Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Something from TNR that isn't garbage

From Jonathan Chait no less. I applaud Mr. Chait for calling out an incredibly stupid reporter and her stupid report with some stupid rich people for being, well, stupid.

I've seen a lot of dumb news reports in my life, but I'm not sure anything can quite match this one from ABC News. The premise of the report is this: Barack Obama plans to raise taxes on people who make more than $250,000, so the reporter has gone and found people who earn a little more than that sum who plan to decrease their income so that they come in underneath the magic line.

Now, the obvious objection here is that the tax code doesn't work that way. A tax increase affects the marginal dollar that a person gains. That's means only every dollar over $250,000 is taxed at a higher rate. Obama is not proposing a tax system whereby somebody who goes from $249,999 to $250,000 suddenly becomes poorer. Nobody has ever enacted a tax hike like that in the history of the United States.

That doesn't stop ABC News' intrepid reporter. This story has to be read to be believed:


Generally, I am disinclined to link to anything from TNR, but this is worth it. So go read the rest of the post.



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