Out Back Question of the Week

This is embarrassing.  I forgot to post the question on Wednesday.

When we got to the Out Back last evening I was challenged at the door for the question.  Fortunately, pulling up I had picked one.  It was lame, but it was something.

Who is President Obama's Chief of Staff.

The questioner didn't know, but someone else came up and asked what the question was and instead of repeating the question I blurted out the answer, which the first person immediately recognized.

To recover, I asked how much Rahm Emanual and his wife were paying as property tax on their home in Chicago.  My first interlocutor replied "nothing."  Whether this was a lucky guess or a coup d'œil, it was the answer I was looking for.  The answer showed that the person has a good sense of the political terrain or has been watching the news.  The Emanuals made their home the office for a charity and thus were able to deduct it.

SPOILER ALERT  Turns out that the Chicago Tribune is debunking that story stating it is the result of a hasty mistake on the part of a researcher in the records.

Actually, it is good news to hear that someone in the new Administration doesn't have some sort of tax problem.  On the other hand, every time we file our Income Tax return I wonder what the tax software might have missed, or what the tax software hinted at that I might have missed.  I do think that the massive tax code we have needs a thorough pruning.

How big is it?  This is the word from Trygve Lode's web site, back in 2006. It is unlikely that it has gotten much shorter.

By the way, if you go to the US Government Printing Office, you can order a complete set of Title 26 of the US Code of Federal Regulations (that's the part written by the IRS), all twenty volumes of it, at the bargain price of $974, shipping included.

According to the US Government Printing Office, it's 13,458 pages in total.  The full text of Title 26 of the United States Code (the part written by Congress--available for an additional $179) is a mere 3,387 printed pages, bringing the adjusted gross page count to 16,845.

I question Mr Lode's 16,845 number.  I am betting the essence of Title 26 US Code is incorporated in Title 26 of the US Code of Federal Regulations.  But, still, 13,458 is a lot of pages.  I am sure you have read them all, but I must confess I have not.

Regards  --  Cliff

PS:  I have now put it on my calendar, with the Repeat Function on.