The False Narrative of the Grand Bargain on Tax Hikes

    Over the past few months, there has been a daily trickle of establishment Republicans coming out before the media in hostage style confession statements to declare that they would accept tax increases as part of a “grand bargain” to cut the deficit.  The latest member was Lindsey Graham, who stated his newfound opposition to the taxpayer pledge of Americans for Tax Reform, which he considered | Read More »

    Senator Coburn: The Agony of a Pragmatic Conservative Amidst Inflexible Liberals

    Senator Tom Coburn released a report, Subsidies of the Rich and Famous, detailing a list of subsidies, transfers, and “tax breaks,” that are paid to individuals with Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of over $1 million.  The report found that millionaires have received at least $9.5 billion in “government payments” since 2003 and $113.7 billion in “tax breaks” since 2006.  Accordingly, Coburn concludes that many of | Read More »

    The Fuzzy Math from Gang of Six

    As a rule of thumb, any idea coming from a gang is not a good one.  This holds true in the real world; it is certainly true in the gangster world of the U.S. Senate.  Members of the media are agog with glee over the supposed Gang of Six deal to cut the deficit by $3.7 trillion over 10 years.  There is much hype over | Read More »