Tag / Washington Times

by Hoosier Econ

Obamacare Total Page Count on IRS Website

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Researchers at the National Taxpayers Union Foundation did a study on lost productivity in America due to our tax code. Washington Times published an article on it entitled “U.S. economy out $233.8 billion due to ‘lost productivity’ as Americans wrestle with taxes: Study”

An interesting number was in the study concerning the amount of pages Obamacare takes up on the IRS website:

the researchers also found a “staggering” 3,322 pages of legal guidance for the Affordable Care Act at the IRS website. The content includes regulations, Treasury decisions, assorted notices, revenue procedures, and revenue rulings.

As far as the study of our tax code, here are some sad numbers:

The study also notes that the estimated length of the Tax Code itself is about 4 million words. The study grimly recalls that the Form 1040 instructions were once just two pages long. “Today, taxpayers must wade through 209 pages of instructions, quadruple the number in 1985, the year before taxes were simplified,” it states.

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by Hoosier Econ

Employment Opportunity: Checking Poop

doctor glove
Via Washington Times –

The federal government is looking for doctors to help monitor suspected smugglers’ bowel movements at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, in a solicitation that sounds like it could be something out of the Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs” program.

Doctors must be available round-the-clock in case CBP officers suspect they have a “swallower,” which is what internal drug smugglers are known as. The doctors are charged with X-raying or otherwise examining suspects’ body cavities, and if drugs are found, the work order says “the detainee may be held for a monitored bowel movement (MBM) to wait the passage of the contraband material.”

“CBP regularly intercepts individuals who ingest wrapped packets of illicit drugs such as cocaine, heroin, amphetamines, ecstasy, marijuana or hashish to transport them,” the agency said. “CBP officers apply their keen knowledge, expertise and intelligence to detect and intercept suspected body cavity concealers at our nation’s ports of entry.”

CBP identified 176 “body cavity concealment incidents” in 2014, which was down from 187 the previous year.


You can read the rest here.

by Hoosier Econ

Middle East Controls American Oil Refinery Business

saudi arabia
While many media pundits are on tv celebrating the U.S. leap in oil production there is another side not talked about, Middle East countries Saudi Arabia and Qatar own most of the oil refinery business in the United States. Here is more from a 2013 Washington Times article:

Today, the largest oil refinery in the United States, Motiva in Texas, is owned by Saudi Aramco (a state-owned company) and Royal Dutch Shell (a British and Dutch company). The refinery recently completed a major expansion project, originally driven by growing American demand for Saudi oil in 2007.

Since the expansion began, however, U.S. demand for oil has fallen and production of North American oil has risen. Saudi Aramco has, therefore, repositioned Motiva to accept this change in the market. In addition to importing Saudi oil, the Motiva expansion allows Saudi Aramco to refine and export petroleum products to Latin American markets. Most important, though, the expansion enables Saudi Aramco to refine the heavy crude oils now being extracted from Canadian and American oil sands and shale fields.

Saudi Arabia is also being joined by Qatar in not only the U.S. but also in Canada:

Qatar is also positioned to extract significant profits from the American energy industry. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Qatar holds the third-largest natural-gas reserve in the world and has been the world leader in liquefied natural-gas technology and exportation since 1997. Yet Qatar Petroleum International (also a state-owned company) owns a 70 percent stake in the Golden Pass re-gasification terminal in Texas. The terminal was previously intended to import Qatar’s natural gas into the United States, but with the boom in North American natural gas, Qatar is now seeking to repurpose the facility to export liquefied natural gas and profit from North American resources. Qatar Petroleum International’s CEO, Nasser al-Jaidah, recently stated that the company is seeking to invest in North American shale, a highly touted source of America’s potential energy independence, and on April 15, the company acquired a stake in Suncor Energy’s natural-gas holdings in Canada.

by Hoosier Econ

Cost of Caring for Illegal Immigrant Child: $86,846.34

While back I posted a piece about the cost associated with the taxpayer caring for illegal immigrant children. Now new dollar amounts have been discovered by Judicial Watch. Sad thing about the bloviating transparency talk from immigrant supporters is this information had to be obtained by an FOIA because the government was unwilling to produce the numbers.

Federal officials paid Baptist Children and Family Services nearly $183 million to help care for 2,400 unaccompanied illegal immigrant children for four months earlier this year at military facilities in Oklahoma and Texas, according to documents made public Wednesday by Judicial Watch.

“The cost to the American taxpayer was $86,846.34 per illegal alien child at Ft. Sill [in Oklahoma], for a total to $104,215,608 for 1,200 UACs from June 12 to October 18,” Judicial Watch said. “The bill also included $2,648,800 in compensation for 30 members of the BCFS ‘Incident Management Team,’ for a total to $88,293 per IMT member for the four-month period.”

The contract was awarded to Baptist Children and Family Services. Here are other items bought by this contract:

“Recreational items will include board games, soccer balls, basket balls, jump ropes, bracelet making kits, yarn, puzzles, arts and crafts, decks of cards, and eye-hand coordination game sets. Reimbursement is requested for $180,000.”

“Educational items will include … tempera paint, paint markers, paint brushes, easel brushes, art paper … Crayons, multicultural crayons … for $180,000.”

“Laptop Kits … 100 Kits … 5 Laptops per kit – $500 per kit … $200,000.”

°“VOIP Phone Kits … 80 kits … 10 cell phones per kit with International call capabilities and radio … $160,000”

H/T Washington Times

by Hoosier Econ

Numbers from Illinois Teachers Pension Fund

Illinois is a broke state and their teacher pension fund does not make things any easier on how it is contractually written. Yes, it is a contract and the state is honoring the pension as of right now. In the spirit of “States Rights” the voters of Illinois find their financial situation very pallable no matter the current conditions or what they will be facing as the physics of economics plays out. This blog is not making fun of Illinois but it also will not give pity to the residents when debt hell hits.

The Washington Times had a long article showing the ramifacations of this current penson plan that they operate on. I will post the key financial highlights of it while you can read the rest in the embedded link.

About 6,000 retired educators collecting more than $100,000

More than 100,000 retired Illinois educators had been paid back what they invested into the system just 20 months after leaving work

The pension is about $54 billion underfunded

The teacher pension’s 3 percent annual increases aren’t tied to inflation — meaning they cannot fluctuate up or down depending on the economy or budget pressures.

Illinois public sector workers will receive, on average, a $1,906 annual cost of living adjustment this year — nine times more than the average Social Security beneficiary