act is Congress's latest attempt to fix it; unfortunately it doesn't do much fixing.
Tuesday, April 21, 2020SECURE Act leaves millions of workers as insecure as ever America's private-sector retirement system is in deep trouble: too few people saving too little money, if any. The SECURE Act is Congress's latest attempt to fix it; unfortunately it doesn't do much fixing.
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Wednesday, December 4, 2019
The IRS deserves cheers, not jeers It's de rigueur to hate the IRS, and misguided as well. First, every dollar that's spent on tax enforcement brings in roughly $5 to the Treasury. Second, every honest taxpayer owes a big thank-you to the agency that goes after the dishonest ones. Unfortunately, the GOP has done a yeoman's job of cutting the IRS budget (which, of course, has made tax cheating a safer bet than ever).
Wednesday, December 4, 2019The IRS deserves cheers, not jeers It's de rigueur to hate the IRS, and misguided as well. First, every dollar that's spent on tax enforcement brings in roughly $5 to the Treasury. Second, every honest taxpayer owes a big thank-you to the agency that goes after the dishonest ones. Unfortunately, the GOP has done a yeoman's job of cutting the IRS budget (which, of course, has made tax cheating a safer bet than ever).
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Friday, April 12, 2019
Two days in Tennessee in 1953: A racial memory I was an innocent abroad when, as a 17-year-old in 1953, I made my first trip into the South. I probably learned more American history in those two days than I'd learned up to then. Trouble is, I didn't really feel smarter; I just felt a whole lot sadder.
Friday, April 12, 2019Two days in Tennessee in 1953: A racial memory I was an innocent abroad when, as a 17-year-old in 1953, I made my first trip into the South. I probably learned more American history in those two days than I'd learned up to then. Trouble is, I didn't really feel smarter; I just felt a whole lot sadder.
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Thursday, March 7, 2019
Wall Street mini-tax could raise maxi-revenue Believe it or not, the tiniest of taxes could raise hundreds of billions for the Treasury: a financial-transactions tax, "FTT" for short. The Congressional Budget Office, using estimates worked up by the Joint Committee on Taxation, put the number at $777 billion for the decade 2019 - 2028. The United States had one before, and just maybe could have one again.
Thursday, March 7, 2019Wall Street mini-tax could raise maxi-revenue Believe it or not, the tiniest of taxes could raise hundreds of billions for the Treasury: a financial-transactions tax, "FTT" for short. The Congressional Budget Office, using estimates worked up by the Joint Committee on Taxation, put the number at $777 billion for the decade 2019 - 2028. The United States had one before, and just maybe could have one again.
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Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Our counterfeit Social Security crisis Everybody (well, everybody on the Right) would have you believe that Social Security is doomed. Nonsense: it could on for the next 75 years, without a single change, and still pay three-quarters of scheduled worker benefits. All the same, America's changing demographics mean that it's once again time for an overhaul. The sooner we get to it, the fairer it'll be for everybody.
Wednesday, January 23, 2019Our counterfeit Social Security crisis Everybody (well, everybody on the Right) would have you believe that Social Security is doomed. Nonsense: it could on for the next 75 years, without a single change, and still pay three-quarters of scheduled worker benefits. All the same, America's changing demographics mean that it's once again time for an overhaul. The sooner we get to it, the fairer it'll be for everybody.
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Sunday, December 2, 2018
America's rigged tax collection system The vast majority of American workers have their taxes withheld and their incomes reported to the IRS by their employers. There's a whole other category though: self-reporters. They tell the IRS what they made, what their expenses were, etc., etc. The results have been a fiscal disaster for the federal government--and for all other taxpayers too, who ultimately have to make up what self-reporters don't pay.
Sunday, December 2, 2018America's rigged tax collection system The vast majority of American workers have their taxes withheld and their incomes reported to the IRS by their employers. There's a whole other category though: self-reporters. They tell the IRS what they made, what their expenses were, etc., etc. The results have been a fiscal disaster for the federal government--and for all other taxpayers too, who ultimately have to make up what self-reporters don't pay.
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Sunday, November 4, 2018
Tax reform: down with the 'stepped-up basis' Capital gains tax breaks are a major driver of inequality in America. This is especially true today, when ever-greater shares of income are coming from capital rather that labor (wages and salaries). This article calls for the repeal of an egregious but surprisingly little-known tax break: the so-called "stepped-up basis".
Sunday, November 4, 2018Tax reform: down with the 'stepped-up basis' Capital gains tax breaks are a major driver of inequality in America. This is especially true today, when ever-greater shares of income are coming from capital rather that labor (wages and salaries). This article calls for the repeal of an egregious but surprisingly little-known tax break: the so-called "stepped-up basis".
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Tuesday, September 11, 2018
One tiny tax reform, billions for America Retirement account are the only ones that repay the Treasury for tax breaks. Congress should apply the required minimum distribution rule to all accounts. It's a tax reform that would raise billions (and ultimately tens on billions) every year.
Tuesday, September 11, 2018One tiny tax reform, billions for America Retirement account are the only ones that repay the Treasury for tax breaks. Congress should apply the required minimum distribution rule to all accounts. It's a tax reform that would raise billions (and ultimately tens on billions) every year.
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Thursday, May 3, 2018
What Donald Trump did to me The Trump presidency puts a daily cloud over the heads of millions of Americans. This personal account from one of the afflicted shows that the problem is shared all across the political spectrum. The piece also gives the author's own recipe for coping.
Thursday, May 3, 2018What Donald Trump did to me The Trump presidency puts a daily cloud over the heads of millions of Americans. This personal account from one of the afflicted shows that the problem is shared all across the political spectrum. The piece also gives the author's own recipe for coping.
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Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Stately, Fred and Central Park mornings An extra layer of pixie dust has fallen on New York's Central Park. According to reliable sources, the park now contains a talking tree and a talking statue. They only add, of course, to the magic the park regularly provides. See the article for all the details.
Wednesday, March 21, 2018Stately, Fred and Central Park mornings An extra layer of pixie dust has fallen on New York's Central Park. According to reliable sources, the park now contains a talking tree and a talking statue. They only add, of course, to the magic the park regularly provides. See the article for all the details.
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Tuesday, December 26, 2017
Making the golden years golden for all Americans Reforming America's private retirement system would reduce inequality, and help make the golden years golden for all Americans.
Tuesday, December 26, 2017Making the golden years golden for all Americans Reforming America's private retirement system would reduce inequality, and help make the golden years golden for all Americans.
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Wednesday, November 1, 2017
A Tax Plan to Hate on The Trump-GOP tax plan would deliver huge benefits to the top and little or nothing to anybody else. It richly deserves (pun intended) all the scorn it's been getting. It also deserves, and let's hope it gets, a humiliating defeat.
Wednesday, November 1, 2017A Tax Plan to Hate on The Trump-GOP tax plan would deliver huge benefits to the top and little or nothing to anybody else. It richly deserves (pun intended) all the scorn it's been getting. It also deserves, and let's hope it gets, a humiliating defeat.
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Saturday, August 12, 2017
Magic money working magic on 401(k)s 401(k)s and other defined contribution plans appear to be doing better by workers than the defined benefit plans they've largely replaced. A key reason is magic money: savings built up by stock market investments, compounded by decades of tax-sheltered capital gains and dividends.
Saturday, August 12, 2017Magic money working magic on 401(k)s 401(k)s and other defined contribution plans appear to be doing better by workers than the defined benefit plans they've largely replaced. A key reason is magic money: savings built up by stock market investments, compounded by decades of tax-sheltered capital gains and dividends.
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Monday, May 22, 2017
The book that uncovered 'wealthfare' Income inequality was far from the public mind during the prosperous 1990s. Two writers, looking deeper, saw government policies redistributing income upward, taking billions from the lower rungs and shifting it to the haves. Well ahead of their time, they wrote the book that uncovered "wealthfare"
Monday, May 22, 2017The book that uncovered 'wealthfare' Income inequality was far from the public mind during the prosperous 1990s. Two writers, looking deeper, saw government policies redistributing income upward, taking billions from the lower rungs and shifting it to the haves. Well ahead of their time, they wrote the book that uncovered "wealthfare"
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Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Keeping America's retirement promise A GOP rule opens the door to a liberal reform: tax-advantaged retirement accounts for millions of low- to middle-income workers. Over half the labor force lacks access to such accounts. The rule would help Congress make them available, and keep America's retirement promise.
Tuesday, March 14, 2017Keeping America's retirement promise A GOP rule opens the door to a liberal reform: tax-advantaged retirement accounts for millions of low- to middle-income workers. Over half the labor force lacks access to such accounts. The rule would help Congress make them available, and keep America's retirement promise.
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Monday, February 6, 2017
It's time to end "wealthfare" There's no lack of articles on the amount of money the federal government spends to help low-income Americans. Here's a story that looks at it the other way around: how much money the government spends to enrich the rich.
Monday, February 6, 2017It's time to end "wealthfare" There's no lack of articles on the amount of money the federal government spends to help low-income Americans. Here's a story that looks at it the other way around: how much money the government spends to enrich the rich.
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Monday, January 9, 2017
The truth about the election of 1876 The election of 1876 was decided not by the voters, but by our inherent racism.
Monday, January 9, 2017The truth about the election of 1876 The election of 1876 was decided not by the voters, but by our inherent racism.
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Friday, December 23, 2016
One Tax Policy Americans "Yugely" Favor By a margin of nine-to-one, Americans favor equal taxes on income from investments and income from wages and salaries. That was the policy way back when, under President Ronald Reagan.
Friday, December 23, 2016One Tax Policy Americans "Yugely" Favor By a margin of nine-to-one, Americans favor equal taxes on income from investments and income from wages and salaries. That was the policy way back when, under President Ronald Reagan.
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Friday, September 16, 2016
Dad's Turn to Do the Family Planning America should end its silence on vasectomy, and instead tout its advantages for final-phase family planning. Birth control isn't just for women; in fact, at the end, you might even call it a man's job.
Friday, September 16, 2016Dad's Turn to Do the Family Planning America should end its silence on vasectomy, and instead tout its advantages for final-phase family planning. Birth control isn't just for women; in fact, at the end, you might even call it a man's job.
