An outrageous piece of news is making the rounds in Washington. It turns out that Obama's IRS is going to issue a rule making it easier for trial lawyers to deduct costs up front, rather than making them wait to actually win a case. This provides a big incentive for trial lawyers to speculate on cases, and will certainly result in more lawsuits.
ATR is all for cutting people's taxes, but this action is taking place at the same time as America is gearing up for the largest tax hikes in history in fewer than six months' time. It comes on the heels of Obamacare, with its dozens of new or higher taxes. It comes at a time when Congress is looking to raise taxes on charities, universities, and pension plans (not to mention international profits of U.S. companies and Subchapter-S corporations). There's also cap and trade and other energy taxes. Harry Reid even tried to sneak in a tax increase on victims of trial lawyers earlier this year.
Maybe instead of cutting taxes for trial lawyers, the Obama Administration could focus on not raising taxes on small businesses and familes (and maybe even cutting them).