Reading the news this morning I feel like we’re reliving the Carter years. The drop in consumer sentiment reported today by the University of Michigan, as well as Bush’s dismal approval ratings, both seem like echoes from the late 1970s. From Marketwatch: Consumer sentiment plunges to 7-month low WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – U.S. consumers’ attitudes about […]
Jonah Goldberg and Glenn Reynolds want you to believe this: I HADN’T HEARD THIS: Bush’s tax cuts make the tax system more progressive, according to a new study from the Joint Economic Committee. Of course, what’s really interesting is how little tax revenue comes from people in lower brackets. They point to this link, which […]
Greg Kaza is elated that the politicians will start (ab)using dynamic scoring: Dynamic scoring, however, attempts to measure the feedback-effects ignored in these models – those feedback-effects potentially becoming excellent ammunition for supply-side policymakers and tax-cut advocates. There’s no doubt that dynamic scoring is today being taken seriously within the budgeting community … More importantly, […]
Sheldon Alberts reports: In a memoir published Tuesday, the 37-year-old lesbian describes a proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage as a “gross affront” to gay Americans and reveals she almost quit the Republican campaign after President George W. Bush’s endorsement of the legislation two years ago. But Cheney saves her harshest words for Bush’s 2004 […]
Welcome back Kash and thanks for this post! I trust you saw those Cato Unbound discussions – and it seems David Frum is still as confused as ever: If we must have tax increases, the VAT would not be one of my choices, for the reason Summers predicts – I fear it will generate so […]
The FOMC (the interest rate-setting committee at the Fed) raised the Federal Funds rate to 5.0% today. Here’s the important bit of the accompanying statement: Economic growth has been quite strong so far this year. The Committee sees growth as likely to moderate to a more sustainable pace, partly reflecting a gradual cooling of the […]
Well, it looks like they finally did it. Congressional Republicans agreed yesterday on new ways to raise future taxes. They’ve proven quite expert at cutting today’s taxes and paying for them by issuing more government debt – debt that will have to be repaid in the future through higher taxes, of course – so this […]
Byron York makes the following phony distinction: A pattern is emerging in pre-trial arguments in the perjury and obstruction of justice case against former Cheney chief of staff Lewis Libby. That pattern is the recurring conflict between the Little Case and the Big Case. The Little Case is the narrow, tightly defined charge that Libby […]
First off, apologies to everyone for my extended hiatus. It’s been almost four weeks since I’ve posted, which is the longest stretch that I’ve been missing since I starting writing on Angry Bear nearly three years ago. But the past few weeks have been a pretty busy time for me in more than the usual […]
Human Events lists its top ten. I hate to agree with these rightwing zealots but farm subsidies and earmarking should make this list. And I’ll give credit to Human Events for placing some of the blame on the Republican Party. #3 on their lists confuses income tax withholding with income tax rates – and perhaps […]