Mitt Romney's America

With the inauguration of Barack Obama to his 2nd term, it's worth taking a moment to consider what the United States would be like today if Mitt Romney were taking the oath of office on the Capitol steps.

It is, of course, difficult to know. Romney invented Obamacare before denouncing it. He said that government can't create jobs, but that his administration would create 12 million jobs. He is "staunchly pro-life" and "defends a woman's right to choose".

So, we have no idea what his policies would be. But we do one thing about the way he thinks everyone should live.

"If a Democrat were here, he'd look around and say no one should live like this. Republicans come here and say everyone should live like this." - Mitt Romney, during a fundraiser at "Papa" John Schnatter's 24,000 square foot limestone castle, complete with 22-car garage and private golf course.


Unlike the "47%" comment, I actually think Mitt is proud of this statement. With hard work, low taxes and generous government subsidies for the rich, we can all live like Papa John.

Wow.

I'm going to ignore the fact that Mr. Schatter's carbon footprint is bigger than Godzilla's, and just think about the actual logistics of everyone living like this.

In "Mitt Romney's America":

1. Everyone has a 22-car garage. We each get about 10 cars plus some empty spaces for visitors.

2. Everyone has 11 bathrooms. Because everyone like this, you can't hire someone to clean your bathrooms for you. They are too busy cleaning their own bathrooms. And do you really expect someone with their own private golf course to spend their days cleaning toilets?

3. Everyone repairs air conditioners. Again, you can't hire an HVAC specialist for a reasonable rate, because they are all busy keeping their own homes running. Perhaps some sort of barter economy would develop where your neighbor would clean and maintain your cooling and heating systems in return for you cleaning and maintaining her four swimming pools. Or maybe you'd rather spend 120 hours each week washing dishes or vacuuming walk-in closets.

4. There are no schools. Everyone is too busy mowing lawns for anyone to go to college and become a teacher. Also, kids have to start work as soon as they can operate a pair of pruning shears.

5. There are no cities. Everyone lives on 16 acres. The sprawl created by everyone moving out of New York City would cover 400,000 square miles, stretching from Canada to Florida (and completely covering Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia).

6. After filling every square inch of the United States (including Alaska) we would invade and colonize: Canada, Mexico, India, China, Brazil, South Africa, Kenya, Greenland, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Argentina, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Japan, Vietnam, Egypt, North Korea, South Korea, Bangladesh ... and all of Europe. This kills or displaces more than two thirds of the world's population.

Alternatively, we could occupy every acre on the Moon and still have enough Americans to fill all of Siberia.

7. There are no universities, no telephones and no internet. We have giant unlit houses with no roads and no electricity running to them. There are no hospitals or research laboratories. America would become the least innovative country on the planet (behind Burundi and Mozambique).

8. On the bright side, we would have the world's lowest wealth inequality (better than Sweden and South Korea).

Oops. I just noticed that Mitt didn't say "every American". He said "everyone".

So, new plan. First, pave over every ocean and lake so that the Earth has enough land for all the people in China, India and Brazil. The United States gets all of the moon, and most of Mercury (the new "Sunbelt"). Russia gets Mars (they like cold weather). Everyone else fits on Venus. And Neil deGrasse Tyson can go live on Pluto.

Finding The Split In The Republican Party

In 1861, the Confederate States of America seceded from the United States of America. The map below shows the Confederacy in green (with light green showing territory claimed by the Confederacy without formal secession).

Today, the same geographical split exists. But it exists inside the Republican Party.

Last week, the House of Representatives passed the American Taxpayer Relief Act -- a tax cut of more than $3 trillion over the next 10 years. The bill passed by a vote of 257-167.
In order to prevent the "fiscal cliff", this bill required some degree of bipartisan support. And John Boehner (R-OH) managed to convince 36% of his caucus to vote for the bill.

However, the vote breakdown shows a huge geographical split inside the Republican Party:

	For	Against	Support
Original Slave States (1776)	1	29	3.3%
The South	18	84	17.6%
The Northeast	25	2	92.6%
TOTAL	85	151	36.0%

Here is a map showing the breakdown by state. Orange shows where a majority of the Republican Representatives voted for the bill. Red shows where they opposed the bill decisively (by 3 or more votes).

This shows a split in the House that isn't between Republicans and Democrats. It's between Northern Republicans and Southern Republicans.

The Poor Get Screwed ... Again

This post should be short, as the graph speaks for itself.

Congress just passed, and Obama just signed, the "American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012" (aka "ATRA").

Since Obama won the election, we know that ATRA shifted the federal tax burden from working people towards the top 2%. Right?

Wrong.

The percentage increase, by household income group, of federal tax burden, from last year to this year:

As expected, everyone's taxes went up. But the poor got hit with a 120.9% tax hike.

Before the comment section fills up, I do realize that those earning $500,000 pay more taxes in terms of absolute value than someone earning $20,000. (In fact, I used to be a Republican).

For example, a family earning $20,000 that had a $2,000 federal tax bill could see their taxes go up to $4,418 -- an increase of $2,418.

Meanwhile, a young stock trader making $500,000 on Wall Street might see his federal taxes go from $75,000 to $77,850 -- an increase of $2,850.

$2,850 is bigger than $2,418. Therefore, Congress is soaking the rich! Your logic is impeccable. Now go fuck yourself.

Seriously, which family can better absorb a big tax hike?

As the poor already pay much more in taxes as a share of their income, this is horrible news for those families hit hardest by the recession.

Mitt Romney famously said: "I'm not concerned about the very poor."

It appears that Obama and Congress feel the same way.

Source: Tax Policy Center