Holy,........, Batman!

In a matter of weeks I will turn 30. Holy crap. Surely, I should have a bit more to show for my three decades than an extensive pinboard and an underused graduate degree... Holy crap - need to somehow accomplish life goals/general fullfillment in the next 20 odd days.

Tax Debate: the difference between being an asshole and a major asshole

While doing the usual rounds of daily news reading (mostly British - reading American news websites just depresses/angers me) I cam across this op-ed: "Obama's Bush Tax Cut Proposal Hits Republican Roadblock" which made me laugh. It is an example of much ado about not much at all. Don't get me wrong - I am entirely in favor of 'rolling back' the Bush blanket tax cuts and for a more progressive tax structure (I think it is important not only in regards to fiscal policy but for the "soul," stability and civic cohesion of the nation)but this op-ed was an excellent example of how sometimes there is not all that great a difference between the apples and oranges. For example: Economists who take the reducing-income-inequality part of taxation policy seriously see the debate over whether we should have Bush-era or Clinton-era tax as arguing the difference over a 10% versus 5% tip: just the gap between being an asshole and major asshole. They say that for a meaningful shift in income distribution – right now, the US has an income inequality index that's about the same as Rwanda's – debate should be framed as a choice between the tax rates for the wealthy during Reagan (50%) versus Nixon (70% – the goddamn hippie!). Ah! That put my sanctimonious self back in line!