Letters: Dan Grobstein File

Dan Grobstein File

• Paul Krugman writes:
  A tale of two columns
  Yesterday, as I was working on something else, I happened to come across something that reminded me of an interesting contrast. As everybody knows, the general rap on me is that while I may be a good economist, I’m just too shrill and one-sided as a columnist.
  Anyway, you can see the difference between what I do and what’s considered balanced and respectable by comparing this with this. [Krugman compares his Katrina column to David Broder's]
• The term-paper writing business: Dumb Clients
• quote:
  John McCain's on my teevee telling me he'll cut the capital gains tax in half.
  
  Uh, yeah, that will help your campaign. I'm gonna vote for the guy who will cut taxes on my housing gains and stock portfolio appreciation. Oh, wait...
  unquote
• These he-man get-the-government-off-my-back, but heaven-forbid-that- we-try-to-actually-help-people-by-government-action people really piss me off. Glad this is getting a little play.
  
  Andrew Tobias quote:
  The real spread-the-wealth-income-redistribution-welfare state is Alaska. It takes wealth from the oil companies and sends big checks to every citizen in the state – even to people who pay no taxes! Even to people who don’t work!
  
  On top of that, unlike Ohio, say, which gets back less than half a buck in federal assistance for every dollar paid in federal taxes, Alaska gets back more like five times what it pays.
  
  Alaska is seriously on the dole – from states like New York.
  Unquote
  links to this data
• Andrew Sullivan linked to this flyer distributed in Dallas the day Kennedy was assassinated, to make a point about political hate talk (pals with terrorists?)
• Hurry up and follow Andrew Sullivan's link to an amazing David Sedaris commentary on undecided voters, before The New Yorker, as is its wont, takes it off the Internet. I'm putting up the Sullivan link in case you dally, because he picked the best line in the column.