Okay, I confess. I’m a Redistributionist. (I know, so was Robin Hood.) The fundamental difference between me and Mr. Hood, (never mind the green tights and the arrows), is that Robin was a Post-Tax-Redistributionist. I however — and by notable contrast — am a Tax-Based-Redistributionist. Big difference. Most of us learned about redistributionism while we...
Again I peruse the nifty little book my oldest son gifted me, 18,000 Words Often Mispronounced, and again I’m reminded that most errors of this sort would take care of themselves if people practiced something I learned in flight school: Attention to detail. In other words, if people would actually pay better attention when...
I want to highlight something from this recent New York Times article: “Thirty years ago, when Forbes published its first Forbes 400, a net worth of $75 million would get you on the list. Today it takes $1.1 billion. In the last year alone, the cumulative net worth of the wealthiest 400 people, by Forbes’s...
My oldest son reminded me recently, “There are three kinds of people in the world: Those who can count, and those who can’t.” Now reminded, let me add, “There are two kinds of punctuation in the world: The kind that helps, and the other kind.” I was having a discussion about punctuation a few...
Mr. Romney (and his minions) like to portray all the non-tax-payers as moochers and sponges, sucking on the Federal Teat? Thank you, Ayn Rand, for showing us the Way. Interesting. Let’s have a quick look, shall we, at where all those teat-sucking moochers live? A test: The vast majority of tax modifications that resulted...
Sleep. A bit of background. I can’t remember the last time I slept for eight hours straight. Or six. Or even four. I generally get 1 ½ to 2 hours at a time, (long story, old injury), but I almost always wake up feeling completely rested. I don’t nap during the day, but I...
Mitt Is Overpaying His Taxes – For Now, by Josh Barro. “Today, the Romney campaign released a summary of Mitt Romney’s tax returns since 1990 and his 2011 tax return. The most striking part of the announcement is that Romney chose to forego $1.75 million in charitable deductions available to him in 2011 in...
This has been a really tough week for Mitt Romney. And it’s only Tuesday. Oh well. I have to agree with Shrum, in this article, about the GOP coming off their political rails. Think about this for a moment. The people currently in charge, (i.e. Tea Party), are rabidly conservative. They actually don’t disagree with...
Four Americans killed at the temporary American consulate/embassy in Libya this week. Mitt Romney — ever the class act — in the midst of the attack, but before the deaths, attacked the President of the United States and condemned the actions of the Obama Administration. Not exactly what I’d call statesman-like behavior. Quotes For...
Welcome to the Congressional Budget. No, I’m not a government policy wonk. Truth be told, crunching through congressional budget numbers is one of my definitions of hell. That being said, it’s worth noting that there are folks in and about Congress who anticipate citizen apathy toward all things budgetary, and they plan accordingly. Actually, when...
Rugged individualism. Way back long ago when I listened to Rush Limbaugh … yes, I was a Conservative (Big C) once, damn my eyes … I would hear that phrase quite regularly. Rush likes to think of himself that way. Rugged, and an individual. Doing things his way. Ruggedly. It’s funny, but I tend...
There’s an old Chinese curse: May you live in interesting times. I mention this because of our old pal, Willard. He, for the very first time since announcing he wants to be CEO … President of the United States, has finally, at long last, made our times quite interesting by making a substantive statement....