Friday, July 23, 2010

censorship may be Barefoot but it ain't Progressive

Or is that heavy editing? In any case, it's neither liberal nor progressive...

I had some fun with a recent comment on Social Security at "Barefoot and Progressive". (You can't link to specific posts on their site-- that I can see; it's the one on 7/23 at 9:24 AM on Ben Chandler.) That comment was described by someone anonymous as the "dumbest. comment. ever." Funny!

Trying to follow up, I made the comment below-- more than once-- and had it removed each time, apparently by an administrator.

Truth hurts, I guess...

Eric Schansberg said...

African-Americans put more into SS than they get out. It's not intentionally racist-- like the minimum wage in South Africa and prevailing wage laws in America-- but hey, it has the same impact. And it's not all about good intentions, right?

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5 comments:

  1. William LangJuly 24, 2010 at 9:49 PM

    So you would support SS if it were financed by a suitably progressive tax?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Eric SchansbergJuly 24, 2010 at 10:22 PM

    The point I was making is that it is difficult for any self-respecting, non-ignorant liberal to be excited about SS.

    A suitably progressive tax (assuming a drop in the burden on the working poor rather than just eliminating the cap) would be an improvement-- both in terms of the burden imposed on the working poor and the rate-of-return for the lower and middle classes.

    But then, it would be another welfare program rather than a pseudo-retirement program. And it still wouldn't be great for a lot of reasons.

    Would that be enough for me to support? Probably not without a parallel reduction in the "income tax" on income. A 12.4% increase in marginal tax rates would be difficult to support philosophically and practically-- especially combined with whatever Obama has in store for those in the upper-income brackets.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJuly 25, 2010 at 9:37 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  4. AnonymousJuly 28, 2010 at 7:08 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  5. air max nikeAugust 1, 2010 at 1:37 AM

    Thank you very much for this article!

    For a long time I have done exactly what you warn against. This article was a slap in the face - but a needed one.

    That being said, what is the value of an intuitive explanation? Is it to give a lay person an "ah-ha" moment? Is it good to have SOME understanding, even if it is "vague and mush?"

    ReplyDelete