Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
Burt Folsom wishes him one, but it isn’t all flattering:
If FDR were alive today, and healthy, he would be celebrating his 130th birthday–and possibly launching his campaign for a 21st term as president of the United States. How might his campaign in 2012 compare with that of Barack Obama, who says he admires FDR very much?
They both like class warfare elections because class warfare takes attention away from a failing presidency and puts the focus on their opponents, who are often trying to free up the economy for investment. In other words, much is similar in the re-election campaign of FDR in 1936 and that of President Obama in 2012.
:
In 1937, perhaps thinking of his next reelection campaign, he told two prominent Democrats, Senator Pat Harrison and Rep. Robert Doughton, that if they would form a “subcommittee to investigate tax avoidance,” that the Democrats would gain “at least 10,000,000 [votes]” by publicly shaming those who sheltered income. In other words, there were votes to be gained among the mass of lower-and-middle-income voters by making them envious of the high incomes earned by their employers.The class warfare tactic worked for FDR in 1936, but in 2012 the opponents of that theme may be wiser, more articulate, and more effective. We shall see.
If that is what the 2012 election is going to be all about, then I have a question I hope resonates throughout the year:
What exactly is “fair share”?
I was encouraged to see President Obama say thirty percent on a million dollars. It sounds specific enough, but questions remain. I do not know if that is a million dollars adjusted gross income; nor do I know what the thirty percent is, is that an overall rate or a marginal tax rate? There are residual questions about what the effect of such a policy would be if it were to pass, and there are more questions about whether it would pass.
I have other questions about the persuasive power of such a proposal, although my questions do not concern whether the persuasive power is there, since I’m sure it is. I’m more concerned about who these voters are. Who are they? They’d stay home otherwise…maybe vote for a Republican…but with a little bit of “rich should pay their fair share” in the chilly November air, they’ll brave the nippy weather and a few raindrops to put Obama back in office, so He can raise someone else’s bill. That motivates them.
Who are these people, exactly? The generations come, the generations go, and I must be really dense because I’m still not getting it…I don’t even begin to understand this…
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in re: 30%
I’ll wager that a great many millionaires would gladly take a 30% flat rate if it meant no deductions and a 1040 that was one sheet.
- Duffy | 01/30/2012 @ 10:53If exasperation/apprehension/angst over the public debt was something you could hold in your hand, you could round up every single one of these “rich/fair-share” types from sea to shining sea, scrape every speck off them you could possibly find, crumple it all up into a ball, cram that thing up a gnat’s ass, and it would rattle around in there like a BB in a boxcar.
They don’t give two shits, from all I can tell about it.
- mkfreeberg | 01/30/2012 @ 11:09