Today’s episode takes a deep dive into Elizabeth Warren’s wealth tax. Is it constitutional? How will the arguments shape up? Listen and find out!
We begin, however, with an interesting proposal for a “Congressional Review Act” for the Supreme Court by law professor — and professional Supreme-Court-fixer — Ganesh Sitaraman. Will this proposal meet with more approval than Sitaraman’s previous “lottery” idea?
Then we do a deep dive into the history of taxes in this country, looking at two very old cases — one from 1895 (Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co., 157 U.S. 429), and one from way back in 1796 (Hylton v. U.S.). We also cover the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act of 1894, as well as check in on the most recent Supreme Court tax ruling from Chief Justice John Roberts, the NFIB v. Sebelius 2012 Obamacare decision.
What do we learn from all that? Well, you’ll just have to give it a listen!
After all that, it’s time for the answer to what some are calling the easiest #T3BE question ever about falling off a ladder. Are they right? Was Thomas? There’s only one way to know for sure!
Appearances
None! If you’d like to have either of us as a guest on your show, drop us an email at openarguments@gmail.com.
Show Notes & Links
- Please do participate in our favorite charity event of the year, Vulgarity for Charity! To participate, just donate $50 or more to Modest Needs, and then send a copy of the receipt to vulgarityforcharity@gmail.com along with your request for a roast. You can even request that Thomas & Andrew roast the victim of your choice.
- You can read Prof. Sitaraman’s latest article in The Atlantic suggesting a “Congressional Review Act for the Supreme Court.” (We previously broke down the Congressional Review Act way back in Episode 61.)
- We last touched on Prof. Sitaraman’s “How to Save the Supreme Court” lottery proposal somewhat less favorably in Episode 294.
- Head on over to Elizabeth Warren’s campaign site to read her “Ultra-Millionaire Tax” proposal.
- Resources for tax law: Hylton v. U.S. (1796); Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co., 157 U.S. 429 (1895), and NFIB v. Sebelius (2012).
- Finally, you can check out the scholars letters submitted in support of Warren’s tax plan as well as the Johnson & Dellinger law review article, “The Constitutionality of a National Wealth Tax.“
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-For show-related questions, check out the Opening Arguments Wiki, which now has its own Twitter feed! @oawiki
-And finally, remember that you can email us at openarguments@gmail.com!
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