Me & the New York Times Make Amends

Although I am not a NYT fan by nature, two articles in today's edition might have caused me to rethink said dislike.

Thing 1: A Drop in the Wrong Bucket

Someone needs to say this. A 5.8% cost of living adjustment for those over 60? In a recession? When you are about to raise my taxes to pay for the masses of Boomers about to enter these programs? I know they vote, but really? Also I like the article because it references the lovely Belle Sawhill of Brookings. Maybe we don't see eye to eye on policy, but I like her. She's feisty. Anywho, main quote:

With oil prices plunging and other prices falling, last year’s high inflation (which led to the 5.8 percent increase in Social Security payments) has turned into deflation. Overall prices have dropped 2.1 percent in the last year, according to the relevant price index. Social Security payments, however, will remain as they were, which means that recipients are already set to receive an effective raise, even without Mr. Obama’s $250 checks. No matter what happens with that proposal, 2010 will be the first year since at least the Nixon era that the buying power of an individual worker’s Social Security goes up.

Thank you, NYT, for saying this. It's also what the main conclusion of the Brookings event I attended on Tuesday came to. If we want to help folks get out of poverty, we're going to have to put our money where our mouth is in terms of helping young people do the three key things that get and keep people out of poverty:

1. Finish education.
2. Work full time.
3. Get married before having kids.

But as long as Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security eat up the federal budget, I think priorities involving non-voting, not-yet-wealthy young people are not going to be on the radar screen. I don't solely blame this current edition of Congress - it's been an ongoing problem that no Congress has wanted to touch. Regardless, it shows an amazing lack of spine over generations of legislators.

Thing 2: What the Last Meal Taught Him.

Two of my favorite things - good food and a good fatherhood saga - wrapped into one article. See my blog post over at TheFatherFactor for extended commentary.

Not news, just painful.

That the top 10% of American taxpayers pay 71% of the nation's tax burden isn't really news. But I think it deserves to be repeated. When we're talking about raising taxes (for any situation), perhaps it should be noted that a rather small portion of American earners will feel the impact of that decision even if a large majority of constituents favor said decision. I know tax policy isn't glamorous, especially in an age of recession-frenzy, but it is a codified set of incentives and it is in everyone's best interest to have those incentives pointing in the direction of growth and job creation.