A (Draft &) Tax Dodging Country | A Dog Eat Dog Government | In Soviet Russia, You Blow Up Missile

PNUT GALLERY
 

The New York Times published a special investigation report last night on how “Trump Engaged in Suspect Tax Schemes as He Reaped Riches From His Father: The president has long sold himself as a self-made billionaire, but a Times investigation found that he received at least $413 million in today’s dollars from his father’s real estate empire, much of it through tax dodges in the 1990s.”

This expose comes at a time when “I.R.S. Tax Fraud Cases Plummet After Budget Cuts: Tax evasion is at the center of the criminal cases against two associates of the president, Paul Manafort and Michael D. Cohen. The sheer scale of their efforts to avoid paying the government has given rise to a head-scratching question: How were they able to cheat the Internal Revenue Service for so many years?”

Increasingly many are arguing “Against Big Philanthropy: Philanthropy sounds nice, but it’s still a tax-sheltered way that plutocrats exercise power, says Stanford’s Rob Reich.” And of course it’s not just the Trump family or any (wealthy) family who are masters of legal tax avoidance or tax fraud: “Tech companies are the ‘worst offenders’ when it comes to tax loopholes.”

 
 
 
SEASONED NUTS: QUOTABLE
 

“Once you realize that trickle-down economics does not work, you will see the excessive tax cuts for the rich as what they are — a simple upward redistribution of income, rather than a way to make all of us richer, as we were told.” – Ha-Joon Chang, 23 Things They Don’t Tell You about Capitalism

“Income tax returns are the most imaginative fiction being written today.” – Herman Wouk

 
 
 
IN A NUTSHELL: MUST READ
 

In Soviet Russia, You Blow Up Missile: Kay Bailey Hutchison is the US Ambassador to NATO. On Tuesday she spoke to reporters, warning Russia to halt development of new missiles that could carry nuclear warheads or the US would “take out” the system. Bailey’s remarks seemed to suggest the possibility of a pre-emptive strike when Russian missiles become operational. “The counter-measures would be to take out the missiles that are in development by Russia in violation of the treaty,” the envoy said, mistakenly referring to the missile in question as a ballistic missile rather than a cruise missile. The treaty in question is the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty ( INF). Russia denies it is in violation, and its Foreign Ministry accused Hutchison of dangerous rhetoric.

A US threat of a pre-emptive strike would be a serious departure in rhetoric and military posture against Russia not seen since the end of the cold war. The head of the Arms Control Association said “If [Bailey] is saying that if the diplomatic route doesn’t work we will destroy the missiles, that’s obviously dangerous and risks triggering a war that could go nuclear.” One expert said: “I don’t think the NATO ambassador is threatening pre-emptive attacks against Russian development of INF weapons. She did a poor job in trying to repeat what the US has been saying for several years; that it is contemplating measures in response to the Russian INF violation.” He added: “This is going to feed right into the paranoia of Russian planners.” The Trump administration’s earlier announcement that it plans to develop its own medium-range cruise missile might also add to the paranoia.

 
 
 
MIXED NUTS: QUICK TAKES ON WORLD NEWS
 

Congrats! You Have Been Randomly Chosen To Give Us An iPhoneThe Customs and Excise Act 2018 went into effect Monday in New Zealand. Travelers who refuse to allow their digital devices to be “strip-searched” by customs officials could face a $5,000 fine. Previously agents could stop anyone at the border and demand to see their electronic devices; now people also have to provide their passwords. (RadioNZ)

Earthquake and Tsunami AftermathMore than 1,230 bodies have been found following the 7.5 earthquake and devastating tsunami that struck the Indonesian island of Sulawesi last Friday. Over 1 million people live in the affected area. Most of the city of Palu lies in rubble and mass burials are occurring daily. Bridges and roads are destroyed; the Donggala district north of Palu is largely cut off. Almost 6,400 personnel from several government agencies are involved in efforts to find survivors, recover bodies and evacuate people from the stricken areas, but in hard to reach places, with infrastructure gone, it is difficult to assess damage and provide assistance. (NYT)

China’s Healthcare Woes: Over the past 30 years China has been transformed from a poor farming nation to the world’s second largest economy, but its health care system is woefully inadequate to support a population of more than one billion people. According to the World Health Organization, China has just one general practitioner for every 6,666 people, compared to the international standard of one for every 1,500 to 2,000 people. With the exception of the wealthy, who can afford to do whatever, most people are relegated to either overcrowded hospitals or village clinics, or they must travel hundreds of miles to find the closest facility. (NYT)

Build Bridges, Not Walls: President Trump loves his new NAFTA, called the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). So does Mexico’s incoming president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who once upon a time hated free-market policies. Now he’s glad he won’t have to worry about the pall hanging over his country’s economy ever since Trump’s election. And outgoing president Enrique Pena Nieto can claim a win for his legacy as he leaves office. (NYT)

 
 
 
SPONSORED NUTS: MACK WELDON
 

Life’s too short to not line your shorts with the absolute best underwear on the market from our friends at Mack Weldon. Browse their selection of insanely comfortable underwear, shirts, socks, and pants—Mack Weldon has tons of options to help you upgrade your under-wardrobe. They even offer a Try On Guarantee: if you don’t love your first pair of underwear, you’ll get a full refund, no return necessary. Use code DAILYPNUT20 for 20% off your first order.

 
 
 
NUTS IN AMERICA
 

Private Prison, Public KnowledgeShane Bauer’s new book “American Prison, A Reporter’s Undercover Journey Into the Business of Punishment”, is a rarified expose of a shameful phenomenon—the for-profit prison. Bauer spent four months undercover as a guard at Winn Correctional Center in rural Louisiana. The result is an expansion of his celebrated article that ran in Mother Jones in the summer of 2016, plus additions on the back story of CCA, the nation’s first private prison company, and an examination of the history of corrections as a profit-making enterprise. Bauer learned that every management decision at Winn is dictated by one imperative: maintaining profitability by squeezing expenses. But the low pay, turnover and staffing shortages dire enough to threaten the safety of both guards and inmates is just the beginning. The crisis at Winn goes much deeper. (NYT)– “Amazon raises minimum wage to $15, urges rivals to follow: The increase pushes Amazon’s lowest wage above that at Walmart Inc and Target Corp. It is almost $3 shy of the average for a non-management worker in warehousing in the United States.” (Reuters)

– “Suspected ricin poison packages found at Pentagon: Spokesman Chris Sherwood said the FBI was investigating and few details were available. He said the packages had been found on Monday at a delivery facility that is on the Pentagon grounds but not inside the main building that includes the offices of the defense secretary.” (Guardian)

– “‘It breeds resistance’: Even among conservatives, Trump’s use of presidential power causes alarm” (WaPo)

– “Billionaire’s Fight to Close Path to a California Beach Comes to a Dead End: The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by Vinod Khosla, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist whose belief in property rights outweighed his affinity for a state access law.” (NYT)

 
 
 
LOOSE NUTS: FASCINATING NEWS
 

– “The Case For Taking a Walk After You Eat: ‘Italians have been walking after meals for centuries,” says Loretta DiPietro, a professor of exercise science at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health, “so it must be good.’” It’s like they say, “When in the modern boundaries of Rome, do as the people currently living in the modern boundaries of Rome do.” (Time)

– “Is fasting the fountain of youth?: ‘For six days per week we don’t eat until around 5 pm, but eat as much as we want and whatever we want from 5pm until we go to bed. It is not a diet in the classic sense — we do not restrict WHAT we eat or HOW MUCH we eat, but rather just WHEN we eat,’” (CNN)

– “A Visit to Opioid Country: Aaron Thier contemplates the connections between privilege, addiction, and recovery.” (Long Reads)

– “Depressed About the Future of Democracy? Study History: The liberal project has faced far greater challenges before.” (NYT)

– “Voice Phishing Scams Are Getting More Clever: Even technology experts are getting taken in by some of the more recent schemes (or very nearly).” Wow what an interesting article! How would your first pet feel about phishing scams? (Krebs)

– “No Cash Needed At This Cafe. Students Pay The Tab With Their Personal Data: To get the free coffee, university students must give away their names, phone numbers, email addresses and majors, or in Brown’s lingo, concentrations.” I would have given my social security number out for free coffee in college. (NPR)

Please consider making a donation to Daily Pnut, an independently operated and bootstrapped publication. Many thanks to everyone who already supports us!

Yes, I want to sound marginally more intelligent: