RTA

A Fair and Balanced Analysis of What the Top 1% Actually Makes and Pays

The bottom 50% of Americans show a tax burden now that actually exceeds their disposable income. In reality, most of these people are somewhere between doing OK and scraping by, but just as the ultra-rich at the 1% and higher end of the spectrum have their peaks skewed due to people like Warren Buffet, the lower brackets will tend to balloon outward as well. This is why we have tax credits, welfare or food stamp programs, and other systems to support these people. My belief is that if we analyzed the lower brackets we would see a more steady and less abrupt progression, with people in the lowest quartile banging up against the 100% tax burden calculation in this analysis. Similarly, a more detailed analysis of the very rich, for example at 0.1% increments after 1%, would show a much more even distribution with taxes rising on a slope more similar to what is seen from 5% through 1.1%. [...]

Media bias? You bet there is!

Given a free press with minimal oversight and regulation, such as we have in the United States, and given very minimal media financing from the government, such as we have in the United States, and given a free market with minimal oversight and regulation, such as we have in the publishing industry in the United States, why would the media bias itself in any particular direction? [...]

Bored. Found Animation Site. Made an Animation about the S&P Downgrade.

Yeah, yeah. I need a life. :-)

Of Economic Ignorance and Disgraceful Cynicism…

Look at the facts: The White House has moved significantly in the direction of the Republican Party's position in terms of spending and where the cuts should take place. While we may reasonably disagree on whether the current position of either party is acceptable or not, the fact is that the Democrats have compromised by reducing tax revenue demands and accepting certain cuts to key Democrat Party pillars such as Medicaid and Social Security. Has the Republican Party done the same? No. True, Speaker Boehner has tried, but the Tea Party faction has held him and the American economy hostage to that "economically ignorant and disgracefully cynical" path The Economist dislikes so much. [...]

Minami Sanriku: 3pm

I'm overwhelmed by Minami Sanriku. I grew up in a town the size of this place, both geographically and in terms of population. When I try to think of the entire valley of my town destroyed and 10,000 people killed in the space of an hour, my mind goes blank and refuses. I can’t wrap my head around it, either intellectually or emotionally, so my brain just stops and it doesn’t start again until I think of something else. In the meantime, I just stand there and look at these piles of rubble the size of football fields, taking short, shallow breaths, almost hypnotized by the devastation of this place. There are no dead bodies around, but you know that many people died here simply because there is no way that many people could not have died. [...]

Sarah Palin: Farce, Force, or Both?

It’s like the Alaska-Washington DC version of "The Beverly Hillbillies", except instead of striking oil some old guy who had already sold out his beliefs in order to get reelected to the Senate finds himself in the race for the US Presidency and realizes that he has absolutely no chance of winning it except for the political equivalent of the Hail Mary pass. He throws this giant political football up to Wasila and hits an ex beauty queen in the head with it. After talking for 15 minutes they decide that their maverick team is exactly what America needs to reinvigorate the political DNA of the conservative party, re-instill those core American beliefs that made us such a great nation, and capture the spirit and imagination of people who have been wronged, lied to, and cheated by big government lefties. [...]

A Letter to My Employees on the Tohoku-Chiho Taiheiyo-Oki Earthquake

We must remain rational in our decision-making, reasonable in determining how we will work through the difficulties ahead, and resolute in our belief that Japan has the strength of country and character to survive this ordeal and emerge even stronger. [...]

That last marginal dollar…

So we outspend China almost 7-to-1 in defense in real dollars, and almost 3:1 in terms of percentage of GDP. And don't forget, China is #2 in the world in defense spending. To put it in perspective, if the US did not increase its defense budget, but simply kept it at the current level, and the Chinese increased their defense budget by 10% a year for the next 20 years, they'd finally be at the same spending level we are at right now. [...]

Chennai: 7pm

It’s just after 7pm and I’m debating whether to open the window of my taxi to allow in some fresh air. The sour old-sweat smell of the beat-up Suzuki Maruti hatchback is a bit nauseating, but that is the smell of taxis in India. You hire a car and a driver and then the driver [...]

Utter American Ridiculousness

Sigh. I fly a lot. Too much, but such is life. Every month I get updates on my frequent flier status from United, Delta, and, as you will see, American. United and Delta are set to send me updates in English, but American defaulted to sending them to me in Japanese when I changed my [...]