Edward Kleinbard, a professor at the University of Southern California, has pointed out that despite and in the face of extreme income inequality, not only is America’s tax system fairly ‘progressive’, its spending is fairly progressive in that the less […]
Politics
The Midterm Turnout Problem
It is well known that important constituencies, especially those for the Democratic Party, have not been turning out in ‘midterm’ elections in the last few years. In fact, a New York Times writer has endorsed eliminating ‘midterms’ for that very […]
Why Republicans Are Not Always Reliable Defenders of Economic Liberty
As an activist against ‘redevelopment,’ I often wondered why Republicans, who posture themselves as the party of ‘small government’ or ‘limited government,’ were so hard to convince to repeal redevelopment. Josh Barro, a clever columnist for the New York Times, […]
No, “New Urbanism” and “Smart Growth” are Not the Same
There are two political movements in urban development that have a lot of overlap but are not the same. ‘New Urbanism’ advocates the legalization and building of communities resembling the 19th century American town, with a fair number of single […]
Allergy to Antithesis, Yet Again
The New York Times has just done a story on how Obama is not getting along well with the Democrats in Congress. To quote it: “In one sense, Mr. Obama’s response was a reminder of what made him such an appealing […]
The Closer to Home, The Farther from the People: The Media have Turned the Founding Fathers’ World Upside Down
In an essay in the recent book The Beholden State [pages 96-101], William Voegeli, of the Claremont Institute, writes about the scandal in the Los Angeles borough of Bell, where the city officers were found to be ridiculously overpaid. He questions […]
Man of the Left George Skelton Admits California Income Tax is too Top-Heavy on the Rich! Plus, Apparently Man of the Left Thomas Piketty Endorses Proposition 13!
George Skelton, LA Times columnist and generally a ‘progressive,’ admits, that the California state income tax is too top-heavy on the few and the rich. A welcome insight from someone on his side of the political spectrum. Note that Mark Paul, […]
More Minimum Wage Games
I am in New York City again, and the hard copy New York Sunday Times was delivered to my room. As usual there is interesting stuff in it, despite some of their editorial policies. In particular there are two articles […]
What to do about Ukraine
In other words, Berezow says they need a Nelson Mandela. My own suggestions are more in the Congress of Vienna – Treaty of Versailles tradition: Cede everything east of the Vorskla and Dnipro rivers to Russia. This includes Crimea, Kharkiv, […]
The Late Chaim Potok and the 2012 Election
My apologies for my long silence. I was gone for five weeks, mainly on my wife’s business, but the last portion of the trip was a journey through the north of Greece looking mostly at painted churches. I should start […]