On Everybody Wants to Jump That Paywall
An intrepid Canadian has already found a way through the paywall:
http://euri.ca/2011/03/21/get-around-new-york-times-20-article-limit/
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On Our Debt: Why Rich People Should Be Worried Too
@dado: In 1993, Clinton created two new income brackets: the first was for married couples jointly making $115,000-$250,000 and was taxed at a rate of 36% rate; the highest bracket was for couples making $250,000. Adjusted for inflation, the two brackets would have been $175,263.98-$381,008.65 and $381,008.65+, respectively, in today's dollars. The current top tax brackets are $212,300-$379,150 and $379,150+. They are currently taxed at 33% and 35%, respectively. (I'm not considering individual filers).
What Obama has proposed is for the Bush Tax Cuts to expire on married couples jointly making $250,000 a year. Under this plan, the second highest bracket would begin at $250,000, instead of $212,300 as it is currently, and instead of $115,000 (or $175,263 adjusted for inflation) as it would have been under Clinton's policy. Filers in this bracket would be taxed at 36% instead of 33%. The threshold for the highest bracket would remain the nearly the same as it is currently: $379,650, which adjusted for inflation is slightly less than $250,000 in 1993 dollars. So, on balance, Obama's plan is more generous in terms of how the highest two brackets are defined than both Bush's and Clinton's tax policies.
I agree with riotnrrd that more brackets would be fairer, but, given the political temperament of our Teabagger-ized Congress, such a proposal is essentially fantasy. Post Bowles-Simpson, the will in Congress is to eliminate tax-brackets, in the name of tax-code simplification (six brackets is somehow too much for accountants to wrap their minds around), not to increase their number.
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On Burning Down Wisconsin: The Hidden Budget Bill Item Even Worse Than Union Busting
@moff: What seems different this time is that this conspiracy or long-term strategy or whatever you want to call it has strongly manifesting itself at the state level. The legislation that these newly elected governors are pushing and much of the language they have been using to defend it are so similar that it all seems scripted by some kind of higher authority. I'm no historian, but this seemingly coordinated effort to change state laws and policies feels unprecedented. The focus of the Kochs and the Scaifes and their ilk has been historically focused on influencing the federal government. I'm not sure if they've ever made as concerted an effort to wrap their tentacles around state and local governments as they have since the 2010 elections.
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On Be Careful, That Hummingbird's Bow Tie Is Really A Camera
Not only can they spy on terrorists, they can also crap all over terrorists' driver-side windows.
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On Burning Down Wisconsin: The Hidden Budget Bill Item Even Worse Than Union Busting
Abe, your coverage of these protests (and north Midwest politics, in general) has been phenomenal. Frankly, you're one of the few writers I look forward to reading on The Awl.
After the 2010 elections, there seems to be a coordinated assault on Medicaid originating from Republican controlled statehouses throughout the country. This began in Arizona, where Jan Brewer has gone so far as to throw transplant patients off of Arizona's Medicaid rolls – this has resulted in the deaths of at least two Arizonans awaiting transplants. It's particularly unfortunate that this assault is being waged not only on Wisconsin's Medicaid program but also on Wisconsin's BadgerCare. Many health economists have held up BadgerCare (which provides coverage for those who do qualify for Medicaid, but cannot obtain or afford insurance in the private individual market) as a successful and efficient publicly-administered health-insurance program. Why Walker would want to dismantle that program is beyond me.
This attack on Medicaid seems to coincide with an unprecedented attack on public unions throughout the country, attacks that goes beyond the usual onerous demands by governors for increased pension contributions and reduced health benefits. It seems as though this nationwide effort by Republican governors to mortally wound their state's public unions was coordinated. It's telling perhaps that many of the officials and advisers surrounding these newly empowered Republican governors, like Walker's Denis Smith, do not come from the state government or other state institutions, but from conservative think tanks based in Washington DC. At the risk of sounding conspiratorial, many of these conservative think tanks happen to be funded by the Kochs and/or the Scaifes. It's as if the governors were required to make earnest efforts to dismantle Medicaid and other low-income programs and to undermine their respective public unions as a condition for sizable campaign contributions from organizations like Americans For Prosperity. I wonder if a correlation can be determined between the size of contributions from Koch-funded enterprises and the ferocity of a Republican governor's assault on the poor and public unions. (For example, Govs. Kaisch of Ohio and Rick Scott of Florida, like Walker, both received hefty support from AFP and AFP-like organizations. They too have several conservative think-tank alumni on their staffs).
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On Why Chris Christie Will Not Run (Or Jog) For President in 2012
Christie may not run for President, but I think it's a safe bet that he'll be in serious demand to share the ticket with whoever ends up being the GOP presidential nominee. I don't think Christie would pass up a chance at the vice presidency (get me the fuck outta Jersey!) any more than he'd pass up a second helping of chocolate cheesecake.
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On Why Chris Christie Will Not Run (Or Jog) For President in 2012
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On Why Chris Christie Will Not Run (Or Jog) For President in 2012
That's a picture of him shifting 30-lbs. from one part of body to another. If you look closely, you'll notice that about 30-lbs. of arm fat has oozed down into his right tit.
(Also, he was reaching for a plateful of cupcakes that the caterers were bringing around).
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On Yesterday's Run: Like Fleet Week at High Speed but Sweatier
I don't know if it is indicative of the entire West Point population, but there seems to be an unusually large proportion of gingers in that photo. I counted at least six.
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On Here's Why You Need These Seven Odd Kitchen Ingredients
Right? At least a pack of Sazón and some Adobo.