New York native, he studied applied mathematics at Yale. Before coming to The Times, David worked for Business Week magazine, in Chicago and New York, and for the metro desk of The Washington Post. E-mail David Leonhardt: leonhardt@nytimes.com
Posted on 03/24/2010 12:41:45 AM PDT by Cincinna
For all the political and economic uncertainties about health reform, at least one thing seems clear: The bill that President Obama signed on Tuesday is the federal government’s biggest attack on economic inequality since inequality began rising more than three decades ago.
Over most of that period, government policy and market forces have been moving in the same direction, both increasing inequality. The pretax incomes of the wealthy have soared since the late 1970s, while their tax rates have fallen more than rates for the middle class and poor.
Nearly every major aspect of the health bill pushes in the other direction. This fact helps explain why Mr. Obama was willing to spend so much political capital on the issue, even though it did not appear to be his top priority as a presidential candidate. Beyond the health reform’s effect on the medical system, it is the centerpiece of his deliberate effort to end what historians have called the age of Reagan.
Speaking to an ebullient audience of Democratic legislators and White House aides at the bill-signing ceremony on Tuesday, Mr. Obama claimed that health reform would “mark a new season in America.” He added, “We have now just enshrined, as soon as I sign this bill, the core principle that everybody should have some basic security when it comes to their health care.”
The bill is the most sweeping piece of federal legislation since Medicare was passed in 1965. It aims to smooth out one of the roughest edges in American society — the inability of many people to afford medical care after they lose a job or get sick. And it would do so in large measure by taxing the rich.
E-mail: leonhardt@nytimes.com
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
It starts immediately, and the countdown to November started Monday am.
First: please note that Robin Hood fought against high taxes that were causing everyone to suffer.
Second: What is like to live in la-la land where the NYT journalists reside?
Correct...robin stole from the corrupt govt...not the people...
Another perversion by the left...
Can you say SOCIALISM?
Freaking liar.
The poor don’t pay income taxes.
The “wealthy” pay more of the federal budget than ever before.
5% of taxpayers pay over 50% of all income taxes and they keep piling on more and more.
I really hate these liars.
New York is the greatest city in the world. It is a pleasure to live here. It is beautiful, safe, and a terrific place to live.
Plenty of conservative journalists live here as well.
Wow, you can just sense the breathless excitement this “journalist” experienced as he wrote this drivel.
Health care for the truly wealthy won’t suffer because they can pay whatever fees are demanded for the best services. The middle class will pay more for deteriorating and diminishing services. The elderly may be placed on ice flows.
That’s always the case... the crackheads, 500 pound hippos, and welfare cheats will be able to continue on milking the system and the wealthy will be able to pay for necessary treatment - in cash, if necessary. It will be the people in the middle, who get to pay for the welfare scum at the bottom, who will feel the biggest squeeze.
The article’s author is an ass. Let’s just get this over NYT. Just confiscate 100% of everything over $250,000 per year. $250,000 is more than enough to live off of.
Shoot, why stop at $250,000. Let’s just take the rhetoric all the way, NYT. You’re for wealth redistribution? Fine with me. Let’s just cap everyone at $50,000 per year. That’s enough to live on. Besides, we don’t want people having powerful cars, big homes, or any other form of “high living” that harms the environment.
I think we should start with your salary first, leonhardt@nytimes.com.
Can you say MARXISM?
I know this. I figured my taxes the same this year as I did last year (1040EZ, the "let's get this over with" filing form). I give myself an extra deduction so I usually have some tax to pay in April, even after payroll deductions are factored in.
Last year, I had to send the IRS a check around $180. This year, I'll have to send them a check for $380. I earn less than $40,000 a year so I'm certainly not in any economist's classification of "the rich" or "the top 5%", etc.
Proof (to me anyway) that Obama's "middle class tax cut" is a total lie. But, then, I always knew it was.
There is a reason, Mr. Leonhardt, U.S. coins display the word “Liberty” and not “Equality”. But perhaps your Messiah will “change”that too.
And what will they do once the rich people start leaving this Obama socialist paradise?
The best and brightest are most likely to make a fortune and most likely to create jobs.... when they leave they will leave behind a shiftless mob raping and pillaging. It’s almost that bad already in places like Detroit, just imagine Detroit without any more welfare handouts. The freebies given out by the gov come largely from taxes paid by the rich...they are pulling this wagon load of freeloaders.
I wonder what Mr. Leonhardt will say when he gets a letter from the Obama Housing Equality Board saying that he has to take in at least 10 homeless people for free to address wealth inequality.
Why the dickens would anyone poor want to take the trouble to try to get rich if rewarded so for staying what they are and punished so for trying to better their lot?
grow the pie, not distribute it by shrinking the pie.
I wish ppl stop using Robin Hood as an example. Robin Hood stole from over taxing, corrupt government
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