Jul 13, 2026 · 36 min · 9 segments
Send us Fan Mail Jeff and Scott talk about wasteful tax expenditures with Calvin Johnson, which Professor Johnson believes includes basically all tax expenditures.
Jeff HoopesHostScott DyrengHost
And so that's what we want to talk about is one of these articles you've written from the pastor as you're out on the pastor.
So you recently wrote this article in Tax Notes about basically tax expenditures and how you think there's some wasteful tax expenditures we should get rid of.
Every single one of them would not pass muster on a cost-benefit analysis if Congress had taken their duty seriously to exercise tax expenditure budget.
Tax expenditure are cases in which a Congress gives away money, gives somebody a tax cut, but it does it purportedly because they expect some goods and services in return.
You get expenses because, yeah, it came through the cash register, but you didn't have it.
And also things like the child care credits are really just adjustments to say accounting income really doesn't capture what your standard of living is.
Kids are expensive and when we apply a progressive tax system, we ought to, um, uh, not try to tax people who have 16 kids.
So what, tell me the difference between just a run of the mill tax credit, or you allow something to be deductible that wasn't deductible before and a tax expenditure.
I, when Congress gives a tax cut or, or, um, I don't know, adjust the brackets.
And so that's what we want to talk about is one of these articles you've written from the pastor as you're out on the pastor.
So you recently wrote this article in Tax Notes about basically tax expenditures and how you think there's some wasteful tax expenditures we should get rid of.
Every single one of them would not pass muster on a cost-benefit analysis if Congress had taken their duty seriously to exercise tax expenditure budget.
Tax expenditure are cases in which a Congress gives away money, gives somebody a tax cut, but it does it purportedly because they expect some goods and services in return.
You get expenses because, yeah, it came through the cash register, but you didn't have it.
And also things like the child care credits are really just adjustments to say accounting income really doesn't capture what your standard of living is.
Kids are expensive and when we apply a progressive tax system, we ought to, um, uh, not try to tax people who have 16 kids.
So what, tell me the difference between just a run of the mill tax credit, or you allow something to be deductible that wasn't deductible before and a tax expenditure.
I, when Congress gives a tax cut or, or, um, I don't know, adjust the brackets.
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