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What if we had a system that placed all winners and leaders as people who had mostly come in second place?  After all, there are very successful sports teams and players who are moneyed and who are known better for placing more than the occasional infrequent title won by others.  Politics in the U.S., however, only deals with money in part, and success in any administration here is not solely dependent upon wealth; probably a good thing as otherwise we'd have kings and queens instead of national elections.  Most people know that despite the consistency of some second place finishers, our nation, like many free nations in any election chooses its leaders based upon the plebiscite in which (barring the revolutionary ideas and rules controlling votes through the electoral college that occasionally have reversed popular votes in the past) the person receiving the most votes becomes chief of state.  In other words, no one really remembers who finished second in many U.S. national elections, despite the importance of this for the administrative process. 

 

The power of the presidential election as we know it is one candidate can win the office of chief of state without (1) having raised the most campaign money, and (2) appealing and pandering to special interests and power interests within our region.  It is true that the Republicans toward the end of the campaign this year had raised more money, and that Obama as victor of the presidential campaign contest in all appearances was re - elected without having become beholden to industrial interests, Hollywood, financial and commercial interests and the general business community that has sat the sidelines in the post election talks about what we have to expect going forward for the next four years.  The thing that clinched the election for the president was indeed his good showing in the second and third debates, and his campaign rhetoric in the last days before election day; and his being supported by the Clintons who still carry the mantle of an outstanding Democratic presidency during the 1990's from at least the standpoint of macroeconomic growth.  Even the Carter policies of the 1970's have found a home in the Obama presidency in the way of policies of 'priming the pump' to bring back jobs, the level of federal spending, foreign policy and other areas that matter to all of us.

 

Ohio, Michigan Wisconsin, and then Pennsylvania, …  Even Nevada mattered yesterday as I heard a local news show on the U.S. West Coast broadcast a piece on the importance of Nevada and its four cities (where most people in the state reside,) of which Reno and Las Vegas, and the broadcast was considerably and interestingly detailed.  The U.S. Democrats, apparently in this election contest, had their own super - statistician, maybe even a virtual one, parsing, slicing and dicing those numbers with respect to undecided, uncommitted, and other voters in select areas.  This undoubtedly contributed to their campaign efforts and paid electoral dividends in the end. 

 

Remember that Mr. Romney, though everyone might not remember him forever, waged a fierce campaign, and he was classically and characteristically Republican in his showing in all three debates and his approach to people in the campaign arena.  The Democratic party is the party of urbanity, sophistication, pro - choice, …, and people watching our country at this point have to come to terms with the issue about whether the Obama administration will become now more aggressive with respect to its public policy agenda in additionally affirming its identity and greater influence on the world stage.  People like me seriously doubt that the Obamas can now be accused of populism or using the office of the presidency for liberal  or more progressive social agendas as the talk in most areas analysing the current president's policies is quite moderate in nature, and the country's conservatives are more powerful now than they were in the 2008 presidential election, having made the national election a closer contest this year.  The chief executive now also has to answer apparently to a Republican - controlled Congress and to his conservative constituents as well if he is to chalk up additional political wins to his scorecard, and in his victory speeches he has pledged to reach out to everyone to make the political process work better  under his supervision. 

 

That Mr. Romney as a Republican candidate suffered for being identified as powered by moneyed interests who are out - of - touch was an old party line that has been around for at least a few elections and one that some conservative candidates have refuted on their way to national wins.  We as a country are apparently also benefiting from more liberal policies as the recent employment figures indicate and economic predictions for the immediate future are much better, issues around the "China Challenge" appear to be within the realm of being resolved some time soon, we have a vice - president who is influential and moderately conservative despite his party affiliation, and the high - profile government departments have also found reprise and renewal with the gifts that have been earned in the latest national election itself.  Despite that a good number of people do not necessarily like the classic political patterns characterised by the Democrats at this point, and indeed more voters this year expressed a desire for dealing directly with the twin deficits and the size of government, this president and his high officials do have a chance to reify certain opportunities including further resolving difficulties in the Middle East, petrol politics, financial and fiscal reform, further progress in addressing the chaos of foreign policy, defense preparedness, national security, immigration (as pledged), to name a few, and more.  The national papers in the next few days should examine all these and some others that were in the headlines during the campaign and that need to be summarized and talked about.  This president as re - elected has established his own identity and that of his liberal constituents upon the institution of the office of our American chief executive, and the tone of it is optimistic and hopeful to mention the least.  People like me wonder what Tony Blair would have to say about this. 

 

 

Review - New Book by Bruce Bartlett - "The Benfit And The Burden."

Review - New Book by Bruce Bartlett

Friday, September 07, 2012

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This austere book is one that I would like to have published about tax reform myself apart from the Hall / Rabushka literature on the flat tax that has appeared every so often. The book begins with a brief illustration of what federal and state taxes are about in the U.S., and the tradition of taxes in this country as started in the old world, what progressive taxes are and how citizens are taxed in other countries in comparison to ours. The tables throughout the text are extremely helpful in understanding the journalistic illustrations in this book that can be quite involved and detailed, even burdensome without the tables.



Most of the book itself is a primer on how to analyze tax policy, be it
within the U.S. or Europe or other countries with different systems of
taxation. Even the character of income issue in our own tax code, an issue
of some sophistication and ongoing debate, is illustrated for the reader.
This text, primarily written for the concerned citizen who believes not only
in federal spending reforms, but in reforms in the system of federal revenue
collection, provides a slate of the different aspects of tax reform, both
historied and recent, and the different types of taxes our leaders have
considered over time with the idea of reforming the U.S. tax collection
system. Content runs the gamut from court cases and "what is income," to
systemic / historical changes, to the various radical reform proposals that
have been publicly and privately presented by politicians over time. The
appendices are worth reading through as well, and the overriding purpose of
the book to make our tax system and the prospect of tax reform more
understandable and transparent to the ordinary taxpayer (in view of
editorials, opinions, legislation, court cases and the like) is accomplished
while delivering content as well for those technically educated about taxes,
related policies, government resource allocation, the decision - making
process in the capitol and so on. Everyone interested in social reform, the
social sciences, law and regulation, decision - making and the polity should
read this book. In short, a great text if you file a tax return and are
interested in modernizing the collections process through the U.S. Treasury
and your state treasury.



The book in part seems to have been inspired, as shown in chapter 5 and
chapter 9, among others, by the impact of the Bush era tax cuts and cites
Bush officials on the effect of the cuts that in their identities have to do
with the current twin deficits and their magnitude and impact upon current
and future revenue collection / tax policies. While the Bush administration
encouraged policies to increase home - ownership and investment gains, and
these goals were substantively and wholly accomplished to the extent
possible, and with the help of tax relief and tax reform, the current polity
complains these were too expensive for anyone's taste and have weakened
government finances for the time being. When one examines the scope and
purpose of the Bush tax cuts and reforms, it is important to note that
during those years choices were given to people about what to do with their
capital and wages, and given the human condition some, in fact a good part

of the gains people experienced in property and other assets in addition to their increased wages, options and pension and other plans, were the result of a good amount individual speculation and utilitarian waste, even to the extent of investors and homeowners cutting and running when asset prices dipped in the late 2000's. This in all evidence was a choice of many asset - holders who were making leaps and bounds financially, at least at first, but who took risks and denigrated particular types of assets and / or the taxes on their gains when they were not as expected individually. This is an implication in this text of the new search for tax reform and other, popular trends that commentators and voters, citizens and wage - earners alike are talking about. Thus, the publication of such a provocative text in an election year will enhance the overall reform discussion should any candidate read it and choose to speak about his related views. Since the funding of federal programs like MediCare and Social Security now depend to a great extent on future improvements to the tax system and the time is again now for the parties to play their hands on the subject, such literature is propitious and timely, and deserves at least leadership among academics and federal officials in this discussion.