A Different World

Red State, Blue City: How the urban-rural divide is splitting America

Red State, Blue City: How the urban-rural divide is splitting America

From the piece:

Starting before the Civil War era, America's political dividing lines were drawn along state and regional borders. Cities and the then-extensive rural areas shared a worldview North and South of the Mason-Dixon line. While there was always tension within states, they were bound by a common politics. The city of Charleston, for example, was as rabidly anti-North as some inland plantation areas. Economic engines, ways of life, and moral philosophies changed at the 36th parallel, where the North began.

Today, that divide has vanished.

Is America becoming more socially liberal on gay marriage, pot, abortion and guns? Or not?

Is America becoming more socially liberal?

Excessive focus on progressive taxation can make it hard to curb inequality

Excessive focus on progressive taxation can make it hard to curb inequality

From the piece:

Now a dollar raised from the rich is more redistributive than a dollar raised from the non-rich. But getting hung up on this can cause problems. For example, you could raise $1.3 trillion by capping itemized deductions at $25,000 a year. And this would be a strongly progressive tax hike that leaves the vast majority of middle class families unscathed while overwhelmingly raising money from high-income households. But the White House rejects this idea on the grounds that it doesn't raise taxes on literally zero middle class households. Then Jason Furman and Gene Sperling go on to point out that if you structure the rate cap so as to raise no money on households with less than $250,000 AGI you can't raise very much money.

The lesson they take from this is that we should reject the deduction cap approach. But the correct lesson to take is simply that dogmatism about the $250,000 point makes it impossible to tap a potentially rich vein of tax revenue.

Oh, oh: Conservative media is reporting what it thinks is something disturbing about Susan Rice's past

Here's the latest bogeyman story from the conservative media:

Susan Rice in 1986 book: Make white students learn black history

That's the headline of the story at the site which goes on to talk about some work Rice did saying that black history has been left out of what we teach our kids, to the detriment of us all. Apparently, that's something disturbing and shocking, a philosophy that suggests a full telling of American history must be seen through more than just a white lens. How dare she?

An openly straight politician publicly flaunts his sexuality

The two most ridiculous claims in yesterday’s anti-marriage equality decision

From the piece:

Precedent aside, however, Jones’ opinionwill be very difficult to defend on appeal. He attacks gay rights in ways that undermine basic protections for racial minorities and women; and he displays an almost quaint naïveté about how politicians present their sexuality to the public. By the end of the opinion, the reader is not simply left with the impression that Judge Jones has never actually met an openly gay person, but that Jones does not spend much time observing heterosexual relationships either.

My wife is getting old, really, really old. What can I do about that?

My wife - Tracy LaShawn Swinton Bailey of the North Santee Community of Georgetown County - is turning the big 4-0 on Tuesday. She's getting really, really old. I think I spotted a couple of gray hairs on her head just last night. I suspect it might be 75 percent gray by Tuesday.

Considering that when we got married on Aug. 1, 1998, I thought I was marrying a woman who would be 25 years old forever, what options do I now have? How can it be fair that a man has to watch is wife grow so old so quickly?

Is there a God? If so, how does he let this sort of thing keep happening?

I need some advice, and quick. Any other husbands out there who have gone through this sort of turmoil and survived with your sanity intact? If so, please let me know how.

Meet the real Susan Rice

Rice is the presumptive front-runner to become the next Secretary of State

From the piece:

“She’s not a typical diplomat,” says Ed Luck, a former special adviser to the U.N. secretary-general. “She doesn’t suffer fools gladly, and I don’t see why she should.”

Luck said he had his doubts when Rice was named U.N. ambassador four years ago. He wondered whether her style would chafe, but he was pleasantly surprised and, at times, moved, particularly when Rice gave stirring remarks commemorating the Rwandan genocide and acknowledging that the United States did not do enough to stop the killing. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen quite such a personal and emotional account given by a diplomat at the U.N.,” Luck said.

CCU's Joe Moglia is the best case for diversity along the Grand Strand

Joe Moglia, the first-year head coach of the Coastal Carolina University football team, is the kind of diversity we should celebrate. I will explain more deeply why in a column that will post on Saturday, the day the team takes the field for the firs time in the second round of the playoffs. It will publish in the newspaper on Sunday.

I can say now, though, his on-the-field success is what makes my point even possible. Had he fallen flat on his face with such an unconventional background, there would be more pressure the next time to stick with the tried-and-true formula that ends up overlooking all sorts of talented people because they don't fit the traditional mold.

And it doesn't matter what the team does against Old Dominion tomorrow, though another victory would take this story to another level. Old Dominion is, frankly, scary good. Coastal is an underdog in this game in a way the team wasn't in the first round against a solid Bethune-Cookman.

Moglia has already made an early mark. Yes, sports fans have short memories and if he doesn't continue to win next year, and the one after that, the boo birds will begin flying again. Still, what has happened this year can't be erased, no matter what comes next.

Most of the rich and middle class face lower tax burden now than in 1980, only half of the poor fared as well

Food for thought as we watch the food fight in Washington over the supposed fiscal cliff:

Federal portion of tax burden has steadily declined

From the piece:

Public debate over taxes has typically focused on the federal income tax, but that now accounts for less than a third of the total tax revenues collected by federal, state and local governments. To analyze the total burden, The Times created a model, in consultation with experts, which estimated total tax bills for each taxpayer in each year from 1980, when the election of President Ronald Reagan opened an era of tax cutting, up to 2010, the most recent year for which relevant data is available.

The analysis shows that the overall burden of taxation declined as a share of income in the 1980s, rose to a new peak in the 1990s and fell again in the 2000s. Tax rates at most income levels were lower in 2010 than at any point during the 1980s.

Governments still collected the same share of total income in 2010 as in 1980 — 31 cents from every dollar — because people with higher incomes pay taxes at higher rates, and household incomes rose over the last three decades, particularly at the top.

The Supreme Court today considers taking up gay marriage cases

Which cases might be heard if the Court decides it should?

From the piece:

On Friday, the Supreme Court will convene privately to make a highly anticipated decision: Will it weigh in on gay marriage? There are currently seven cases in front of the court, covering issues from whether married gay veterans can be buried together in a military cemetery to whether same-sex couples can once again marry in California. The court can decide to hear all, some, or none of the cases. And merely deciding to take a case or not will have broad implications for the future of gay marriage in the United States. 

Which cases are involved?