Law Commons^™

Getting Local Governments Where They Need To Go Without Taking Taxpayers For A Ride: "Cabs," Why They Are Used, And What Can Be Done To Prevent Their Misuse, Heather G. White

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract forthcoming

How To Choose The Least Unconstitutional Option: Lessons For The President (And Others) From The Debt Ceiling Standoff, Neil H. Buchanan, Michael C. Dorf

Michael C. Dorf

The federal statute known as the “debt ceiling” limits total borrowing by the United States. Congress has repeatedly raised the ceiling to authorize necessary borrowing, but a political standoff in 2011 nearly made it impossible to borrow funds to meet obligations that Congress had affirmed earlier that very year. Some commentators urged President Obama to ignore the debt ceiling, while others responded that such borrowing would violate the separation of powers and therefore that the president should refuse to spend appropriated funds. This Article analyzes the choice the president nearly faced in summer 2011, and which he or a successor …

How To Choose The Least Unconstitutional Option: Lessons For The President (And Others) From The Debt Ceiling Standoff, Neil H. Buchanan, Michael C. Dorf

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The federal statute known as the “debt ceiling” limits total borrowing by the United States. Congress has repeatedly raised the ceiling to authorize necessary borrowing, but a political standoff in 2011 nearly made it impossible to borrow funds to meet obligations that Congress had affirmed earlier that very year. Some commentators urged President Obama to ignore the debt ceiling, while others responded that such borrowing would violate the separation of powers and therefore that the president should refuse to spend appropriated funds.

This Article analyzes the choice the president nearly faced in summer 2011, and which he or a successor …

Application Of Internal Revenue Code Section 103(C) To Variable Rate Demand Bonds: Purging The Profiteering Potential, Troy M. Hellenbrand

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Note analyzes transactions involving VRDBs, to determine whether they comply with the strictures of IRC section 103(c) and, hence, qualify for the tax exemption. Initially, this Note provides an overview of the tax-exempt bond market by examining the factors that led to the development of VRDBs. It then demonstrates how a reasonable interpretation of the language of IRC section 103(c), gleaned from its legislative history and Treasury promulgations, requires that almost all VRDBs lose their tax-exempt status. More specifically, this Note concludes that the inability to calculate the yield for VRDBs creates an impermissible potential to earn arbitrage profits. …

The Original Issue Discount Deduction In Bonds-For-Noncash Property Exchanges, Charles L. Almond

Vanderbilt Law Review

The first codification of the United States Internal Revenue laws gave a corporation a deduction from income of "[a]ll interest paid or accrued within the taxable year on its indebtedness. ...This same language is presently in force in the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. The statutory language authorizing the interest deduction has never dealt explicitly with the deductibility of discount arising upon a corporation's original issuance of bonds. Treasury Regulations promulgated pursuant to the interest deduction sections, however, have recognized continually that the statutory language embodies a deduction for original issue discount. 'The latest pre-1969 regulation, which limits itself to …

Some Problems In Special Assessment District Obligations, Irvin Long

Michigan Law Review

The question of the jurisdiction of a board or officer authorized to construct a local improvement and levy special assessments therefor has always been troublesome, and is particularly so when bonds or other obligations are issued in anticipation of the collection of such assessments. A vast amount of litigation has occurred in Michigan in recent years over drain district assessments, and bonds which such districts have issued. While this is of primary interest to Michigan lawyers and investors in public securities, many of the questions involved seem to be of such a general nature, so far as special assessment procedure …