{
    "href": "/post/2012/12/31/too-much-wishful-thinking-on-middle-class-tax-rates/",
    "relId": "2012/12/31/too-much-wishful-thinking-on-middle-class-tax-rates",
    "title": "Too Much Wishful Thinking on Middle-Class Tax Rates",
    "author": "pmjones",
    "markup": "html",
    "tags": [
        {
            "href": "/tag/collapse/",
            "relId": "collapse",
            "title": "Collapse",
            "author": null,
            "created": null,
            "updated": [],
            "markup": "markdown"
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        {
            "href": "/tag/taxes/",
            "relId": "taxes",
            "title": "Taxes",
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    "created": "2012-12-31 18:37:41 UTC",
    "updated": [
        "2012-12-31 18:37:41 UTC"
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    "html": "<blockquote>\n<p>When President Obama talks about taxing the rich, he means the top 2 percent of Americans. John A. Boehner, the House speaker, talks about an even thinner slice. But <strong>the current and future fiscal imbalances are too large to exempt 98 percent or more of the public from being part of the solution.</strong></p>\n<p>Ultimately, <strong>unless we scale back entitlement programs far more than anyone in Washington is now seriously considering</strong>, we will have no choice but to increase taxes on a vast majority of Americans. This could involve higher tax rates or an elimination of popular deductions. Or it could mean an entirely new tax, such as a value-added tax or a carbon tax.</p>\n<p>To be sure, the path ahead is not easy. No politician who wants to be re-elected is eager to entertain the possibility of higher taxes on the middle class. But fiscal negotiations might become a bit easier if everyone started by agreeing that the policies we choose must be constrained by the laws of arithmetic.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Emphasis mine.  Via <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/30/business/on-middle-class-tax-rates-too-much-wishful-thinking.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=1\">Too Much Wishful Thinking on Middle-Class Tax Rates - NYTimes.com</a>.</p>\n"
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