So here are the two federal tax rate proposals that the US will almost certainly be facing in the 2012 election. It’s impressive how the only difference in their plans is at the very top of the distribution, where’s there’s a really sharp divergence in tax rates. (Seriously unimpressed by the misleading graph, incidentally. The top 20% are all spread out here, which makes the increase look way more gradual at the top. Not cool.) I’d like to imagine this is kind of a legacy of the whole “99 Percent” slogan-related campaign - everyone has noticed that the wealth distribution in the United States is vastly unequal (to be fair, you’d basically have to be in a coma not to notice this) and now the question is whether the government should shake down those inordinately wealthy few or let them continue to bleed the economy dry and stash their capital away in overseas factories and unproductive derivatives markets.
Also it’s worth noting that Romney’s proposal leaves a huge hole in government spending, of 5-6% of GDP in a good year. He’s promised to balance the federal budget without cutting defence spending, but realistically that’s totally infeasible. And any expense shocks (e.g., a war or financial crash) would leave an even bigger gap.
St. Anthony Falls (by Mill City Times)
![thedailywhat:
Fictional Composite Sketch of the Day: There isn’t much at The Composites right now, but the premise of this new single-topic Tumblr from Joyland co-founder Brian Joseph Davis shows a lot of promise: Images of literary characters pieced together from descriptive passages using law enforcement composite sketch software.
Above: Humbert Humbert, as described by Vladimir Nabokov in his infamous novel, Lolita.
[thecomposites / openculture.]](http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz3cgwHjRF1r3ke0zo1_500.jpg)
Fictional Composite Sketch of the Day: There isn’t much at The Composites right now, but the premise of this new single-topic Tumblr from Joyland co-founder Brian Joseph Davis shows a lot of promise: Images of literary characters pieced together from descriptive passages using law enforcement composite sketch software.
Above: Humbert Humbert, as described by Vladimir Nabokov in his infamous novel, Lolita.
[thecomposites / openculture.]
The President Will Waive 10 States from ‘No Child Left Behind’
Gleaned from an anonymous White House official, the AP reports that the 10 states will be: Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Tennessee—New Mexico applied for the waiver but will not see it granted. Read more.
Serious Business
A sniper rifle overlooks Lucas Oil Stadium prior to Super Bowl XLVI.
Wow.
