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Tax Reform At The Bottom Of The Cliff

Whatever Congress and the White House do in the next couple of weeks will reinforce the case for tax reform.  The seeming sanctification of low tax rates that occurred with the Tax Reform Act of 1986 has not meant keeping top tax rates low; it has meant only the death...

"Tell Me Again How That Person Won't Miss Her Medicare"

This piece by Aaron Carroll explains in full detail why raising the Medicare age is daft (and cruel): What you’re seeing is life expectancy at age 65 broken out in to the top half of earners and the bottom half of earners, from 1977 to 2007. I got these data from a...

Dethrone Filibuster King McConnell

Mitch McConnell, the minority leader of the U.S. Senate, has for six years wielded the filibuster as a weapon in his rebellion against a founding principle of the United States of America – self-governance by majority rule. McConnell’s revolt shows he believes...

'Gang Of Six' Holds Progressive Line On Taxes

This week six members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus will be strategizing over how to shift leftward the center of gravity in the debate over taxes and federal deficits. It is not enough, they argue, that some Republicans are grudgingly accepting the end of...

Meanwhile, Back In The Real Economy

Apparently, the "fiscal cliff" is no cliffhanger. Howard Kurtz writes that Americans are "tuning out" the "fiscal cliff" debates in Washington because "the players haven’t gotten serious," about making a deal. Maybe it's because we know a "made for TV drama" when we...

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