Lu-Gone

Our long national nightmare, yadda yadda yadda...

Julio Lugo has been designated for assignment.

Sox still owe him about $4 million for this year and of course $9 million for next, but it's great to see a major league GM recognize the concept of sunk costs. Truly addition by subtraction.

No Lugo post would be complete without a pic of his stellar defensive skillz:

More Health Care Tax Reax

Matt Yglesias wants to cap deductibility of itemized deductions and double the federal alcohol tax. I think this would be more expensive for me than the surtax.

Ezra Klein, in an otherwise snarky set of "rules" for commenting on the CBO's testimony yesterday thinks health insurance benefits should be subject to tax.

Conor Clarke likes both.

Awesome takedown by The Awl of a ridiculous NY Post story yesterday on the effect on NY taxpayers of the surtax.

And Seton Hall law professor Frank Pasquale arguing that the 5.4% surtax on millionaires is not high enough!!!.

Hysterics aside, what he means is that we should have more tax brackets and not tax someone earning $350,000 the same as someone earning $35,000,000. I.e., there's the "rich" (although reasonable people can disagree whether a family bringing in $350,000 is "rich" or just "well off") and the RICH (think Bill Gates or Warren Buffett). Even the most dedicated redistributionist can see differences between those words (for one, I capitalized the second version of "rich"). (via Tax Prof Blog)

Fill it to the Rim... With Brim..

Some random thoughts while wondering what the hell ever happened to Brim coffee...

The Taxes Update

Head. Spinning.

More fallout from the House's "surtax" proposal. Another great post by Howard Gleckman at the Tax Vox blog. Here is a sample:

Why take cash compensation that could face a top rate of more than 45 percent when you could easily get more tax-free health insurance? Forget Cadillac plans. Now we’re talking Lamborghini coverage

A micro example of the macro problem - it's entirely possible that high earners will seek to shift their income into non-taxable income or deferred income arrangements - more expensive health employer-provided health insurance is just the most ironic example.

Which leads me to the other big piece of news - CBO head Douglas Elmendorf testified in front of the Senate Budget Committee today and essentially told them that the plan put forth by the House yesterday not only will not control costs, but will raise health care costs due to the public plan proposed, and as a result, they will not be paid for.

So how did he suggest tax reform be paid for? He dropped the bomb:

Asked what provisions should be added, Elmendorf suggested changing the way Medicare reimburses providers to create incentives for reducing costs. He also suggested ending or limiting the tax-free treatment of employer-provided health benefits, calling it a federal "subsidy" that encourages spending on ever-more-expensive health packages.

Of course the problem is the administration is dead set against such a change (it would be a tax raise on people earning <$250K which Obama foolishly promised not to do when a candidate). Senator Baucus blamed the Obama administration for limiting the Senate's options in taking this option off the table.

Some other reactions to the surtax:

Robert Reich likes it.

Nancy Pelosi says the rate is negotiable.

The Baseball Update

Very strange that so many teams are off after a 3 day break, so no Sox game to report on tonight. So here are some random thoughts on some random happenings today:

Ryan Howard fastest to 200 home runs (in terms of games played). As David Pinto pointed out today, in terms of age, he's nothing special. My prediction on lifetime home runs for Howard? 389.

This piece by Allen Barra came out a few days ago, but I can totally get behind the premise. After all, my twitter icon is a doctored '77 Mike Schmidt baseball card.

Finally, if you aren't already checking out Jon Couture's brilliant blog Better Red than Dead blog, well.. what are you waiting for. Best recaps on the web.

The Death Update

Ron Nicolino, 69, of San Francisco. A very interesting gentleman/artist. Some choice bits from the obit:

"And as an artist, Mr. Nicolino achieved international attention for his work with breasts and brassieres, including most notably the "Big Giant Bra Ball" - like a rubber band ball, but bigger and made of undergarments."

"In the mid-1990s, he got the idea to string bras across the Grand Canyon."

"His efforts also included creating a milelong line of sand breasts along Stinson Beach in 1994, with hundreds of volunteers using Size 34C plastic molds.

"When the tide came in, it washed it all away and the sand was smooth again. It was a very nice day," his mother said."

Now if Jeff Koons would adopt a bit of Mr. Nicolino's vision, I could get behind his "art".

Finally, a classic Brim commercial for your enjoyment:

Seeding the Tip Cup (and the daily updates)

The other day, I was buying some groceries in my neighborhood C Town (149th and B'way!). All grocery stores in Manhattan are local, but C Town is local-er than most. All of the checkout girls (and they are all girls) live in the neighborhood and on Sunday there was at least 1 teenage boy bagging at each checkout aisle.

Now I remember reading a story in the Times a while back exposing a "scandal" prevalent in neighborhood grocery stores - baggers working purely for tips and not getting paid minimum wage. It's not clear if the kids at C Town are volunteering, looking for some spare coin to buy soda and comics*, or whether they are getting paid under the table, or what. What is clear, however, is that each station has a little plastic dish for tips.

*Do kids still buy comics? I bought pretty lame comics when I was a kid - mostly the conventional superhero type - Superman, Green Lantern, Spiderman, with lots of ads in the back for direct sale programs. I never got into the X-Men or Fantastic 4 or certainly not any of the alternative comics. If not comics these days, what are kids spending their hard earned grocery bagging tip money on?

There is a psychology to tipping that I learned as an oyster shucker in Faneuil Hall in Boston - this is called "seeding the tipjar". Lounge piano players, subway performers, panhandlers, all know that people are more likely to give someone money when they either see someone else giving, or see (via the seeded tip cup) that someone else has already. Now I am not the first to notice this, but it is not a staple solely of your local Starbucks.

The nudge blog asks what is the optimal amount seeding the tip jar to get the ball rolling. In my experience, it's not any particular amount - its more important to have a reasonable volume (but not too much, lest people think you've been tipped enough!) of small bills. A few crinkled ones in a 16 oz plastic cup usually was the routine when I worked at the Walrus and Carpenter 15 years ago.

Unfortunately the C Town kids didn't get the memo. Their tip bowl was empty when I arrived and empty when I left.

Of course, I didn't have any cash on me at the time.

The Baseball Update

President Obama did not bounce the first pitch. I don't care where Pujols was standing. President Obama's candor in the announcer booth was much more interesting ("we're out of money").

Hey, some Red Sox Blog links:

Red Sox Chick (blogging at Weei!!) on the relative lack of Red Sox participation in the ASG.

Red Sox Dad on the Sox all stars meeting the Prez.

Jere from Red Sox Fan From Pinstripe Territory with a nice remembrance of watching the '83 ASG with his dad.

The Taxes Update

Seems like there may be some sort of tax hike proposed to fund health care reform? Anyone else know anything about this?

Recent coverage on other blogs:

Citizens for Tax Justice release (warning - pdf file). Editorially, the idea that it is tax justice for certain (but not all) taxpayers to be forced to "give back" some of the tax cuts they have received over the past decade is not "justice". That's a retroactive tax.

Don't Mess With Taxes also pointing out the multiple states in which a 50% marginal rate will be the new high.

Tax.com predicting that the surtax will never be enacted (I agree - and so does the taxgirl, I believe.

Finally, Megan McArdle with her thoughts.

The Death Update

After not blogging about my dad for a long long time, I had a weird dream last night - one of the increasingly rare dreams where he is an active present, walking, talking, like nothing ever happened - and I am always grateful that somehow he is among the living again. But this time, in my dream, I was reasoning with my brother, my mother, trying to get at whether he was really alive or not (again, in my dream). In my dream, we all saw him and thought he was there, but it turned out that we were each, separately, having Sixth Sense moments, when one of us saw him, it didn't mean the others did. We each were dreaming within my dream.

I feel like my subconcious had some sort of resolution.

Either that or I've got to cut down on the gin at night.

Your obit of the day belongs to Reggie Fleming, a hard-nosed hockey player from the 60s. He easily could have been the inspiration for Reggie Dunlop in Slap Shot, but apparently the first name was just a coincidence. He played professionally for 20 seasons (12 in the NHL) and led the league in penalty minutes his last season. Now that is dedication.

The obit is here

The Economist on the Surtax

From the Economist's Free Exchange blog today:

For me, the biggest concern is that Congress seems to have followed the path of least resistence here and it may do so again in the future. Recall that America has a fairly significant structural deficit, which will only grow as the population ages. American also has fairly significant need for large-scale investment in things like infrastructure and education. Revenues are going to have to rise to avoid a budget crisis somewhere down the road. And that means that taxes will have to rise.

Exactly. Some very good comments to this piece as well, including this:

if I were in the upper 1.2% (I'm not), with the fungibility of money, I'd be left with the feeling that my surtax might just as well be apportioned to subsidizing ethanol producers, or some other tremendous waste of resources.

Olbermann is much smarter than McCarver

Keith Olbermann provides one possible answer for the AL's recent dominance over the NL:

Finally, the All-Teams-Represented anachronism -- a rule left over from the days when it was assumed television viewership in each city depended on a representative from the team in each city -- clearly hurts the National League. It might not show up in a given game, but over the course of the twelve years since the 16/14 split began, this must have an impact: the NL is stuck with two more Mandatory Choices, each year, than is the AL. Tonight, the question was, which of the four solo NL guys - Francisco Cordero, Ted Lilly, Brian McCann, or Ryan Zimmerman - was ultimately of less use to Charlie Manuel than, say, a Mark Reynolds pinch-hit appearance might have been?

Well, it's 2 of the four, actually, and Manuel certainly did have some flexibility to take a Mark Reynolds (??) or Matt Kemp (yes) over Ryan Howard, Ryan Franklin or Jason Marquis, each of whom were manager's picks. Still, a brighter analysis than McCarver's

Prince Fielder, PETA and the Truism about Publicity (and the daily updates)

Darren Rovell twittered last night that PETA would be happy with noted vegetarian Prince Fielder's win in the Home Run Derby.

They were.

Is it just me, or doesn't it seem like 80% of PETA's news releases are what people would call "puff pieces". Perusing the last 20 or so news releases on PETA's media center, I see the following hard hitting stories: Prince Fielder's home run derby win, Carol Liefer coming out as a Vegan, Woody Harrelson doing god knows what, Playboy playmate hosting veggie dog lunch, bikinis, sexy lettuce, and something called "bloody syrup" (apparently an objection to seal killing in Canada - yeah I don't get it either).

Are these actually successful press releases for PETA? Do they actually get attention? Do they raise money? At some point the cuteness factor must wear off, no? Yes, we liked the first 20 or 30 spots of a supermodel promising to go naked before she would wear fur (with Pics!!!), but eventually, the tongue-in-cheek too-cute-by-half copywriting and ultimately silly messaging (hey, maybe you should stop eating meat to be stronger!!!) would seem to be counter-productive. They undermine the seriousness of PETA's mission and raise questions about its credibility.

PETA has to walk a fine line. Its mission is basically to improve animal welfare and reduce animal cruelty. Most animal cruelty takes place on the factory farms and in the testing labs. People don't want to hear about that though - I imagine PETA has decided they get more traction with puff pieces than with exposes, or even worse, guerrilla operations against farms. The pieces though distract from PETA's message and in some cases seem to make light of it (nobody really thinks that Fielder's vegetairianism helped him win the Derby - so what's the point besides a cheap laugh?)

It seems like the ASPCA walks the line better - affecting spots with Sarah McLachlin, tugging on people's heartstrings with the shots of the poor abused puppies. Yeah, that's not exactly PETA's mission - I think PETA's plank technically would not allow for domesticated animals either - but it is a credible approach, not snarky and was a proven money maker.

This is a long way of saying I wonder if the old truism of all PR being good PR is still true? For an arguably "fringe" group like PETA, is it more important to make sure people know you're still around than to provide a credible argument/release (whereas ASPCA is surely more well regarded than PETA so does not care as much about exposure)? Or are today's consumers so well informed and looped in that they will tune out obviously hacky BS like the Prince Fielder PR linked above?

The Baseball Update

Short one tonight - just a classic case of Tim McCarver idiocy.

President Obama asked McCarver and Buck why they thought the AL had won the last 12 all star games. Now the answer was probably simply a combination of luck and the talent in the AL being somewhat better than the NL the past decade. McCarver said that he thought the NL was catching up, but that the AL had a head start due to the DH. Just let that sink in for a second.

This was idiotic on so many levels. First, the DH has been around since '73. Second, the DH is used by both leagues in AS games played in AL parks. Third, the NL went 13-1 from '72 to '85, during which time the AL had the DH. I really can't imagine what McCarver was thinking. Actually, I'd rather not try.

The Taxes Update

I've already blogged on taxes today. I note though that Taxgirl noticed something I didn't - the surtaxes suggested by the House today apply to investment income as well as wages - basically, once again, resulting in a 45% max marginal rate on wages and a 25% max rate on cap gains and dividends (if Obama's proposals on cap gains and dividend tax rates come to fruition).

Greg Mankiw adds sales and state/local taxes to arrive at a top marginal rate above 50%. I think we're already there in California by that math, actually.

Update: Howard Gleckman at the Tax Vox blog has a very good post on the topic.

The Death Update

Samuel Genensky, a near blind inventor and mathematician for the Rand corporation who invented a precursor technology to the magnification devices currently in use by the partially sighted.

I thought this quote from him was interesting:

“When the partially blind went out in the world, they found that they either got no services at all or services that were appropriate for people who were totally blind,’’ Mr. Genensky told an interviewer this year. “Neither of these alternatives made much sense to me.’’

I find it is true in all walks of life that the benefits we provide people are at the margins - the high achievers and the low achievers. I guess the idea is that the rest will muddle through - not a perfect analogy because here we are talking about the somewhat disabled (partially sighted) vs. the obviously disabled (the blind), but I do think as a society we provide more accommodation for the obvious cases than the harder, less obvious cases.

Oh, and as a parent who hated the mandatory ointment requirement for newborns, this is haunting:

His eyes were burned shortly after birth when a delivery room nurse accidentally administered the wrong eyedrops to guard against infection.

Yeah. Um, sorry? The obit is here.

Health Care Reform to be Funded with Evergreen Proposals

According to a briefing service I get at work, the $1 trillion health care overhaul bill just released in the House would be paid for mostly by the surtaxes on the "rich", but also with a few other offsets that keep finding their way into various legislation from time to time.

The offsets are as follows:

--$540 billion from a surtax on households earning more than $350,000 (starting at 1% for couples earning >350K, 1.5% for couples earning b/w 500K and 1M and 5.4%!!!! for couples earning more than 1M.  This would bring the top marginal rate post-expiration of Bush's tax cuts to 45%;

--$8.1 billion from the codification of the economic substance doctrine;

--$22.3 billion from a delay of the implementation date of the worldwide interest allocation provision put into law in 2004; and

-- unclear amounts from provisions relating to sale-in, lease-out transactions.

Now, I'm no mathematician, but those numbers aren't going to add up to $1 trillion, which makes me think that included in the offsets must be the limitation on itemized deductions for high-earners.  We'll see once the bill comes out.  That 45% top marginal rate will be the headline in tomorrow's news though.

Update: More here at the taxprof blog.

Death, Taxes and Such

Well it's been too long since I've updated, and it may be months again since I do another update, but I have a few minutes, so here goes..

The Baseball Update

David Pinto is doing a quick series over on Baseball Musings, reviewing each major league team at the all star break. So far, he's tackled just the AL West, but eventually he'll get to the Sox. He presents how a team ranks in several stats, OBP, SLG, etc. I remember as a kid noticing the Sox always seemed to be at the top of the league in AVG and 2Bs, but at the bottom of the pack in SBs. This is not news.

The interesting thing (to me) is how much the team has changed since those days (and even since '04 or so). Now, Sox are middle of the pack in AVG, but toward the top in SBs (the perennial success in 2Bs must be a function of the park).

Again, this is not news. Everyone knows that Theo Epstein has made a point of emphasizing OBP and, apparently, has embraced the speed game more than his predecessors (of course, it helps that he has Ellsbury who has by himself more than 1/2 of the team's stolen bases). This is to his credit, but I don't think he gets enough credit. It's one thing to espouse a philosophy, it's another to successfully implement it. And Epstein's been able to do that in spades.

The Taxes Update

For me, it's all health care, all the time. Taxgirl, the Tax Vox Blog, Kausfiles and Robert Ross at HuffPo all had interesting posts in the past few days regarding the various tax initiatives being put forth to fund health care reform

David Brooks had a great op-ed last week noting that the combination of the various tax increases leave Obama with precious little dry powder for future domestic spending initiatives.

I agree with this. To review the bidding, Obama has already proposed/assumed that the Bush tax cuts on individuals earning over $250K will expire in 2011. Added to that since he ran are: (i) a cap on the deductibility of itemized deductions for high earners, (ii) a "surtax" from 1% to 3% on income over $350,000 (ramping up based on income) which Rangel introduced last week (iii) a potential cap on the tax exclusion of employer-provided health insurance (for plans that cost > $25K/year in premiums) and (iv) rumblings about imposing payroll taxes on capital gains and dividends (i.e., nonwage income).

Neither Obama nor Congress has seriously considered any tax increases on the middle class (such as the total repeal of the tax exclusion for employer-provided health insurance).

The price tag for the increased coverage Congress is discussing (which would *not* be universal) is ~$1 trillion (CBO estimate from July 3 reported $600M, but the $1T number is still the one that is most widely reported). Apparently gone is the argument that reform will actually save money (probably for good reasons politically, there was already too much discussion of which end of life interventions would not be covered by government provided health insurance due to lack of "efficiencies" - see below).

I am not morally against a tax hike to fund comprehensive health care coverage, but so far, the plans put forth would not accomplish that goal. It seems to me that if you are willing to wager the rest of your domestic policy agenda (because that is what Obama would be doing if all of the above tax hikes are necessary for a credible plan to be passed, which would leave room for no further hikes, probably including the expiration of the Bush tax cuts), then the payoff had better be more impressive than even the most recent CBO estimates of the increase in the number of people covered in this country. It had better be damned close to universal coverage (Medicare for all, as Mickey Kaus calls it).

I don't think that's what we will see.

The Death Update

Michael. Farrah. Ed. Oxy-Clean. Karl. Robert. Steve. And Waldo.

That would be Waldo McBurney, America's oldest worker. He was 106. He worked from age 13 to age 104. He took up distance running when he was 65.

I was listening to an Adam Carolla podcast on the way home from work tonight and in it he said he had asked his friend Dr. Drew, what was with the health care reform debate - what all the controversy was about, why costs were rising so much. Dr. Drew's answer was simple(istic). Everyone is living longer than expected. This *can* partially explain shortfalls in corporate and public pensions and of course the coming disasters in Medicare and Social Security. The cost issue though is extremely loaded when you start to bring patient age into the equation - issues of rationing and treatment decisions made by reference to the efficiency (or necessity) of a given treatment. Who knows how much "extra" costs we all bore to help Mr. McBurney live to 106. Surely he wasn't getting there solely on "juices and berries".

It's a difficult question. When dad finally accepted his likely fate (late stage small cell lung cancer), he decided he didn't want to pursue more chemo or crap that would just make him feel sicker than he was. That was his decision though. I can't imagine (and we're a LONG way in the discussion from this) someone else making that decision for him. Obama alluded to this in a discussion of his grandmother - even when it was clear she would not make it, she had a hip replacement. He admitted that he would pay for the procedure himself, but what if someone can't pay. As a lawyer, I hate slippery slope arguments and believe that we as rational humans don't need bright lines because we should be able reason between different cases based on their own facts, but that's much easier to do in the dry world of tax where it's just money, ultimately, and not someone's cancer-infected dad.

Addendum

This conversation on Slate.com is a good primer on where the Obama Administration (and Stephen Colbert, er, Peter Orszag in particular) thinks the cost savings will come from.

In addition, this blog post by Orszag lays out the ground rules for health reform being "deficit neutral". This is the corner they've painted themselves into.

Great Trivia Question (courtesy of Rob Neyer)

Who is the only MVP to never have made an all-star team (for MVPs named after the introduction of the ASG, obviously).

Check out Neyer's post to find out.

O.k., I'll tell you:  Kirk Gibson.  My first guess would have been Willie Hernandez from '84.  Right team, wrong guy.

The Obligatory Best Music of 2008 Post

I cross-posted this on the Tripletters blog that I co-write with a couple of friends. But here it is for your "entertainment". To clarify one thing, I didn't listen to enough music in 2008 to have much of an opinion on the "best" songs of 2008 - the 25 below are just songs I enjoyed.

Here are my Top 5 albums of 2008 and 25 songs I really liked and think you would too. A word of explanation on the albums - I've fully made the jump to downloads and am rarely listening to albums all the way through. I'll need to defer to Engaged Boy [former Boston friend who was recently engaged] since he's still buying vinyl, I think.

Albums

• Hold Steady, Stay Positive


• Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend


• R.E.M., Accelerate


• Kings of Leon, Only by the Night


• Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes

Honorable Mention: Play, Brad Paisley

Here is where I give a shout out to the best radio station in New York City, 101.9 WRXP, FINALLY, a station to replace my beloved 'FNX. Why am I plugging a random NYC radio station? Well, I'll let you in on a little secret Triplets, NY radio SUCKS. Sure, Fordham has a decent college station, but if you want to here anything recorded after 1994 that isn't Beyonce, Kanye or Nickelback, you were SOL before WXRP came along. WXRP is where I first heard new Kings of Leon, R.E.M., My Morning Jacket, Pretenders, The Hold Steady, Flobots...

Some of these for the first time - yes, having kids and working a job with unreasonable hours has the side effect of not getting out and getting to know that bands like The Hold Steady and MMJ are out there. So there you go - my new favorite band? The Hold Steady. Stay Positive is excellent from the roota to the toota, as Yacc is wont to say. My old favorite band, Kings of Leon also had a great release, but you can't top Stay Positive.

As for Fleet Foxes, I wanted to hate them since I saw their album for sale at Starbucks, but they are too good. Not every day music, but perfect for unwinding at the end of the day, or background to, I don't know, writing blog posts... My Album of the year - Fleet Foxes, S/T.

Songs (with vidoes embedded - enjoy!)

• A-Punk, Vampire Weekend. Hey, I live near Washington Heights.


• Oxford Comma, Vampire Weekend. No, no serial comma necessary.


• Salute your Solution, the Raconteurs. Better than the last White Stripes tracks.


• Horse to Water, R.E.M. Wow.


• Man-Sized Wreath, R.E.M. Wower. Stipe is Really Energetic Michael after all.


• I'm Amazed, My Morning Jacket. Yup. And this made me buy Z. Awesome.


• Gettin' Up, Q-Tip. Check out Believe too. Tip's still got it.


• Use Somebody, Kings of Leon. Sorry. I love these guys. Sex on Fire sucks, but 17 is good too.


• White Winter Hymnal, Fleet Foxes. Best secular hymn of 2008.


• Put On, Young Jeezy (feat. Kanye West). Autotone Kanye w/ a keffiyeh? Hell yeah.


• Cath..., Death Cab for Cutie. "You were living someone else's dream." Saddest lyric of 2008.


• Lost!, Coldplay. [sheepishly grins] I liked Viva la Vida too [/sheepishly grins]


• Saved by Old Times, Deerhunter.


• Magick, Ryan Adams & the Cardinals. I never really liked this guy, but this song is solid and short (2:20 or so).


• Constructive Summer, Hold Steady. Yes. Let's raise a glass to St. Joe Strummer.


• Sequestered in Memphis, Hold Steady. A business trip never sounded so good.


• Magazines, Hold Steady.


• Come on In, Brad Paisley (feat. Buck Owens). From the Streets of Bakersfield to the best guitar player in the USA. All of Play is tremendous.


• Never Miss a Beat, Kaiser Chiefs


• Sometime Around Midnight, Airborne Toxic Event. Much love for the De Lillo reference. Song is good too.


• Handlebars, The Flobots. All-K, These guys are Cake, if they decided to rap.


• Moab, Conor Oberst. Hyperliterate and Correct.


• Boots of Chinese Plastic, The Pretenders. Some comeback.


• Anything 'cept the Truth, Eagles of Death Metal. You sure this isn't QOTSA?


• Take Back the City, Snow Patrol. Anyone else hear Mike and the Mechanics before and during the chorus?

By the way, if Paper Planes by M.I.A. is an official 2008 release? That wins HANDS DOWN.

Groups who released acclaimed albums I just can't get into:

Bon Iver - The mythology is a lot to get over. Saw him on Letterman. Meh.
TV on the Radio - I'm trying. It's not working. Sorry Brooklyn!
Portishead - Engaged Boy - Help me out here.
M83. Huh?
Fucked Up - Yes - I guess I'm not hardcore enough. Go Canada!

Off to macrame myself a pair of jean shorts.

-J-Dogg.

Kickoff Thoughts

... Some random thoughts and predictions while waiting for Trent Edwards to throw his first 7 yard out...

-- This was the best news I saw all week.

-- I strongly recommend this piece at the Goose's Roost on what being a Bills fan is like.

-- Speaking of the Bills, I was back home a couple of weekends ago, visiting family and friends and was a little surprised at how economically depressed the general region is. Particularly the rural area where I grew up. The local grocery store (once upon a time Bells) closed up shop making the closest supermarket a 15 minute drive away. The closest movie theater to my mom is a 45 minute drive. You pass 3 different Wal-Marts on the way. Cause and effect?

-- And my mom is one of the lucky ones - owns her house, minimal debt, has my dad's pension to live off of. Most are much less fortunate.

-- Some quick predictions... AFC Division winners - Pats, Colts, Steelers, San Diego. Wildcards - Bills and Jags. NFC Division winners - Eagles, Packers, Saints, Cardinals. Wildcards - Cowboys and Vikings. Pats vs. Eagles in SB XLIII. Pats win.

-- Marshawn Lynch will rush for more than 1400 yards.

-- I will go under .500 picking against the spread.

-- I will enjoy several rums and tonic today.

-- Here are the quick picks (trust me, I had the Giants Thursday): Saints (-3.5), Eagles (-8), Dolphins (+3), Chiefs (-15.5), Steelers (-6.5), Ravens (+1.5), Lions (-3), Bills (-1.5), Jags (-3), Browns (+6), Panthers (+9), Cards (-2.5), Colts (-9.5), Packers (-2) and Broncos (-3).

-- The Sox will catch Tampa. They seem to be getting healthy at just the right time. Beckett looked strong Friday. Masterson has developed into a dependable 7th/8th inning guy. I would much prefer the Sox win the division and face the Central winner than get the wild card and face the Angels (although the Sox seem to have their number in the playoffs).

-- That's all for today. More interesting stuff later today or tomorrow.

Go BILLS!!!

Suck it Wilbon

I don't care if it's an "EXHIBITION" - it's football. Bills-Skins right now and the Bills are wearing the sweet throwbacks. To start off - great hit by Digiorgio on the opening kickoff followed by Bills recovery.

Have to say, it kind of snuck up on me this year.... Enjoy the football.

You Can Stop the Sox...

You can stop them and contain them.

Funny story. I had an etire post written celebrating the Sox' 7th straight win. A funny thing happened on the way to victory. Julio Fucking Lugo. That's what happened.

Seriously, when is Theo going to get some grief for Lugo (not to mention the short leash on Renteria, A-Gone, etc.)? This guy is a freaking joke. He can't hit. He can't field. He doesn't even tug on his jock anymore so he even FAILS at comic relief.

I mean, seriously:




Anyway.... Might as well get it over and do Three things I noticed: (1) Youkilis is a baby. Nothing new here, but man, get a grip. Going that batshit crazy in the 5th inning over what really was a close pitch is asinine. He's a whiny player generally, but take stock of the situation. Getting thrown out in that situation (and it was close) would be like a defensive lineman getting a stupid unsportmanlike after stopping an offense on third and long.

(2) I think Ortiz's knee is actually o.k. Not sure if he had a cortisone shot and nobody's telling or if he's just working out whatever kinks he had, but he's looking more "normal" at the plate and was definitely hustling down the line tonight on the grounders he had.

(3) [Yes, I actually had the hubris to write this before the game ended] I actually feel a little bad for Tigers fans this year. I was one of the deluded who thought they'd tear through the season with a sick offense (every position player save one a former all star). I didn't realize how much their pitching would regress. D-Train is no surprise, but Verlander and Bonderman becoming (more) average were and that pen is just atrocious. The new guy (Cruetsa) wasn't that impressive tonight either. Shaping up to be a long season for them.

Some linking around:

Jere at Red Sox Fan in Pinstripe Territory has an interesting history lesson on the '04 (that's 1904) Sox. Great blog - very interactive, if a little focused on Yankee misery. He also has the most comprehensive Blogroll of Sox blogs I have seen (although sadly not mine).

Looks like Red Sox Chick had the same thought process I had while writing this post. From "looks like the Sox are taking this one" to "WTF Lugo you !%#^$&!"

Not much else of interest in Red Sox blogdom tonight. So it's on to....

The Taxes Update

I'm a bit late with this, but New York City is looking to tax carried interest in hedge funds and other private equity funds. Right now the "unincorporated business tax", which taxes partnerships and LLCs at a 4% rate, does not apply to profits from investment partnerships, so carried interest is currently not subject to this tax.

Not sure about the Journal's take on this. Most hedge funds already operate out of CT to minimize taxes on the management fee (which the UBT already applies to). Those that remain in NYC do so because they obviously see a business reason to do so, regardless of the already MUCH higher taxes in NYC. Not sure an additional 3 or so % tax on income that, for the most part, makes up less than 1/3 of an investment fund manager's comp is going to spark a massive "head for the hills" response.

The most interesting aspect of this is that it will serve as an incubator for the larger federal initiative of taxing carried interest as comp. If investment funds do not, in fact, leave New York after this tax is applied, that may convince some legislators to back additional federal taxes on carried interest (some legislators are reportedly concerned about driving funds offshore).

The Death Update

Today, a titan who nobody has ever heard of. Morgan Sparks was 91.

He invented the "practical transistor." Why is that a big deal? It's only the precursor technology to basically every electronic device in use today.

An appreciation is here. The obit is here.

It's Been Such a Long Time...

.. I think I should be blogging.

With apologies to Boston (the band), I should either shut this thing down or actually make an effort to keep it updated. So. Here goes.

The Taxes Update

Lots of fun stuff has happened since the last update - we had Wesley "don't call me Wellesley, Jack Williams" Snipes sentenced to 3 years for criminal tax fraud. He is appealing. (obvious joke - his lawyers are also filing an appeal in his case. Heh).

What else? Oh yeah, the silly gas tax holiday. Real cute idea. Doesn't stand a chance of passing congress anyway. Wouldn't result in a reduction in gas bills more than a few dollars a month. I've been a full-on Hillary supporter throughout this process (see this for my initial long-winded concerns with Obama), but between this, her exploitation of the Wright issue, her cribbing famous Holocaust poems as anti-trade riffs... not much left there to like.

Except Chelsea. Mmmm.

That's it on taxes for now. Superficial I know. More detail will be forthcoming if I can manage to update this blog more than once every 3 months.

The Baseball Update

When I get my shit together, I'll post some pictures from opening day at Fenway. It was tremendous. Meanwhile, the Sox have been mainly as advertised, although it feels like they are on the verge of breaking out and having a nice 7 or 8 game winning streak, it hasn't happened yet. Only worrisome spots so far:

-- middle relief. Only Okajima has been really dependent. Delcarmen, Timlin, Hansen. Where's the second arm to pitch the 7th and 8th innings?

-- Dice-K. The command has been troubling all year, but he's just flat out getting lucky now. He happened to be pitching against a not-very-selective team last night (only Sheff, Ordonez and Guillen are particularly selective in that lineup), which bailed him out. Still, long-term, he's not going to be successful with a 1.5:1 K:BB ratio.

-- Ortiz. He seems to be coming around, but a chronic knee injury that doesn't seem to respond to surgery, treatment, days off is cause for concern.

That's about it. The other "disappointments" - Lugo, Drew, well we knew what we were expecting there, didn't we?

The Death Update

Taxwife has had a rough month. She lost both her grandfathers in April. One expected (cancer). One not. She is usually extraordinarily reserved and this was no exception. It is a tough thing - knowing "how to act", especially if you are the kind of person who worries about that on a daily basis. She was very strong through both services. Her grandfather (mom's dad) had an amazing turnout at his wake (or viewing hours). I learned many things I didn't know about him - president of local rotary club, many business connections in town - this was a guy who wasn't extraordinarily "connected", but a good man who naturally made friends and put people at ease.

But that made me think - why is it that there is always some surprise, some secret that we learn of people when they pass away. It's often something quite mundane, not the "he once killed a man for snoring too loud" kind of secret. Obviously everyone has aspects of their life and character and works that they want to keep secret, but these are often little nuggets of a person's character that you'd expect some people to wear as badges of honor. I don't have a ready example except for Taxwife's grandfather, who had these business connections and relationships, and all these friends who came out, but who was the most unassuming guy you'd meet. Something I found interesting. No more, no less.

That's it for tonight. More light stuff tomorrow hopefully. Take care.

Quick Wednesday Update

Quick links while I marvel at the continued idiocy (and mad IT skillz)of Yankees fans...

Goose's Roost has a preview of tonight's Sabres-Lightning slobberknocker. Serves me right to go and blog about how great the Sabres are playing and then watch them get pegged by the Pens and Rangers.

A couple of the Deadspin guys have a new baseball blog - Walk off walk. Looks good so far.

What the hell is it with movie stars who cheat on their taxes? First it was Wesley Snipes. Now good ol' locust-eating, molar-extracting-with-no-novacaine Nic[k] Cage?

Hey, if the Wicker Man can't get away with cheating on his taxes, what hope is there for the rest of us?

GOOSE!!!

Yep, Gaustad put home a sweet pass from Daniel Paille last night for the Sabres' only goal in a 1-0 win over the Leafs (watched in beautiful hi-def on the HHL network).

Figured the boys over at The Goose's Roost would be happy about this one.

Oh yeah, Miller was a stud too. Suck on it Wilmer Valderrama.

Odd's 'n' Ends

Getting back into this "blogging" thing -- thought I'd fill out a few odds and ends I noticed the past few days...

Thoughts and prayers go out to Joe Ferguson and his family (Joe is battling complications from Leukemia). Joe was the first QB I remember for the Bills, and I distinctly remember that while he was generally mediocre, he had some great hook-ups with Frank Lewis and Jerry Butler (and, IIRC, set a record for most attempts without an interception). Best wishes Joe.

Derek Jeter apparently has settled his tax dispute with New York state on undisclosed terms. He clearly agreed to pay something - wonder if we will notice that Derek will be less of a presence in NYC (see this post for some background on the case)

Shhh - the Buffalo Sabres are coming. Look out NHL. I've been saying all season that they have had a positive goal differential and just a matter of time before they would creep back into the playoff hunt. Haven't lost since the AS break.

Tax news -- Sen. Grassley said in an interview with Reuters that the Blackstone Bill is essentially dead, but that he thought the deferred comp bill introduced by Rahm EMmanuel last year has some legs.

That's all for now - the Beatles' yogi passed away - I guess that's the big obit for the day. Still having dreams about dad, although not that often.

Always Bet on Black!

Yes, that's my main man Wesley Snipes' line from Passenger 57. Apropos given the recent news of his exoneration of some nasty felony tax fraud charges (his bankroll will still take a dent - he's not off the hook for paying taxes).



Essentially Wesley had been filing returns and paying with bogus checks (so not paying at all), basing his argument that he is not subject to tax on what is called the "861 position", named after a provision of the Code that deals with sourcing of income. The argument is that Section 861 and its regulations define "taxable income" in such a way as to exclude most income from being subject to tax. See the Wikipedia entry.

This is an extraordinarily oft-promoted position that has been repeatedly shot down in the courts. So why did Snipes win?

For a typically arcane reason. In order for Snipes to be convicted for criminal tax fraud, it had to be proven that he did not believe that he was acting in good faith in avoiding paying taxes. Essentially, the jury believed that he was a victim of "bad advice".

Lots of commentary on this at the TaxProf Blog.

Still, it's not all roses for Wesley - he still owes 8 figures in back taxes and penalties and interest stands to serve some jail time for the misdemeanors that he was convicted of - failure to file returns (up to 3 years).

And Always Bet on Black? Seems to be true given that Richard Hatch was not as successful.

Peter King is an idiot

I usually try to refrain from criticizing prominent "MSM" sports journalists. Awful Announcing and Fire Joe Morgan (not to mention Bruce Allen at Boston Sports Media Watch) do a tremendous job already. But I couldn't let this statement by Peter King go by without comment:

"1. I think this was about the dumbest thing I've heard this week so far. When ESPN's Emmitt Smith was asked on TV about Plaxico Burress' prediction of a 23-17 Giants victory, Smith said: "His prediction will get him double-coverage.'' I can only hope Smith either mis-spoke or was somehow exaggerating, because to imagine that the Patriots would be moved to change their defensive plan against Burress because of something he said prior to the game is ridiculous."

Short memory Peter?

"Goat of the Week
Pittsburgh FS Anthony Smith. After his ill-timed guarantee (is there ever a good time to inflame the overwhelming favorites to win the Super Bowl?), Smith got beat for two long Brady touchdowns. I'm not sure anyone cared much about his statements, but why antagonize a great team?"

And from Jackie McMullan's game day story:

The latest victim of their motivational frenzy is [Anthony] Smith, the former Syracuse star whose aggressive defensive style was expertly exploited by the Patriots.

"We knew he plays that way, so we put some stuff to take advantage of that," said receiver Jabar Gaffney (seven catches, 122 yards).

"Lesson learned," said Patriots cornerback Ellis Hobbs. "A hard lesson learned."

Nah... The Patriots would never target a single player on the opposing team. They'd never design plays specifically to embarrass a player who called them out. Never happen, eh Peter? I mean, seriously, has he not watched Belichick, Brady, et al go for the jugular every possible opportunity? Now obviously the Pats won't triple team Burress out of spite, but you can be sure that they'll be all over him all game. What an idiot.