Tusks and Tails: Assorted Links, Tuesday morning

Just a few interesting links today:

1. The inside dirt on how NYPD fills its lineups - they got a guy, ya know! (NYT)

2. The first corporate 'super-PAC' comes from an unlikely source: a burial-at-sea entrepreneur.  I would have expected it to be FedEx, UPS, or other companies at the top of the PAC giving lists.  (WaPo)

3. New Hampshire paper delivers Romney a veiled threat regarding his influence in Nevada (Union Leader, h/t RCP).  Its worth mentioning, however, that if NH puts its primary a few days before Nevada (the Iowa Caucuses are now Jan 3 and Nevada is Jan 14), I really don't think its going to affect much of NH's influence: (counter to the paper's doom and gloom prediction).  NH's influence and importance come not from a date on a calendar but rather from the retail politicking required and the gravity with which NH natives take their primaries.  

TED: An Innovative Approach to Recycling Plastic

Great talk about the challenges around recycling plastic, compared to metal, and about an innovative solution!  It makes you wonder, though, what economic incentives are needed to pull through this technology.  I wonder how many jurisdictions in the U.S. have flexible landfill taxes.  I know that several places just charge flat fees to be "on the grid" - that clearly doesn't give you much incentive to control your waste.

Update: Buffett's Tax Returns

Image via WikipediaThe Atlantic reports that Buffett released his returns earlier today.  He reported $63M in adjusted gross income (AGI), had $40M in taxable income (AGI less exemptions and itemized deductions like donations to charity), and paid $7M in income taxes (and $15K in payroll taxes).  That's his tax rate of 17.4%.

I'm frankly surprised Buffett had the income that he did, given Berkshire's refusal to pay dividends.  Given Buffett's long-standing refusal to pay himself a multimillion dollar salary, he must have liquidated significant stock.

Tax Code Follies #1: The "Tools of the Trade" Exemption

As a student taking tax law, I occasionally find myself reading passages that simultaneously amaze and depress me.  I'm sure many of these provisions were well-intentioned, but the incentives they create are unbelievable.  I'll try to post them as I find them.  Today's inaugural folly: the "tools of the trade" exemption.

Short description: The IRS normally doesn't let you deduct expenses incurred commuting to work.  However, it grants an exception for expenses incurred bringing "tools of the trade" into work.  Makes sense, right?  But there's more: the deduction only covers the costs incurred for the tools, not any additional costs covered for you to commute with the tools.

How it plays out: A doctor who routinely commutes to her office via subway realizes she's going to have to take several patient charts home for the evening.  If she takes a cab home, lugging the charts, she cannot deduct the expense.  If she pays the cab to take her charts home for her (and keep the meter running until she arrives) and she takes the subway home, she can deduct the entire cab fare (which would be assuredly higher with the waiting time). 

Perverse incentives created:  Double-commuting, potential issues of leaving sensitive documents unattended. 

Huntsman: Interesting Asia-Pacific Policy

Image via WikipediaJon Huntsman delivered his first major foreign policy address yesterday in New Hampshire.  Calling for America to turn west, the speech was thoughtful and articulate, and it drew heavily on Huntsman's experiences as a diplomat.

In particular, three things leaped out.  First, Huntsman leaned on his various experiences living abroad.  That represents quite a stark change from recent GOP primaries in which candidates had not traveled extensively (other than as members of CoDels) or were not fluent in other languages:

"I’ve lived overseas four times. I’ve seen the world as a diplomat, as a businessman, as a humanitarian. I’ve lived in and seen what our most significant competitor nations are doing to prepare for the rest of the 21st Century. And I have a very clear vision of what America must do as well."

Second, Huntsman announced support for India to receive a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.  Currently, only the five veto powers (US, UK, France, Russia, and China) have permanent seats.  Huntsman's position is an interesting one: India is the second-most populous nation in the world, has the ninth-largest economy, could serve as a counterweight to China in the coming decades.

Huntsman is probably correct that the Security Council needs reform, and he is perceptive that the US will get more "friendship points" naming India first.  But he seems to brush aside the tremendous cost of his proposal.  Huntsman's proposal will surely infuriate both China and Pakistan.  Additionally, Japan (#3 economy), Germany (#4 economy), and Brazil (#7 economy) all have strong claims for a permanent seat and will lose significant international face if only India is added to the Council. 

Third, Hunstman's theme could be described as either nuanced or inconsistent.  He uses uncharacteristically strong rhetoric against nation-building and in his claim that America's "future is not in the Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan."  He also combines a slightly isolationist "come home" message ("Only Pakistan can save Pakistan.  Only Afghanistan can save Afghanistan. And right now we should focus on America saving America.") with a touch of the traditional Democratic message that the US should not presume to tell other nations what to do ("We cannot dictate fundamental changes upon an age-old civilization from afar.").  But then he bends back to hit a hawkish note on Iran.

All in all, a very interesting speech.  Win or lose, Huntsman will continue to be a voice in American foreign policy as he gets, more than almost any of his colleagues (with the potential exception of Romney), that the 21st century will be a Pacific one.

Quick plug: Huntsman for Secretary of State in a Romney administration?

Artists Raising Cain: The Lee Greenwood Primary

Image via WikipediaOne of my favorite stories this morning comes from the Alex Pappas at the Daily Caller.  Lee Greenwood, singer/songwriter of "God Bless the USA," and several other musicians endorsed Herman Cain for president yesterday in Nashville.   

Food for thought: as his anthem is such a mainstay of GOP campaigns and conventions, would Greenwood permit it to be a theme song of a Romney-led ticket?  Would he volunteer to perform it at the RNC as he has in years past?

I hope that he would.  The message transcends anyone's pick in the primary or the general.  It truly is an American classic.

Education: New Orleans Moves Towards "All Charter" System

Image via Wikipedia
Great profile in this weekend's WSJ of John White, the new superintendent of the New Orleans school system.  The most interesting part of the interview concerns the post-Katrina system that New Orleans has developed using charter schools.  In many other districts, White points out, charter schools rival the established school system and compete for students, teachers, attention, and funding.  They are often disfavored by teachers' unions and are sometimes seen as prejudicing those students whose parents are disengaged, as uninterested parents are unlikely to take extra steps to enroll their children in these opt-in schools.

New Orleans, by accident, has solved many of these problems.  Eighty percent of students currently attend charter schools, and the district seeks to get that number up to 100% by 2013.  In addition to the improved outcomes, White even argues that charters are easier to manage than centrally-controlled schools. As the system streamlines its enrollment procedures, it will go a long way towards creating a freer educational market driven by competition and dedicated to continuous improvement.