Mainly law professors | Sometimes the grain | Often libertarian | Always independent
This week, the Supreme Court filed its most important tax case in a generation, Moore v. United States, by such a narrow margin that it drafted a price that is only valid for Moore’s exercise and not for almost all long-term exercises.
The great news I take away from reading the reviews of Moore v. United States is that Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, a Biden appointee to the Supreme Court, and Joe Biden himself, through his Department of Justice, say that Congress has unlimited strength to impose the most unrealized decisions. or impose a wealth tax on their assets. Justice Jackson concluded her opinion by necessarily saying that any issues related to the tax clause of Article I, Section 8 or the scope of the 16th Amendment are policy issues that cannot be reviewed through federal courts.
This means that the government can simply tax increases in the price of your space or apartment; in your IRA retirement savings account; or any other stock you own, even if you do not sell any of those items. As of this week, no Supreme Court justice to my knowledge has taken a position as radical as Justice Jackson’s view that every case brought under the Tax Clause or the Sixteenth Amendment raises a political question.
Former President Trump is expected to confront President Biden about this in their upcoming debate. President Biden says he expects the winner of the 2024 presidential election to submit two nominations to the Supreme Court. Two people appointed to the Supreme Court like Justice Jackson would be a mistake.
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