Obama: "We Must Halt the Rise of Privacy"

President Obama must have accidentally been reading an upcoming speech outlining his general economic philosophy.

A Tax Day Rebuttal to a Pro-Tax Liberal

A friend of mine posted this Ezra Klein pro-tax rant on his Facebook page yesterday. I thought, in light of today's date (Tax Day!) it deserved a response from a conservative perspective:

• Klein's chart is skewed. The income tax in this case is the most important rate to measure, because the payroll tax is capped and brings down the average and most of the gov't revenues come from income taxes on the top 10%.
  

• Also, the chart should really compare share of income to share of taxes paid.
  

• It’s also important to note that these other taxes (non-income) get returned as government services to lower income taxpayers at a MUCH higher proportion to their tax share (i.e. food stamps, Medicaid, social security, etc.).

• This is not a zero-sum game whereby the poor must get poorer for the rich to get richer. As JFK said, “a rising tide lifts all boats.”

• A broad-based tax system is important to our society. If a majority of Americans have no stake in the system, it will always be easy to demand more and more spending without ever having to pay for it. At some point, you start choking out the capital that is used to create jobs in the first place.

From Wired: 7 Ways to Fix the Grid

Interesting piece here.

Obama's "Tax Cut" is a Total Joke

Seriously, explain how this is part of a serious economic stimulus plan?

Here's the rub:

With 39 weeks left in the year, the credit will increase workers' take home pay by about $10.25 a week. In 2010, when the credit is spread over the entire year, it will amount to about $7.70 a week.

The Financial Crisis: A Cause and A Solution

From Wired:

One cause.

One solution.

Rupert Murdoch on Israel

From the Jerusalem Post.

The Slanket

An advertising and marketing phenomenon. But more importantly, are we a nation of Linuses?

At a 92nd Street Y event with Charlie Rose two years ago, Newt Gingrich said that he predicted Obama would become president if Americans needed a collective hug. 53% of voters clearly did and perhaps a Slanket would be perfect for them.