Archive for April 15th, 2009
April 15th, 2009
 
 The point has been made by commenters here at Applesauce that the very richest Americans pay a greater percentage of the government’s income-tax revenue than used to be the case.
 But that masks the fact that the richest pay a far smaller portion of their incomes than used to be the case, as we see HERE. I doubt that your typical tea-partier is even vaguely aware of this reality.
 And then there’s the matter of payroll taxes for Medicare and Social Security, which weigh much more heavily on middle- and lower-income Americans than on the rich.
 Sales taxes, too, are regressive by nature.
 These and other matters are ADDRESSED in this interesting pitch for a variation on the flat tax (which I don’t necessarily endorse).
 Let me concede in conclusion here that the subject of taxes is extremely complicated, and so-called experts often disagree on the matter. Effective tax reforms are not easily achieved, mainly because there are countless special interests constantly pulling in different directions.
 But I still think that a lot of the rhetoric heard at today’s tea parties curiously ignored the fact — repeat, fact –that federal income-tax rates are now lower for 95 percent of Americans than they were just a few weeks ago.
April 15th, 2009
(Hat-tip to DailyKos.)
April 15th, 2009
THIS is pretty funny — uh…I mean pretty disturbing.
April 15th, 2009
Â
 I had a post yesterday, you may recall, about a WARNING from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security regarding right-wing radicals, and I implied my concern that civil liberties might be trampled.
 Well, it turns out that DHS has issued a warning about left-wing radicals, too. But the piece from the conservative Washington Times to which I linked in yesterday’s post downplayed the lefty angle — presumably to stir up right-wing charges of ideological bias on the part of the Obama administration.
 Steve Benen has more on the matter HERE.
 UPDATE: It says HERE that the DHS reports on right-wing and left-wing radicals were requested by the Bush administration but only recently completed.
 UPDATE II: The conservatives who are now up in arms over the DHS reports on extremists were nowhere to be head when THIS came to light a few years ago.
April 15th, 2009
Â
 Harold Myerson of The Washington Post posits a FASCINATING IRONY regarding the overheated rhetoric among wingnuts about President Obama’s alleged tendencies toward socialism.
 It goes like this: a) Obama is popular among Americans, especially younger folks. b) The blabbers on Fox News and talk radio say Obama is a socialist. c) Therefore, some young folks might figure that socialism is a worthy political and economic philosophy.
 Celebrity endorsements work the same way: a) Superstar So-and-So eats Wheaties. b) I want to be like Superstar So-and-So. c) Therefore, I’m going eat Wheaties.
April 15th, 2009
 
 I’ve always wanted Newt Gingrich to run for president, and perhaps I’ll get my wish in 2012. At least, that’s what it SAYS HERE.
 Don’t get me wrong. I’d never actually vote for the guy, but he’d be a lot more fun as a candidate than, say, Mitt Romney or some other such Republican dullard.
 The best thing about Newt is that he leaves no thought unexpressed. He’s so verbose that he makes Joe Biden look like Silent Cal Coolidge.
 Gingrich also is not exactly a model of MARITAL RECTITUDE. His record of hanky-panky is almost enough to make Bill Clinton blush and isn’t likely to bring GOP moralists flocking to his banner.
 For these and numerous other reasons, a Gingrich challenge to Barack Obama in 2012 would be great political entertainment. Let’s hope it happens.
April 15th, 2009
 
 While the economy headed down the drain last year, the bosses at America’s top corporations merrily FEATHERED THEIR OWN NESTS.
 But that doesn’t mean we should let their Bush-era tax cuts automatically expire next year, as Republicans worry they will.  No, that’d be socialism or something.
April 15th, 2009
