1. The mortgage interest deduction for big houses and second homes.
Thanks to this tax break, the 5 million households in America making more than $200,000 a year get a lot more housing aid than the 20 million households living on less than $20,000. Deductions for mortgage interest incentivize people already capable of buying big homes to buy even bigger ones. This tax break applies as well to second homes (you only get one second home though!). Note: In the eyes of the Congressional Budget Office — the official word on this in Washington — the mortgage interest deduction is equivalent to the government offering you money, not you keeping your own money.


2. The yacht tax deduction.
If you’ve got a boat and you’re paying interest on it, that interest is tax-deductible – provided your boat is really, really big. If it has sleeping quarters, a kitchen and a toilet – e.g., it is a yacht – then it can be considered a second home and any interest you pay on it is deductible. But if you just have a garden-variety fishing boat or canoe, sorry – no deduction for you.
Beyond that, if you have a yacht you can loan it out to a charter business for part of the year, and keep it for personal use the rest of the time. This allows you to deduct the purchase price, insurance, maintenance and slip fees too.

3. Rental property.
If you're a landlord, which you probably aren't if you're very low-income, you can deduct many of the expenses you incur renting a home, including repairs, advertising, HOA fees and — again — mortgage interest. If you happen to rent out either your first or second home for 14 days or less — because, for example, Augusta National Golf Club is hosting the Masters nearby — you get to just pocket all that income without paying taxes on it at all.

4. Fancy business meals.
Talking business over an expensive dinner? That's tax deductible, too, a fact that puts taxpayer spending on food stamps into relief. This is a good deal for, say, a CEO presiding over actual filet mignon at a five-star restaurant. Scott Klinger, now the director of revenue and spending policies at the Center for Effective Government, explains how this works here:
Imagine that the tab for dinner and drinks for 10 executives comes to $1,600. Current tax law allows companies to deduct half of the cost of business meals — in this case, $800. With a corporate tax rate of 35 percent, each dollar of deductions yields 35 cents of tax savings — so that $800 deduction saves $280 in taxes. This means one dinner for 10 people provides more public food assistance than the $279 an average household receives in food stamps for the whole month.

That’s what gamblers are saying, as election betting fever is in full effect at sportsbooks and online betting sites across the country.

“Naturally, odds for the next election cycle almost always favor the opponent, in this case Joe Biden, or the current Vice President,” shared Dave Mason of BetOnline.ag.

“But while the 2024 Presidential Election odds list Kamala Harris as the most probable option, AOC is getting the most love from early bettors.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the U.S. Representative from New York's 14th congressional district might not see her name on any ballot this November, but sports bettors have appointed her as the early Presidential front runner in 2024.

President-elect Joe Biden tapped Rep. Marcia Fudge to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack to serve as Agriculture Secretary, sources familiar with the decision told NBC News on Tuesday.

If confirmed, Fudge, 68, would be the first Black woman to lead the department in decades. Patricia R. Harris under President Jimmy Carter was the first. Fudge, who has been an advocate for fair labor practices, and civil and human rights, had long been a top contender for the position. However, Fudge, who serves on the House Committee on Agriculture, and her allies were pushing for Agriculture Secretary.

But Vilsack previously served as Agriculture Secretary under President Obama for eight years, which puts a confidant in Biden's cabinet. Vilsack is also expected to bring a source of institutional knowledge to the post.

If confirmed, Vilsack, 69, would lead an agency at a time when American farmers have been hit hard by Trump's trade war with China, but still largely remain loyal to the outgoing president, and as the poorest Americans are struggling with food security during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Biden administration plans to create a position to find common ground with conservatives, said Louisiana Congressman Cedric Richmond, a senior adviser and director of the Office of Public Engagement for the president-elect.

“Right now I’m trying to set up the office and I’m actually looking at establishing a position that reaches out to conservatives -- because it’s about moving forward. We cannot stay where we are,” Richmond said during the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council on Monday night.

He said the office’s goal was to forge connections with all Americans, regardless of their political affiliation. “We’re not elected just to help Democrats or urban cities or minorities,” he said. “We were elected to help this entire country and that means reaching out to conservatives, that means reaching out to rural areas, reaching out to people who didn’t vote for us.”

President-elect Joe Biden named Richmond, a campaign co-chair, to head the Office of Public Engagement last month. On Monday, Biden appointed him as one of five co-chairs of his inaugural committee.

"Georgia's probably going to be the first state I'm gonna blow up," Powell said in an interview with the conservative media outlet Newsmax TV on Saturday night.
"We've got tons of evidence. It's so much, it's hard to pull it all together," Powell continued. "Hopefully, this week we will get it ready to file, and it will be biblical."

Jordan Sekulow, another member of Trump's legal team who appeared on Newsmax TV earlier on Saturday, also hinted at a "shocking" lawsuit on its way to Georgia.
"I can't tell you right now what is coming in Georgia, but what is coming in Georgia will be shocking," Sekulow said.


Powell later claimed that Republican Georgia Governer Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger were being paid to be part of a conspiracy with Dominion Voting Systems.

"And Mr. Kemp and the secretary of state need to go with it because they're in on the Dominion scam with their last-minute purchase or reward of a contract to Dominion of $100 million," said Powell, alleging that Georgia law enforcement should investigate the claim.