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Titanic Tax Shirking by Those in First Class

President Obama's 2011 income tax documents showed on Friday that he paid a significantly higher rate than the significantly richer Mitt Romney, highlighting the titanic level of tax shirking committed by far too many 1 percenters.

President Obama paid 20.5 percent on earnings of $789,674.

Letting Us Die

As I write this, little more than a 2.5 mile walk from my office (according to Google Maps), the nine members of the U.S. Supreme Court are considering the arguments they recently heard regarding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Sometime between now and November, they'll let us know what they think. Depending on the outcome, conservatives may finally achieve in the courts what they could not accomplish at the ballot box or through the legislative process. People who know far more about the Court, the constitution, and the law are having a hard time predicting which way the court will go, how far it will go, and what impact that will have on the Affordable Care Act. So, I won't even hazard a guess.

As the Court heard oral arguments, and court-watchers consulted their tea leaves, I reading story after story of people whose have benefited from the health care reform — and will benefit, if the law stands and more of its provisions are implemented in the next couple of years. Republicans have inveighed against those benefits since the Affordable Care Act's passage, and promised to take them away. Since they may be on the cusp of victory, it's fair: What alternative do conservatives have in mind for millions of American's who will lose the Affordable Care Act's benefits and protections if they win in the Supreme Court what they couldn't in every other arena so far.

We already know the answer, of course. But it bears asking while we wait for the Court — and perhaps even more so after the Court rules.

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