Kate Jackson
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katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson
@katejackson.bsky.social
14K followers 5.8K following 3K posts

Associate Professor of Law at a regional midwest public law school. Political theory, corps & admin. 🧶👽👾🧙🏽‍♀️🦅🎮 My views are my own and reposts are not endorsements.

SSRN author page
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=3568227 .. more

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Political science 37%
Law 28%
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katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 3h
The top 1% isn’t the top .01% so I hate to make any firm prognostications, but if I had to guess rn (Ezra Klein style) - given how common LLCs are in the tax avoidance strategies of estate planning (ie the cowboy cocktail)…. Maybe…?

katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 3h
!! I will dig into the paper to see how the authors collected their data. TBC!

katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 11h
I *love* that it also involves estate planning — another area for nifty tax dodging

katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 11h
!!!!

katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 11h
At any rate if I were an intrepid reporter or could hire an army of research assistants I’d start scrubbing through UCC-1 financing statements filed with the state. (And filings for the shell LLC debtors that undoubtedly hide the human billionaires behind them)

katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 11h
Touché

Hey how else do you get people excited about article 9 now that it’s not on the bar

katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 11h
@propublica.org Check out billionaire UCC-1 financing statement filings. They’re kept with secretaries of states. (Though undoubtedly there will be shell LLCs indicated as debtor)

katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 11h
www.propublica.org/article/the-...
The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax
ProPublica has obtained a vast cache of IRS information showing how billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Warren Buffett pay little in income tax compared to their massive wealth — sometimes, ev...
www.propublica.org

katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 11h
I kept telling my students they need to take secured transactions so they understand how people can have mansions, jets, and butlers but pay no taxes.
So how do megabillionaires pay their megabills while opting for $1 salaries and hanging onto their stock? According to public documents and experts, the answer for some is borrowing money — lots of it. For regular people, borrowing money is often something done out of necessity, say for a car or a home. But for the ultrawealthy, it can be a way to access billions without producing income, and thus, income tax. The tax math provides a clear incentive for this. If you own a company and take a huge salary, you’ll pay 37% in income tax on the bulk of it. Sell stock and you’ll pay 20% in capital gains tax — and lose some control over your company. But take out a loan, and these days you’ll pay a single-digit interest rate and no tax; since loans must be paid back, the IRS doesn’t consider them income. Banks typically require collateral, but the wealthy have plenty of that. The vast majority of the ultrawealthy’s loans do not appear in the tax records obtained by ProPublica since they are generally not disclosed to the IRS. But occasionally, the loans are disclosed in securities filings. In 2014, for example, Oracle revealed that its CEO, Ellison, had a credit line secured by about $10 billion of his shares.

katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 11h
www.nextgov.com/people/2026/...
Trump’s Tech Force hiring effort extends application deadline
Ethical questions remain about how managers from the approximately 30 industry partners involved in the program will work for the government without triggering conflicts of interest.
www.nextgov.com

katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 11h
So fire the civil servants, and then try desperately rehire contractors to be managed by temporarily seconded nabobs from uber et al (who I’m sure will be cheaper right?? And virtuous public servants??) - great plan!

Meaning that right now is a great time to file a creatively prepared tax return
I’m not worried about filling demand,” he said. “Our big challenge is supply… You talk to the IRS guys, they’re like, ‘Look, we’re going to completely modernize how, like the U.S. consumer deals with the IRS. If you can get me 1,000 people tomorrow, I'll take 1,000 people.’” The IRS lost at least 2,000 technology employees, or about a quarter of its IT workforce, to the Trump administration’s deferred resignation program last year, jeopardizing the agency’s longstanding modernization goals. One DOGE associate, Sahil Lavingia, was dismissed from DOGE in May last year, after he said in a media interview that he found the government to be more efficient than he expected.

Reposted by Anne Norton, Kate Jackson, Virginia Sapiro

propublica.org
ProPublica @propublica.org · 13h
We found that Jeff Bezos paid *zero* taxes in 2007 and 2011.

In fact, he reported making so little in 2011 that he even claimed and received a $4,000 tax credit for his children.

This is how he did it (published 2021):
The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax
ProPublica has obtained a vast cache of IRS information showing how billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Warren Buffett pay little in income tax compared to their massive wealth — sometimes, ev...
www.propublica.org

katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 18h
I guess now is the time to watch Death by Lightening if you haven’t yet

Trump Administration Live Updates: President Strips Job Protections From 50,000 Federal Workers www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02...
Trump Administration Live Updates: President Strips Job Protections From 50,000 Federal Workers
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Rebecca Tushnet

katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 18h
Laboratories in autocracy, episode 194482: Ohio and Marijuana

In 2023, 57% of voters passed a referendum legalizing pot. Since then, Ohio’s lawmakers have been passing laws gutting it.

Now, voters have to have a new referendum to undo the undoing of the referendum

www.wvxu.org/show/cincinn...
What you need to know about the changes to Ohio's THC law
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost approved petition paperwork this week that could put Senate Bill 56 on the November ballot.
www.wvxu.org

Reposted by James Goodwin

katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 19h
Getting ready for the very first LPE conference and thought it would be fun to revisit my very first LPE contribution. 🎶memories🎵🎶

lpeproject.org/blog/situati...
One of LPE’s foundational commitments, as Sanjukta Paul reminds us, is that law constitutes markets – and that, as a result, we are free to constitute them differently. But this simply begs the question: how ought we constitute them? This is where political theory can be useful. As Sam Bagg points out, many LPE scholars already understand that democracy must have something to do with it. We object to many of our laws because they are undemocratic, reflecting instead the power of entrenched elites. But what would count as democratic is a genus populated by a wide variety of species, from procedural, populist (left, right, and ideologically empty), republican, epistemic, agonistic, discursive, representative, and participatory. Each implies different legal and institutional reforms and prioritizes different values. Moreover, if we are committed to some form of constitutionalism, we have to admit that democratic publics cannot shape the law any which way they please.

katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 19h
Getting ready for the very first LPE conference and thought it would be fun to revisit my very first LPE contribution. 🎶memories🎵🎶

lpeproject.org/blog/situati...
One of LPE’s foundational commitments, as Sanjukta Paul reminds us, is that law constitutes markets – and that, as a result, we are free to constitute them differently. But this simply begs the question: how ought we constitute them? This is where political theory can be useful. As Sam Bagg points out, many LPE scholars already understand that democracy must have something to do with it. We object to many of our laws because they are undemocratic, reflecting instead the power of entrenched elites. But what would count as democratic is a genus populated by a wide variety of species, from procedural, populist (left, right, and ideologically empty), republican, epistemic, agonistic, discursive, representative, and participatory. Each implies different legal and institutional reforms and prioritizes different values. Moreover, if we are committed to some form of constitutionalism, we have to admit that democratic publics cannot shape the law any which way they please.

Reposted by Kate Jackson

erinkaylockwood.bsky.social
Erin Lockwood @erinkaylockwood.bsky.social · 22h
This year I made two big changes to my graduate International Political Economy syllabus: 1) I leaned in to money and capital as organizing themes, and 2) I assigned (nearly) all books. Here's our reading list, ft. Karl Polanyi, Benjamin Cohen, @stefeich.bsky.social, Ngaire Woods, J.C. Sharman ...
Stack of books: The Great Transformation by Karl Polanyi International Political Economy by Ben Cohen The Currency of Politics by Stefan Eich The Globalizers by Ngaire Woods The Money Laundry by J.C. Sharman The Code of Capital by Katharina Pistor Bankers' Trust by Aditi Sahasrabuddhe Unexpected Revolutionaries by Manuela Moschella Rating Politics by Zsofia Barta and Alison Johnston Bucking the Buck by Daniel McDowell The Meddlers by Jamie Martin The Entangled Legacies of Empire (eds. Gilbert, Bourne, Haiven, and Montgomerie) Depletion by Shirin Rai Chip War by Chris Miller

katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 1d
Hottest economy in the world

January layoffs, closures affect over 400 workers in Ohio

www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2...
Cincinnati News, Sports and Things to Do | Cincinnati Enquirer
Breaking Cincinnati news, traffic, weather and local headlines from The Cincinnati Enquirer newspaper.
Cincinnati.com

katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 1d
Could really deal without the “and next we’ll invade Poland” vibes

Let’s hope it’s just “I want a huge slush fund to give $$ to my bribers er donors er tech company contractors”

katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 1d
Wish his ex would have bought it instead

katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 1d
When I was in law school I got sick working for a local firm one summer and we got season tickets to Busch gardens and had happy hour there daily. 100% peak legal academia experience.

Reposted by Marc Lynch, Aaron Sojourner, Kate Jackson

dburbach.bsky.social
David Burbach 🇺🇸🌹 @dburbach.bsky.social · 1d
We do not need a $1.5 trillion dollar defense budget.

50% increase in one year?!?

breakingdefense.com/2026/02/excl...
EXCLUSIVE: HASC chair seeking $450B for defense in reconciliation - Breaking Defense
Mike Roger, the House Armed Services Committee chief, wants to use reconciliation for a massive increase in defense spending.
breakingdefense.com

katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 2d
At the university of Cincinnati, where I work, we got a significant application bump after joining the Big 12. So I wonder how much of the shifting applications have to do with Big Sportsball.

Reposted by Kate Jackson

rlheppner.bsky.social
Richard Heppner 🤷🏼‍♂️ @rlheppner.bsky.social · 2d
I finally got the latest version of my Civil Procedure Game! Now with a box, better cards, and individualized pawns and tokens..
A closeup of the game board (a stylized map, with humorous state names) with dice and pieces and standees. Tag! The Jurisdiction game, a picture of the game board, cards (for parties, claims, damages, etc.), pieces, the gameboy, and instruction booklet. Tag! the Jurisdiction Game box.

katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 2d
So yeah, libtard, don’t bring guns to DC. Or anywhere else. They’re not for you.

katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 2d
Also, guns were never meant to protect against “tyranny” in the abstract. They are mean to protect agains the “tyranny” of a plural inclusive society that occasionally allowed non-white Christians to occupy places of power and esteem.

katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 2d
I’ve moved on from war documentaries to US domestic terrorism documentaries. It’s…harrowing to draw the through line from ruby ridge, Waco and Oklahoma City to ICE today. Or, rather, the white Christian nationalist/aryan nation/
gun nut backlash thereto.

katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 2d
Tell me you abuse women without telling me you abuse women

katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 2d
I’m a dreamer though. Alas. It’s congenital and has no cure

katejackson.bsky.social
Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 2d
And here we are. Shareholder primacy ushering us in to an economy of rent-seeking and debt.

Tell me where I'm wrong!