The Discerning Texan

Glenn Reynolds crafts a similie (emphasis mine):

SIX ALABAMA COUNTIES have more registered voters than voting-age people. Plus this: "Well, considering a dog here in Pike County received a personally addressed voter registration form this month from the Alabama Democratic Party, we’d have to say there’s legitimate cause for concern."

What's the big deal? We've had "yellow dog Democrats" in the South for years. But I wonder if the voting system is like the credit system, with same-day registration and limited ID requirements kind of like those "no doc" loans, and questionable voting machines being like the dubious credit-rating schemes. As with the credit system, lots of insiders are making out too well from the current system to want to fix it, but when the inevitable crash comes the rest of us will pay the price . . . . Or is that analogy too much of a stretch?

And then there is the reality of the Obama vs. McCain Tax Plan--using math that even a third grader can grok (emphasis again mine):

GREG MANKIW FOCUSES ON WHAT'S IMPORTANT: "Here is a question that you may have been thinking about: How do the different candidates' tax plans affect Greg Mankiw's incentive to work?"

If there were no taxes, so t1=t2=t3=t4=0, then $1 earned today would yield my kids $28. That is simply the miracle of compounding.

Under the McCain plan, t1=.35, t2=.25, t3=.15, and t4=.15. In this case, a dollar earned today yields my kids $4.81. That is, even under the low-tax McCain plan, my incentive to work is cut by 83 percent compared to the situation without taxes.

Under the Obama plan, t1=.43, t2=.35, t3=.2, and t4=.45. In this case, a dollar earned today yields my kids $1.85. That is, Obama's proposed tax hikes reduce my incentive to work by 62 percent compared to the McCain plan and by 93 percent compared to the no-tax scenario. In a sense, putting the various pieces of the tax system together, I would be facing a marginal tax rate of 93 percent. The bottom line: If you are one of those people out there trying to induce me to do some work for you, there is a good chance I will turn you down. And the likelihood will go up after President Obama puts his tax plan in place.

Perhaps this will lead a lot of people to "go John Galt."

(What can I say? He's Glenn... With all the rocks, shoals, and nooks out there in the wild wild web, who after all is better and finding the real gems?