Public Finance

The Top Eight Celebrity Tax Evaders

After clutching at the spotlight, a lot of stars learn how to evade things--like parapazzi, fans, and especially the IRS. Here's a very timely summation I was just sent which details the top celebrity tax evaders of all time. It's free, so don't even think of writing it off! Top Celebrity Tax Evad ... More >>

The 10 Most Corrupt Tax Loopholes

If Mitt Romney won't tell you which need to be closed, we will

Will Barack Obama Veto Tax Cuts?

Well, this is a mess... Remember yesterday, when Barack Obama called on Congress to extend Bush-era tax cuts for families making up to $250,000? Remember how Obama made the politically risky move of describing the economy as disappointing under his watch, using that as proof the country needs tax ... More >>

Barack Obama To Congress: Extend Tax Cuts for The Middle Class

Taking aim at trickle down fiscal policies and warning legislators not to hold the American economy "hostage," President Barack Obama demanded today that Congress extend Bush-era middle class tax cuts for a year. Addressing the nation from the White House's East Room, Obama implored Congress to "do ... More >>

Senator Bill Perkins Actually Voted Against Ban On Spending Welfare Money On Cigs, Booze and Strippers

A bill that would ban spending welfare money on "sins" like cigarettes, booze, strippers and gambling sailed through the New York State Senate yesterday, which is no surprise. The fact that some legislators actually voted against the bill, however, is absolutely shocking.One of the few lawmakers to ... More >>

Bad News, Impoverished Sinners: Lawmakers Want To Ban Buying Cigs And Booze With Welfare Money

As un-fucking-believable as it may sound, welfare recipients in New York currently are allowed to spend public-assistance money on things like cigarettes, booze, and strippers -- but hopefully not for long.A bill has been introduced in the state Senate that would ban welfare recipients from using pu ... More >>

Ron Paul Makes Rain For His District, But No Fan of Earmarks...Huh?

​Republican candidate Ron Paul may have Libertarian leanings, but that hasn't stopped him from requesting tens of millions in earmark money from the government for pet projects in his district. For example, in 2010, Paul asked for $4.5 million for the annual youth fair in Wharton County, Tex ... More >>

Kirsten Gillibrand Launches 2012 With a Call for Increased Food Stamp Money, Better Access to Fresh Food

Electeds like to talk -- but U.S. Sen. Kirsten ​Gillibrand came to the Bronx today to listen. That's what Gillibrand said at the launch of an event this morning at Hostos Community College, where she joined Rep. Joe Crowley for a "listening session" on an upcoming Farm Bill, which Congre ... More >>

Secrets of the Fed's $7.8 TRILLION Bank Bailout Revealed

Gage SkidmoreBanks benefited even more from the public bailout than previously known.​It's been three years since the the cataclysmic financial crisis that nearly destroyed the global economy, and three years since the government offered up $700 billion in public money to prop up the banks tha ... More >>

Rightbloggers Defend Rich Bastards from Obama's Tax Plan

If rightbloggers believe in anything, it's that taxes are bad -- especially if they're on people making over a million dollars. When it was revealed that President Obama would propose a tax on millionaires, the brethren loyally manned the barricades to defend America's rich -- e.g., Donald Trump, ... More >>

Republicans Call Obama Plan 'Class Warfare'; Don't Know Definition of 'Warfare'

​Tomorrow, President Obama will unveil a deficit-cutting proposal that will include a revision to the U.S. tax code. The proposed change will feature a higher tax rate for the wealthiest 0.3% of Americans, who currently pay the IRS with a $15 gift card to Sam Goody every April (estimated figur ... More >>

Military's Hypersonic Aircraft Goes Really Fast, Gets Lost

via DARPA's news release.​An unmanned aircraft engineered to go 20 times the speed of sound was lost on its second test flight Thursday. The BBC reports that scientists lost track of the Falcon Hypersonic Test Vehicle 2, or HTV-2, shortly after it detached from a rocket high above the Californ ... More >>

Psychics Predict Future of World Economy

This is a real CNN report from three days ago. According to the psychics, who know more about Ben Bernanke's plans in the next three months than Ben Bernanke does, everything is going to be just fine. [@_rosiegray]

Il Vagabondo Owner Pleads Guilty to Tax Scam

NYPost.comA plate of manicotti won't make him feel better​ Up until now, Upper East Side Italian restaurant Il Vagabondo (351 East 62nd Street, 212-832-9221) has been best known for its indoor bocce court. But now that owner Ernest Vogliano has pleaded guilty to tax evasion, there's probably ... More >>

New York's Indians Try to Fend Off the (Marlboro) Man: A Court Fight Over Smoking Rights

​Hasn't America already doled out a terrible hand to the Indians already without trying to make them a part of their eugenics and assimilation? Apparently not. Today, the Seneca Nation Indians have to fight off New York State from taxing cigarette purchases made by non-Indians on their reserva ... More >>

Andrew Cuomo Hanging Out With BFF Fred Dicker Not Good News for Other State Democrats

Andrew Cuomo's decision to announce new tax policy on Fred Dicker's Albany radio show is as bad for the state as it is for Cuomo. It's already added to the budget drama gripping Albany. All you have to do is read the New York Post to see how often Freddie and Andrew talk, though the attorney genera ... More >>

Steve Levy Goes Comic on Cuomo -- Has the AG Got a Comeback Line?

​Today finally brings the first good gag of the gubernatorial race, and it comes from none other than Steve Levy, that Long Island Iced Tea-bagger with the bandito moustache. Levy's shot is a well-aimed barb at would-be rival Andrew Cuomo who is still an unannounced gubernatorial candidate ("W ... More >>

Report: Kingsbridge Mall Deal a Loser for the City Without "Living Wage"

Activists want the proposed Kingsbridge Armory shopping center in The Bronx to mandate a "living wage" ($10 an hour with benefits, $11.50 without) for workers there. Sympathetic city councilmembers on the zoning committee threaten to make trouble, and the city tries to strike a deal with them. A vo ... More >>

Breaking: H&H Bagels Owner Indicted for Stealing Withholding Taxes and Unemployment Insurance Tax Evasion

Ty Hewitt/New York Magazine​Earlier this afternoon, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau announced the arrest and indictment of Helmer Toro, the owner of H&H Bagels, for stealing withholding taxes and evading unemployment insurance tax in connection with his wholesale and retail busin ... More >>

Liveblogging Quinn's State of the City: Cuts, Tax the Rich, Not Sales

At her upcoming State of the City speech, which she is expected to bellow at any moment, Council Speaker Christine Quinn is expected to propose an income tax hike on richer New Yorkers, says Liz Benjamin. Citizens making between $297,000 and $532,000 would see their rate rise from 3.683 percent to ... More >>

When Elephants Fight: Not-quite-liveblogging the Brodsky Yankees Hearing

This morning in Yankeefunland: Assemblymember Richard Brodsky's surprise last-second hearing on the latest round of taxpayer-financed Yanks and Mets stadium bonds, with promised testimony (under duress) from Yankees president Randy Levine and city Economic Development Corporation chief Seth Pinsky ... More >>

Brodsky Hearing: IBO Says Mets, Yanks Stadiums Costing Taxpayers $1.2 Billion

Play-by-play of Assemblymember Richard Brodsky's hearing on the new Yankees stadium project, continued from last post: 11:29 am: Brodsky and Yankees president Randy Levine are now squabbling over which documents have and haven't been provided when. Moments later, city development chief Seth Pinsky ... More >>

Jersey Beats New York in Median Property Tax List

Skelos Calls His Own Damn Session

Pinsky Says New Yankee Stadium "A Home Run"; We Cry Foul

Paterson Sees $12.5 Billion Deficit for '09; Plans "Painful" Cuts

Passing the bucks

Taxpayer Cost of Yanks' Bond Demands: $82.9 Million

Mad Money

Protesters Pop In On the Carlyle Group

NYC's Cheap Housing Policy: Too Pricey?

Spire Education: Cooper Union's Towering Tax Break

Spire Education

Cooper Union's Towering Tax Break

Yuan, Me, and the Mayor Makes 3

Bloomberg's Gift Horse

Yanks and Mets stadiums could cost taxpayers $800 million

Land Doesn't Pay

The city's $7 billion-a-year property tax gap—no wonder we're broke

Corporate Tax Rewrite

Giving Away the Store

A costly, developing problem for New York City that's three decades old

Do They Take Us for Fools? Yes.

Where Credit Is Due

Council Plan Helps Landlords Do the Right Thing

This Is Rich

Inside a Bush Brainstorming Session

'Freewheeling Zealots'

DARPA: the Dark Star of Defense

Muffling the Left

Watchdog Reveals Effort to Gag Anti-Bush Causes

Gait Watchers

The Pentagon Pours Millions Into 'Gait Recognition Technology'

Pataki's Class Bias

Guv Seeks Sacrifice From Average New Yorkers, Protects High-End Friends

West Side Stories

Scrounging Up $3 Billion in 'New' Tax Money? Hey, No Problem.

Pay Your Share

Out-of-Towners, Stock Speculators, Unions Must Ante Up in Fiscal Crisis

Abstinence Scofflaws

Louisiana Court Slaps Religion-Based No-Sex Programs

The Paper of Wreckage

The 'Times' Bulldozes Its Way to a Sweetheart Land Deal You Will Pay For

Trust Fund Trussed?

World Trade Center Lease Deal Could Slash Housing Revenue