Book Review — Free Lunch, How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill)

Free Lunch, How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill) by David Cay Johnston documents many of the ways that politicians and business owners collude to transfer massive amounts of tax revenues into the pockets of these business owners. Johnston is a reporter at the NYT and his beat is tax policy. Much of what he writes about here is derived from this NYT reporting. I often think of him as being one of the last best reasons to read that paper.

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You’re Doin’ A Heck of A Job There, Mr. Bush!

On the eve of the DE Republican Convention, we should note that it turns out that 7 years of the Worst.President.Ever. has the amazing side benefit of creating new, young Democratic voters. A new poll from Pew shows that the previous CW about Dems having a slight advantage among younger voters (18-29 year olds) may be shifting considerably. Younger voters ID themselves as Dems by a 58-33 margin (25 points), while in 2004 the margin was 51-40 (11 points).

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And it looks as though the last time there was such a big spread in young voter identification was when Nixon was President.

The Same River Twice

Friday night’s interview by Bill Moyers of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright was another of those signature conversations that Moyers is rightfully so famous for. While Moyers is a skilled and erudite interviewer across a wide range of topics, he really seems at his best when discussing religion and theology. (If you haven’t seen Moyers interviewing Salman Rushdie on the lessons learned on the intersection of faith and politics after 9/11, do yourself a favor. This is one towering conversation.) And the Moyers and Wright conversation was no less riveting.

Wright discussed a wide range of topics – history, hermeneutics, exegesis, the blues, and gospel music among others and the long-form format of the interview let Wright reveal his commitment to the main lesson of the New Testament in a way that that the right-wing telepreachers never do. (And are never required to do.) It also let Wright place himself in a long line of fiairly traditional African American pastors whose churches provide not just a place for spiritual sustenance and growth, but also a place of mutual acceptance as well as emotional and material support. Moyers played the sound bites used to demonize Wright and to try to damage Obama in their context – not just getting in the complete rhetorical thought, but also reminding viewers that this was part of a sermon, a lesson based on or derived from specific scripture (Deuteronomy and Psalms for the curious).

Governor’s Debate — Wilmington Neighborhood Issues

The latest Democratic Governor’s debate was held this morning at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Wilmington. It was hosted by the Interfaith Coalition Building Blocks for Wilmington. The ICCBW is an ambitious group of ministers and other stakeholders who are looking to develop and implement strategies to work with at-risk kids and get them on a path away from the streets. Their current focus is Wilmington’s West Center City. The debate was moderated by John Watson who I gather is a host on WILM.

There was a good crew of both Markell and Carney people outside of the venue with many signs and literature. My guess is that the Carney crowd outnumbered the Markell crowd here. The same inside, I think that there was a Carney edge in the room, but both sides made a decent amount of noise after answers. Mike Protack was wandering around and I thought that this was one of the debates that would include him, but I was mistaken.

The NYT Calls Out Obama, Hillary and McCain

On taxes, no less. On the editorial page.

One of the toughest questions that will face the next president is what to do about taxes. There can be no real progress on health care, rebuilding the military or any other major issue without dealing with rising budget deficits and mounting debt from nearly eight years of profligate spending and tax breaks for the wealthy.

And that is why it has been so distressing to see all three of the presidential hopefuls pretend they can make good on their promises without broadly raising taxes.

My interests in much better fiscal accountability by both government and politicians seems to often make me something of a minority in my Progressive community. For me, this is less about keeping your house in order (although that is a requirement) than it is about honesty. People who will lie to and try to bamboozle you about the status of your money are simply going to be toxic to you. Can you imagine your bank or brokerage providing an accounting of your funds that is a fantasy?

PA Primary Predictions Winner!

Congratulations to Von Cracker for being closest to the final spread without going over. And congratulations to him for being on vacation in St. Martins, no less, leaving the rest…

Hillary Survives, But the Math is Still Not in Her Favor

So while you hear the media spin last night and this AM re: Hillary’s win, let’s remember a couple of things here:

1. Primaries are about winning delegates, and the Dems award their delegates in a proportional manner. Hillary may have earned 12 -14 delegates over Obama, but she still cannot catch up to him unless she wins everything, and wins it decisively, from here on out.

2. Six weeks ago, Clinton has a 20 point lead and a victory in Ohio which was supposed to be ominous for Obama. For Obama to close the gap means that he is still convincing undecideds (except for those who choose at the last minute). Hillary keeps her base. Obama gets voters who are new to the process — young voters, new voters, party switchers; while Hillary maintains her base. Net is that Obama is speaking to everyone and is convincing folks open to being convinced.

Book Review — Where Does The Money Go?

Some weeks back, I heard the authors of Where Does the Money Go? — Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson — give an interview on Fresh Air that I really wish I could have finished listening to (work gets in the way sometimes). They were riveting, engaging and remarkably clear in discussing and answering questions re: the current critical state of Federal budget. After reading this book, I wish I could make this mandatory reading in this election year. For every voter, no matter your party affiliation. It really is that compelling and informative; and even better, it is a very balanced view.

Where Does the Money Go?