We come into this world
crying
while all around us are
smiling.
May we so live that
we go out of this world
smiling
while everybody around us is
weeping.
Persian proverb
Earlier One-Off Post
I explain why my next car won't be a GM.
If I Were Speaker Boehner
As we head to another game of political chicken over expiring Bush tax cuts I don't think the GOP should take a political hit to save the current high tax rate, but I might suggest the following counter-proposal:
- a decrease in the top business top rate
- smaller upper-end tax hikes (say, to 37.5%)
- streamlined itemized deducions
- no increase for S corporations
- means-tested exclusions from investment income taxes
- a commitment to tax reform
Will restoring the Clinton tax hikes be counterproductive? Of course; they will reduce the tax base, won't raise the expected revenues (i.e., tax planning) and will adversely affect economic growth. But sometimes you have to pick your battles: after a tough election and a President whom got elected vowing class warfare tax hikes. Do Republicans want to take the political hit on letting middle-class tax cuts expire? But Obama needs the same tax cuts renewed, which he can only do with the GOP House approval, giving Boehner some negotiating chips.
1984 Is In the Past, Isn't It? Maybe Not...
Political Humor
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
The Carpenters, "A Song for You"/"This Masquerade" Karen brilliantly interprets two Leon Russell classics.
