On the Progressivity of the U.S. Federal Tax System

Over at the Washington Examiner , I responded to Jonathan Chait’s most recent feedback on my observation that the United States’ federal tax system is more progressive than those of other Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations. The original article in the Examiner noted that, looking at the OECD data, it’s hard to claim that rising inequality in the U.S. is the product of a lack of progressivity in the federal tax code — a claim we often hear. The data shows that countries with supposedly less inequality than the U.S. have more-regressive tax codes. I also noted that raising taxes only on the rich won’t address our debt

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#InevitabilityFail

The coup de grace to Mitt Romney’s very bad night: He finished third in Minnesota .

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Top Headline Comments 2-8-12

Happy Wednesday. The State Department is cutting and running from its Iraq mega-embassy. It seems the salad bar ran out and there’s no Splenda for coffee. Really. Those are their actual, ISYN, complaints. Oh, and they’re limited to only six…

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Tee Pawed

Last night’s big loser was Mitt Romney. The runner-up: Tim Pawlenty, the former GOP governor of Minnesota. He just lost the veepstakes. I like Pawlenty. Last year, when it became clear that Mitch Daniels and a few others weren’t going to run for president, and before Pawlenty himself dropped out, it might have been fair to call me a “Pawlenty leaner.” So I say this with no pleasure: His endorsement delivered nothing. Romney finished third in Minnesota–a distant third, no less. So if Romney wins the nomination, will anybody say that choosing Pawlenty for veep will

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Sheriff Joe Arpaio Hasn’t Delivered On Cash He Promised Fellow Border Hawks

When Sheriff Joe Arpaio launched his own federal political action committee last year, he vowed to move beyond his role as just a national leader for immigration hardliners. He wanted to become one of their more serious sources of campaign cash. But months after announcing the creation of Joe PAC, the Arizona sheriff’s desire to become a major financial backer for the movement is far from reality. Instead, it has been consumed by his own bid for reelection. As of Dec. 31, Joe PAC had managed to scrape together only about $20,000, according to financial disclosures filed last week with the Federal Election Commission. None of it had been spent on other candidates or groups. The tally is nowhere near the $6 million Arpaio hauled in as part of his bid …

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Proposition 8: What Happens Next?

Now that a Ninth Circuit panel has ruled that California’s ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional, it seems inevitable that the ruling on Proposition 8 will eventually be appealed to the Supreme Court. But whether the Supreme Court agrees to hear it is another story. At this point, proponents of Prop 8 have fourteen days to decide whether to petition for a rehearing. If granted, an eleven-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit will hear the case, which could take another six months to a year. If the initiative’s supporters choose to go straight to the Supreme Court, four of the nine justices would have to vote in favor of hearing the case for it to be taken up. Judge Stephen Reinhardt, who wrote the majority opinion for the 2-1 ruling, determined that…

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Why South Carolina’s Voter ID Suit Could Be Bound For The Supreme Court

Paul Clement is the former Solicitor General of the United States and the guy conservatives go to when there’s a Supreme Court case on the line. So it’s not surprising that it was Clement’s signature that ended up on the complaint filed on behalf of the state of South Carolina this week, in a suit against Attorney General Eric Holder over DOJ’s decision to block the state’s voter ID law because of the disparate impact the state’s numbers show it will have on minority voters. It’s a suit that supporters hope will not only enshrine South Carolina’s voter ID requirement as the unquestioned law of the state, but that will also do away with federal restrictions placed on states like South Carolina because of their clear history of…

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A Big, Big Win for Santorum . . . Errr . . . CPAC

Mitt Romney had a horrible, horrible night. Early yesterday, Mitt Romney’s campaign called Missouri a “beauty contest” and said to focus on Colorado. We did. Wow. I’ve said since Sunday that yesterday would be the first day of voting that Mitt Romney’s “poor” comment to Soledad O’Brien would have an impact. It typically takes a week for comments like that to be digested by voters. Six days after Romney opened his mouth, Rick Santorum swept the night. From Missouri to Minnesota to Colorado the Republican electorate sent a very clear signal — they want conviction…

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Morning Briefing for February 8, 2012

RedState Morning Briefing For February 1, 2012 Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge. 1. A Big, Big Win for Santorum . . . Errr . . . CPAC 2. Justice Ginsburg and the Need to Oppose Radical Judicial Nominees 3. Ron Paul, Constitutional Scholar ———————————————————————- 1. A Big, Big Win for Santorum . . . Errr . . . CPAC Mitt Romney had a horrible, horrible night. Early yesterday, Mitt Romney’s campaign called Missouri a “beauty contest” and said to focus on Colorado. We did. Wow. I’ve said since Sunday that yesterday would be the first day of voting that Mitt Romney’s “poor” comment to Soledad O’Brien would have an impact. It typically takes a week for comments like that…

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I endorse . . .

Move over Donald Trump (your hair, too). I have my own endorsement to make. Now that the GOP field of contenders has been narrowed to just three people – Romney, Gingrich and Santorum – I feel comfortable enough to present the hightly-coveted Melmacian endorsement to . . . Yeah, yeah. luaP noR is still technically

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Santorum Sweeps CO, MO, and MN

The hat-trick. He won 40%-35% in Colorados caucuses and that was his least convincing win. He was 45% to Ron Pauls 27% in Minnesota and 55% to Romneys anemic 25% in Missouri. Romney has to realize that his strategy of…

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Curious George

To run against a storyteller, such as the writer in the White House, you need a story to tell. Mitt Romney has one. But he’s hesitant to tell it. The most compelling part of his past — his family’s dogged journey — is rarely discussed. Instead, playing it safe, Romney highlights Bain and the Olympics. His father’s humble beginnings as a Mormon outcast in Mexico, and his own tumultuous experience as a missionary in France, have, for the most part, been kept out of the political playbook. Until tonight. Keep reading this post . . .

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Insert ‘Rickroll’ Joke Here

Santorum takes all three of Tuesday night’s contests.

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Santorum Sweeps

As of today, Rick Santorum officially has no more delegates than he had yesterday. That said, as CNN is just now this moment calling Colorado for Santorum in a stunning upset, his clean sweep of the states who voted/caucused today is a stunning rebuke to both Romney’s purported march through February and Newt Gingrich’s position as the favored not-Romney candidate. Santorum’s performance was impressive in each state, vastly outperforming his position in the polls, which had him losing by 9 points in Colorado (he won by 5) and winning by only 9 in Minnesota (he won by 18). It is hard to tell who got clobbered worse – Romney, who fell…

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Rick Wins

The GOP chairman in Colorado just declared the caucus there tonight a win for Rick Santorum. Hard work pays off. Focusing on issues, substance pays off. And this race is not over yet. (See here , scroll down for more.) Santorum is a leader. And people do happen to be looking for one.

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How Dangerous Is Obama?

This nuclear brinkmanship with Iran is simply characteristic of Barack Obama and left-of-leftist maniacs like him.

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Let’s Stop Obama-ing Apart

There are four pillars to ensure a successful society…and the Obama administration is chipping away at all of them.

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CPAC for Sissies: Self-Censoring for Sharia

CPAC starts tomorrow, but one particular subject of incredible import to conservatives is absent from the roster…or at least, it’s almost absent.

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Obama’s War against Catholics

Between the Army’s squelching military chaplains and Obama’s recent contraception edict against the church, there is no doubt that a state-sponsored war on Catholicism is actively underway.