The flat baritone

My amigo, who was somewhat horrified that I might believe a flat tax would frustrate red-state working Americans, passes along Thomas Frank's remarks on the apparent contradictions implied by their voting habits. And the Times offers an analysis that calls drastic forms of tax reform "politically risky." Clinton-era economic advisor Gene Sperling says it's nigh on impossible to flatten the tax code without creating "tens of millions of losers," though interestingly, Barack Obama seems willing to negotiate.

I suppose the idea of kicking tax policy back into the pre-World War I era goes hand-in-hand with new attempts to set science and education back a couple of hundred years. Bah.