No surprise to see New York at
number 1 on this list. I am surprised to see San Francisco as a close second and Chicago at number 6. I would have figured they'd be the other way around.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Are liberals more pro-woman? A cool graph from a natural experiment | The Incidental Economist
Interesting how the more daughters a representative has, the more likely he/she is to support women's issues compared to the mean for his/her party.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Who Pays Taxes in America?
A Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ) report details who actually does pay taxes in the United States:
"It’s often claimed that the richest Americans pay a disproportionate share of taxes while those in the bottom half pay nothing. These claims ignore the many taxes that most Americans are subject to — federal payroll taxes, federal excise taxes, state and local taxes — and focus instead on just one tax, the federal personal income tax. The other taxes are mostly regressive, meaning they take a larger share of income from a poor or middle-income family than they take from a rich family."
So basically, conservatives choose to ignore the hollow argument about how the wealthy pay a disproportionately high amount of taxes since the more regressive sales taxes hit everyone and Social Security taxes are capped so people above a certain income level (the amount of which escapes me right now) pay the same regardless of their income.
So read the whole report to figure out why this graph flattens halfway through and then starts to drop at the right.
"It’s often claimed that the richest Americans pay a disproportionate share of taxes while those in the bottom half pay nothing. These claims ignore the many taxes that most Americans are subject to — federal payroll taxes, federal excise taxes, state and local taxes — and focus instead on just one tax, the federal personal income tax. The other taxes are mostly regressive, meaning they take a larger share of income from a poor or middle-income family than they take from a rich family."
So basically, conservatives choose to ignore the hollow argument about how the wealthy pay a disproportionately high amount of taxes since the more regressive sales taxes hit everyone and Social Security taxes are capped so people above a certain income level (the amount of which escapes me right now) pay the same regardless of their income.
So read the whole report to figure out why this graph flattens halfway through and then starts to drop at the right.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
A Subway to New Jersey? ‘Not a Chance,’ Lhota Says | WSJ.com
"A proposal send the No. 7 subway under the Hudson River into New Jersey probably won’t happen “in our lifetime,” Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Joseph Lhota said, despite the interest of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg."
I'd like to state my opinion on Mr. Lhota's statement but I'm trying to keep this blog clean.
Nothing to see here; keep moving...
I'd like to state my opinion on Mr. Lhota's statement but I'm trying to keep this blog clean.
Nothing to see here; keep moving...
Privately financed and built passenger rail service? Someone is going to give it a shot!
This is going to be very interesting if it proves to be profitable:
"In late March, Florida East Coast Industries (FECI) announced plans to build “All Aboard Florida,” a private passenger rail line that would connect Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa and Orlando. At least for now, FECI is planning to do this without government subsidies — which could make this the first self-funding passenger rail line in the United States in half a century."
This company has a lot of things going for it, as the post mentions, such as ownership of rights of way, faster and lighter freight service existing on those tracks (as opposed to the normally slow and heavy freight service), and real estate holdings near the proposed downtown Miami station that could see an increase in value with a new station.
And oh by the way, it could also prove to be a vital first step in catching up with the rest of the world that has left us behind in rail service. You know, because we "invest" in roads and highways but "subsidize" rail, which is essentially the same thing.
"In late March, Florida East Coast Industries (FECI) announced plans to build “All Aboard Florida,” a private passenger rail line that would connect Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa and Orlando. At least for now, FECI is planning to do this without government subsidies — which could make this the first self-funding passenger rail line in the United States in half a century."
This company has a lot of things going for it, as the post mentions, such as ownership of rights of way, faster and lighter freight service existing on those tracks (as opposed to the normally slow and heavy freight service), and real estate holdings near the proposed downtown Miami station that could see an increase in value with a new station.
And oh by the way, it could also prove to be a vital first step in catching up with the rest of the world that has left us behind in rail service. You know, because we "invest" in roads and highways but "subsidize" rail, which is essentially the same thing.
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