Random Ponderings, AKA a break from Talking Tax Reform

It's a chilly Friday morning in the Southern California area.  At least that's how it feels to those of us whose blood has thinned out living in the balmy climate here.  I know my friends in other regions are dealing with true cold.  I was exposed to some truly intense winter conditions during my time in the Air Force and know logically that what I'm dealing with this morning is nothing compared to those days.  Doesn't change the fact that I feel a chill in the air today.

* * *

When I first started working at the H&R Block location where I now work, we had an extremely experienced staff of tax professionals.  There were eight other people working there who had more than 10 years of experience.  Four of those people were no longer with the company when we started last tax season.  Over the summer we were told that another long-time tax pro wasn't returning this year.  Then on Christmas Day, another of the long-term tax pros announced he wouldn't be coming back for this season.  He said he may return next year but that doesn't help now.

We've added one outstanding tax pro since then and he's now the second highest "producer" in the office.  The other two long-time tax pros are excellent, but both work part-time only.  It will be an interesting year as we attempt to keep all of the clients of our two most recent departures coming back to us.

* * *

From the Denial Ain't Just a River in Egypt files - Roy Moore continues to refuse to concede that he lost the special election for Alabama's U.S. Senate seat to Doug Jones.  The election results were certified as official on Thursday.

I saw a great tweet earlier and now can't find it.  But it pointed out that Roy Moore lost in two courts, federal and food.

* * *

With both Powerball and MegaMillions jackpots being more than $300 million, there will be news vans parked near Bluebird Liquor in Hawthorne, CA.  They have had a lot of winners there.

Five cents out of every dollar spent on a lottery ticket goes to the retailer.

* * *

There is talk that Sony Television is trying to put together a reboot of the Mad About You sitcom that starred Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt.  When that show was in production from 1992 through 1999 was a time that I had an "in" to get reserved seats for television tapings.  I still had to stand in line, but there was no risk of not getting a seat.  I spent many a Friday evening watching shows like Mad About You, The Nanny, Love and War and others being taped.

What I recall most about the tapings of Mad About You is that they were always the longest to sit through.  One of those taping took nearly five hours.  I got a seat at a taping of an episode of Roseanne as a reward for sitting through some "less desirable" tapings and we were in and out in less than 90 minutes.  That night at the Mad About You taping, I was so ready to just get up and walk out, but it would have put future taping access in jeopardy.

I hope they bring the show back, but I won't be trying to get into any tapings of it (or any other sitcom).

* * *

"Swatting" is a horrible prank for people to play.  It costs lots of money in wasted police time and effort and it puts people in danger.

In one instance, a Wichita, Kansas man was shot and killed by cops.  The shooting took place under questionable circumstances and we will have to wait for the investigation to see if the cop who shot and killed this man faces charges.

Turns out that, according to Engadget, the pusillanimous puke who made the fake call to the police did so over a wager of $1.50 in an online game.  Disgusting!!  I hope he's charged with manslaughter at a minimum.

* * *

Finally, this article from CNBC makes one wonder who the hell edits stuff online.  Or did I miss the announcement that Marco Rubio is now Rick Rubio?

Marco Rubio now says tax plan may have gone too far towar...

 CNBC Videos 8 hours ago 

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CNBC's Ylan Mui on companies trying to figure out where they stand under the GOP's new tax plan. And is Sen. Rick Rubio having a change of heart?

Talking Tax Reform - Part II

The Trump Tax Plan eliminates the Personal Exemption beginning in 2018 with the elimination scheduled to expire in 2025.  What is a personal exemption?  It represents an amount that a taxpayer is allowed to reduce their income by, lowering their tax liability.  The 2016 amount for the personal exemption was $4,050 and the taxpayer gets one for themselves, their spouse and anyone they can claim as a dependent.

If we examine the history of the personal exemption, we would first travel back in time to the year 1913.  The personal exemption that year was $3,000 (equivalent to more than $70,000 today) and was designed so that most people would pay no income tax.  Other changes to the tax code, including the addition of the standard deduction are why the personal exemption's value has been substantially reduced since then.

The original purpose of the personal exemption was to exempt from taxation the amount that a person needed just to survive.  Food, clothing, shelter and so on.

If the income of the taxpayer rises above a certain level ($259,400 for a single taxpayer in 2016), the exemption begins to phase out.  The people behind the changes to the tax law are arguing that the increase in the standard deduction makes up for the loss of the personal exemption.

A reminder that this major overhaul of the tax code is nothing more than a gigantic giveaway to the wealthy being financed by adding over $1.5 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years.  This chart shows who are the real beneficiaries of this change to the tax code.

Talking Tax Reform - Part 1

A lot of things are changing under the Trump Tax plan and there are many, many stories being written about them.  Given how modern media is a game of counting clicks, a lot of fearmongering headlines can be found.  Here are a few from before the bill was passed and signed into law:

Tax-reform plan would eliminate tax deduction for wildfire losses (L.A. Daily News)
GOP Tax Plan Could Hit Wildfire Victims Especially Hard (Fortune)
GOP Tax Bill Could Eliminate Wildfire Tax Deduction (NBC Southern California)

You get the idea.  The question is, what is actually going on here.  The deduction as it currently exists is limited to unreimbursed losses.   So if a home is destroyed and the homeowner's insurance pays out an amount that covers the full amount of the loss, there is no deduction to be had.

Not everyone is fully insured.  Homes in the areas ravaged by those wildfires have been appreciating rapidly for most of the past few decades.  It is in fact possible that someone may realize a gain on the loss of a home, if its value had increased since the purchase and the insurance payout was more than what the homeowner originally paid.  Fortunately there is a provision under tax law that allows the tax owed on such a gain to be deferred by buying a replacement property with a cost basis equal to or exceeding the amount of such a gain.

In the case of a home being lost that was not fully insured, there is a provision under the law that allows a Casualty/Theft Loss itemized deduction.  That deduction is limited by the amount of the reimbursement, by the requirement that the taxpayer be using itemized deductions, and by 10% of their adjusted gross income in the year of the loss (plus $100).

So what is changing?  The rules, the methodology for calculating the loss and so on are the same in 2018 as they are right now with one exception.  Right now there is no requirement for their to have been a presidential declaration of a disaster that was the cause of the loss.  Starting next year, without a presidential disaster declaration, such losses are not allowed.

The Importance of the Free Press

I saw the new Steven Spielberg film The Post over the weekend and it was brilliant.  Might have been the best film I've seen in 2017.   My review of it will be available tomorrow morning here.  For those who aren't aware, it tells the story of The Post's involvement in the publication of the Pentagon Papers.

How many of you remember seeing this on the shelves of your local bookstore?

I don't remember when I bought my first copy at the B. Dalton Bookseller in the mall but I remember reading it.  It let me to other books.  A lot of them which I will list at the end of this blog.

The Post tells the story of how the Washington Post obtained their own copy of the papers from Daniel Ellsberg who had been a Marine serving in Vietnam prior to the compilation of the study officially known as United States – Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967: A Study Prepared by the Department of Defense and what we now know as The Pentagon Papers.

The New York Times was first to publish excerpts from the study but the Nixon Administration quickly got an injunction to stop them from publishing more of the papers until the court could rule on a permanent injunction.  Fortunately for all of us, the United States Supreme Court, by a 6-3 majority that the government's claim of national security interests did not override the First Amendment restrictions on infringement of the free press.  Justice Hugo Black wrote the following in his concurring opinion:

"In the First Amendment, the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy. The press was to serve the governed, not the governors. The Government's power to censor the press was abolished so that the press would remain forever free to censure the Government. The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people. Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government. And paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people and sending them off to distant lands to die of foreign fevers and foreign shot and shell. In my view, far from deserving condemnation for their courageous reporting, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other newspapers should be commended for serving the purpose that the Founding Fathers saw so clearly. In revealing the workings of government that led to the Vietnam war, the newspapers nobly did precisely that which the Founders hoped and trusted they would do."

Which brings us to a photo I saw on Twitter.

The truth is that while we suspect Donald Trump of multiple violations of the Constitution and other laws, and many believe that he may have colluded with Russia to rig the election, none of these allegations have yet to be proven.  Nixon faced certain impeachment by Congress and had at most, 16 votes in the Senate in his favor, far short of what he would have needed to remain in office.  Dozens of people were convicted for involvement in the Watergate Scandal.  The investigation into Watergate also led to the conviction of 18 different U.S. Corporations for illegal campaign contributions to the 1972 Nixon reelection campaign.  At present, it is easily argued that Nixon IS the crook in that photo, in comparison.

But the jury (pun intended) is still out on the allegations against Trump.  Is he violating the Emoluments Clause?  Probably.  Is he lining his pockets by forcing the Secret Service to spend government funds at his resorts to protect him when he visits there excessively?  It seems so, just as he enriches himself at every other opportunity.  

However, he is attempting to create his own form of prior restraint against the free press, although he isn't using the justice system as Nixon attempted to do.  His labeling of any unfavorable coverage of him or his administration as "fake news" is an attempt at a form of prior restraint.  So is his refusal to hold solo press conferences.  

RANKING PRESIDENTS BY SOLO PRESS CONFERENCES HELD IN FIRST YEAR

Donald Trump - 1

Gerald Ford - 4 (he was only in office from August through December his 1st year in office)

Richard Nixon - 6

Ronald Reagan - 6

Bill Clinton - 11

Jimmy Carter - 22

George H. W. Bush - 27

He calls the media fake news (except for Fox News) while he tells more lies than any of his predecessors.  Politifact's record shows that Donald Trump's statements are:

True - 4%

Mostly true - 12%

Half true - 15%

Mostly false - 21%

False - 33%

Pants on Fire - 15%

But as long as we support the media that is trying their best to report the facts and not the lies being told by Donald Trump, we have hope.

Meanwhile, I promised you a list of books.  Yes, I read a lot of them on this topic.  There were no history courses on the Vietnam War when I was in school.

A Bright Shining Lie by the same Neil Sheehan listed on that cover above

Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers by Daniel Ellsberg

The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence by Victor Marchetti and John D. Marks

We Were Soldiers Once and Young by Lt. General Harold Moore and Joseph Galloway
Chickenhawk by Robert Mason
The Best and the Brightest by David Halberstam
Street Without Joy by Bernard Fall (based on the recommendation of General Colin Powell in his autobiography)
The Short-Timers by Gustav Hasford
Born On the Fourth of July by Ron Kovic
Marine Sniper: 93 Confirmed Kills by Charles Henderson
The Killing Zone by Frederick Downs
Aftermath: A Soldiers Return from Vietnam
The Green Berets by Robin Moore
The Only War We Had by Michael Lee Lanning
Vietnam 1969-70 - A Company Commander's Journal by Michael Lee Lanning
Inside the LRRPs: Rangers in Vietnam by Michael Lee Lanning
Force Recon Diary, 1969 by Bruce Norton
Force Recon Diary, 1970 by Bruce Norton
SOG: The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam by John Plaster
Fortunate Son by Lewis B. Puller, Jr.
One Shot - One Kill by Charles W. Sasser
Charlie Rangers by Don Ericson and John Rotundo

I've tried to eliminate the even larger number of Vietnam novels I've read, as well as autobiographies like those of Colin Powell and H. Norman Schwarzkopf, which do detail their experiences during Vietnam but that isn't the primary focus of those books.

The lesser known characters of the story

I was watching the brilliant, Best Picture winning film "Patton" this morning.  It actually won 7 Oscars and one of the many interesting factoids about the movie and the people portrayed in it is that three of those winners were not present at the Oscar ceremony.  George C. Scott refused to consider himself in competition with other actors.  The film's director, Franklin J. Schnaffer and one of the screenwriter, some guy named Francis Ford Coppola were also not present when their names were announced as Oscar winners.

Most of know of, or are aware of General George S. Patton, Jr.  He was a colorful commander who spoke his mind, often to his detriment.  But most of us don't know that he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, our nation's second highest award for gallantry, for actions during World War I.  Or that his son, George S. Patton III (he dropped the Roman numeral from his name later in life) was also an Army Major-General who was highly decorated for gallantry.

In the 1970 film story of Patton's experiences during World War II, we're introduced to a number of people whose stories we are not as familiar with.  Here are a few of those people.

Karl Malden played General (later General of the Army) Omar Bradley.  General Bradley was General Patton's deputy commander in North Africa, but became his commanding officer later on.  General Bradley was the Commander of the 12th Army Group, which was the largest single group of American soldiers to ever serve under a single field commander.  After the war, General Bradley became head of the Veterans Administration.  He went on to be the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Paul Stevens played Colonel Charles R. Codman, who became aide-de-camp to General Patton after the death of Captain Richard Jenson.  During World War I, then First Lieutenant Codman was a pilot and was awarded a Silver Star and the French Croix de Guerre for his actions in combat.  He was also a noted expert on wines and wrote a book on the subject.

There is a scene in the film where then Major General Lucian K. Truscott Jr., was asking for a one day delay in launching an attack.  General Bradley supported the request but General Patton turned it down and after telling Truscott he is a "very good man" then warns him against being too conservative.  Actor John Doucette played General Truscott.  General Truscott was also a highly decorated officer whose citation for the Distinguished Service Cross contains the following language.

"Completely disregarding his own safety, General Truscott personally directed the successful operation which expended the 3d Division's Licata beachhead, and by his continuous presence with the forward elements, as well as his exemplary judgment and leadership, inspired his command to the early capture of Agrigento and the continuance of the attack northward. General Truscott's contact with the assault units was maintained in the face of intense artillery, mortar, and small arms fire, and he repeatedly exposed himself to this enemy fire in order to confer with the officers leading the attack and to keep them informed of the enemy situation."

General Truscott was the antithesis of General Patton, as he abhorred self-aggrandizement.  

Then there is the story of the famous "Weather Prayer" requested by General Patton from a chaplain prior to the Battle of the Bulge.  

In the film's credit, actor Lionel Murton is credited as "Third Army Chaplain" and that's his scene with George C. Scott above.  The real chaplain involved was James H. O'Neill.  A Catholic priest, his recollection of how the weather prayer story actually transpired can be found here.  Shortly after the successful relief of Bastogne and the Siegfried Line breakthrough, General Patton awarded a Bronze Star to Chaplain O'Neill.

Last, but certainly not least, there is General Walter Bedell "Beetle" Smith.  He was played by Edward Binns in the movie.  General Smith served as Chief of Staff to General Dwight D. Eisenhower for almost all of World War II.  General Smith would go on to become the U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union after the war, and later on the first "successful" Director of Central Intelligence.  

General Smith also had a role in something that is given short shrift in the film.  Lieutenant General John C. H. Lee wanted to allow Negro soldiers serving in segregated units to volunteer to serve and fight alongside the white soldiers.  General Smith wrote a letter to Eisenhower on the subject, recognizing that this was a direct contravention of the written policy of segregation of the War Department.

"Although I am now somewhat out of touch with the War Department's Negro policy, I did, as you know, handle this during the time I was with General Marshall. Unless there has been a radical change, the sentence which I have marked in the attached circular letter will place the War Department in very grave difficulties. It is inevitable that this statement will get out, and equally inevitable that the result will be that every Negro organization, pressure group and newspaper will take the attitude that, while the War Department segregates colored troops into organizations of their own against the desires and pleas of all the Negro race, the Army is perfectly willing to put them in the front lines mixed in units with white soldiers, and have them do battle when an emergency arises. Two years ago I would have considered the marked statement the most dangerous thing that I had ever seen in regard to Negro relations. I have talked with Lee about it, and he can't see this at all. He believes that it is right that colored and white soldiers should be mixed in the same company. With this belief I do not argue, but the War Department policy is different. Since I am convinced that this circular letter will have the most serious repercussions in the United States, I believe that it is our duty to draw the War Department's attention to the fact that this statement has been made, to give them warning as to what may happen and any facts which they may use to counter the pressure which will undoubtedly be placed on them."

Ultimately the Negro volunteers were placed into provisional platoons.  But until Executive Order 9981 was signed by President Truman in 1948, racial discrimination was still allowable in the military.  It took some time after this became policy before segregation in the military ended.

Friday Stuff

Next September we may or may not see the Miss America pageant on television.  That's because Dick Clark Productions, who has produced the pageant's television show for a very long time has broken ties with the Miss America Organization (MAO) The reason?  Some emails that were exchanged between the MAO's CEO, Sam Haskell III and Lewis Friedman, lead writer of the pageant telecast.

Mr. Friedman has been fired.  Mr. Haskell apologized to the board and at this point seems poised to retain his job which comes with a $500,000 annual salary.  MAO issued a statement that said the emails, "contain inappropriate language that is unbecoming at best and is not, in any way, indicative of the character and integrity of MAO or its representatives. Please note that MAO does not condone the use of inappropriate language and apologizes for this situation. The Board of Directors took the allegations very seriously, investigated them, and considers the matter closed."

Sorry Miss America Board of Directors, but the language used by these two men in their email exchanges is an excellent indication of their character and integrity.  Why you would fire one and not the other is yet another indicator of how men and women enable the men who sexually harass and assault women.

* * *

If you were to take a peek at the 2016 tax return for the University of Southern California (which covers their fiscal year from 7/1/2015 through 6/30/2016), you'd see a few interesting numbers among their list of highly compensated employees.

There are five employees whose salary exceeded $2.7 million.  One of those is for former football coach Steve Sarkisian.  His salary of $3.2 million was the highest of the five most highly compensated employees.  At $2.72 million, Athletic Director Pat Haden's salary is also among that top five.

While not relevant for the 2016 fiscal year, there will be price for USC to pay for those top five salaries in the future.  The tax reform bill headed for signature by Donald Trump contains a provision where non profit salaries in excess of $1 million will be subject to an excise tax of 21%.  

That's a hit to the budgets of those universities who pay big bucks to their football coaches.  Will the budget for football programs be cut?  Not likely.  The budget for other, smaller sport programs will likely take the blow.

* * *

We learned of the passing of 82 year old Dick Enberg on December 21st.  He apparently suffered a heart attack at home.

He was an icon in the sports broadcasting field, doing play-by-play for the original Los Angeles Rams, the California Angels and also worked 10 Super Bowls, multiple Wimbledon tennis tournaments and a lot of other sporting events.

RIP

* * *

A story broke last week about how the Attorney General of Indiana had filed a lawsuit against a BnB for charging $350 to the credit card of a woman for having posted a negative review of the conditions she experienced while staying there.

Andrew Szakaly is the owner of Abbey Management and was the operator of the Abbey Inn until early this year.  Amanda Sweet is the new "operator" of the Inn and took pains to point out that what happened to the victim was under the previous management.

What she didn't say was that, according to WRTV6, she is the daughter of Mr. Szakaly and that this isn't their first business venture connection in Indiana.

* * *

Two thumbs up to the UCLA basketball program for announcing that the two members of their men's team that were arrested for shoplifting on the team's trip to China will remain suspended for the rest of this season.

It was the right move.

* * *

I was not much of a fan of the Big 3 basketball league in the past, but now that Baron Davis is going to play in the league in its upcoming season, I will be tuning in.  I've known him since he was playing head and shoulders above his much taller competition in 7th grade basketball games.  He's a tremendous player and an awesome individual.

He also plays a very entertaining brand of basketball.

* * *

Lazy Sunday scorecard

Friday I went to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi and yesterday I taught a class and then ran a couple of errands.  As a result, I have more pain in my knee today than I've had for some time.  Therefore I am staying home and resting.  Especially since I have more errands to run tomorrow as well as a few clients to meet with in my office. 

* * * 

A noble project, an apartment building to provide low-cost housing to seniors, all of them veterans and some of them currently homeless.  The L.A. Times reports that the Sun Valley Senior Veterans Apartments is one of several such projects being funded with "cap and trade" funds.  But this one will be 200 feet from the 5 Freeway.  Studies show that living too close to freeways dramatically increases health risks. 

Does that make sense?

* * * 

Tamara Holder is a former contributor to Fox News Channel.  She alleged that a network executive sexually harassed her at work.  After an investigation, Francisco Cortes was fired by the network.  The $2.5 million settlement payout she received contained a clause that prevented her from speaking about the incident.  But she is claiming that the comments of Rupert Murdoch in response to a question regarding whether or not the harassment claims had hurt Fox News Channel's business.  He said "It's all nonsense. There was a problem with our chief executive. Sort of, over the years. But isolated incidents."

Ms Holder appeared on CNN's Reliable Sources.

* * *

What caused the ten-hour power outage at Atlanta's Hartfield-Jackson Airport?  It is being blamed on a fire in an underground power vault.  Over 1,000 flights had to be canceled due to the outage.

Time to head over to The Varsity and grab a couple of hot dogs while you wait. But I'm guessing their airport location in Terminal C was hit by the power outage. 

* * *

 An excerpt from a Doyle McManus op-ed piece in today's L.A. Times is worth a look.

 "It isn’t easy to make a tax cut unpopular. But Trump and Republican leaders in Congress have managed a feat of negative alchemy: They’ve turned a bill that should have been political gold into lead. Polls have found that fewer than one-third of voters, on average, think this tax bill is a good idea. That’s less popular than Obamacare was when it passed in 2010.  The reason it’s unpopular? Most voters think the bill is so tilted in favor of corporations and the wealthy that there’s nothing left over for them. And they’re right."

* * *

In May of 1977 I did stand in line for hours to see the first Star Wars movie.  Three years later I stood in line in a driving rainstorm waiting to get into the theater.  I had ticket #1 but since seats were not reserved, it was a mad scramble to get a good seat in the theater.  I was in Miami at the time.  

22 years after that first film I did NOT spend six weeks in line outside the Mann Village Theater in Westwood waiting for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, although I did see the film there on that opening day (later in the day).  That also required hours in line.

I've seen all eight of the Star Wars movies on their opening day.  But I can't stand in line like that.  I had trouble this past Friday just getting from the car to the auditorium.  Thank goodness for reserved seating and advance ticket sales online.

* * *

When you get busted for allegations of domestic violence and you have a famous mom, your arrest will make headlines.  Just ask Track Palin, oldest son of Sarah Palin.  She may not have said she could see Russia from her bedroom, but she can see Track in court soon in Wasilla, AK where he was charged with felony burglary, misdemeanor reckless assault and misdemeanor criminal mischief causing less than $500 in property damage.

Hard to keep a low profile when you were on Mom's reality TV show.

* * *

Usually there are two big winners at the box office each weekend.  The overall gross box office winner and the per-screen box office winner.  This weekend the aforementioned Star Wars: The Last Jedi took both titles.  Over $220 million in total box office domestically and an impressive $51,996 per screen on the 4,232 screens it opened on.  Give credit to The Shape of Water and Darkest Hour, the only two of the 13 movies that were open last week who did not see a drop-off in box office from last weekend.  

And to think, there are new Star Wars movies due out in May of next year and December of the following year  Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm Ltd for slightly more than $4 billion in 2012 is paying big dividends.

* * *

Jerry Richardson owns the Carolina Panthers and has since they were created in the NFL expansion of 1993.  Now he's announced plans to sell the team.  

He was an NFL football player and amassed a fortune estimated at more than $500 million.  But what is missing from his announcement that he will sell the team is that he is under investigation facing allegations of sexual misconduct and use of a racial slur.  Multiple media outlets are reporting that he has paid out a number of confidential settlements to keep these allegations under wraps and out of the public eye.

"Diddy" says he wants to buy the team and sign Colin Kaepernick.

* * *

One little-known provision involving Roth IRAs is on the chopping block under the TrumpTax plan.  It is the recharacterization of the conversion of a traditional IRA to a Roth.  When you make that conversion, you pay tax.  Since you don't know just how much tax until the year is over, you can undo the conversion through a recharacterization.

Thanks to the Republicans, no more do-overs.

* * *

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/940930017365778432

Wow.  Someone needs to update the spell check function on his phone.

* * *

The Rules Change When You Get to the Office

It is becoming quite the challenge to keep up with who is the latest person to be accused of sexual impropriety in the workplace.  Steve Edwards of Good Day L.A., my preferred local morning news program was "abruptly let go" this past Monday.  There are reports his dismissal involved allegations of sexual harassment.  We'll get back to Steve in a minute.  Then we learned that Tavis Smiley was suspended from the nightly talk show he hosts for PBS.  This is the statement released by PBS:

“Effective today, PBS has indefinitely suspended distribution of ‘Tavis Smiley,’ produced by TS Media, an independent production company,” the public broadcaster said. “PBS engaged an outside law firm to conduct an investigation immediately after learning of troubling allegations regarding Mr. Smiley. This investigation included interviews with witnesses as well as with Mr. Smiley. The inquiry uncovered multiple, credible allegations of conduct that is inconsistent with the values and standards of PBS, and the totality of this information led to today’s decision.”

Mr. Smiley posted a video statement to Facebook in response to his suspension, which you can view here.  The text of the post follows:

"On the eve of the 15th season and 3,000th episode of my nightly talk show, I was as shocked as anyone else by PBS’ announcement today. Variety knew before I did.

I have the utmost respect for women and celebrate the courage of those who have come forth to tell their truth. To be clear, I have never groped, coerced, or exposed myself inappropriately to any workplace colleague in my entire broadcast career, covering 6 networks over 30 years.

Never. Ever. Never.

PBS launched a so-called investigation of me without ever informing me. I learned of the investigation when former staffers started contacting me to share the uncomfortable experience of receiving a phone call from a stranger asking whether, I had ever done anything to make them uncomfortable, and if they could provide other names of persons to call. After 14 seasons, that’s how I learned of this inquiry, from the streets.

Only after being threatened with a lawsuit, did PBS investigators reluctantly agree to interview me for three hours.

If having a consensual relationship with a colleague years ago is the stuff that leads to this kind of public humiliation and personal destruction, heaven help us. The PBS investigators refused to review any of my personal documentation, refused to provide me the names of any accusers, refused to speak to my current staff, and refused to provide me any semblance of due process to defend myself against allegations from unknown sources. Their mind was made up. Almost immediately following the meeting, this story broke in Variety as an “exclusive.” Indeed, I learned more about these allegations reading the Variety story than the PBS investigator shared with me, the accused, in our 3 hour face to face meeting.

My attorneys were sent a formal letter invoking a contractual provision to not distribute my programming, and that was it.

Put simply, PBS overreacted and conducted a biased and sloppy investigation, which led to a rush to judgment, and trampling on a reputation that I have spent an entire lifetime trying to establish.

This has gone too far. And, I, for one, intend to fight back.

It’s time for a real conversation in America, so men and women know how to engage in the workplace. I look forward to actively participating in that conversation."

Let's focus on the bolded text.  The key word being "colleague."  When you're the boss, you may consider the people you work with to be your colleagues but in fact, they are your subordinates.  A supervisor should never have a "consensual relationship" with a subordinate that goes anywhere beyond a platonic friendship.  The potential problems are endless.

It isn't just about the possibility that there will be retaliation from the boss if the relationship ends badly.  Other subordinates may perceive favoritism in the workplace, even if it is nothing more than appearance.  If the supervisor promotes their paramour, was it truly merit-based?  Even then, will it be seen that way by others who were passed over?  This is just one set of potential problems.

When I was in the Air Force, it was prohibited for someone to pursue that kind of relationship with a subordinate.  I remember returning from my tour of duty in South Korea to a position where I'd be supervising more people than I had to that point in my career.  Nine people who where either direct reports, or who worked for my direct reports.  I made it a point to keep my personal and professional lives separate.

* * *

Newt Gingrich spoke about Al Franken was being treated by his Democratic brethren.

"He's never faced his accusers, he's never had due process, he's never had an opportunity to clear his name.  The social pressure of the left wing of the Democratic Party came together and made it inappropriate for him to stay.  A million people elected him and 30 people decided he was inappropriate.  This is purely and simply hysteria!"

We are entitled to due process in the criminal justice system.  The presumption of innocence in the courts is codified in our Constitution.  In private sector employment, there may or may not be due process when someone is accused of sexual impropriety.  PBS claims to have investigated the allegations against Mr. Smiley although he is questioning that investigation's thoroughness in the wake of their refusal to review his "documentation."  

At-will employment is a legal doctrine that allows employers and/or employees to end the employment relationship at any time for any reason, when an employment contract was not agreed to by the parties.  There are three major exceptions to this doctrine.

The Public Policy exception.  Where the termination of employment would violate the public policy doctrine of the state, or be done in violation of federal or state law.  All but 8 states recognize this exception.  

The Implied Contract exception.  Under the implied contract exception, an employer may not fire an employee "when an implied contract is formed between an employer and employee, even though no express, written instrument regarding the employment relationship exists."  14 of the 50 states do not recognize this exception.

The Covenant of Good Faith exception.  This one is not quite as specifically defined.  Only 11 states recognize this exception, probably for that reason.

Senator Franken was entitled to due process.  He could have chosen to allow the investigation of the Senate Ethics Committee.  He chose to give up his right to due process.  Probably to allow Democrats to try to seize the moral high ground in this area.  When a president defends and endorses an accused pedophile in a special election, Republicans were giving up that position.  When people are calling on that president to resign because of the nearly two-dozen allegations against him involving sexual impropriety, something is rotten in Washington, D.C.

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We see the supervisor/subordinate romantic relationship in the media all the time.  On the original "Law & Order" there was a character named "Jack McCoy."  Played by Sam Waterston, he was an Executive Assistant District Attorney (ADA) and we learned that he was sexually involved with more than two of the female ADAs who he supervised.  

Before that on one of my favorite shows of all-time, "L.A. Law" we were introduced to Corbin Bersen's "Arnie Becker."  He was a partner in the fictional law firm portrayed on the show.  He had sexual relationships with associate attorneys, summer intern attorneys, and at least two of the secretaries who worked for him.  That's aside from the massive number of his female clients he bedded.  

I'm writing this as I binge-watch the first season of "Grey's Anatomy" on cable.  Attending physicians bedding interns, residents and the occasional patient.  Residents bedding interns.  The same crap went on for most of the 15 seasons of "ER."

This is how the media shows us the supervisor/subordinate relationship.  Art is not truly imitating life in these instances.  I also happened to notice a breaking news item while I was writing this.  Variety Magazine has an "exclusive" report where three more women have come forward and accused Dustin Hoffman, one claiming he exposed himself to her when she was a 16 year old classmate of his own daughter, Karina.   The other two are alleging the 80 year old multiple Oscar winner of having sexually assaulted him.

Will the ever accelerating parade of allegations and accusations ever begin to slow?  Yes.  Will it ever end completely?  Not until we all say that we as a society, will not tolerate this.

Oh yes, we never finished with Steve Edwards.  I've been a fan of his for over four decades.  I've always thought of him as one of the truly nice guys in his business.  The majority of his former co-workers at Fox 11 News have posted messages of support for him.  Pointing out he was never inappropriate with him.