Yesterday’s Senate Budget Committee hearing produced an interesting exchange that caught our attention. The hearing was entitled “Making Wall Street Pay Its Fair Share,” but when it came to defining exactly what “fair” means, the supposedly expert majority witnesses dissolved into an incoherent, dissembling mob.

It all started when Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) posed the question to the first committee witness, Sarah Anderson from the Institute for Policy Studies:

Sen. Johnson: What percentage of an American’s income should the federal government be able to extract? What’s the maximum tax rate?

Anderson: I’d be happy to give you my preferred top marginal …

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We like Marty Sullivan. He always has something interesting to say. His latest piece criticizing Section 199A is a bit of a disappointment, however.

Where to start? Marty says the pass-through community was “seething” following the resolution of the 2012 fiscal cliff – we weren’t.  He says family businesses can just elect to be C corps if they don’t like paying higher rates – except they pay more either way (we’ve covered that one many, many times). And he says we should reject 199A because it excludes certain industries – wasn’t our idea.

But those are quibbles. …

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In a sign that lawmakers are not content simply waiting until next year to address a litany of scheduled tax hikes, House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith yesterday announced a series of “tax teams” tasked with identifying legislative solutions to avert the 2025 fiscal cliff.

Ten groups in total, each comprised of at least give Republicans from the panel, will address a specific policy area, from manufacturing to global competitiveness.

The team that caught our eye will focus on Main Street, and is appropriately led by Congressman Lloyd Smucker (PA), a staunch ally of the pass-through business community and …

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S-Corp and its friends at the National Federation of Independent Business hosted a Tax Day briefing for Hill staff and other stakeholders yesterday. The topic: the massive tax hikes threatening Main Street at the end of 2025.

As readers know, the expiration of the Section 199A deduction coupled with significant increases in the marginal rates paid by the 95 percent of businesses nationwide is a significant challenge facing Main Street and Congress next year. We know Congress is going to have to act, and we know the issues in play are new …

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