Winter Is Coming

Bill,

Fans of Game of Thrones, the hit HBO series that brings George R.R. Martin's medieval fantasy world alive complete with witches, zombies, dragons, fabulous costumes and lots of sex, will recognize that warning as the ultimate prophecy of the hard times that lie ahead in a world where the length and harshness of the seasons is entirely unpredictable and well beyond the control of men. You don't know when or for how long. You only know that it will be so.

Regardless of who prevails 2 1/2 weeks from now, I alternate between periods of abject despair and faint hope that those who prevail will find the courage to address the enormous problems we face in some  coherent way. Despite the wailing of partisans at both extremes of the spectrum to the contrary, democracy is working. The American people are choosing exactly the kind of government they desire; one that consistently indulges their fantasy that they can have whatever they want and not have to to pay for it. I'm glad that we both agree that 2+2=4. Would someone please explain that arithmetic to the candidates, especially former Governor Romney? The idea that his tax proposal is revenue neutral, never mind deficit reducing is, as you like to say, laughable. And you argue just as coherently, that Obama's numbers suffer from the same self delusion. That delusion however is what that the body politic believes. The politicians being politicians, will continue to tell the public what it wants to hear.

For both the 99 and the 1%, this election feels more and more about voters increasingly desperate to hold onto what they have, and the unstated fear that the pie is just going to continue to shrink.

BTW, it's hardly a surprise that there are those who choose to flee 75% marginal tax rates. I would do so, and I bet so would you. What the Socialists did in France was stupid and they will learn to regret it. But its a long way from 75% to the 36%, the top Clinton era rate for single filers. Those rates,  along with events that had nothing to do with tax policy, were coincident with greatest period of prosperity of my lifetime. If they altered behavior, I didn't see it.

Eli