antoine-roquentin:

What Democrats should be doing: shifting the burden of filing out tax paperwork to employers by converting all income taxes to payroll taxes:

A similar idea described in “The Games They Will Play,” a paper published in December by 13 tax experts, suggested states could replace income taxes with a new payroll levy. States would collect the same revenue, and employers would reduce wages so workers take home the same amount. 

Such a plan would require more effort to design and implement compared to accepting gifts in lieu of taxes, said David Kamin, a professor at New York University School of Law. Still, a payroll tax would offer greater tax savings to state residents by allowing non-itemizers to benefit from the change. It could be harder for the federal government to undo than California’s plan. 

What Democrats are doing: a massive giveaway to charter schools, enshrining the notion that public services should be funded on the basis of charity rather than tax collection:

In California, Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León plans to introduce legislation this week that would allow residents to donate to a state entity called the California Excellence Fund in lieu of paying taxes — a move intended to sidestep the new federal cap….

The California bill builds on a nascent movement among states to provide full and partial tax credits in return for donations that fund tuition vouchers for private and religious schools. In a memo released in 2011, the Internal Revenue Service gave its blessing for taxpayers to claim federal deductions on those gifts, providing at least some basis for the idea that the strategy could work.

the real Trump effect is the Democrats have to fight out the overlooked upstarts vs. coastal gentry fight entirely within their own party, without federal escape hatches

the sex stuff has been bad enough but wait til it gets to property