Why The 1% Should Pay Tax At 80%

The Article: Why the 1% should pay tax at 80% by Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Pinketty in The Guardian.

The Text: In the United States, the share of total pre-tax income accruing to the top 1% has more than doubled, from less than 10% in the 1970s to over 20% today (pdf). A similar pattern is true of other English-speaking countries. Contrary to the widely-held view, however, globalisation and new technologies are not to blame. Other OECD countries, such as those in continental Europe, or Japan have seen far less concentration of income among the mega rich.

At the same time, top income tax rates on upper income earners have declined significantly since the 1970s in many OECD countries – again, particularly in English-speaking ones. For example, top marginal income tax rates in the United States or the United Kingdom were above 70% in the 1970s, before the Reagan and Thatcher revolutions drastically cut them by 40 percentage points within a decade.

At a time when most OECD countries face large deficits and debt burdens, a crucial public policy question is whether governments should tax high earners more. The potential tax revenue at stake is now very large.

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Welcome To The Tea Party Galaxy

“In this rarified atmosphere, facts don’t matter. Winning is all that matters…delusion is not a state of mind; it’s a negotiating tactic.”

Five Sexy Halloween Costumes–That Are Political, Too!

For more politically-savvy ladies, Halloween can be a real hassle. When your understanding of substance-void pop culture starts and stops at Politico’s homepage, how the hell will you ever pull off a subtly (err, not so subtly) sexy and relevant costume guaranteed to wow at parties? Thankfully, cartoonist Susie Cagle has got you covered. Ruth Bader Ginsburg has never been sexier.

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A Former Texas Republican Judge’s Choice Words On The Tea Party

The Article: Texas Republican Judge Switches Party, Denouncing GOP as Party of Bigots and Hate-Mongers by Steve Rosenfeld in AlterNet.

The Text: A Republican Judge from San Antonio, Texas, has announced he is quitting the GOP and will seek re-election as a Democrat, saying that he can no longer be part of political party whose identity is based on hate, bigotry and destrying people’s lives.

Bexar County Judge Carlo R. Key made his announcement in a YouTube campaign video, where the image shifts between the judge sitting at his bench and screenshots of Republicans—from Sen. Teed Cruz to state politicians—boosting their agenda or career by harming others.

Key’s words speak for themselves. Here’s a transcript, where he ends by urging others who share his moderate temperament and respectful demeanor to join him.

I have tried to live a life of principles. These principles have been shaped by mi familia, my community and my country. In fact, it is my dedication to these principles which has lead me to the law in the first place and has guided me to becoming a judge. These values are simple. I believe that justice demands fairness. It demands careful and intelligent probing of evidence. And above all else, justice can only be served without prejudice toward race, color, creed or whom you choose to love.

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Why We Need To Say No To Keystone

The oil that Canada has deep within its chunk of earth’s crust is hardly the light, clean oil that we can see and draw from on the daily in Saudi Arabia. It’s heavy, tar sand crude, which is some of the most expensive, difficult, and environmentally hazardous to refine. Beyond that, it’s not even coming to the United States, it’s going through it, all the while releasing harmful greenhouses gases and, given the incredibly corrosive chemical additive and sand cocktail, running the risk of seeping through these transcontinental pipes. In other words, big oil stands to gain. We don’t.