Day: June 9, 2021💾

📽️ Videos

Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax — ProPublica

|

The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax — ProPublica

For regular people, borrowing money is often something done out of necessity, say for a car or a home. But for the ultrawealthy, it can be a way to access billions without producing income, and thus, income tax.

The tax math provides a clear incentive for this. If you own a company and take a huge salary, you’ll pay 37% in income tax on the bulk of it. Sell stock and you’ll pay 20% in capital gains tax — and lose some control over your company. But take out a loan, and these days you’ll pay a single-digit interest rate and no tax; since loans must be paid back, the IRS doesn’t consider them income. Banks typically require collateral, but the wealthy have plenty of that.

The vast majority of the ultrawealthy’s loans do not appear in the tax records obtained by ProPublica since they are generally not disclosed to the IRS. But occasionally, the loans are disclosed in securities filings. In 2014, for example, Oracle revealed that its CEO, Ellison, had a credit line secured by about $10 billion of his shares.

Last year Tesla reported that Musk had pledged some 92 million shares, which were worth about $57.7 billion as of May 29, 2021, as collateral for personal loans. Elon Musk Tesla Inc. 2014–2018 Wealth Growth: $13.9B Total Income Reported: $1.52B (10.94% of wealth) Total Taxes Paid: $455M (3.27% of wealth)

With the exception of one year when he exercised more than a billion dollars in stock options, Musk’s tax bills in no way reflect the fortune he has at his disposal. In 2015, he paid $68,000 in federal income tax. In 2017, it was $65,000, and in 2018 he paid no federal income tax. Between 2014 and 2018, he had a true tax rate of 3.27%.

The IRS records provide glimpses of other massive loans. In both 2016 and 2017, investor Carl Icahn, who ranks as the 40th-wealthiest American on the Forbes list, paid no federal income taxes despite reporting a total of $544 million in adjusted gross income (which the IRS defines as earnings minus items like student loan interest payments or alimony). Icahn had an outstanding loan of $1.2 billion with Bank of America among other loans, according to the IRS data. It was technically a mortgage because it was secured, at least in part, by Manhattan penthouse apartments and other properties.

NPR

|

New Gallup Poll Reveals Most Republicans Now Back Same-Sex Marriage : NPR

Support for same-sex marriage in the U.S. has reached an all-time high of 70%, according to a poll released by Gallup on Tuesday.

The percentage — the highest since the organization began recording the trend in 1996 — marks a 10% increase since 2015, the same year the U.S. Supreme Court ruled all states must recognize same-sex marriages.

The rise in support stems largely from a majority of Republicans, who for the first time approve of same-sex marriage at 55%, according to Gallup.

The company reports 83% of Democrats, a political bloc that has consistently been the biggest backers of same-sex marriage, indicated support for it this year. Compared to prior reports, Democrats reported the same level of approval for gay and lesbian marriage over the past few years.

Gallup wrote, "This could suggest that support for gay marriage has reached a ceiling for this group, at least for now."

Support among voters who identify as independents, is now at 73% slightly higher than the 68% to 71% range recorded from 2017 to 2020.

Descending Sunset Rock

|

If you take the main South Taconic trail up or down from Sunset Rock, it's a much easier hike then Cedar Creek, especially when it was as flooded as it was during my hike.

Sunday June 14, 2009 — Bash Bish Falls
Thematic Map: Not a lot of Agriculture in the Adirondack Park

Coronavirus Updates : NPR

|

The Highly Contagious Delta Variant Is On The Rise In the U.S. : Coronavirus Updates : NPR

The Delta variant, which was first detected in India, now accounts for more than 6% of all infections in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And this highly transmissible variant may be responsible for more than 18% of cases in some Western states.

The variant, also known as B.1.617.2, is spreading rapidly in the U.K., and has quickly become the dominant strain there, responsible for more than 60% of infections and causing surges in some parts of England.

"We cannot let that happen in the United States," says Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Speaking at a White House COVID briefing Tuesday, Fauci warned that the Delta variant may be associated with more severe disease and a higher risk of hospitalization.

The good news is the vaccines look like they can protect people against the Delta variant. A new study from Public Health England showed two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were 88% effective against symptomatic disease from the Delta variant compared to 93% effectiveness against the Alpha variant, the variant first detected in the U.K. Effectiveness declined to 33% after just one dose.

June 9, 2021 Morning

|

Good morning! What day is it? Hump Day, of course. Back in the ALB which is kind of like the USSR but the office buildings have tail fins. Five weeks to National Nude Day 👱. That said with today’s weather it’s probably good weather for skinny dipping. Fog, humid around 69 degrees in Delmar, NY. Calm wind. The dew point is 68 degrees. The skies will clear around 10 am.

It was dark and wet 💦 on the trip back from Adirondacks. But alas with the hybrid model it means some days you have to put the muzzle 😷 and head back into the office 🏢. Not every day can you have the pleasantness of writing memos and reports from the banks of Lake Pleasant.

Funny how the nostologia makes you forget the black flies, 🐜 the humidity 😰, the heavy rain ☔ and mud 🐽 of yesterday. But yesterday’s dead as Cat Stevens 🙀 once sung. Even in Spectulator it was a swamp yesterday. I can’t imagine how bad it was back in the ALB. All I will say is I will be glad to be back in the office 🏢 and even the bus where it will be air conditioned. hopefully.

Today will have isolated showers, then scattered showers and thunderstorms after 8am. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Patchy fog before 7am. Otherwise, partly sunny 🌧, with a high of 88 degrees at 1pm. 10 degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 70 at 10am. Calm wind becoming northwest around 6 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 88 degrees. The record high of 100 was set in 1933.

I expect a long day in the office 🏢. Definitely packing a lunch and dinner for today. 🍲 Fortunately only two more session days and then it’s back to 9-5 but probably then less opportunities for remote work 💻. But summer is nice. 🏖 Black fly season is winding down. Thinking the Potholers for the Juneteenth long weekend. 🏊🏻‍♂️

Tomorrow is the solar eclipse 🌙 which I have my solar glasses 👓 ready for 5:30 tomorrow morning. As long as I wake up and it’s not too cloudy I’m thinking I’ll drive out to Five Rivers Environmental Education Center to watch the partial eclipse. It is going to be an early morning after a late night but think it’s worth it to be sleep deprived for a few days.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:56 pm with sun having an altitude of 70.3° from the due south horizon (-0.5° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 2.1 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:50 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (296°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (303°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:33 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 27 seconds with dusk around 9:06 pm, which is 35 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:52 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 78 degrees. The dew point will be 68 degrees. There will be a north-northwest breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 15 hours and 14 minutes of daytime, an increase of 47 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌤, with a low of 61 degrees at 6am. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around June 27th. Maximum dew point of 69 at 6pm. North wind around 5 mph. In 2020, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 59 degrees. The record low of 36 occurred back in 1975.

On this day in 1972, severe rainfall causes a dam in the Black Hills of South Dakota to burst, 💦 creating a flood that kills 238 people and causes $160 million in damage.

Sunny and fairly typical June warmth for a nice weekend. 😎 Saturday, a chance of showers, mainly before 8am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 77. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Maximum dew point of 56 at 8pm. Sunday, scattered showers, mainly after 2pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 80. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Maximum dew point of 58 at 7pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 79 degrees.

Looking ahead, there are 5 weeks until National Nude Day 👱 when the sun will be setting at 8:31 pm with dusk at 9:05 pm. On that day in 2020, we had mostly sunny, thunderstorm and temperatures between 84 and 67 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 84 degrees. We hit a record high of 99 back in 1995.

Map: Indian Lake
Map: Squaw Lake