Do you know what the word "income" means? My large Webster's dictionary is able to provide a clear and comprehensive definition in a mere 52 words.

The shortest definition the Internal Revenue Service could provide in response to my request for its definition was 140 words - but the word income was included 10 times, missing the point that you do not include the word to be defined as part of the definition.

Last week, I was in a meeting with some of the nation's best and most experienced tax lawyers and tax economists, several of whom had served in the Treasury, and, again, there was the general lament that the tax code is so complex it is beyond their understanding and repair.

Those who claim that the government will be able to get a lot more tax revenue by increasing tax rates on the rich live in a fantasy world.

Antique laws endanger America.  It's as if, in the age of the automobile, we relied on traffic laws from horse-and-buggy days.  Absent appropriate legal codes, our government turns to lawyers without laws.

Cyberassaults go on, 24/7. Security leaks haunt the Internet (and our amoral media). Terrorists kill, then sue us. In the first case, we take our beatings and slap on bandages. In the second, we huff, puff and do nothing. In the third case, an apprehended terrorist gets better medical care than an out-of-work American.

Even the civil laws and military codes we do have on the books are not enforced. If found guilty, that Army private who allegedly passed over 90,000 classified documents to WikiLeaks should get the "full Rosenberg," a shortened life and a hot exit. Instead, he'll do a few years at most -- at most -- then get a book contract. (Can't wait for the movie!)

Congress is AWOL in these undeclared wars us.  Legislators in both parties play for short-term political advantage, while our enemies act with impunity. If a cyber-Pearl Harbor -- on a far-greater scale than that savage attack -- hits our country, don't blame our military or call it an intelligence failure.

Roatan, Honduras.  It's far easier to get from the US to here than from Tikal, Guatemala.  It took me an entire day.  You can fly from Houston (Continental) or Atlanta (Delta) nonstop in less than three hours.

Roatan is the largest of the Bay Islands off the Honduran Caribbean coast, 37 miles long and five miles at its widest, home to 30,000, some 3,000 of whom are expats from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe.

Increasing numbers of Americans are figuring out that this is the tropical paradise they've been looking for as a safety escape while Hurricane Obama passes by.  I'll have lots more to say about it in my report on Honduras next week.

***
I just learned from TTPer Paul Rosenberg, developer of Cryptohippie, that I am a character in a libertarian video game called 2011: Obama's Coup Fails.  It posits that after the Dems suffer devastating losses in the 2010 elections, Zero suspends Congress and rules by executive decree.  An armed rebellion breaks out.

The player (you) joins the leaders of the rebellion, known as The Founders, in combat against the crumbling Marxist forces of Obama's loyalist Black Tigers, the Islamic fundamentalist Nation of Malsi, and The Cong - a group of de-elected Democrats.

Evidently, I am one of The Founders.  In the Breaking News section of the game, a news bulletin entitled "Hillary Clinton Finally Captured," dated March 15, 2011, begins:

"Upon receiving an anonymous tip, the forces of Jack Wheeler, Ollie North, and the CIA were able to track down and capture former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton."

I don't know the game designers, and just found out about this from Paul.  But it's cool, don't you think?

That's the fun news.  Now for the ominous news.

When will the next round of inflation hit, and how can we protect ourselves?

Many economists and commentators, including yours truly, have warned about the potential of a new round of high inflation due to the great expansion of government spending. But does an increase in government spending necessarily translate into higher inflation?

The answer is "no," but it most often does, and this is why.  It's also why we are headed for the doom of Jimmy Carter's stagflation -- high unemployment and economic stagnation combined with high inflation -- on steroids.

Or will Barack Obama and the Democratic party abandon Iraq prematurely, as the Democrats did South Vietnam?

Our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines have done their job.  But Iraq needs energetic American diplomatic and political engagement to finish the job.

Iraqis have begged us to help them.  They've pleaded with this administration to stay in the ring and referee their pols.  But President Obama has disengaged.

Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey never put on a circus better than the one being played for your entertainment right now, today (11/06), on Capitol Hill.  Pelosi Galore is in a state of screaming rage and panicked desperation, making every bribe and threat she can to get the votes for PelosiCare to pass tomorrow, Saturday.

She knows that if Members can go home for the weekend and get a load of their constituents' volcanic anger before the vote, her bill is toast.  So hundreds of Members are having the Congressional Travel Office hold two flight reservations for them, one for this evening, another for tomorrow night.  They are waiting for Steny Hoyer (Pelosi's Segundo) to complete his count. 

Then, if he announces late this afternoon there will be a vote tomorrow, it means he thinks he has enough.  If he announces a postponement, it means he doesn't.

As Jack Kelly says, bullying from a position of weakness isn't very smart.  Trying to threaten people into committing suicide may work for Moslem crazies, but rarely for politicians, even Democrats.  It is going to be so much fun watching this slow-motion train wreck.

Do you know who is perpetuating the biggest tax scam ever and who the victims are?

It is an organization that claims to be a "service" to the people but whose actual behavior can be summed up in its unwritten motto, "Might means right." As tax day approaches, millions of Americans are finding they are victims of this scam. It is called the capital gains tax, and it is run by the Internal Revenue "Service."

Capital gains come from sales of stocks and bonds, businesses, real estate, art objects and anything else of value. The IRS capital-gains tax scam consists of two parts. First, it does not just tax real gains, but also imaginary gains resulting solely from government-caused inflation.

The U.S. Constitution - i.e., the 16th Amendment - only gives Congress the power to "lay and collect taxes on incomes." Many legal scholars think taxing the portion of a capital gain caused by inflation is unconstitutional because it is not income.

Thirty-five million Americans as homeless refugees: That would be a disaster proportionate to the horrific -- and worsening -- situation in Pakistan.

This time, that forlorn country isn't threatened by Islamist terror, but by Mother Nature. Two weeks of flooding, with more rain on the way, have made refugees of 20 million Pakistanis.

Try to grasp that number. Twenty million people, overwhelmingly poor, have lost their homes, their slight "wealth" and their livelihoods. Thousands have died.

International aid groups estimate that 3.5 million children are at mortal risk from diseases -- cholera, typhoid, dysentery and common diarrhea -- spread by polluted water and poor sanitation.
 
The deluge has inundated about 100,000 square miles -- leaving thousands of hamlets, villages and towns underwater or swept away entirely. This makes Hurricane Katrina look like a thunderstorm.

Why did some banks and financial institutions fail and others succeed?

There are many reasons, but one common ingredient of those that have not failed is that they are organized as partnerships and/or are controlled by a family, or are closely held by a few senior officers. That is, they have "skin in the game."

So why are not more banks and other financial companies organized as partnerships?  Primarily because the tax code requires partners individually to pay full tax on their pro-rata share of the profits as they are earned.

A properly structured tax code would encourage companies to reward their executives on the long-run profitability of the enterprise, rather than on short-run profits, which is now the case.

Members of Congress rant against the short-term mentality of many in Wall Street and elsewhere, but it is precisely the tax and regulatory systems put in place by Congress that have caused much of the problem.