26 February 2009

Blatant Falsehoods: They're Not Just For Republicans Anymore!

While it's true that Republicans are masters at the Blatant Lie -- some of their greatest hits include "Maglev to Vegas" and "The Salt Marsh Mouse Chronicles" -- but they're getting lots of help from that Bastion of the Librul Media, the New York Times (emphasis added):

President Obama will propose further tax increases on the affluent to help pay for his promise to make health care more accessible and affordable, calling for stricter limits on the benefits of itemized deductions taken by the wealthiest households, administration officials said Wednesday.

The tax proposal, coming after recent years in which wealth has become more concentrated at the top of the income scale, introduces a politically volatile edge to the Congressional debate over Mr. Obama’s domestic priorities.


A "politically volatile edge", eh? Politically volatile must mean that it would affect a significant portion of the voting public, right?

Not so much.

As Matt Yglesias points out, the top two tax brackets -- the people who will be affected by this proposed change -- comprise... are you ready for it... 0.7 percent of households. Here's Matt's handy pie chart, in case you need a visual representation:



So here's my question: Does that tiny little sliver of a bit of a piece of that big ole pie look to be politically significant?

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