With just two weeks until the Nov. 7 congressional elections, President Bush called Social Security reform one of the “big items” he wants to tackle next year, sparking debate among politicians on both sides.Bush said that he believes “that a worker, at his or her option, ought to be allowed to put some of their own money . . . in a private savings account, an account that they call their own,” according to the Washington Post.Democrats jumped on the comment as a chance to remind voters that his reform ideas never made it to the legislative stage because they were so unpopular.

Since 1998, when a federal appeals court ruled that business methods could be patented, the U.S. Patent Office has issued patents to 49 tax strategies.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average broke 12,000, with a gain of 19 points last week. It was only a 0.2 percent gain, with help from Google’s big profit report and AT&T and Coca-Cola. The Dow lost 9.36 in Friday’s market to close at 12,002.37, according to CNBC. Former New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso is also experiencing a decline. Reuters reports that New York Supreme Court Judge Charles Ramos wrote a 72-page decision concerning certain payments and interest Grasso received while at the NYSE. Reuters reports that Grasso must return some $100 million paid to him.

In separate cases, tax preparers have been found guilty of promoting fraudulent tax schemes and filing fraudulent tax returns in an attempt to defraud the U.S. government of tax revenues legally owed to them. Some of the tax preparers will serve prison terms, while others will be barred from various activities related to the fraud they are accused or convicted of.“Dishonest tax professionals harm the good reputation of honest ones and cheat all honest taxpayers,” Eileen J.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Simeon T. Lake III, in Houston, vacated the convictions of late Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has named Andres E. Zuckerman as the new Director of Rulings and Agreements in the Employee Plans division. Zuckerman will be responsible for developing and managing the IRS’s up-front compliance programs for Employee Plans, including the EP voluntary compliance programs, the determination letter program and the development of guidance and rulings.“We welcome Andy back to TE/GE,” Steven T. Miller, Tax Exempt and Government Entities (TE/GE) Commissioner, said in a statement announcing the appointment.

Warren Buffett, the second richest man in America after Bill Gates, told his senior managers at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in a memo published by FT.com, to resist the temptation to use “accounting gimmicks” to manipulate earnings, Bloomberg.com says. “Every time you hear the phrase ‘Everybody else is doing it’, it should raise a huge red flag,” Buffet wrote.

When it comes to gaining or losing jobs, the Department of Labor (DoL) reports the most mass job relocations occur between U.S. states, rather than jobs moving out of the country entirely.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced last week that the new version of the 2006 IRS Special Enrollment Examination (SEE) is ready. The exam, required for those desiring to become Enrolled Agents (EA), has been substantially revised, as has the testing process.The IRS worked with Thompson Prometric, a company specializing is assessment services, to develop the test and enhance the examination process.