Groups, unions clash over nominee
WASHINGTON » Business groups and labor unions have lined up on opposing sides of the pitched battle shaping up over President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, whose approach to the law is widely seen as business-friendly.
Kavanaugh’s rulings and written dissents generally convey skepticism toward government regulatory and consumer protection efforts — positions that tend to enjoy broad support among business organizations. He has also usually sided with employers in labor law cases.
“In employment discrimination claims, Judge Kavanaugh’s opinions over the years typically favored the employer,” Michael Lotito, a lawyer at Littler, an employer law firm, wrote Monday.
“I expect Kavanaugh will be very much in the mold of Chief Justice Roberts, who has generally been friendly to business,” Russell Wheeler, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution.
Still, if Kavanaugh is confirmed, he won’t likely change the outcome of many business cases before the Supreme Court. That’s because Justice Anthony Kennedy, whom Kavanaugh would succeed, typically voted in favor of business interests. So have several of the court’s other justices, including some who are generally viewed as members of the court’s liberal wing.
“Most of the court’s business cases are not 5-4,” said Ilya Shapiro, a senior fellow in constitutional studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, referring to the narrow votes that often emerge in contentious cases. “It’s generally a pro-business court.”
In January, Kavanaugh dissented from a ruling by a federal appeals court that upheld the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was established in 2010 to protect Americans against abusive financial products and services. Kavanaugh argued that the agency’s director effectively wielded too much power, making its structure unconstitutional. The issue may eventually come before the Supreme Court, where Kavanaugh’s view of the CFPB could prevail.
Kavanaugh has been particularly skeptical of regulation that is only tenuously related to legislation passed by Congress, Shapiro said. If he embraced that approach on the court, it could affect a broad range of rules in such areas as the environment, financial regulation and labor rights.
“A seat on the Supreme Court would let Kavanaugh and his allies expand attacks on the ability of government to regulate and enforce the rules on behalf of ordinary people,” said Linda Jun, senior policy counsel at Americans for Financial Reform.
In 2016, Kavanaugh ruled in favor of a division of Verizon, which had ordered employees to stop displaying pro-union signs. The union had agreed to waive its right to picket in a collective bargaining agreement.
“Judge Kavanaugh routinely rules against working families, regularly rejects employees’ right to receive employerprovided health care, (and) too
often sides with employers in denying employees relief from discrimination in the workplace,” said Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO. “Any senator who believes Supreme Court justices should protect the rights of all Americans should reject this nomination.”
to be profitable.
“You want to know when you can expect a return, even if it’s just knowing your child will be successful,” he says.
Good plans require considerable research and effort, so your daughter’s or son’s willingness to do this footwork can be an indication of whether he or she is entrepreneurial enough to run a business, Boneparth says.
Define your role
Will you be an investor in the company or a lender? Will you have a say in how the company operates? If the business succeeds, will you share in that success with a slice of the profits or the ability to sell your stake?
Parents who are going to be investors or partners should ask for a formal operating agreement that outlines financial contributions, voting rights, rules on making decisions and how people will join
or leave the company. Operating agreements are a normal part of setting up a limited liability company, which also can help protect the parents’ assets from lawsuits and other problems created by the business.
Many business founders, however, don’t like being told how to run their business and may have a hard time answering to shareholders or investors, Chen says.
“In this case, they need to answer to their parents, which can be even more problematic,” she says.
Chen has advised clients to instead structure monetary help as a loan, with interest rates that meet IRS guidelines to avoid gift tax complications. Parents always have the option to forgive the loan later.
Those who want to minimize parent-child tensions may opt to skip the loan and make an outright gift. Most won’t have
to worry about gift taxes, since people now have to give away over $11 million during their lifetimes before taxes might be owed. But gifts larger than $15,000 per recipient per year trigger a requirement that the giver file a gift tax return.
What about the other kids?
Parents also should consider family dynamics if there are siblings, since helping one child can foster jealousy in the others. Those “Mom always liked you best” rivalries can tear families apart.
Parents don’t have to make equal distributions to each child, but may want to consider accounting for money in their wills or other estate plans. If a loan isn’t paid back, for example, it could be deducted from that child’s inheritance, says Steve Branton, a CFP in San Francisco.
Resist the urge to keep the arrangement a secret, advises Megan Ford, a financial therapist at the University of Georgia and past-president of the Financial Therapy Association. Engage the other siblings early in the decisionmaking process to discuss their feelings and concerns, she advises.
“A common tactic families use to sidestep conflict is avoidance, but transparency and communication is key to avoiding resentment within the family,” Ford says.