Not sure I agree that because the future effect of driverless cars is unpredictable, we should give up on transportation planning, but it certainly does make sense that transportation planning should be done with the recognition that driverless cars, and ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft, will dramatically, even radically, change transportation usage in the not-very-distant future.

Via Antiplanner.

I had not heard about the dispute over payment of royalties for digital broadcasting of pre-1972 records, but it certainly bears watching.  I was alerted to it by a post on Overlawered.com.

My Tax Law Special Report for August, posted here in the publications section of deconcinimcdonald.com, tells the story of what happened to a wealthy retired professional ballplayer when he handed over control of his money to an agent, and specifically the tax consequences that flowed from that decision.  The outcome was, alas, predictable.

It’s pretty hard to believe, but apparently it happened.  The culprit is a (former) municipal judge in Linden, New Jersey.  The defendants in the trial that he conducted without a prosecutor or a defense attorney present are now suing him for violating their civil rights.  Yeah, I think there’s a pretty good case to be made that that’s what he did.

Via Instapundit.

Well, if you didn’t, now you do.  Actually, you almost certainly learned in school that the United States Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787.  You probably just forgot.  It’s not a date that sticks in your mind quite like July 4, or even June 14 (if you don’t remember what June 14 is, look it up).

If there is one particular aspect of the founding of our country that I am familiar with, it is, of course, the Constitution.  After all, I’m a lawyer. 

If you haven’t read the Constitution since you were in school, go read it.   It’s short.  You can find what I presume is an official transcript of it on the web site of the National Archives.  It is not only shorter, but also less obscure, than most people probably realize.   If more people read it, and have a basic understanding of it, the country can only benefit.

It looks like all the hullabaloo about the proposed constitutional amendment to permit regulation of spending to influence elections can now stop, as the amendment failed to clear the Senate.

I just have one question, however: since the proposed amendment would give Congress the power to prohibit “corporations or other artificial entities created by law” from spending money to influence elections, but would expressly deny Congress the power to “abridge the freedom of the press,”  

Who qualifies as a member of “the press?”

A Cadillac that drives itself?  Sign me up!

On the other hand, maybe this isn’t really that big of a step.  According to a more in-depth story in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), GM’s “super cruise” system “will be designed to require that drivers stay ready to retake control of a vehicle” by “prompt[ing] the driver to stay attentive.”  

How will it do that?  By delivering electric shocks through the seat? 

There's a U.S. Tax Court case that says this: if a taxpayer has evidence that contradicts a notice of deficiency from the IRS, the IRS can’t just rely on a Form 1099 or W2 as proof that the taxpayer underpaid.

That doesn’t mean, as people have apparently, and erroneously, claimed, that Forms 1099 and W2 can’t be used as evidence of income in tax court.  It just means that the IRS can’t rely on a 1099 or W2 alone where the taxpayer presents contradictory evidence.