An economist finds a transcript of the Bretton Woods summit just sitting around with the other junk, and Annie Lowrey is there.
Eric Alterman unleashes hell on all you schmucks writing about campaign trivia.
Take a look at Lehrer’s allegedly nonpartisan, nonideological questioning. The topics ranged exclusively from “jobs” and “taxes” to the federal deficit and entitlements, with a nod toward “healthcare,” “regulation,” “the role of government” and, finally, “education.” At no point did the moderator challenge Romney on any of the specifics in his answers, regardless of whether they proved consistent with the public record of Romney’s career, the plans put forth by his campaign or the famous economic plan of his vice presidential nominee, Paul Ryan, or reality as generally understood outside the confines of Republican ideology. The only point in which Lehrer tried to demand any specifics from Romney regarded the candidate’s position on the report of the Simpson-Bowles commission, which called for steep reductions in the deficit by means of a roughly 2:1 ratio of spending cuts to revenue increases. But the commission never presented its final report, mainly because its own members (including Paul Ryan) refused to approve it. Romney’s position: “The president should have grabbed” it, but he personally opposed it.
Ben Jacobs trolls the Internet by explaining how Hillary could win the 2012 election.
In These Times remembers Wellstone.
Brown-Mandel continues to be the most irritating of campaigns.
And let’s start the day off right, with some words from George McGovern.
The tax system today does not reward hard work: it’s penalizes it. Inherited or invested wealth frequently multiplies itself while paying no taxes at all. But wages on the assembly line or in farming the land, these hard-earned dollars are taxed to the very last penny.
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There is a depletion allowance for oil wells, but no depletion for the farmer who feeds us, or the worker who serves as all.
The administration tells us that we should not discuss tax reform and the election year. They would prefer to keep all discussion of the tax laws in closed rooms where the administration, its powerful friends, and their paid lobbyists, can turn every effort at reform into a new loophole for the rich and powerful.
But an election year is the people’s year to speak, and this year, the people are going to ensure that the tax system is changed so that work is rewarded and so that those who derive the highest benefits will pay their fair share rather than slipping through the loopholes at the expense of the rest of us.
So let us stand for justice and jobs and against special privilege.
