"We had a heated debate about the canard that half the country doesn't pay taxes last week. Corey Robin makes a point that I and others also made in the thread: that the real problem with that stat is that it means half of the people who work in this country are paid terrible wages. I agree with him; we'd be better focusing on the low wages here than engaging on the nonsensical claim that these people are deadbeats solely because they're paid so poorly."
"Jared Bernstein thinks that the collapse in approval of Obama's treatment of the economy has to do with the focus on the debt ceiling. I'd love to see someone like Nate Silver do more nuanced analysis on this point. In particular, I'd like to see whether people even understand that the "debt ceiling" is related to the "deficit" that polls show, in abstract, concerns people."
Senior military leaders report progress contracting to Afghan contractors, while a congressional staffer warns the U.S. may reduce its Afghanistan footprint if those efforts fail. Japan reintroduced middle-school lessons on radioactivity, restoring "The nature of radiation" after its 1980s removal. The claim that half the country pays no taxes underscores low wages as a core problem for many workers. Focus on the debt ceiling appears to have reduced approval of Obama's economic handling, possibly due to public confusion about its relation to the deficit. BATF says Fast and Furious supervisors were reassigned, though some sources call the moves promotions. Rising drinking in China is linked to business culture.
#afghanistan-contracting #japan-education-reform #low-wages-and-taxation #debt-ceiling-understanding #fast-and-furious
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