Young People In The Recession: The War Against Youth

Stephen Marche, at Esquire:

David Frum, former George W. Bush speechwriter, had the guts to acknowledge that the Tea Party's combination of expensive entitlement programs and tax cuts is something entirely different from a traditional political program: "This isn't conservatism: It's a going-out-of-business sale for the Baby Boom generation." The economic motive is growing ever more naked, and has nothing to do with any principle that could be articulated by Goldwater or Reagan, or indeed with any principle at all. The political imperative is to preserve the economic cloak of unreality that the Boomers have wrapped themselves in. If you read nothing else this week, please read this article. I apologize in advance at how much it will depress you but hopefully it will make you angry.

Two Charts That Should Terrify Republicans

Brian Beutler, writing for Talking Points Memo:

But over that same stretch, the economy began moving in the right direction. Indicators of economic growth started moving upward, and the eye-popping indications of economic weakness started moving downward. That’s surely had an effect. And if the trends continue, it augurs very well for Obama in the general election. Check out these two charts. Also, I suspect this is why the main Republicans message these days are contraceptives, abortions, and gays. As usual in an election year when they have no real platform to run on.

The Limping Middle Class

Robert Reich, writing for the New York Times:

Look back over the last hundred years and you’ll see the pattern. During periods when the very rich took home a much smaller proportion of total income — as in the Great Prosperity between 1947 and 1977 — the nation as a whole grew faster and median wages surged. We created a virtuous cycle in which an ever growing middle class had the ability to consume more goods and services, which created more and better jobs, thereby stoking demand. The rising tide did in fact lift all boats. As John Gruber points out, the accompanying infographic to this article is absolutely fantastic.

Stop Coddling The Super-Rich

Warren Buffet, writing an op-ed piece in the New York Times says that we need to raise taxes on all income over $1 million per year:

I have worked with investors for 60 years and I have yet to see anyone — not even when capital gains rates were 39.9 percent in 1976-77 — shy away from a sensible investment because of the tax rate on the potential gain. People invest to make money, and potential taxes have never scared them off. And to those who argue that higher rates hurt job creation, I would note that a net of nearly 40 million jobs were added between 1980 and 2000. You know what’s happened since then: lower tax rates and far lower job creation.