The Three Paycheck Month

May is the best month of 2013.

My employer pays my salary in bi-weekly direct deposits.  I have become accustomed to a monthly routine of my cash flow based on two paychecks per month.  All of my expenses and cash outlays are an allocation of these two pay days.

The month of May, however, was different.

It was better.

American Made... Sort Of

American Apparel, Inc. is a relatively young but growing clothing manufacturer and retailer.  The company's website boasts of it's "sweatshop-free" manufacturing facilities located in the United States.

The About Us section goes on to deliver self back pats with regard to compensation:

A garment worker in Bangladesh earns an average of $600 a year. An experienced American Apparel garment worker can earn $30,000+ and receive benefits such as comprehensive health care.

From the company's description, its compensation package is sound, including free parking, free massage, and subsidized health care.  Yet strangely no commentary on the relative purchase power of a US Dollar in Bangladesh.  True, $600 is a small amount of money, but don't get too high and mighty, $30,000/yr  in LA isn't exactly "swimming in it."  Let the record reflect that it's below the Federal Poverty level for a family of 6.

Why Congress Won't Simplify the Tax Code

Legislators from both major parties agree that the Tax Code in America is too complex.  Party leaders on both sides of the aisle are calling for simplifying the code and making it more "fair."  (Disclaimer: there is no consistent definition of the term fair, especially as it relates to the collection of taxes.)

The average taxpayer does not benefit, in the least, from the complexity of the tax code.  Complexity makes complying with the law extremely difficult and/or costly.  But the confusion does serve a purpose, it muddies the water allowing legislators to claim victory to their constituents for a job well done, without actually having to accomplish any feat at all.

Consider a media and political favorite tax provision called Bonus Depreciation.  In the bail out / stimulus packages of Presidents George W Bush and Barack Obama, both Presidents claimed victory for helping small businesses by passing or extending bonus depreciation rules.   These rules provided another vehicle for businesses to speed up tax deductions related to capital assets like equipment, machinery, planes, automobiles, etc.

The Proper Bipartisan Position on Internet Sales Tax

To all of those waffling legislators who are "treading lightly" while trying to decide what position to take on the Internet Sales Tax Bill here's the right answer:

"States already have the right to tax out of state purchases, whether those transactions are conducted online or otherwise, through Use Tax provisions.  The States, as it relates their concerns for increasing revenues, should be focused on enforcing their existing law or enacting other provisions to achieve their revenue goals.

This Federal legislative body will no longer spend any more time deliberating or attempting to legislate the matters which are reserved for the States to decide themselves."