Political Link-Fest

I wasn't going to discuss politics today, but there are several links of interest I just couldn't resist. First, one of McCain's economic advisers has an editorial out today that says "the economy is fine." Except of course if you work for Lehman Brothers or Merrill Lynch.

this post has the detailed links, but here's the money quote: In other words, the wealth of the nation has nearly doubled in real terms per person, yet the typical household is pretty much where it was 30 years ago. Which means, of course, that the typical household is vastly worse off relative to the top 5%, and 1% and especially top .1% of its neighbors.

Second, the Wall Street Journal, that bastion of the liberal media, puts paid to the lie that Sarah Palin is some kind of earmark reformer. Alaska, which has no state income or sales tax, and enough oil money to give every resident $3,200 this year, is in the Federal government's pocket for $453 million in earmarks. Some reformer!

McCain will Raise Your Taxes

Or so says Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who is a "former Director of the Congressional Budget Office and current chief McCain economic advisor." From the article: that's an annual tax hike of $550 to $700 billion, well beyond the range of any spending cuts that McCain has or might propose. (Those vaunted earmarks cost about $20 billion per year.)

Oh and by the way - McCain's health-care plan? Tax your employer-provided health-care plan. From the linked article, McCain will: replace those benefits with an insufficient tax credit--$2500 for individuals and $5000 for families (the average cost per family for health insurance is $12000).