A good way to start the week

I just finished an enjoyable half hour or so on Brian Lehrer’s talk show on WNYC. Brian was an excellent host, and left-wing blogger Duncan Black provided calm but forceful advocacy for his side of the debate. We discussed the situation in Guantanamo Bay, Howard Dean, and a piece by Bob Herbert which contends that income inequality is increasing, and income mobility decreasing, in America.
On the last issue, I noted that latest discussion of inequality is a sure sign that the economy is doing well. No longer able to talk about a recession or a jobless recovery, the left now resorts, as it did during the prosperous Reagan years, to income inequality. I also tried to point out that every time there has been a tax cut, upper income taxpayers end up paying a higher percentage of the total national tax load than they did before. However, I may inadvertently have misstated this by suggesting that upper income folks end up paying more taxes than before in absolute terms. That, of course, would be incorrect. Thanks to Duncan Black for making sure that this distinction was stated clearly and correctly for the audience.