How Many Taxes Can a Tax Cutter Cut if a Tax Cutter Could Cut Taxes

Longest title ever. Sorry.

At any rate, from the WaPo, the Tax Policy Center (a conglomeration of Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution) did a study of the McCain and Obama tax plans. Interesting results.

Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain are both proposing tax plans that would result in cuts for most American families. Obama's plan gives the biggest cuts to those who make the least, while McCain would give the largest cuts to the very wealthy.[emphasis added]

Not my words, not a partisan political campaign's ad, but the Tax Policy Center.
In the "Above $2.87 Million" income level (still below the "rich" level proposed by McCain)(/end snark), McCain proposes his largest cut of 4.4%, which equates to an extra $126,280 (on exactly $2.87 M...the graphic uses the avergage amount, which is nearly $270,000!). The Aston Martin Vantage costs $117,000. By the way.

This same income level is, true to his campaign speeches, a tax increase in Obama's proposal. That increases the taxes anywhere from about $300,000 to a little over $700,000.

Obama's biggest cuts are to the bottom 3 income levels listed: Up to $18,981; $18,982 - $37,595; and $37,596 - $66,354. As the graphic points out, 60% of all taxpayer are in those 3 income groups. Most of taxpaying Americans are in those 3 income groups. McCain's plan saves people near the poverty level a whopping $20, while giving the top 0.1% (not 1%...but POINT 1%) 2 or 3 extra Aston Martins. Obama's plan gives these same near-poverty earners over $500 while placing a $700,000 burden on the top 0.1%.

What I don't like about the graphic is that it lists "avergae cut." Reading that, the graphic is skewed towards McCain's cut, who gives everyone a cut, whereas Obama's average is thrown by his massive increase to be extremely-wealthy.

I really suck at math, but if you look at just the taxes that concern the bulk of taxpayers (the 60%), Obama's plan cuts an average of 3.8% and McCain cuts an average of 0.46%. Interestingly, in Obama's plan, if you add up the amount of tax cuts given to the bottom 3 income levels, it equals the tax increase on the highest income level: 11.5%. Go figure. A tax cut that pays for itself through an increase elsewhere.

Finally, a newly created web site called obamataxcut.com uses the Tax Policy Center's figures to see what kind of cut you get under Obama's plan.

For my income range, Obama gives me $4734.40 in cuts. That's 112 cases of 160 Size 3 Pampers!

However...McCain gives me $5,947.41 back. Maybe I should vote McCain after all...

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So Much for Leadership.

"Heads I Win, Tails You Lose." -John Cole, Balloon Juice

So according to John Cole, over at Balloon Juice, as the vote on the Wall Street bailout package approached, John McCain criticised Barack Obama for not being involved with creating the final solution.


Following the failure of the vote, McCain criticised Obama for being too involved and injecting politics into the situation.

Huh.

Cole also reveals that it was the intent of the Republicans to see the Democrats pass this thing and then tie Obama to none other than Bush in an attack ad. It seems that Republican National Committee needs to learn how to count votes, because they sent their attack ad out before realizing the vote failed.

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The Republican Brand in Peril?

So the House just voted to kill the latest incarnation of the Wall Street bailout plan with 67% of Republicans voting no and a sizable 40% of Democrats following suit to avoid voting for what may be a necessary, but very unpopular bill.

We have also been hearing over the last week that a segment of Republicans in Congress would rather take the risk that the markets collapse and push us into the next great depression instead of propping up the financial system with a huge government intervention. Some would say this is confidence in the marketplace, others would say they are just plain insane, but the reality may be self preservation.

The way I see it, the Republicans who are willfully willing to risk a market collapse and are still resisting the bailout see the writing on the wall. They see the damage this thing will do to the Republican brand.

It is often thought that the mantra of smaller government, less regulation, and lower taxes are unbeatable positions for the Republicans to hold, but this situation might just be a political turning point not seen in 28 years. Where Democrats could not defeat the legacy of Ronald Reagan; deregulation, the ensuing collapse of Wall Street and subsequent bailout might just do it for them.

After the government bails out the banks, will another Republican be able to call for less regulation of business? Will a Republican ever be able to call for the privatization of Social Security? Will another Republican (or Clinton ) be able to triumphantly say: ” “The era of big government is over”?

What do you think?

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What I Did With My Weekend

From September until some time in January, my saturdays and Sundays are normally filled with football. My wife and kids are football widowed and orphaned.

But this weekend was different. I took a break from constant football action. I barely watched any (of course I watched the Spartans). But it wasn't like I took a break to do silly shit like "spend quality time with my family" or "be a good dad to my sons" or "volunteer in a soup kitchen." No.

This weekend, I finished the bar in my basement. Out of beer labels.
Here you'll see that we are covering the bartop in beer labels of various Michigan-brewed beers and coasters of beers from all over the world (you'll see a Rogue and a Speakeasy in this pic).

Many of the labels were stickers and thus stuck reasonably well to the top of the bar, which we had just painted with Killz white primer. Also, the bar rail itself formed a lip, and we finished a lip all the way around the rest of the bar using 1" trim. We caulked the whole thing before painting it.

The caulking was an important step because instead of Polyurethane, which is highly-toxic, causes caustic fumes and requires both mulitple coats and sanding, we used a cool substance called Envirotex Lite. It is less toxic, the fumes dissipate in about 2 hours and do not require a respirator as you use it, and it only takes 1 coat if you do your math right. It dries in a high gloss like glass and hardens like polyurethane. There is, in fact, nothing to hate about this substance.

After mixing the 3 gallons of it I was using, I had about 25 minutes of workable time, which was plenty to smooth this out and deal with any air bubbles that rose to the surface. 4 hours later, it was merely tacky to the touch. The next morning, it was rock-solid and smooth as glass.As you can see in the pic, it gives the bartop a beautiful lustre. There are a few spots that are a bit wavy and in one spot, there was an abberrant label that just wouldn't stay the heck down, but all-in-all, for a total amatuer, I am thrilled with the outcome.

Even after placing and taping-down all the labels, pouring goop over the whole thing and smoothing it out, I still get a kick out of staring at it. I notice some new label or favorite beer every time.

I must thank Mrs. Smitty. She placed all the labels like a puzzle over the entire bar top, and helped me tape them all down before I got to play in the plastic stuff with my buddy Greg and my Father-in-Law. She also patiently watched the herd of kids and assured they were fed as I dicked-off in the basement with this project. Couldn't do it without ya, Mrs. S!

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Bailout?

I will readily admit that economics is not one of my strong areas.  My coursework on that subject was limited to half a year in high school and two semesters in college.  I have been trying to wrap my mind around the proposed bailout and other types of interventions.  While I am generally against too many regulations, I also don't believe that the market will just correct itself.  My middle of the road stance will allow some regulation with the probably naive belief that regulation should be minimal, fair, and do what it is proposed to do.

I know that some kind of intervention in our current economic crisis is necessary.  Unfortunately, the more I read about what is proposed, the more I am getting nervous.  This article, from the Volokh Conspiracy didn't alleviate any of those concerns.  Some of the proposed measures by Dodd just don't sit well with me.  From the article:

I have read Dodd’s proposed statute and in some respects, it is far worse than has been reported. Senator Dodd has placed a loophole in the bill that is explicitly designed to siphon off tens or hundreds of billions of dollars to the Housing Trust Fund and the Capital Magnet Fund even if there are no net profits in the $700 billion venture.

and,

With a net loss, one might think that nothing would be funneled to the housing funds for service organizations, but that is not what the statute says or means. One looks only at the sales generating gains to determine the size of the payments to the housing funds. With $2 trillion in profits and $2.1 trillion in losses, the housing funds nonetheless get $400 billion dollars in “profits.” (This is over 40% of a typical year’s US total federal income tax receipts.) And that is the result if only 20% of "profits" are skimmed; the statute puts no upper limit on the skimming, so long as they come from profits (not net profits). Theoretically, the new Agency could potentially siphon off $2 trillion to the two housing funds, more than its $700 billion portfolio limit.

What?!?  I know that some of this is speculation, but the fact that Congress created the environment for the current financial crisis doesn't exactly give me much confidence.  The author concludes with:

I was mildly in favor of the bailout until I read Dodd's proposed statute. The way that the statute is drafted is so tricky and its definition of profit is so unsophisticated and nonsensical that the statute smells more of graft than of an honest attempt to solve the financial crisis.

It sure looks that way to me.  

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Open Thread... Take 2

I don't want to cover up Smitty's review. But just in case anyone wants to comment on the verbal ass kicking of an old geez... I mean, the DEBATE, the comment section awaits.

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The Joys of Empire

The new way American brewers are Americanizing classic beer styles, or simply one-upping existing already-beefy Americanized styles, is to jack-up a beer's alcohol content, grain bill and hop portfolio and call it "Imperial."

As far as I can tell, the "Imperial" moniker started with the Legend of the Russian Imperial Stout: Russian nobles drank British stouts in England, loved them, and wanted them shipped to Russia. The problem was distance and time. By the time the beer got from London to St. Petersberg, it was stale or spoiled. So British brewers developed a style of stout with more alcohol (kills creepy-crawlies), more hops (a natural preservative, as they found in their famous IPA-style), and that had a long enough fermentation time that by the time it got to the Russian Court, it was ready, and huge, and an instant success. It become the Russian Imperials Stout.

Well, now we have Imperial IPAs, Imperial Stouts, Imperial Red Ales...anything that already comes with a hop profile can be boosted into an Imperial style. And that's how we roll here in the U.S. of A. We see your beer, we'll make it bigger, and call it Imperial. Our American empire is alive and well, folks, and it's covered in beer.

Today's selection is brough to us by Bobby Mason and the good folks at Michigan Brewing Company: MBC Imperial IPA.
As expected, the beer pours an effervescent copper color complete with a thin off-white head that fades quickly and leaves a thin lace on the glass. It just has the look to it taht tells you at a glance what you're about to experience.

Big caramelized malts greet your nose right away, nestled amidst a massive king-size bed of hops. The hops themselves cover quite a spectrum, with a great mix of fresh flowers, orange zest and earthy, garden-y aromas. The citrus is not nearly what you find in West Coast IPAs, nor is the floral and earthy as much as you find in normal Brit/Mid West examples. Instead, it is a great mix of aromas....multiplied.

To balance that many hops, you need a big big grain bill, and MBC's offering delivers. Syrupy carmelized malts are in a nearly-perfect concert (for this type of style, mind you, which is still hop-heavy) with a citrus zip and bouquet of flowers from all of the hops. Under it all is a nice, slow alcohol burn from the hefty 10.2% ABV, but it is almost overshadowed by the malt character of the beer.

With its medium body and medium carbonation, this carmelly-sweet hop bomb goes down as easily as...well...I'll keep it clean. I'll just say I drained the glass before I knew it. This Imperial IPA drank as easily as a regular IPA. It didn't leave that copper penny/iron taste on my tongue, nor was it overly dry. This is a solid offering from MBC and is still easily available at their pub in Webberville, MI.

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