Progressive Values, Part I: A FairTax System

I will be doing a series over the next few weeks called Progressive Values.  In it, I will present the case for a progressive point of view on all sorts of different issues, including: Taxes, Education, "National Defense", the Financial Sector, and Transportation.

Warning: the rest of this post is about taxes, so here is a Beatles song to get you through:


Since George W. Bush became president, the US government has not raised enough tax revenue to fund its programs, and the US National Debt is currently over $14 trillion (trillion - that's twelve zeroes after the 14!). The tax system as a whole is regressive, with Warren Buffett and Fortune 400 members having a lower tax rate than their secretaries.  In addition, many corporations like GE pay little to nothing in taxes.

Since the 80's, however, the average Americans' income has stayed the same, and they have had to contend with rising costs of housing, education, food, transportation, and childcare.  If you are already rich, it is easy to invest your money and earn even more money.  But if you don't have very much right now, it's hard to even pay your bills, not to mention get ahead and save money.  The United States is one of the richest countries in the world, we can do better than that!

New features and such

Hello to whoever is reading this!  Just thought I'd let you know about a couple of gadgets that I've added to the blog recently. 

Over on the right side of this page, there's a link called follow by email.  Type your email address in there, click follow and you'll get an email any time I make a new post!  You can also follow the blog through your Blogger account.  I could add an RSS feed, but I don't really know anyone who actually uses that stuff......if you want an RSS button, let me know in the comments and I'll add one.

Here's some other cool things that I've added - Down towards the bottom on the right side is My Blog List.  This has a list of excellent bike and economics blogs for your consideration.  The Nudge blog has interesting psychology / behavioral economics stuff (based on the book Nudge, a great book which I will review when I get a chance).  Over on the NY Times site, Paul Krugman's blog and the economix blog have solid economic analyses, and five thirty eight is an awesome statistics blog.  On the bikes side, Kent's Bike Blog has stories from a bike shop worker and tourer, and One Gear One Cause is a blog by a biker who rides single-speed bikes to raise money for cancer research.  The blog list also has links to the most recent post from each blog.

And finally, don't forget to vote in the poll on the bottom right.  Seriously, it's important.

Paul Ryan lives in a fantasyland with lots of unicorns

I'm working on some big posts about Progressive taxes and health care, but those take a lotta time/research, so for now keep cool with some bike posts and links to Paul Krugman's (awesome) blog.

The best thing about writing on a blog is that I can say whatever I want!  If I want to call Tim Pawlenty an idiot, I can.  And if I want to say Paul Ryan lives in a world where the laws of mathematics do not apply, I can do that too!  In all seriousness though, Republican House Budget Committee Leader Paul Ryan's proposed budget is absurd.  Nothing in the budget is based on anything that occurs on the planet earth.

I live in a "fantasy world"

NY Times economist Paul Krugman has done an excellent job taking him to task for this on his blog. First, he wrote this post, about the budget having unemployment magically fall to 2.8%, a level not seen in this country since 1950. Here's one of the graph's in that post:

1. Pass Ryan Budget 2. ???? 3. Unemployment is 2.8% 

It's really just absurd - there's no basis in reality for this prediction.  Then Krugman posted this, in which a fairy waves a magic wand and Social Security costs half as much as it used to.  Here's the chart from that:



Notice how the circled line dips to 3.5%?

 Krugman had this to say about the chart:

Ryan is assuming that everything aside from health and SS can be squeezed from 12 percent of GDP now to 3 1/2 percent of GDP. That’s bigger than the assumed cut in health care spending relative to baseline; it accounts for all of the projected deficit reduction, since the alleged health savings are all used to finance tax cuts. And how is this supposed to be accomplished? Not explained.

And finally, Krugman posted this detailing the budget's insane housing predictions.  Ryan's budget expects housing construction in 2015 to be the same as it was at the height of the Housing Bubble - I somehow thought that ended poorly for a few people...   Really, Paul Ryan?  Really?!

Final Score: Krugman 3, Ryan 0

New Bike!

Fuckin' sweet, don't you think?

So I just paid a down payment of a couple hundred bucks on a Surly Long Haul trucker just like this at Free Wheel Bikes, a local bike store in Minneapolis.  They didn't have my size in stock (no surprise there) but are ordering it and should have it soon.  Exciting times, no?  The bike's official site is here.  The bike is built for long-distance rides (like these that I am planning), but should also be fine to ride around town.  It's got a steel frame which is a little heavier than a lot of new bikes, but still a damn sight lighter than my current Schwinn Le Tour...

I bought the complete bike, but am planning on switching out a few parts.  I'm thinking of switching out the drop handlebars for mustache bars like these:

 A bar like that would be more upright and hopefully more comfortable to ride in for a long time.  It's also got lots of different potential hand positions, which is good so your hands don't get numb/tingly.  I'm also thinking of switching to a Brooks leather saddle like this one:

 At first glance, it doesn't look to comfy, but supposedly these seats are awesome.  You have to keep them dry, and they take a while to break in, but once they do they mold to your butt.

Other than that, I think I'm just gonna take it as it comes.  What do you think?

Even The Onion knows more about the Economy than the GOP

http://www.theonion.com/articles/gop-completely-fixes-economy-by-canceling-funding,19897/

7 reasons to participate in the 30 days of Biking Challenge



A 30 days of biking participant bikes along the West River Parkway.  Cool shot, no?

Around this time last year, bicyclists Patrick Stephenson and Zachariah Schaap created the 30 days of biking challenge to spark interest in biking among their friends.   The rules are this: Ride your bike for 30 days in a row, and share your experience online.  It doesn't matter how far you ride, just do it.  Their challenge went viral, and the challenge this year is getting about 100 tweets per hour (Star Tribune).  I saw this and immediately thought I should participate.  You should, too!  Here are 7 reasons why (I know I should have done 30 reasons, but that seemed like too much work):
1.  Exercise: Biking is good exercise - it gets your heart pumping, builds muscle in your legs, and can help you lose weight (though I'm a scrawny motherfucker, so I don't worry about that).

2.  Pollution / Fossil Fuels: Riding your bike doesn't pollute the air or use fossil fuels.  'Nuff said.

3.  Price:  The price of gas is about $3.50/ gallon and rising.  Not to mention thousands of dollars to insure and maintain a car.  And paying for accidents.  A bus pass in Minneapolis will cost $2/trip, or like $90/month.  A bike just costs a couple hundred initially, and then a few bucks every couple months to maintain.

4.  Convenience: You don't have to wait at a particular stop for a bus coming at a particular time.  You also don't have to deal with quarters for a parking meter or pay for a spot in a parking garage.

4.  Sharing is Caring: Sharing your pictures and stories will help motivate you to do something you like more often.

5.  Commutes: Bicycle commuters are part of an efficient transportation system.  Bikes take up less space than cars, and can ease congestion on crowded streets.

6.  Habits: Automatic habits take around 66 days to form (link).  Biking every day for 30 days will get you well on your way to forming a healthy and cheap habit.

7.  Fun: Riding your bike is fun!

Around the blogs: Is econ. a discipline?, Tim Pawlenty is an idiot, and the bystander effect

First, check out this blog post by UC Berkeley economist J. Bradford Delong about the Chicago School of Economics.  Neoclassical / "Chicago School" economists believe that the economy is in a long-term equilibrium, with any unemployment simply the result of a shock that hasn't been adjusted to.  No government action is required to manage the economy.  Keynesian economists believe that as people's spending habits change, the economy will have natural peaks and valleys, and that government action is needed to help the economy out of recessions.

You might think that the The Great Depression and the current recession alone would be enough to prove the Chicago School wrong, and they would have long faded into the background.  In a sane world, they would have!  But as the book Zombie Economics details, some ideas just won't die...

Next, go on over to my favorite columnist Paul Krugman's post here.  Tim Pawlenty, former MN governor, is running for president and decided recently that he'd talk some shit about monetary policy.  Paul Krugman takes him to task - here's the money quote:

Now, it’s perfectly clear, even from that small bit, that Pawlenty has absolutely no idea what he’s talking about

Love it.

Finally, click here for a sweet video about the bystander effect over on the Nudge blog (expanded from the book Nudge, which is a great read).  The bystander effect basically states that no one offers help during an emergency when lots of other people are present.  Interesting that it could also apply to things other than emergency help, such as picking up litter.  By the way, if they did that experiment in my neighborhood, all those people might have to wait a couple decades for their trash to get picked up...