Who's Ben Stein Comparing to Hitler Now?

First it was Darwin, now it's Obama:

STEIN: I want -- I'm glad you brought up this Denver thing. I don't like the idea of Senator Obama giving his acceptance speech in front of 75,000 wildly cheering people. That is not the way we do things in political parties in the United States of America. We have a contained number of people in an arena. Seventy-five-thousand people at an outdoor sports palace, well, that's something the Fuehrer would have done. And I think whoever is advising Senator Obama to do this is bringing up all kinds of very unfortunate images from the past.

I'd think the more likely comparison would be to JFK's nomination acceptance at the Los Angeles Coliseum:

Barack Obama will give his acceptance speech at Invesco Field during the Democratic National Convention. In 1960, John F. Kennedy also delivered his acceptance speech at an outdoor venue — the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

But apparently Ben Stein has Hitler on the brain. Or maybe JFK is next on his list of secret Nazis?

What's Going On?

Is Obama losing because he's not leading by more? That seems to be the conventional wisdom these days and certainly it's a Republican talking point.

But here's the deal, i think: The media and John McCain are really worried that this election is going to be an Obama blowout.

So McCain is going heavily negative right now, throwing everything he has at Obama, now. He's afraid if he doesn't change the dynamic of this race right now, it's over for him.

And the media wants a horse race for obvious reasons...

Connecting The Dots

From my previous post (WSJ):

In a new sign of increasing inequality in the U.S., the richest 1% of Americans in 2006 garnered the highest share of the nation's adjusted gross income for two decades, and possibly the highest since 1929, according to Internal Revenue Service data.

Meanwhile, the average tax rate of the wealthiest 1% fell to its lowest level in at least 18 years. The group's share of the tax burden has risen, though not as quickly as its share of income.

And today from CBS:

The next president will inherit a record budget deficit approaching $490 billion, according to a new Bush administration estimate.

As Condi might say, "no one could've imagined..."

Kudlow isn't just Stupid!

He's a scumbag and a liar, a knowing propagandist, a charlatan...

In a recent blog he wrote:

Oh really. New IRS data released last month tell a very different story: In the aftermath of the Bush investment tax cuts, the federal income tax burden has substantially shifted onto the backs of the wealthy. Between 2002 and 2004, tax payments by those with adjusted gross incomes (AGI) of more than $200,000 a year, which is roughly 3% of taxpayers, increased by 19.4% -- more than double the 9.3% increase for all other taxpayers.

What Kudlow fails to mention is that the income of the wealthy is going up faster than their tax burden. Their burden as a percent of their income is actually going down.

The tax burden of the poor and middle class, as a percentage of their income, is actually going up. That pisses Kudlow off.

Let's say the richest man in the world owns 10% of America's wealth and pays 10% of America's taxes. Then 10 years later he owns 20% of America's wealth and pays 15% of America's taxes. Has his burden gone up or down? Kudlow would say it's gone up, though obviously it has gone down.

But don't take my word for it. Take it from the Wall Street Journal:

In a new sign of increasing inequality in the U.S., the richest 1% of Americans in 2006 garnered the highest share of the nation's adjusted gross income for two decades, and possibly the highest since 1929, according to Internal Revenue Service data.
[Charts]

Meanwhile, the average tax rate of the wealthiest 1% fell to its lowest level in at least 18 years.

Larry Kudlow is a jackass.

Why Exactly, Is McCain Running?

Now that Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki has endorsed Obama's position on American troop withdrawal from Iraq, what exactly is McCain's rational for running?

As one Republican strategist has put it (according to Marc Ambinder's blog), "We're Fucked."

Hope I Get Really Old Before I Die...

• VH1 TV Shows
• Music Videos
• Celebrity Photos
• News & Gossip

Somebody Give Sam Seder a Show!

His whiner/millionaire routine is hilarious. Watch it here.

As I Was Saying...

Here's a great blog showing how much better economic performance has been under Democrats than Republicans.

For example, are Republicans really the party of job creation? Hardly.

The party of growth? Nope. Turns out tax cuts lead to bigger deficits and bigger gaps between the rich and poor, pretty much what a sane, rational person might expect.

And here's Kevin Drum backing me up on Larry Kudlow, pointing out that he is indeed crazy.

Mr. Motes