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The Piketty Panic

The Piketty Panic

what’s really new about “Capital” is the way it demolishes that most cherished of conservative myths, the insistence that we’re living in a meritocracy in which great wealth is earned and deserved.

In the warped little minds of the hard right, the real problem isn’t capitalism (which they redefine as needed) but crony capitalism (which they also redefine as needed) where the very wealthy use the state to steal wealth. But we also can’t tax those people because that’s theft and will reduce the incentive for them to work hard. And pointing out the contradiction is Marxism.

Is David Brooks an idiot?

Is David Brooks an idiot?

If you are a young professional in a major city, you experience inequality firsthand. But the inequality you experience most acutely is not inequality down, toward the poor; it’s inequality up, toward the rich.

You go to fund-raisers or school functions and there are always hedge fund managers and private equity people around.

Is Mr. Brooks an idiot? Does he realize that for 98% of the population, this is simply not true.

The inequality problem is not between the 90->99% and the 1%. To think that is to basically discount 90% of the population. The 90% plus of the population that simply doesn’t see the inequality first hand and his eyes, isn’t even worth bringing into the discussion.

emphasize that the historically proven way to reduce inequality is lifting people from the bottom with human capital reform, not pushing down the top. In short, counter angry progressivism with unifying uplift.

Piketty argues that r > g, that return from financial capital is greater than overall economic growth. Brooks totally ignores this point in his criticism of Piketty.

He argues for unifying uplift; a phrase that sounds like it comes from an American Apparel bra ad. What exactly is unifying uplift? If he is talking about increasing social spending, why not actually say that? Is he really just saying we can stop the formation of vast oligarchies if we come up with the right platitudes?

Southerners Don’t Like Obamacare. They Also Don’t Want to Repeal It.

Southerners Don’t Like Obamacare. They Also Don’t Want to Repeal It.

Despite strong dislike of President Obama’s handling of health care, a majority of people in three Southern states – Kentucky, Louisiana and North Carolina – would rather that Congress improve his signature health care law than repeal and replace it, according to a New York Times Upshot/Kaiser Family Foundation poll.

I can’t wait until i start reading about red states where they want government to stay out of their obama-care.

There Are 10 Times More Mentally Ill People Behind Bars Than in State Hospitals

There Are 10 Times More Mentally Ill People Behind Bars Than in State Hospitals

Putting the mentally ill in jails instead of hospitals isn’t saving the government any money. … The average stay for an inmate at Rikers is 42 days. Mentally ill inmates get stuck there for an average of 215 days.

The stigma of mental illness isn’t helping anyone. It costs us more, it puts us in danger and it creates really dangerous conditions for people who need help.

Politics by Subpoena: How Darrell Issa Abuses His Power, and Why

Politics by Subpoena: How Darrell Issa Abuses His Power, and Why

Issa has been engaged in nonstop investigations since taking power after the 2010 election, drilling into everything from the Fast and Furious operation to Benghazi to Solyndra to Freddie and Fannie to the alleged politicization of the IRS to the botched rollout of Healthcare.gov. He’s talked of finding “Obama’s Watergate,” but that’s never happened and his investigations come up empty handed again and again.

What is so frustrating is that rather than investigate clear and admitted lies by NSA and CIA spokespeople, Issa is spending time and tax payer money on nonsense issues he imagines will look good on fox news.