GETTING OUT OF THE RED Legalize it
For a moment, ignore the question of whether, as a matter of principle, marijuana should be legal or illegal. What would be the net improvement of U.S. public finances if the drug were legalized and taxed?
CORRECTIONS
Because of a production error, the SMBC comic run last Friday transposed the ordering of the last two pairs of frames. The female character’s declaration of the ease of avoidance of “clingy guys” should come after the male character’s statement of his inability to eat a brick, not before. The comic is reprinted in the correct order on p. 12 of this issue.
Why moving farther right is so wrong
By this point, it is no secret that the Republican field of presidential candidates is not ideal (and that’s being generous). But the flaws of the party have made themselves apparent not only in the candidates, but also in the voters. The positions of the candidates and the disgusting responses of the audience at the Republican debates have put on full display just how far to the right the Tea Party has driven the GOP.
Rush is good — but too rushed
At the end of orientation, we all experienced the frantic week known as Rush. Many things have been written regarding the Rush process, including statistics on the number of men who have received bids and accepted them (369 and 321, respectively, as of two weeks ago). Most men who pledged did so because they felt that they got along very well with their fraternity brothers.
A state of their own
Palestine’s bid to become a voting member at the United Nations is nearing its final hour. In the latest tally, it appears that Palestine is close to securing nine votes on the Security Council, with Brazil, China, India, Lebanon, Russia, and South Africa voting yes; Bosnia, Gabon, and Nigeria very likely to vote yes; and Britain, Colombia, France, Germany, and Portugal set to abstain from the vote. Should Palestine reach the nine-vote threshold for entry, the United States will be faced with a choice. Should it abstain, and defer to the Security Council super majority, or should it vote no and veto the Palestinian entry?
Lies, damned lies, and presidential reduction plans
During the debt ceiling negotiations, President Obama made an offer to Speaker of the House John Boehner that was the epitome of reasonable:: in return for lifting the debt ceiling, Obama proposed a $4 trillion reduction in federal deficits over ten years, split roughly 2-to-1 between spending cuts and revenue increases, with little to none of the cuts occurring in the next two years. Boehner, having waited for this sort of middle-of-the-road compromise for weeks, quickly accepted. And for a moment, I thought it was all going to work out.
What oil subsidies?
Among President Obama’s recommendations for fixing the budget is the elimination of $4 billion per year in “subsidies” for oil companies. This will be the third time the president has made a push for ending oil subsidies and the third time that economists have scratched their heads and asked, “What subsidies?”
State of the Race
The electoral picture continues to look grim for Democrats. In the good news category, Obama’s approval ratings have stopped the steep decline that they have been on since May of this year. In the bad news category, the approval ratings have not bounced back either; they remain at roughly 43 percent approving, 51 percent disapproving — dangerously close to a Jimmy Carter-ish netherworld of unelectability.
Old and new freedoms for Saudi Arabia
On Sunday, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia announced the enfranchisement of women to vote, run for local office, and serve on the Shura Council — the king’s advisory board. Such sweeping reforms for women are groundbreaking for the ultraconservative country.
Turning to the Haqqanis, Pakistan has made its choice
A pitfall of writing for this newspaper as frequently as I do is that sometimes a major event comes along and I find that I’ve already said most of what I wish to say. Such is the case with Admiral Michael G. Mullen’s recent admonishment of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence for its ties to the Haqqani insurgent network.
GUEST COLUMN A great dining program is a community effort
I am pleased to announce that MIT’s new House Dining Program is off to a great start, and I am looking forward to seeing the program develop over the coming year. The best news may be that the students are telling us that they are very happy with the food, but there are many other things to be pleased with, including the renovated dining halls and the ability to offer breakfast and lunch.
Elizabeth Warren misses the point
In August, Elizabeth Warren, the presumptive Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Scott Brown, had this to say:
The Palestinian statehood ruse
Today, Palestinian leaders may attempt to achieve statehood with a unilateral declaration of independence at the United Nations. This political ploy on the part of the Palestinians, if carried out, will not only fail to change the situation on the ground, but will also severely undermine peace and violate past agreements with Israel. Therefore, in the interest of true and meaningful peace, it is the responsibility of Congress to cut U.S. foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority if any such unilateral appeal for statehood is made.
Drawing the line
A week ago, we remembered a terrible day. We remembered not only the effect that this day has had on all of our lives, but the importance of overcoming the pain together. We also reminded ourselves that the only way to fight terror is to face it, to remain strong, and to know that it can never be powerful or frightening enough to bring down our way of life.
GETTING OUT OF THE RED Buying houses with other people’s money
For decades, the U.S. government has attempted to encourage home ownership through a tax provision called the home mortgage interest rate deduction (HMID). Formed in an era before politicians began christening each of their creations in Orwellian NewSpeak, the HMID does exactly what its moniker suggests: for those taxpayers who itemize, the HMID allows any interest payments on a home mortgage to be deducted from their taxable income.
GETTING OUT OF THE RED End tax-exempt health insurance
Normally, when workers are compensated for their labor, we tax their compensation. We call this radical idea an “income tax,” and with the advent of tax withholding in 1943, it became an almost ubiquitous feature of the American economy.
No national infrastructure investment bank
Last week, President Obama unveiled a $447 billion spending plan. Notice I say “spending plan,” rather than “stimulus plan” or “jobs plan,” because there is a difference. None of the plan’s components, which consist of roughly $250 billion in payroll tax cuts, $60 billion in unemployment insurance, and $140 billion to fund infrastructure (most of it going to a national infrastructure investment bank), can be considered significantly stimulative, and without stimulus, we’re unlikely to see many new jobs.
A taste of the new dining plan
Let me start by making a huge understatement: I like eating. In fact, I’m pretty sure if I polled everybody who is reading this, close to 99 percent of you would say the same thing — save the 1 percent who simply love to disagree with everything. Let me use this opportunity to make another obvious observation about myself: I like eating good food. I’m sure you all can attest that eating food that tastes delicious helps us start, continue, and end the day in a satisfactory way. At this point, I think it’s clear to say that this was similar to the logic employed by MIT last year when they decided to overhaul the dining system.