<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/united-kingdom" target="_blank" rel="noopener">British</a> Prime Minister <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/liz-truss" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Liz Truss</a> is drawing comparisons to Margaret Thatcher and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ronald-reagan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ronald Reagan</a> with her pursuit of lower <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/taxes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">taxes</a> and higher <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">economic</a> growth.
The new Conservative Party government on Friday canceled a rise in the corporate tax rate, slashed the basic income tax rate to 19%, and launched discussions about special economic zones in multiple regions. “Economic growth isn’t some academic term with no connection to the real world. It means more jobs, higher pay and more money to fund public services,” British Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng remarked in a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chancellor-announces-new-growth-plan-with-biggest-package-of-tax-cuts-in-generations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a>. “This will not happen overnight but the tax cuts and reforms I’ve announced today — the biggest package in generations — send a clear signal that growth is our priority.”
Meanwhile, as other European countries impose energy consumption restrictions upon their citizens while continuing to prioritize renewable power commitments, Truss has pushed for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/strengthening-our-energy-resilience-britain-ends-fracking-ban-will-become-net-exporter-by-2040" target="_blank" rel="noopener">higher oil production</a> and set the goal of becoming a net exporter of energy by 2040.
“We are cutting off the toxic power and pipelines from authoritarian regimes and strengthening our energy resilience,” Truss said on Wednesday during a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/prime-minister-liz-trusss-speech-to-the-un-general-assembly-21-september-2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">speech</a> to the United Nations General Assembly. “We will ensure we cannot be coerced or harmed by the reckless actions of rogue actors abroad. We will transition to a future based on renewable and nuclear energy while ensuring that the gas used during that transition is from reliable sources including our own North Sea production.”
The British government announced a new round of oil and gas leases for the North Sea and lifted its moratorium on shale gas production, which disallowed the practice of fracking. The ban was originally established three years ago amid concerns over earthquakes.
Truss, who aims to double the growth rate of the British economy, drew comparisons to her predecessor, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, as well as former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
A <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-k-leader-liz-truss-plan-to-cut-taxes-and-boost-spending-takes-a-page-from-reaganomics-11663864595" target="_blank" rel="noopener">piece</a> in The Wall Street Journal remarked that Truss is attempting to shape her political image in the mold of Thatcher, whose policies spurred an era of economic growth. The Iron Lady, however, enacted spending cuts before tax cuts to ensure that the government remained funded — meaning that the Truss agenda is more in line with that of the Gipper, who increased spending even while he decreased taxes.
Indeed, as energy prices continue to rise across Europe, Truss introduced a proposal to limit the annual cost of power for a typical household to £2,500 for the next two years. The British government had already <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/getting-the-energy-bills-support-scheme-discount">greenlit</a> the Energy Bills Support Scheme, which will remove £400 from citizens’ power bills each month over the upcoming winter. “We are supporting this country through this winter and next, and tackling the root cause of high prices, so we are never in this position again,” Truss said during an energy policy <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-liz-trusss-opening-speech-on-the-energy-policy-debate">debate</a> in the House of Commons.
Nevertheless, not all comparisons between the Truss agenda and Reaganomics are positive. An <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/09/22/liz-trusss-selective-reaganomics-wont-work">article</a> in The Economist predicted that a variety of economic woes, from unfavorable exchange rates to lackluster labor market conditions, will dampen Truss’ ability to resurrect the economic atmosphere of four decades ago.
“It is admirable to try to boost long-term growth by pruning regulations and taxes. But the high growth of the Reagan era was partly the result of women entering the workforce,” the article said. “Britain is ageing and its economy is still adjusting to Brexit. These factors are hurting the supply side of the economy by more than reforms are likely to help.”

Collage Maker-24-Sep-2022-10.01-PM

New British Prime Minister’s Agenda Draws Comparisons To ‘Reaganomics’

New British Prime Minister Liz Truss Draws Comparisons To Thatcher And Reagan

Economy

Liz Truss

Ronald Reagan

Taxes

United Kingdom

The federal government drastically overestimates income inequality in the United States by failing to account for certain <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/welfare" target="_blank" rel="noopener">welfare</a> programs and income <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/taxes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">taxes</a> on the wealthiest earners, according to a study released on Tuesday by the Cato Institute.
The <a href="https://www.cato.org/study/myth-american-income-inequality">analysis</a>, written by Cato Institute adjunct scholar John Early, says that official statistics fail to account for more than two-thirds of transfer payments provided to low-income households and do not consider income loss from taxes, which average 35% of income for the wealthiest quintile of taxpayers. Poverty counts are 10 times higher than the true figure, while income inequality is overestimated by a factor of four, according to the study.
The Census Bureau’s official accounting method “excludes $1.9 trillion given to households in transfer payments and pretends that the $4.4 trillion that households pay in taxes is really income,” Early explained in an interview with The Daily Wire, “even though they usually never even see that money and can certainly never use it for the benefit of their families.”
If officials were to calculate income inequality while considering more transfer programs — including food stamp debit cards, bills paid by Medicaid, and checks that provide refundable tax credits in excess of tax liabilities to low-income households — earned income in the bottom quintile would rise by 700%, while earned income in the second quintile would rise by 70%, the study says.
Meanwhile, Early says the Census Bureau neglects to consider that only 7% of income in the bottom quintile is lost due to taxes, while 35% of income is lost in the highest quintile.
“Too many political and career bureaucrats ignore and even deny the existence of this prima facie evidence because if the data show a large gap of inequality, that gap will justify their existence to administer money to fill the gap,” Early, who served twice as assistant commissioner at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, continued. “Then, because the new spending is not counted as income, they are able to demand still more spending. The cycle is repeated over and over again.”
Indeed, many lawmakers have cited earnings disparity as justification for more federal social programs. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has <a href="https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1156386723955466240">argued</a> for a 70% marginal income tax for earnings above $10 million per year to “stem runaway income inequality,” which purportedly accrues as “wealth begins to automatically compound at obscene rates for the extremely rich.” Last year, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) <a href="https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1416066195464273929">contended</a> that “massive wealth and income inequality” justified passing a reconciliation bill through Congress.
The study nevertheless argues that welfare programs’ introduction of incentives to work less place upward pressure on income inequality, especially as others toward the top of the income spectrum increase their productivity through education and more rigorous work. Other social trends, such as the reality that highly educated earners tend to marry one another, further contribute to reported income inequality.
“That added spending, of course, sends yet more money to the lower-income households while taxes take more from the higher incomes. And, as a side effect, this process enriches those who administer the programs,” Early added. “A whole industry feeds off these growing transfer payments, and it has a vested interest in continuing to use methods that belie the vast improvement of wellbeing for almost all Americans.”

Democratic Presidential Candidates Debate In Charleston Ahead Of SC Primary

‘The Myth Of American Income Inequality’: The Federal Government Drastically Overestimates Earnings Disparity, Study Says

Study Says That The Federal Government Overestimates Income Inequality

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Progressivism

Welfare

Current and former conservative officials outlined an eight-pronged plan on Wednesday to encourage <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">economic</a> development under a Republican Congress.
The United States witnessed two consecutive quarters of negative output growth, while recent data from the Federal Reserve indicate that the economy will <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/american-economy-shrank-in-the-first-two-quarters-and-will-likely-stagnate-in-the-third">likely remain stagnant</a> in the third quarter. The American Small Business Prosperity Plan, launched by Job Creators Network, called on various <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/taxes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tax</a> and regulatory reforms that Republican lawmakers ought to endorse, according to a press release obtained by The Daily Wire.
Among other elements, the framework calls for exempting small businesses from all new regulations, establishing able-bodied requirements for welfare recipients, and making the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent. The law, currently scheduled to incrementally expire, is among the most important legislative accomplishments from the administration of former President Donald Trump.
&#8220;The Job Creators Network has put together a unified plan to help small business, fix the economy, and provide opportunity for all Americans,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said in a statement. “The current state of the economy is hurting hard-working Americans who depend on the economic engine that the small business community provides.”
The plan also calls for an increase in oil production. President Joe Biden has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-administration-severely-cuts-back-on-oil-and-gas-leases">leased less federal land</a> for drilling than any of his predecessors since the end of World War II. The national average price of gasoline was $2.38 per gallon when Biden assumed office and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gas-prices-are-1-50-higher-since-biden-took-office-cnn-business-america-got-a-raise">increased</a> to $3.53 per gallon by the start of the Russian invasion. After surpassing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/gas-prices">$5.00 per gallon</a> in early June, prices have subsided to $3.68 per gallon as of Wednesday, according to <a href="https://gasprices.aaa.com/">data</a> from AAA.
“Tax certainty, regulatory certainty, an end to wasteful inflationary spending, and unleashing domestic drilling to lower energy prices are just a few key aspects of the plan that will especially help small businesses that are the economic backbone of our great nation,” former Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin added. “Every American should encourage and support the dignity and pride that comes from working. The health of our economy is not a partisan issue.”
The Biden administration has provoked criticism from conservatives by hiring relatively few high-level officials with significant business experience. According to a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/most-top-biden-officials-have-0-years-of-business-experience">report</a> from the Committee to Unleash Prosperity, the top 68 individuals in the administration have spent an average of 2.4 years in the business world, with only one in eight boasting “extensive business experience.” The median length of business experience for Biden officials is zero years.
“Surely we want our political class to have a diversity of backgrounds. We want lawyers, grassroots activists, those with political and policy experience, scientists, health experts, and academics with required specialties,” the report argued. “But we also want people who have experience running large operations with hundreds and thousands of employees and who understand logistics.”
Economic issues are particularly salient as Americans prepare to vote in the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-polling-cnn-analysis-spells-disaster-for-democrats-in-midterm-elections">midterm elections</a>. Inflation has reached levels last seen four decades ago, with price levels increasing 8.3% between August 2021 and August 2022, according to a <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm">report</a> from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Though year-over-year inflation slightly moderated, month-over-month prices for food, shelter, and medical services <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/august-inflation-report-shows-several-nasty-surprises-biden-claims-victory-anyway">ticked upward</a>, while core inflation — a metric that excludes food and energy prices, which tend to be more volatile — continued to rise.

2285F102-B378-4181-91B4-A9B4F0B0665D_1_201_a

Conservatives List Eight Policies To Restart The Economy Under A Republican Congress

Could These Policies Fix The Biden Economy?

Conservatism

Oil and Gas

Republican

Treasury Secretary <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/janet-yellen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Janet Yellen</a> lauded the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden</a> administration’s efforts to provide the Internal Revenue Service (<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/internal-revenue-service-irs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IRS</a>) with an $80 billion raise.
The Inflation Reduction Act provides funds to hire 87,000 new IRS employees over the next decade — <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bidens-inflation-reduction-act-would-allow-irs-to-hire-up-to-87000-new-employees-raise-taxes-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more than doubling</a> the agency’s size. During a Thursday <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0952" target="_blank" rel="noopener">speech</a> at the New Carrollton Federal Building in Maryland, Yellen remarked that “adequately funding the IRS is core to our success.”
“It raises the revenue for us to make important investments in our economic strength,” she said. “It makes sure that all Americans are playing by the same rules. It avoids misallocation of resources in the economy at large. And it does so by deterring taxpayers from shifting their activities toward more opaque sources or engaging in tax evasion.”
Yellen repeated her promise that the new funding will not be directed to increase audits for Americans households earning less than $400,000 per year “relative to historical levels.” However, she <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/janet-yellen-vows-irs-audits-wont-rise-for-middle-income-americans-but-theres-a-catch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">failed to clarify</a> that “historical levels” of audits were far higher as recently as one decade ago. According to a <a href="https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-22-104960.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from the Government Accountability Office, audit rates for Americans earning between $25,000 and $200,000 fell 76% between 2010 and 2019, while those earning less than $25,000 saw audit rates fall by 61%.
“In all, a strong IRS is critical to the economic success of this country — and I am heartened that we are finally reflecting that in our funding decisions,” Yellen added.
A <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/57444" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from the Congressional Budget Office based on an earlier proposal to hire 87,000 new agents found that audit rates “would rise for all taxpayers,” even as higher-income taxpayers “face the largest increase.” According to Republican members of the House Ways and Means Committee, the new agents would be <a href="https://gop-waysandmeans.house.gov/americans-chances-of-audit-more-than-doubles-as-newly-supercharged-irs-targets-lower-middle-income-earners/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">capable</a> of carrying out 1.2 million more individual audits per year, with nearly half impacting Americans earning less than $75,000.
Noting that the average American takes 13 hours to file a tax return, Yellen said that many of the new resources will exist to decrease wait times and facilitate access to IRS services. Beyond increasing the number of staff available to answer phones, Yellen emphasized in-person help centers. “By next year, every single center will be fully staffed,” she said. “As a result, we will triple the number of Americans served at these centers.”
Yellen also discussed the need to make &#8220;sure that everyone pays their fair share” — observing that wealthy Americans were estimated to have underpaid their taxes by $160 billion in 2019. Accessing the funds would allow for higher levels of investment in government programs.
The economic agenda of President Joe Biden has indeed hinged upon the creation of new federal initiatives and a higher degree of government intervention into the economy. A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-releases-massive-document-detailing-bidens-economic-achievements" target="_blank" rel="noopener">handbook</a> recently published by the White House emphasized the administration’s legislative victories and claimed that they are responsible for a purported economic recovery.
“President Biden’s agenda has contributed to the strongest and most equitable economic and labor market recovery in modern history, and catalyzed a resurgence in public investment that will help ensure a strong, innovative, clean energy future that is made in America,” the report said. “Together with generational investments in infrastructure, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing, the Biden economic agenda has coupled historic job creation with a long-term strategy to ensure that good jobs of today and tomorrow are created in America.”

President Biden Meets With CEOs And Remarks On The Economy

Janet Yellen: ‘A Strong IRS Is Critical To The Economic Success Of This Country’

Janet Yellen Celebrates $80 Billion In New IRS Funds

Biden Administration

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Janet Yellen

The Department of Treasury&#8217;s internal watchdog will audit the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/internal-revenue-service-irs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Internal Revenue Service</a> to ensure that its own agents are paying their taxes.
The audit was initiated at the request of Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) following a Democrat plan for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bidens-inflation-reduction-act-would-allow-irs-to-hire-up-to-87000-new-employees-raise-taxes-report">87,000</a> new employees at the tax enforcement agency. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has previously found that hundreds of IRS employees may have failed to pay their own taxes, with some offering excuses such as they didn&#8217;t know how. Some were even re-hired for a second stint at the agency after being fired for &#8220;willful failure to properly file their Federal tax returns.&#8221;
&#8220;Ironically, hundreds of employees at the IRS itself may have willfully failed to pay their taxes. More than 300 of these were repeat offenders, yet the tax agency did little to discipline the tax offenders on its payroll,&#8221; Ernst said Wednesday. &#8220;Before Biden&#8217;s army of auditors starts harassing innocent taxpayers, let&#8217;s first make sure the tax collectors have paid their own taxes.&#8221;
Ernst wrote to Inspector General J. Russell George this summer voting that his office found in 2019 that 1,250 IRS employees had not paid their tax bills in full or on time, including hundreds of whom were willfully delinquent or repeat offenders, and that the tax collecting agency had &#8220;done little to discipline these tax cheats on its own payroll.&#8221;
With Democrats and President Biden ramming through legislation to double the size of the IRS workforce, conservatives and even the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office expects more aggressive audits of middle class taxpayers.
&#8220;Innocent, hardworking Americans should not be subjected to unfair and costly IRS audits when the agency is ignoring tax cheats on its own payroll,&#8221; Ernst wrote.
The IG responded that at her request, it would audit the department to find out how many employees are not &#8220;fully compliant on their Federal tax obligations&#8221; and the number of current workers who were brought back after being fired or retiring following performance issues, including failure to fully pay their taxes.
The plan to dramatically expand the Internal Revenue Service was part of Democrats&#8217; Inflation Reduction Act, whose recent passage Biden celebrated Tuesday. The Biden administration said new auditors would <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/irs-we-will-absolutely-not-target-everyday-americans-with-new-army-of-agents">focus</a> on the wealthy and corporations, but Ernst told The Daily Wire she is skeptical.
&#8220;The chances [of that] are very slim,&#8221; Ernst said. &#8220;Eighty-seven thousand agents and Joe Biden said no one making under $400,000 would be audited, but we know that&#8217;s not true. They will go after the low-hanging fruit, and that&#8217;s hard-working Americans.&#8221;
The 2019 IG report said that IRS agents are required to be removed from their jobs for &#8220;willfully&#8221; failing to file or understating their taxes. But following a bureaucratic process filled with union protections, out of 1,250 cases in 2017, the IRS found that only 90 were &#8220;willful,&#8221; meaning the IRS agents &#8220;should have known&#8221; how to file their taxes properly.
For 15 of the offenders in 2017, it was not their first time being caught for tax misconduct, but they were not fired previously because the IRS said it wasn&#8217;t &#8220;willful.&#8221; Some employees said that they &#8220;forgot&#8221; to claim Form 1099 income, and &#8220;four employees cited an inability to properly use e-file software, such as TurboTax,&#8221; the report said.
The IRS&#8217; Labor Relations department did not seem to try very hard to get rid of bad employees, the report said. For example, it failed to include evidence of past misconduct in paperwork that would determine whether the employees would be fired or not.
In a <a href="https://www.treasury.gov/tigta/auditreports/2017reports/201710035fr.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2017</a> report, the IG found that the IRS&#8211;which cross-references databases to catch ordinary Americans underreporting their income&#8211;did not bother to integrate a database showing HR issues of past employees. As a result, more than 200 employees who were fired for past misconduct &#8212; including failing to pay their taxes or falsification of government records &#8212; were hired a second time in 2015 or early 2016. &#8220;Some of these employees held positions with access to sensitive taxpayer information,&#8221; the report said.
&#8220;Some employees repeated past violations upon being rehired,&#8221; it said.

IRS written on a paper. Financial concept.

Watchdog To Probe IRS After Hundreds Of Employees Failed To Pay Taxes

IRS To Be Audited After Its Agents Fail To Pay Their Own Taxes

Inspector general

Joni Ernst

It&#8217;s a tale of two scions.
A Mexican heir to a political dynasty is being prosecuted in his notoriously corrupt home country on tax charges, but his former pal and business associate, Hunter Biden, seems to be getting a pass in the U.S. on similar allegations &#8212; and worse.
Miguel Alemán Magnani, the grandson of a former president and son of a onetime governor, co-founded the now-defunct low-cost airline Interjet with his father. Now Alemán, who appears frequently in emails and messages on Hunter Biden&#8217;s laptop, is on the lam in France and accused of defrauding the Mexican government of $3.2 million in taxes. But just a few years ago, Alemán was a high-flying executive with powerful connections north of the border.
Alemán figures into some of the most problematic examples of the Bidens apparently mixing personal and official business, all laid bare on the laptop Biden abandoned at a Delaware repair shop. In one case, Hunter Biden wrote the Alemán in February 2016, ahead of a trip to Mexico with the then-vice president, to complain that White House access hadn’t translated into business opportunities.
“I’m attending meeting w/ President N w/ Dad,&#8221; Hunter Biden wrote in an email to Alemán that was reviewed by The Daily Wire. &#8220;We have so many great things to do together and I want you at the plane when the the VP lands with your Mom and Dad.
&#8220;We have been talking about business deals and partnerships for 7 years,&#8221; the younger Biden&#8217;s email continued. &#8220;And I really appreciate you letting me stay at your resort villa… but <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hunter-biden-family-inc-emails">I have brought every</a> single person you have ever asked me to bring to the F’ing WHite House and the Vice President’s house and the inauguration and then you go completely silent.”
Perhaps it is not surprising that Hunter Biden was miffed. By 2016, he and Alemán had a long history together. In addition to Alemán having a stake in Biden&#8217;s Rosemont investment firm, the pair had worked on several deals together and Alemán had been invited to the inauguration after Barack Obama and Joe Biden won a second term in 2012.
&#8220;Thank you again for your invitation to Washington. I am very honored,&#8221; Alemán wrote Hunter Biden in January 2013.
Early the following year, Hunter Biden brought Alemán, his father, and attorney and pal Jeff Cooper to lunch with Joe Biden in his vice presidential office, emails show. Hunter Biden later asked the White House to have his father sign the pictures so he could give them to Alemán, according to emails.
Alemán and Hunter worked together to attempt to broker a deal between Burisma, the Ukrainian gas company that paid Hunter up to $80,000 a month, and Pemex, a Mexican state-owned energy company.
Alemán “wants us to try to bring a Burisma exec with us on our trip (which he is still trying to figure out exact timing),&#8221; Cooper wrote Hunter Biden and another close pal, Devon Archer, in November 2014.
They pulled government strings to make it happen.
“Miguel has the energy secretary lined up for a meeting on Monday. Devon, can you and someone from Burisma be there?&#8221; Cooper wrote in two months later. &#8220;Hopefully it works out and hopefully we can make some hay next week.&#8221;
When Alemán invested $1 million in what Hunter called &#8220;a portfolio company of mine called ePlata,&#8221; a cut went directly to Hunter Biden.
“Good news, we did receive a $1,000,000 injection into ePlata from Miguel late today. I wanted to wire you the $50,000 first thing tomorrow AM,” a March 2015 email to Hunter Biden from a Cooper associate said. Alemán was later named to the ePlata <a href="https://info.eplata.com/2020/02/09/eplata-board-of-directors-announcement-coverage/">board</a>.
The deals with Hunter Biden apparently didn&#8217;t insulate Alemán from tax troubles in Mexico. In July 2021, at the request of Mexico&#8217;s Attorney General&#8217;s Office, a Mexican federal judge issued an <a href="https://www.mexicanist.com/l/mexican-businessman-miguel-aleman-magnani/">arrest warrant</a> on tax fraud charges. Migration authorities realized his jet had left the country six months earlier, and in August, Interpol issued a red alert to 190 countries to search for Alemán. His lawyer said that year that Alemán was fighting the arrest warrant from France, according to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-13/interjet-founder-is-fighting-mexico-arrest-warrant-from-france">Bloomberg</a>.
Alemán’s criminal charges stem from $3.2 million in taxes that Interjet allegedly <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-13/interjet-founder-is-fighting-mexico-arrest-warrant-from-france">collected</a> from customers and employees but did not forward to the government. His lawyer told Bloomberg that the company, not Alemán, is responsible and that his client&#8217;s French citizenship &#8212; courtesy of his actress mother &#8212; means he cannot be <a href="https://www.archyde.com/miguel-aleman-magnani-cannot-be-extradited-from-france-assures-his-lawyer/">extradited</a>.
Alemán joins a crew of other Hunter Biden associates to face serious legal problems. But Biden himself so far has not faced criminal charges, despite his tax troubles being so severe that his passport could not be renewed, according to an email on the laptop. In 2020, he paid off a $450,000 tax lien, a retroactive payment which would not absolve him of any criminal liability, but could mitigate any punishment.
Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss is reportedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/critical-stage-feds-consider-charging-hunter-biden-with-multiple-crimes-including-gun-charges">weighing</a> charging Hunter Biden with tax, lobbying, or gun violations, and some witnesses have been called to testify before a grand jury, according to reports.
But other reports indicate that the investigation may be less than aggressive. FBI agents reportedly sat on the laptop for a year after receiving it. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said whistleblowers told him that Timothy Thibault, a top FBI agent who resigned amid an investigation into partisan social media posts, &#8220;attempted to improperly mark the matter in FBI systems so that it could not be opened in the future.&#8221;
The <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/09/04/fbi-agent-timothy-thibault-hid-intel-from-whistleblower-on-hunter-the-big-guy-joe-biden/">New York Post</a> said the FBI failed to follow up with Tony Bobulinski, a former Biden business partner who said that Joe Biden was the &#8220;Big Guy&#8221; who was to get 10% of a foreign windfall. That&#8217;s despite Bobulinski being a well-placed source and seemingly highly credible witness, as a former Navy officer with top secret clearances who has donated to politicians of both parties.<a href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1"></a>

Interjet, A Leading Mexican Airline, Makes Its Inaugural Flight To McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas

Mexico Pursuing Charges Against Hunter Biden Associate And Son Of Mexican Political Royalty, In Contrast To DOJ Treatment Of Hunter

Hunter Biden

Mexico

Those who benefit from President Joe Biden’s policy to cancel $10,000 in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/student-loans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">student debt</a> per borrower will not have to pay <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/taxes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">taxes</a> on their forgiven loans thanks to a provision passed under the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/american-rescue-plan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">American Rescue Plan</a> last year.
The loan cancellation policy <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-biden-announces-details-of-student-loan-cancellation-plan">applies</a> to individuals with annual wages under $125,000. Although current law generally considers forgiven debt to be taxable income, student loans were exempted from such income-driven repayment plans through 2025 under “the rationale that tax burden arising from treating forgiven student debt as income partially undermines debt relief,” according to an <a href="https://taxfoundation.org/student-loan-debt-forgiveness/">analysis</a> from the Tax Foundation.
“It makes sense to have consistent rules in the tax code,” Tax Foundation federal policy analyst Alex Muresianu told The Daily Wire. “It doesn&#8217;t make sense to make forgiven student loan debt exempt from taxation while other forms of debt forgiveness typically count as taxable income.”
The treatment of student loan cancellation with respect to taxes differs from state to state, according to another <a href="https://taxfoundation.org/student-loan-debt-cancelation-tax-treatment/">report</a> from the Tax Foundation. While many states are following federal guidelines enacted under the American Rescue Plan, others — including Arkansas, California, Minnesota, and North Carolina — are prepared to tax canceled student debt.
The Biden administration’s loan cancellation plan has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/paying-for-coastal-elites-to-get-their-phd-in-gender-studies-republican-lawmakers-blast-biden-student-debt-cancellation">received criticism</a> from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/another-top-dem-comes-out-against-bidens-student-debt-cancellation">both sides of the aisle due</a> to its regressive nature. According to nonpartisan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bidens-student-loan-cancellation-would-cost-330-billion-and-largely-help-the-wealthy">analysis</a> from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, as much as 42% of the benefit from the policy would impact Americans earning more than $82,400 per year.
The Wharton analysts also implied that the loan cancellation will prompt students to “eventually reorganize their financing toward additional borrowing.” Although the policy could increase access for students who would not otherwise be able to afford higher-level degrees, universities themselves could capture the value “in the form of higher prices” as they raise tuition.
Indeed, Muresianu confirmed to The Daily Wire that student loan cancellation could distort market expectations as potential borrowers begin weighing the possibility of additional one-time cancellations in the future. “On paper, this wouldn&#8217;t change incentives to take on more debt, because the forgiveness is retroactive,” he remarked. “But in practice, student loan forgiveness suggests the federal government might forgive future student loan debt, which would incentivize greater borrowing.”
Nixing $10,000 of student loans per borrower would cost $298 billion in 2022 and a total of $329 billion by 2031, presuming that the policy is renewed each year, according to the nonpartisan Wharton analysis. A recent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/clear-majority-of-americans-worried-about-more-inflation-as-biden-mulls-canceling-student-debt">survey</a> from CNBC shows that 59% of Americans are concerned that student debt cancellation “will make inflation worse.”
While the plan was still deliberated by White House officials, former Treasury Secretary and National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers broke from his party to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/larry-summers">warn</a> that student debt cancellation would worsen soaring college costs. Average private university tuition is currently $43,775, while average in-state public university tuition is $11,631, according to <a href="https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2017-09-20/see-20-years-of-tuition-growth-at-national-universities">data</a> from U.S. News and World Report.
“Every dollar spent on student loan relief is a dollar that could have gone to support those who don’t get the opportunity to go to college,” Summers explained. “Student loan debt relief is spending that raises demand and increases inflation. It consumes resources that could be better used helping those who did not, for whatever reason, have the chance to attend college. It will also tend to be inflationary by raising tuitions.”

Joe Biden

Recipients Of Biden’s Student Loan Cancellation Plan Also Get A Tax Break

Beneficiaries From Biden Student Loan Cancellation Do Not Have To Pay Taxes On Forgiven Debt

American Rescue Plan

Student Loan Cancellation

Small <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/business" target="_blank" rel="noopener">businesses</a> are concerned about profit margins amid <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/inflation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inflationary</a> pressures, as well as issues such as <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/crime" target="_blank" rel="noopener">crime</a> rates and stricter <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/taxes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tax</a> enforcement, according to a poll released by Job Creators Network.
The United States met the rule-of-thumb definition of a <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/recession" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recession</a> — two consecutive quarters of negative output growth — two months ago as the economy <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/united-states-economy-shrinks-in-the-first-part-of-2022">shrank</a> at a 1.6% annualized rate in the first quarter and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-in-a-recession-after-second-straight-quarter-of-negative-growth">contracted</a> at a 0.6% pace in the second quarter. According to the poll, conducted through the month of August and obtained by The Daily Wire on Monday, 57% of small business owners believe that the nation is in a recession, while 25% — less than half as many — say the opposite.
The month of August likewise saw the portion of small businesses that say gas prices have impacted profitability jump from 36% to 46%. Although gas prices have progressively declined from heights above <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/gas-prices">$5.00 per gallon</a> earlier this summer, Job Creators Network noted that “most companies have already raised prices, and they aren’t able to do it again.”
The national average price of gasoline was $2.38 per gallon when President Joe Biden assumed office and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gas-prices-are-1-50-higher-since-biden-took-office-cnn-business-america-got-a-raise">increased</a> to $3.53 per gallon by the start of the Russian invasion. Prices are $3.72 per gallon as of Monday, according to <a href="https://gasprices.aaa.com/">data</a> from AAA. Biden has leased less government land for oil and gas drilling than any of his predecessors since World War II at this point in his first term, according to an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-administration-severely-cuts-back-on-oil-and-gas-leases">analysis</a> conducted by The Wall Street Journal.
A recent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-releases-massive-document-detailing-bidens-economic-achievements">document</a> from the White House nevertheless pinned inflation and elevated gas prices on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “President Biden is committed to tackling these immediate challenges, without giving up the substantial economic and labor market gains our economy has achieved,” the report said. “And we are seeing significant progress on that front, with a decline of more than $1.20 in gas prices this summer and overall prices in the economy declining moderately in July.”
Meanwhile, the poll shows that 65% of small businesses are concerned about crime and cybercrime — a figure that increases to 85% for minority entrepreneurs.
Rising violent crime has indeed driven companies away from major cities. Chicago, which <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lightfoots-chicago-records-797-homicides-in-2021-most-among-u-s-cities">endured</a> 797 homicides in 2021 — more than any other American city — witnessed leading businesses such as Citadel, Boeing, and Caterpillar <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/illinois-billionaire-who-fled-chicago-amid-high-crime-has-poured-over-1-billion-into-new-home-state-of-florida">move</a> their headquarters to other parts of the country.
Roughly 70% of small business owners disapprove of expanding the IRS. The Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden signed last month, earmarks $80 billion to hire 87,000 new IRS employees — a move that officials promised will not target the middle class. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, for example, directed IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/janet-yellen-vows-irs-audits-wont-rise-for-middle-income-americans-but-theres-a-catch">refrain</a> from using any new resources “to increase the share of small business or households below the $400,000 threshold that are audited relative to historical levels.”
Yellen failed to clarify that “historical levels” of audits were far higher as recently as one decade ago. Audit rates for Americans earning between $25,000 to $200,000 fell 76% between 2010 and 2019, while those earning less than $25,000 saw audit rates fall by 61%, according to a <a href="https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-22-104960.pdf">report</a> from the Government Accountability Office.

Closed Small Business

Crime, Profits, Taxes: New Poll Shows The Biggest Problems For Small Businesses

Business

Crime

Recession

President <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden&#8217;s</a> sweeping plan to forgive billions in <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/topic/student-loan-cancellation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">student debt</a> could come back to haunt the very students it was implemented to help — and soon.
People who benefit from the plan — up to $10,000 in loan forgiveness for those making under $125,000 annually and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients — could find themselves facing a state tax bill of up to $1,100 if the state in which they live fails to designate forgiven student debt as non-taxable income.
According to an <a href="https://taxfoundation.org/student-loan-debt-cancelation-tax-treatment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis</a> from Tax Foundation, student borrowers in several states could see additional taxes — to the tune of $300-1,100 — unless their states take specific action to change the tax code before the end of the year.
Typically, discharged debt is considered income both for federal and state tax purposes — but a special provision built into to President Biden&#8217;s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) carves out forgiven student debt as an exception on federal tax filings. However, a number of states have not yet opted to conform to that provision — meaning that borrowers in those states could still be required to pay taxes on the forgiven amount as if they had earned it.
And while the amount borrowers could potentially be taxed is only a fraction of what the forgiven debt might have been, the loan would have been paid off over time in smaller payments and the tax bill will be due in full on April 15. Additionally, a jump in annual income of $10,000-$20,000 could result in some student borrowers landing in higher tax brackets — thus possibly facing a higher tax rate for the remainder of their income as well.
The <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/student-loan-relief-triggers-state-taxes-mississippi/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">states</a> in which student borrowers are likely to face taxation on their forgiven loans are as follows: Arkansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Student loan borrowers in 5 states could be forced to pay $500-$1K in taxes on forgiven loans, says a new analysis.
The Tax Foundation says while Biden&#39;s loan forgiveness is not federally taxable, it may still be counted as taxable income under state laws in AR, MN, MS, NC, WI. <a href="https://t.co/NDSNJowr0U">pic.twitter.com/NDSNJowr0U</a>
&mdash; AJ+ (@ajplus) <a href="https://twitter.com/ajplus/status/1565068154610405376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 31, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In at least two other states — California and Pennsylvania — officials have announced that despite any ambiguity still present in the state tax code, they will conform with the federal government&#8217;s adoption of the ARPA provision and will not tax the forgiven amount.

President Biden Attends Meeting On Women’s Equality Day To Discuss Access To Reproductive Health Care

Biden’s Loan Forgiveness Could Come Back To Haunt Students On Tax Day

Biden's Loan Forgiveness Could Come Back To Haunt Students On Tax Day

Student Loans

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) admitted that the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/internal-revenue-service-irs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IRS</a> will increase audits on middle-class Americans after it received a funding boost from the so-called &#8220;Inflation Reduction Act.&#8221;
In a <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/cbo-dems-tax-social-spending-bill-increase-irs-enforcement-middle-class" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to Republican House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Kevin Brady (R-TX) and Budget Committee ranking member Jason Smith (R-MO) Thursday, CBO said that at least some of the new tax revenues the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-how-much-bidens-twice-as-large-irs-could-take-from-the-middle-class" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IRS</a> expects to collect over the next few years will come from families that earn less than $400,000 a year. However, the CBO expects the IRS to follow the directives set by Treasury Secretary <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/janet-yellen-vows-irs-audits-wont-rise-for-middle-income-americans-but-theres-a-catch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Janet Yellen</a>, and audits against the middle class will only account for a &#8220;small fraction&#8221; of new tax revenues.
&#8220;As a result of increases in outlays for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) stemming from the act, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that revenues will increase by $180.4 billion over the 2022–2031 period,&#8221; CBO wrote in its letter. &#8220;CBO projects that some of the increased revenues will be collected from taxpayers with income less than $400,000; the amount will be a small fraction of the total increase.&#8221;
The CBO made reference to a directive issued by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen earlier this month. In a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig on August 10, Yellen directed the IRS to use the nearly $80 billion in new IRS funding provided by the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-signs-740-billion-inflation-reduction-act" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Inflation Reduction Act</a> to “improve taxpayer service” and “increase equity in the tax system,&#8221; rather than increase enforcement on middle class families. “I direct that any additional resources — including any new personnel or auditors that are hired — shall not be used to increase the share of small business or households below the $400,000 threshold that are audited relative to historical levels,” Yellen wrote.
In creating its projections, CBO assumed that the IRS would comply with Yellen&#8217;s directive and allocate enforcement resources to focus on what Yellen called &#8220;high-end noncompliance.&#8221; Therefore, it projected that &#8220;an increase in revenues collected from taxpayers with income less than $400,000 &#8230; will constitute a small fraction of the total increase collected from all taxpayers resulting from the increased funding for the IRS.&#8221;
Elsewhere in the letter, CBO noted that the IRS uses multiple collection methods, not just audits. CBO said it believes that with the new funding, the IRS will &#8220;use all available productive approaches to increase revenues and raise voluntary compliance from taxpayers with all amounts of income.” But the IRS typically allocates resources to maximize revenues, so imposing new restrictions will take time and increase administrative costs, and could actually decrease returns. Still, the law is projected to nearly double the IRS&#8217;s budget, increasing it by about 90% by 2031. That would make its annual budget even larger than it was at its peak in 2010. Furthermore, of the additional $79 billion in funding over the life of the law, more than half, about $46 billion, is allocated for enforcing tax laws; the rest of the new funding is allocated for taxpayer services, operations support, and modernization, and other activities.
Despite not directly increasing the number of audits on taxpayers who make less than $400,000 a year, it will still affect them in other ways, CBO projected:
<ul>
<li>Audits will still be conducted at historical rates, boosting audit activity and revenues in general.</li>
<li>Activities other than audits, including collections and document matching, are not constrained by Yellen&#8217;s directive. &#8220;Under the 2022 reconciliation act, the amounts they generate will be greater for taxpayers with all amounts of income,&#8221; CBO wrote.</li>
<li>Voluntary compliance will increase for all taxpayers.</li>
<li>The increased funding for non-enforcement taxpayer services and other activities can also affect revenues if they enable taxpayers to report their income and calculate their taxes more accurately.</li>
</ul>
CBO added in the letter that it will publish a revised cost estimate of the entire reconciliation package in September.

IRS Audit stock photo

CBO: IRS Will Increase Audits On Middle Class, But Only A ‘Small Fraction’ Of New Tax Revenues

CBO: IRS Audits Will Increase Audits On Middle Class, But Only A 'Small Fraction' Of New Tax Revenues

Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

Inflation Reduction Act

The <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/inflation-reduction-act" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Inflation Reduction Act</a> is poised to reduce after-<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/taxes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tax</a> incomes for Americans across every income bracket, according to a report released last week by the <a href="https://taxfoundation.org/inflation-reduction-act/">Tax Foundation</a>.
The legislation carries a $740 billion price tag — including $369 billion to combat “the existential crisis of climate change,” according to recent <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/08/07/statement-by-president-biden-on-senate-passage-of-the-inflation-reduction-act/">remarks</a> from President Joe Biden, who signed the legislation this week. The report showed that after-tax incomes for individuals for every group apart from the top 1% would fall by 0.2%, while those in the top 1% would see after-tax incomes cut by 0.3%.
“On a long-term dynamic basis, the smaller economy reduces after-tax incomes relative to the conventional analysis and most of the expanded tax credits will have expired,” the report explained. “On average, tax filers in every quintile would experience a drop in after-tax incomes.”
The projected reductions in earnings occur despite repeated promises from top Biden administration officials that taxes for individuals earning under $400,000 would not rise. “No one — let me emphasize — no one earning less than $400,000 a year will pay a penny more in federal taxes,” Biden <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/08/16/remarks-by-president-biden-at-signing-of-h-r-5376-the-inflation-reduction-act-of-2022/">said</a> during the Tuesday bill signing.
The most economically harmful portion of the Inflation Reduction Act is a 15% minimum tax on book income for companies with more than $1 billion in profits. In a recent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/businesses-to-slash-headcount-while-using-more-automation-survey-shows">survey</a> of executives conducted by accounting firm PwC, 28% of respondents cited tax policy as a serious business risk, with business leaders in the pharmaceutical and life sciences sector particularly concerned over the law’s provisions geared toward lowering the costs of prescription drugs and health insurance.
The Tax Foundation model does not consider the $80 billion in funds to hire 87,000 new Internal Revenue Service agents, which is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-how-much-bidens-twice-as-large-irs-could-take-from-the-middle-class">forecast</a> to increase audit rates for middle-class Americans, despite <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/janet-yellen-vows-irs-audits-wont-rise-for-middle-income-americans-but-theres-a-catch">promises</a> to the contrary from the White House. The agency <a href="https://www.irs.gov/statistics/irs-budget-and-workforce">employed</a> nearly 79,000 full-time employees as of fiscal year 2021.
Beyond the tax implications of the law, inflation is expected to rise in response to a deluge of new and expanded government programs. “By increasing spending, the bill worsens inflation, especially in the first four years, as revenue raisers take time to ramp up and the deficit increases,” according to the Tax Foundation. “To the extent the tax credits and health-care subsidies are expected to be extended on a permanent basis, these policies put upward pressure on inflation.”
Indeed, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) — who made a deal with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to advance the legislation through the divided Senate — <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/manchin-admits-inflation-reduction-act-wont-immediately-reduce-inflation">admitted</a> on Tuesday that the Inflation Reduction Act would not have an immediate effect on rising price levels.
“Well, immediately it’s not,” Manchin told Fox News reporter Hillary Vaughn. “We’ve never [said] anything would happen immediately, like turn the switch on and off.”
Another <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrat-inflation-reduction-act-could-slightly-increase-inflation-over-next-two-years-study-finds">study</a> from economists at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School found that the Inflation Reduction Act would “very slightly increase inflation” over the next two years and “decrease inflation thereafter,” with both estimates “statistically indistinguishable from zero, thereby indicating low confidence that the legislation will have any impact on inflation,” despite its high price tag.

Inflation Reduction Act To Cut After-Tax Income For Rich And Poor Alike: Report

Inflation Reduction Act To Slash After-Tax Income

Inflation

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/japan">Japan</a>’s National Tax Agency, a government division responsible for collecting <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/taxes">taxes</a>, is sponsoring a unique business strategy contest in hopes of enticing more young people to drink <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/alcohol">alcohol</a>.
The online contest titled “Sake Viva!” asks young people to submit their ideas for getting the younger generation to spend more money on booze. The tax agency is reportedly worried about a dwindling liquor business, especially after COVID pandemic <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/lockdowns">shutdowns</a>, and wants young people to help “revitalize the industry” <a href="https://sakebiba.jp/">according</a> to the contest’s website.
“The domestic alcoholic beverage market is shrinking due to demographic changes such as the declining birthrate and aging population, and lifestyle changes due to the impact of the new coronavirus infection,” the “Sake Viva!” website states. “In this project, by asking young people to propose their own business plans, we will appeal to young people for the development and promotion of Japanese alcoholic beverages, and at the same time, we will revitalize the industry by announcing excellent plans.”
In 2021, the Japanese government <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1172122/japan-national-liquor-tax-revenue/">raked</a> in $1.18 trillion yen, about $13 billion U.S. dollars, from national liquor taxes. That number was up from 2020 revenue, but the annual tax revenue from liquor sales has been slightly decreasing since 2013.
According to the contest rules, only people between the ages of 20 and 39 are eligible to compete. The National Tax Agency wants contestants to focus on developing a plan related to “Japanese alcoholic beverages (sake, shochu, awamori, beer, whiskey, wine, liqueur, etc…)”
Participants are also asked to consider new methods of promoting business to young people, such as “products and designs based on new lifestyles and changes in tastes due to COVID-19,” and establishing sales through AI and the Metaverse. Finalists will be selected at the end of September and advance to a final tournament in November.
Japan’s government encouraging young people to drink seems to go against a prior plan that promoted measures to curb unhealthy drinking. Just in the last 10 years, the country adopted a plan to fight societal and health problems related to consuming alcohol, NPR <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/08/18/1118163173/japans-tax-alcohol-young-people-campaign">reported</a>.
The contest has sparked debate among many in the country as the government has been criticized for promoting alcohol consumption among young people. “The National Tax Agency&#8217;s campaign ‘Sake Viva!’ has already become a hot topic overseas, and has been introduced as ‘weird Japan,’” journalist Karyn Nishi <a href="https://twitter.com/karyn_nishi/status/1560235223081971712">wrote</a>.
“If the government wants to support the sake and beer industries, it has to be more serious,” Nishi added. “In developed countries, it is considered a good thing for young people to avoid drinking, so only Japan is in the opposite direction. It cannot be ignored that alcohol is dangerous.”

Alcohol

Japan’s Government Wants Young People To Drink More Alcohol

Japan's National Tax Agency Sponsoring Contest In Hopes Of Getting More Young People To Drink Alcohol

Gen Z

Japan

Lockdowns

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