This posting relates to Congressional Budget Office (CBO) correspondence dated August 25, 2022, in which the CBO answers several questions from Congressmen Kevin Brady and Jason Smith about increased enforcement by the Internal Revenue Service. It includes a brief summary of the correspondence, a direct link to the letter addressed…
Articles Posted in Commentary and Opinion
Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA)
INTRODUCTION The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) HR 5376 was signed into law by President Joe Biden on August 16, 2022, after a tortuous route through the legislative process. HR 5376 grew out of the Build Back Better Act (BBB) which passed the House on September 27, 2021, but…
Public Safety On New York City Subways
Public transportation is the backbone of most large cities including New York City. Ideally subways enable people to move quickly and safely to their respective places for work, school, or other destinations important to them. How are New York City subways measuring up to this ideal in terms of public…
The United States of America and Independence Day
On this July 4, after a wonderful celebration of food, fun and fireworks, I thought perhaps it would be appropriate to write a post commemorating the beginnings of both the naming of the United States and the observance of July 4 as a celebration of the birth of American independence:…
Gun Violence and Mass Shootings in America
In the past year there has been what appears to be a constant drumbeat, seemingly almost weekly and sometimes daily, of reports of mass shootings and deaths by firearms throughout the United States. There are also statistics. A recent study reported by the BBC indicates there has been a steady…
Moods and Attitudes of the American People 2022
There are many ways to define mood, or national mood, but for this posting I have selected the following: the perceived emotional tone and general attitudes of the American people in 2022. During my research, I found many references which discussed this topic but have pared down the list to…
State Advocacy Strategies: The New York Story
Included below are my introductory remarks delivered at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Law Libraries on July 23, 2012 as part Program E-1 State Advocacy Strategies: Learning to Connect, Grow and Survive. The material below includes only my introductory remarks and a series of slides (see link…
The Jury Expert Has a New Look
The people at The Jury Expert are excited about moving to a new platrorm, WordPress, where they can incorporate a new look and possibly some new features as well. Below is their e-mail announcing the change and providing links so you can see for yourselves. Take a look: The e-mail:…
Book Review: The Fears Within: Spies, Commies, and American Democracy on Trial
TITLE: The Fear Within SUBTITLE: Spies, Commies, and American Democracy on Trial AUTHOR: Scott Martelle PUBLICATION DATE: May 2011 PUBLISHER: Rutgers University Press PAGE COUNT: 320 pp. ISBN: 978-0-8135-4938-5 (Cloth) PRICE: $26.95 (Cloth) The author is a freelance journalist and writer with expertise in American history. Martelle details the 1948…
Gangs in a New Jersey County
The following is a link to a a listing of towns in Union County New Jersey and the number of gangs reported to be established in each town, even many of the smaller ones. One reason for publishing this post is that we suspect this particular article may point to…