If we are going to add to the expense of cigarettes, I can suggest better things to do with the extra dollar per pack than put it in the government coffers. 1. Have the manufacturers (or sellers) put a Ziploc […]
Politics
Who is tossing whom over a cliff?
This column by Chris Laureys of New Jersey is one of the best I’ve ever seen on the distortions of our current welfare state. Related: “Who is tossing whom over a cliff?” by Chris Laureys at USAToday.com
Democrats Are 1955 Republicans
Reinforcing my earlier comment on Barack Obama’s allergy to antithesis, here is Michael Lind claiming that Obama is, for practical purposes, an Eisenhower Republican. As for the so-called social issues, Allan Carlson, in The American Way, pointed out that the […]
Beyond Red vs. Blue
Interesting. I scored New Coalition Democrat, not conventional liberal. Related: “Beyond Red vs. Blue” at PewResearchCenter
Life in the Slow Lane
Our infrastructure has been squeezed between resistance to raising taxes on the one hand, and welfare demands on the other. Related: “Life in the Slow Lane” by The Economist
Once Again, the Laffer Curve Curves
Michael Barone, whom I usually respect, confuses, like most Republicans, the issue about tax rates. Yes, when Kennedy cut the top rate from 90% to 70%, federal revenues did actually go up. And when Reagan cut the top rate to […]
Progressive Consumption Taxes
I agree with Frank, not with Henderson. I have a lot less problem with progressive consumption taxes on the rich than with progressive income taxes. That way if the rich use their money constructively, for capital investment, saving, or philanthropy, […]
David Stockman, Again
In this article, David Stockman, although both a hard-money man and a social liberal, comes out against continuing the G. W. Bush tax cuts! Read it to find out why. Related: “The Triumph of Politics Over Economics” by Nick Gillespie […]
2011 is not 1995
I confess that I was hoping that 2011 would be 1995. After all, we had just climbed out of a serious recession in the earlier part of that decade – dwarfed by the more recent one of course, but big […]
Club Wagner
I have asked to become a member of Club Wagner. I cannot be both that and a California Republican, that has been made abundantly clear. Related: “Club Wagner” by Douglas Holtz-Eakin at NYTimes.com Blogs Related: “Conservatives for Higher Taxes” by […]