Exchange Rate
When it comes to taxes, the Republican primary electorate this year has a split personality. As ever, it demands that presidential candidates pledge to lower tax rates on the rich. But show it a living, breathing rich person whose effective federal tax rate is demonstrably low—say, Mitt Romney, who in 2010 paid 13.9 percent on his $21.7 million income, compared with about 25 percent for the typical middle-income family—and the GOP base is suddenly appalled.
Bigots and Enablers
On the surface, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul do not appear to have a lot in common. Yet, there is one respect in which they are strikingly similar: Pundits on both the right and the left have been all too eager to give their least defensible traits a pass. At this point, there is almost an accepted style for such rationalizations.
The Worst Man
When Americans talked or wrote about Kim Jong Il, we often tended to play up his eccentricities: his ridiculous sunglasses, his towering hair, his platform shoes, his interest in movies. The 24 hours since the announcement of Kim’s death have been no exception. Huffington Post quickly published a fashion retrospective on the dictator. (“Dark and oblong or silvery and square, Kim always had on a funky pair of specs.
Running on Empty
For all of their differences, the Republican candidates agree on one thing: They don’t like President Obama’s policies. That’s fine. Elections are supposed to be about clear choices. And, while we have found plenty to admire in Obama’s tenure, we too believe that there are many issues on which he has fallen depressingly short. He didn’t act swiftly or aggressively enough to improve the economy. He was too deferential to Wall Street. He’s been too lenient toward dictators and too slow to unequivocally align the United States with those seeking freedom the world over.
Kudos to Obama on His New Gay Rights Initiative, But …
On Tuesday, the Obama administration took bold and important action in advancing the cause of gay rights around the globe. In a memorandum, the president directed all U.S. agencies to “promote and protect” the rights of gay and lesbian people through diplomatic means, including the allocation of foreign aid. And in a rousing speech before the U.N.
Out of Sight
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Perry v. New Hampshire, a case concerning the reliability of eyewitness testimony. It was the first time the Court had tackled the issue in 34 years. During those three-plus decades, we’ve learned a lot about eyewitness testimony—namely, just how unreliable it can be.
Michael Bloomberg Wears Out His Welcome
Michael Bloomberg isn’t having a very good week. The New York mayor is being pilloried for his decision to chase the Occupy Wall Street protesters out of Zuccotti Park in a heavy-handed, pre-dawn raid. And the press conference at which he tried to defend his decision was a weasely dance around his motivations. But Bloomberg isn’t just having a bad week. He’s having a bad third term. His politics and his demeanor appear to be wearing thin in New York.
Stay Classy
It’s college admissions season, which makes this the perfect time to note that our national conversation about income inequality has mostly spared from criticism one of the country’s principal culprits: elite universities. Perhaps because Ivy League schools and their peers are so frequently attacked by conservatives, liberals have come to reflexively think of them as allies. And it is certainly true that the vast majority of professors, and probably students as well, at elite colleges are liberals.
Just a Tiny Bit of Sincere Sympathy for Rick Perry
It’s been a bad few months for Rick Perry—actually, just a really bad entire campaign. His poll numbers are in the toilet; recently he has found himself in the news mainly for his campaign’s possible role in stoking allegations of sexual harassment against Herman Cain, and for a strange and fumbling speech he delivered last Friday in New Hampshire, which led many to wonder if he was drunk. For the most part, we are relieved by this development. Perry would be a terrible president, far worse for the country than Mitt Romney.
The Worst Lists
50 Most Beautiful PeopleThe Hill Is there anything less useful than this bloated vanity project? The apparent Republican bias only makes it more suspect. The Worst 50 States in America Gawker How do you squander the potentially compelling idea of assessing the weaknesses of each of our nation’s states?
