Did The Donald bring up something of merit?

I consider Donald Trump to be good for just about nothing, in fact, I've been attempting to ignore his whole "candidacy," but alas he's brought a tax reform that's interesting back to the table, and from the Right no less.  The tax reform in question is the carried-interest tax.  It was previously discussed eons ago when Obama mentioned, but failed to act on it back in 2011.

So what exactly did Trump suggest?  Check out the full article here, or only read my summary and feel super on top of political conversations when your silly friends are commenting on Trump's hair malfunctions or similar nonsense.

How taxes make people feel; "Many voters are frustrated by years of stagnant wages and growing income inequality, which has been exacerbated by the tax code’s preferences." These preferences are seen explicitly in the carried-interest tax.

Even an old NY sweetheart joined the conversation, George Pataki, former governor of New York, joined Mr. Trump’s side. “I would not give a special tax break to the Wall Street fat cats,” Mr. Pataki said, adding, “It’s hard for me to say I’m with Donald Trump on anything, but on this issue, I agree with him.”

Did you think I would summarize all the high points and not actually discuss what in the world the carried-interest tax break is?

WRONG my dear friends.

Basically, as I understand it, the carried interest tax break means that people who make an abnormal amount of money - think hedge fund dudes (yes dudes, there are few women in this realm) and some private equity firms.  So these people are moving their money in two separate ways, one of those ways gets taxed like it's income, because it is, the other way is they spread it out over time and get it taxed like capital gains, or at a rate of around 15% which is less than income is taxed.

Besides the New York Times, I found further information on the capital gains tax here.

Finland's Proposal - the Most Un-American thing to Happen Today

Finland is looking to prepare for the influx of migrants coming from Eastern Europe and are expected to flood throughout Western Europe, including Finland.  While Finland is currently experiencing a rise in unemployment and a political shift the issue of how to deal with new workers will be a difficult task.

This article in the NY Times discusses the proposal to drop the wage amount at which Finn's are taxed an additional 1%, that number is...wait for it, a mere 81,000 Euros.  As someone who is living in the US and it painfully aware that our tax system seems unable to hold the richest American's accountable this is impressive.  While of course this may not become a reality (as discussed, there is a bit of tension politically) the fact that Finland can propose it with a straight face is enough to make me sigh a sigh of disappointment over the complex tax system of the United States.