The sixtieth anniversary of Franklin Roosevelt’s death was last Tuesday. I’m surprised that the MSM didn’t make a big deal of it, considering that he was arguably the last (and perhaps only) great president that the Democrat Party has issued.
The Rest Of The Story?
Ten years later, Fox News isn’t letting the Oklahoma City story die.
The government’s story continues to not hold water. For example, check out this strawman:
Editor’s Note: Watch the FOX News Channel on Sunday at 9 p.m. EDT for “The Oklahoma City Bombing: Unanswered Questions.” And check out FOXNews.com on Monday for a story showing how FBI agents are convinced they got the right men.
No one is claiming that they didn’t get “the right men.” The point isn’t about whether or not McVeigh and Nichols did it, though the defenders of the government action would have us believe that that’s the issue in contention. Everyone agrees that they did (as far as I know). The question is whether or not there were others involved, who remain free. And more seriously, if there were foreign governments involved that the Clinton administration would have found politically inconvenient to finger, particular since, if it restricted its investigation to “angry white guys” it could pin it on those evil right-wing Republicans.
As the article points out, the official story remains quite fishy, and there was a disturbing amount of evidence destroyed. And does this make any sense?
Oklahoma City attorney Michael Johnston said the FBI was not given all the tapes from as many as twenty-five cameras that he says were in and around the Murrah Building.
A Prehistoric Tax Tale
It’s Alley Oop versus the IRS.
Other Than That, How Was The Play?
It’s the hundred and fortieth anniversary of day that Abraham Lincoln was shot.
An Alternative View of Alternative Minimum Tax
There is a strong case for flat taxes. They reduce compliance (and avoidance) costs. They create a very broad base for taxes that in turn distort the economy less and have a lower dead weight social loss. The Economist says that they may be practical and feasible.
The conventional wisdom from (NYT, April 10) is that alternative minimum taxes (AMT) are bad news. An alternative view is that they are a back door way to get a flat tax. The number of people who pay AMT is expected to grow to $200 billion projected in 2015. This growth is due to three factors: deductions get more generous, maximum marginal rates stay low due to the tax cut, and inflation and growth steadily increase income. While $200 billion less than 5% of the federal budget and less than 1% of the $20 trillion economy (in 2000 constant dollars) projected for 2015, it is still a significant portion of taxpayers paying a flat tax.
If US wants a flat tax, it should do nothing about AMT, it should increase deductions like crazy and reduce the marginal rate of the non-flat tax further. For those worried about the budget deficit, the AMT rate can be raised, or perhaps Medicare and Social Security rationalized.
Behold
Just Say No To Kofi
Kofi “Look The Other Way” Annan is slated to give the commencement address at the University of Pennsylvania. Some of the students, unsurprisingly, aren’t happy about it.
Too Sweet A Deal
It’s not a new story, but Steven Moore has a good roundup of the current state of the societal parasites and despoilers of the environment that comprise the American sugar industry.
The End Of The Incandescent Light Bulb?
It may be in sight. LEDs have come a long way, baby.
Robots And Supervolcanoes
On Tuesday, I noted that someone needs to categorize and prioritize all the things that might kill us. Well, someone must have read my post, because the Guardian has done just that. The Daily Ablution has the story.
I’ll chime in with Glenn and others, and note that I also welcome our robot overlords.
I disagree, though, that there’s nothing we can do about supervolcanoes (at least in terms of preserving humanity). Having an economically independent and genetically diverse population off planet will at least preserve the species against such an event. That won’t help with gamma ray bursts though. This list is a little terracentric, in that it doesn’t distinguish between those events that would be a problem just for the earth (e.g., a supervolcano eruption) and those that would be more comprehensive (e.g., gamma rays, or obstreperous robots). By the way, does the robot scenario encompass gray goo?
Anyway, they need to rectify this.
[Tax day morning update]
Phil Bowermaster has all the solutions.