Sunday, September 4, 2016

The Big Lie About Donald Trump’s Tax Returns

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Judd Legum

Editor-In-Chief, ThinkProgress

7 hrs ago3 min read

The Big Lie About Donald Trump’s Tax Returns

If you want the truth, listen to his accountants.

Mike Pence made news on NBC’s Meet The Press when he said that “Donald Trump and I are both going to release our tax returns.” Pence said that he would be releasing his returns in the next week and Trump would release his returns “at the completion of an audit.”

Trump is the first major candidate since Richard Nixon who has refused to release his tax returns, and the excuse of an “audit” has been a consistent refrain. It was repeated by Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, in an appearance Sunday morning.

Hillary Clinton has 15 years of tax returns available for download online.

It’s worth noting that the existence of an audit, according to the IRS, does not preclude the release of tax returns. In fact, it actually makes the release of returns less risky. The primary issue with making your tax returns public is triggering an audit. Trump doesn’t have to be worried about that.

But there is a bigger problem with the Trump campaign’s argument that all his returns are under audit: It’s not true.

The truth is disclosed in a letter from his accountants that was published to the Trump campaign website in March. It reveals that Trump’s returns from 2008 and prior are not under audit and have been “administratively closed” by the IRS.

So when Trump and his campaign staff say they are not releasing his taxes because they are under audit, that’s not true. None of his taxes from 2008 or prior are currently under audit, and yet Trump still hasn’t released those returns.

It’s also worth noting that nothing in the letter from his accountants advises him not to release his tax returns.

Trump’s tax advisers do note that in a “sense” the “pending examinations are continuations of prior, closed examinations.” But this fiction would justify perpetual non-disclosure of Trump’s returns.

Trump, apparently, is audited every year. He is currently arguing that the audit of his 2015 return precludes the release of his 2002 return, even though it is not under audit. Under this theory, even if the 2015 audit is closed, his upcoming 2016 audit would preclude the release of all his returns from 2002 to present.

Trump has also not addressed at all why he’s not releasing returns prior to 2002.

Trump also is reluctant to reveal even basic information about his taxes, such as his overall tax rate. Asked in a May interview about his tax rate, Trump recoiled. “It’s none of your business,” he snapped.

A few days ago, Eric Trump — Donald’s son and a close adviser — said it would be “foolish” for his father to ever release his taxes.

This point of view doesn’t seem consistent with someone who ever intended on making any of his tax returns public — at least not before election day. But one thing should be clear: It has nothing to do with an audit.

Above is from:  https://thinkprogress.org/the-big-lie-about-donald-trumps-tax-returns-585aa23bf529#.x08wpq845

No labor 'Turnaround' a year later for Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner

 

Delving into whether Rauner’s agenda would work and its chances at approval

Published: Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016 11:22 p.m. CDT

 

By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver @shawmedia.com

A McHenry County Board vote last year to approve a symbolic resolution to support Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s “Turnaround Agenda” became a major legal weight around the board’s neck.

Local labor unions that call Rauner’s support for right-to-work laws an assault on the working class protested the vote, and one union took the County Board to court, alleging that board members who met with Rauner before the vote violated the Open Meetings Act. While the County Board settled the lawsuit and revoked its symbolic resolution, another headache continued in the form of a state investigation, sparked by that very same union, into whether board members work enough to qualify for their pensions.

Of all the facets to the agenda on which Rauner ran in 2014, the ones seeking to curtail collective bargaining and reform prevailing wage laws are by far the most contentious, especially in a state like Illinois where public-sector unions wield tremendous political clout. That clout, and the Democratic Party holding supermajorities in both houses of the General Assembly, make these proposed changes problematic at best.

Politics aside, would these proposals work and provide tax relief, and do they have a chance of approval? The answer, of course, depends on who you ask.

What it means

Rauner’s proposal would allow for the creation of right-to-work laws at the local level through “employee empowerment zones” that would give workers – public sector, private or both – the right to voluntarily join or refrain from joining a union, and would forbid requiring joining or paying union-related dues as a condition for employment. The zones either could be approved by the local government or by referendum. It also would allow local governments to exclude a number of topics from collective bargaining.

Another proposal would repeal the state’s prevailing wage law, a minimum hourly wage set by the Illinois Department of Labor, based on trade, for any building project undertaken by a local government. These rates typically are set to match union scale.

To Anders Lindall, spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, Rauner’s initiatives aren’t about helping taxpayers, but gutting organized labor and lowering wages. The council represents about 75,000 employees statewide.

“Having a voice at work through their union allows public service workers at the city and county level to advocate for enough resources to serve their community, to have a voice to keep political interference out of public service, and to have the tools they need to do their jobs, whether it’s responding to emergencies, protecting public health and safety, or teaching kids. If you’re talking about silencing the voices of public service workers in these helping professions, that is what’s at stake,” Lindall said.

Others see it differently. Michael Lucci, vice president of policy for the conservative-leaning Illinois Policy Institute, said that data concludes that right-to-work laws have increased wages in the three neighboring states – Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan – that have implemented it. About half the states in the union have right-to-work laws.

“The normal criticism of right-to-work says, ‘If you adopt right-to-work, then boom, wages just fall.’ There’s absolutely no evidence of that, and in particular, in the three states around us that have enacted right-to-work, personal income increased faster than in Illinois,” Lucci said.

Besides the long shot that a Democratic legislature would even entertain the idea, there are legal roadblocks. Attorney General Lisa Madigan ruled that federal labor law allows only states and not local governments to enact such policies. The Lincolnshire Village Board created a right-to-work zone anyway and was promptly sued by a number of unions. The lawsuits are still ongoing – the village is getting free legal representation from a law firm funded by the Illinois Policy Institute.

Many of the 24 members of the McHenry County Board, all Republicans, have cited both union contracts and prevailing wage as roadblocks when it comes to cutting costs and reducing the overall budget. The board and its associated bodies, a sliver of the 7,000 units of local government in Illinois, make up about 10 percent of a resident’s property-tax bill.

More than half of county government’s workforce, which has steadily decreased since the Great Recession, is unionized through 10 separate bargaining units. Besides giving those employees benefits and raises, board members give their non-unionized workers a level of parity, lest they be convinced to organize as well. In Illinois, public employees are automatically unionized if a majority of workers in an office fill out the authorization forms, a process known as card check.

As for prevailing wage, board members allege that it jacks up the cost to taxpayers for projects. For the past three years, the County Board has symbolically voted against accepting the annual prevailing wage list mandated by the state. But while rejecting the schedule carries no penalty, willingly paying workers less than prevailing wage carries a Class A misdemeanor and fines – under the law, the elected officials face the charge, while the body, meaning the taxpayers, pay the fine.

Prevailing wage is no joke, said County Board member Michael Walkup, who is the Republican candidate for board chairman. During the April 2015 debate about supporting the Turnaround Agenda, Walkup brought up a project during his time on the Crystal Lake Park District Board to build a brick restroom at Veterans Acres Park that ended up costing $250,000. To put it in perspective, Walkup said, the quote he got to rebuild his entire home after a fire came in about the same.

“Prevailing wage probably doubles your labor costs. A true prevailing wage would be what the overall price is in the marketplace when you consider everything, but we’re not allowed to consider everybody – we only can compare union scale,” said Walkup, R-Crystal Lake.

Conflicting studies exist on prevailing wage’s effect on the bottom line.

Lucci said that prevailing wage typically increases costs by about 6 percent, but that 6 percent of the $11 billion or so spent on public construction in Illinois adds up to $660 million. The number, he said, also doesn’t include increased workers compensation costs.

But a new report released last week by the liberal-leaning Illinois Economic Policy Institute casts doubt on the allegation that prevailing wage is artificial or jacks up costs. The report analyzed wages in a number of Illinois counties bordering other states and concluded that the prevailing wage rates are not inflated, but match local rates. Local market conditions by far have more of an effect than prevailing wage, according to institute Policy Director Frank Manzo IV, who wrote the analysis.

“The state’s prevailing wage law prevents government from undercutting local standards, supports in-state contractors, provides a competitive level of compensation to workers, and promotes apprenticeship training. Illinois should continue this high-road public policy,” Manzo wrote.

Same old situation?

The next chance of any sort of deal being struck on any portion of Rauner’s agenda will be after the Nov. 8 election, when the six-month temporary state budget is set to expire.

Rauner’s main hope for getting some of the Turnaround Agenda approved could materialize as part of a “grand bargain” on a budget. Rauner has said he would entertain increasing taxes like Democratic lawmakers want, only if accompanied by meaningful pro-business and pro-taxpayer reforms he said are necessary to reverse Illinois’ dire economic fortunes.

David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, said he is not optimistic about a deal being struck. With about two-thirds of General Assembly seats uncontested in this election, he does not see the current political calculus changing in a way that would favor either Rauner or House Speaker Michael Madigan by giving him enough of a cushion to override a gubernatorial veto and take the governor out of the equation entirely.

“I think they’re going to have to come to some agreement with the governor. I just don’t see a situation where the Democrats have either the numbers or the discipline to completely ignore the governor and think they can override vetoes,” Yepsen said.

There are, of course, other aspects of the Turnaround Agenda, such as workers’ compensation and tort liability reform, a statewide property-tax freeze, term limits and redistricting reform. But many of those are just as politically unpalatable to many General Assembly members. The Illinois Supreme Court last month slapped down a citizen initiative for a constitutional amendment to take the power to draw legislative districts away from lawmakers.

An outcome of this, Yepsen said, could be that the temporary budget deal that ended a year-long budget impasse between Rauner and Democratic lawmakers expires, and turns out to be nothing more than an intermission.

“With all the spending and rhetoric, we could be right back in the same gridlocked position,” Yepsen said.

 

Above is from:  http://www.nwherald.com/2016/09/01/no-labor-turnaround-a-year-later-for-illinois-gov-bruce-rauner/aywds0z/?page=4

Unions/Prevailing Wage Legislation/Analysis of effects

 

  • My View: Unions are more than just a parade and candy

    • By Ron Welte

      Posted Sep. 3, 2016 at 2:00 PM

      On Labor Day, Rockford United Labor will be hosting its annual Labor Day Parade in downtown Rockford beginning at 10 a.m. from Seventh Street and Sixth Avenue and ending at Davis Park.
      Hundreds of proud and dedicated union members and their families will march along the route waving and handing out candy to the onlookers. They are the people that have sworn to protect and serve our community, build and fix our roadways and infrastructure, teach and transport our school children, deliver our freight, construct our buildings, restore our power and telephone service, help the less fortunate, work in our factories and build our cars and trucks.
      Their local union leaders serve on various boards and committees, such as Transform Rockford, Alignment Rockford, Chicago/Rockford Airport, Rockford Public Library and United Way. Many members of the Building Trades unions devote thousands of volunteer hours at various community centers and other nonprofit social service agencies on much-needed building projects and construct countless handicap accessible ramps at homes for those that are in desperate need.
      Among their current community projects are the Winnebago County 911 Memorial and the complete restoration of the carriage house at the Northern Illinois Community Foundation headquarters — plus, the many other community projects involving neighborhood cleanup and painting/repair work of various homes and social service agencies by other local unions throughout the year, not forgetting that 33 percent of the individual contributors to the 2015 United Way campaign came from Union members.
      Our area local unions support education with their financial and "helping hand" support of United Way’s “Success By Six” reading program for schoolchildren in both public and private elementary schools. The Building Trades’ annual Spring Trades Expo invite high-schoolers from around the region to explore other paths to a successful and rewarding career, in lieu of college.
      The need for a good education, work ethic and high school/GED diploma is stressed to all those in attendance and that, absent these three requirements, acceptance into an Apprenticeship Program will be difficult. Additionally, ongoing communication occurs with area community activists in the recruiting of minorities and others into a Building Trades career.
      Last, but definitely not least, collective bargaining between unions and public/private employers set the standard in the community for wages, workplace safety rules and health care/pension benefits for all workers.
      While some individuals proclaim that Prevailing Wage Laws (PWL) are a direct cause for our state budget woes, an independent study jointly conducted by the University of Illinois and Michigan State University strongly points to the contrary. The study shows that any new construction jobs gained in that industry without the existence of a PWL, that any new jobs linked to the repeal would be significantly offset by job losses throughout the rest of the economy, roughly 3,300 net jobs lost.
    • Also, more than $44 million in lost state and local taxes would be realized and another $116 million lost in federal tax revenue. While employer contributions to worker benefits would dramatically decline, the study outlines that, in all likelihood, total construction costs would not be greatly reduced should a PWL not be in place.

      Each year would see seven more construction worker fatalities without a PWL and the facts show that less apprenticeship programs are available in non-PWL states. The negative results are comparable in all eight regions involved in the study. That is why“Strong Unions Build Strong Communities.”
      Ron Welte is a retired IBEW Local 15 Business Representative and delegate to Rockford United Labor.

      Above is from:  http://www.rrstar.com/opinion/20160903/my-view-unions-are-more-than-just-parade-and-candy

       

      Below is the conclusion such a University of Illinois study.  The entire study is available on line athttps://ler.illinois.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/PWL_policy-brief_spreads041.pdf

      Conclusion

      Findings from this study indicate that Illinois’ prevailing wage law (PWL) is associated with positive labor

      market outcomes for construction workers at costs that are either negligible or fully offset. Additional labor

      costs associated with the statewide PWL are outweighed by other substantial positive impacts for the state

      economy and Illinois taxpayers. In all likelihood, total construction costs would not be greatly affected by repeal

      of the PWL due to potential changes in workforce, productivity, and management practices associated with

      the policy change. Indeed, repeal of Illinois’ PWL would likely cost the state money, result in job losses, and

      reduce construction sector efficiency.

      This study forecasts that employment in the construction in-

      dustry would likely increase should the statewide PWL be repealed.

      However, any new jobs linked to repeal would be significantly off-

      set by job losses experienced throughout the rest of the economy.

      These indirect effects of repeal would result in about 3,300 net jobs

      lost, in a total GDP contraction of more than $1 billion annually for Il-

      linois, more than $44 million in lost state and local taxes, and rough-

      ly $116 million in lost federal tax revenue. Within the state, the nega-

      tive results are comparable for each of the eight regions studied.

      If the prevailing wage were to be repealed in Illinois, it is esti-

      mated that an additional seven Illinois construction workers would

      lose their lives on an annual basis. Extrapolated over the span of a

      decade, approximately 70 additional Illinois workers would suffer

      fatal work-related injuries in the construction industry due to the

      repeal of the state’s PWL. It can also be anticipated that employer

      contributions to both legally-required and fringe benefits for con-

      struction workers would dramatically decline.

      Additionally, the data examined in this study strongly affirms

      the claim that state PWLs are supportive of construction appren-

      ticeship programs. Study findings suggest that state PWLs sup-

      port the construction training system, a critical component for an

      industry continually concerned about the availability of sufficiently

      skilled workers.

      Finally, this study finds no substantial evidence that state PWLs are harmful to African-American partici-

      pation in the construction industry. Claims that states with PWLs have reduced African-American participation

      in construction are based on simplistic analyses which are, at best, descriptive and unconvincing. More ad-

      vanced work finds no evidence that PWLs act to the detriment of African-American workers.

      In summary, prevailing wages for public construction projects in Illinois provide numerous positive eco-

      nomic and social impacts for both construction workers and the state on the whole. This study predicts that

      repeal of Illinois’ PWL would not result in savings for taxpayers or the state or lead to increased employment

      of African-American construction workers. Rather, repeal of Illinois’ PWL would result in job losses throughout

      the state’s economy, increased construction worker fatalities, and declines in valuable social impacts such as

      construction worker benefits and training opportunities.