Onto Fiscal Cliff #2 (and #3, and #4, and . . . ???) Statistician Nate Silver has advanced an interesting explanation for ever more frequent (and seemingly more acute) attacks of political gridlock nationally — the just-averted Fiscal Cliff fiasco serving as Exhibit A. Namely, politicians on both sides of the aisle have conspired to...Read More
Removing the “Capitol” from “Capitol Gridlock” “A rolling stone gathers no moss.” –Proverb “Seven of the richest American counties in 2011 were in the Washington, D.C. region. Fairfax, Loudoun and Arlington counties, all in Northern Virginia, have higher median incomes than every other county in the United States. Whence comes this wealth? Mostly from Washington’s...Read More
Fiscal Cliff Semantics From watching the fiscal cliff negotiations from (very) afar, I’ve gleaned two things to date: 1) apparently, the $250k threshold for raising income taxes has now been raised to $400k (the Republicans initially insisted on $1 million); 2) we now have yet more evidence that President Obama is a lousy negotiator (Gail...Read More
It’s hardly enough for a Hawaiian vacation — more like a January gas bill or a meal for two at a nice restaurant — but yours truly is on the receiving end of not one but two special dividends this December (I’ve got modest holdings of Costco and Commerce Bancshares). Multiply that largess by dozens of...Read More
. . . . Without Voting to Raise Taxes The most credible theory I’ve heard/read so far (I don’t remember the source) has it that Republicans who’ve all taken the Grover Norquist “no new taxes” pledge don’t dare cross him. The alternative? Go over the fiscal cliff — which automatically raises taxes — then vote...Read More
That’s the concern amongst Realtor-types — and anyone else who has a vested interest in the health of the housing market. Which really means . . . everyone. I think there is a strong, two-part argument for leaving it alone: 1) don’t do anything to effectively make housing more expensive, while it’s still in recovery mode; and 2) something...Read More
