Patterico's Pontifications

8/5/2011

Sockpuppet Friday — The British Laffer Curve Edition

Filed under: General — Karl @ 8:48 am



[Posted by Karl]

As usual, you are positively encouraged to engage in sockpuppetry in this thread. The usual rules apply.

Please, be sure to switch back to your regular handle when commenting on other threads. I have made that mistake myself.

And remember: the worst sin you can commit on this thread is not being funny.

—–

And for this week’s Friday frivolity, we look across the pond to the United Kingdom:

David Cameron and George Osborne are plotting to slash the top rate of income tax to 45p in the pound as early as next March.

The Prime Minister and Chancellor want to make the change after seeing Treasury figures which show that the current 50p top rate will generate only marginal financial gains for the Government.

***

[A]llies of Mr Osborne believe a cut in the 50p rate is necessary to encourage wealth generators to stay in Britain and create new jobs to kick-start growth in the economy.

Treasury analysis shows that Labour’s decision to raise the top rate of tax from 40 per cent to 50 per cent on those earning £150,000 a year or more has generated up to £2.4billion a year.

But in an illustration of the way high tax rates encourage the better-off to dodge tax altogether, officials found that 70 per cent of that money, around £1.65billion, would be collected anyway if the top rate was 45p in the pound.

Some officials, including Robert Chote, head of the independent Office of Budget Responsibility, believe that the gains between 45p and 50p may be almost zero when the final tax take figures are in.

This is because when taxes are raised, Britain’s wealth creators use tax avoidance ploys to dodge income tax, putting money offshore or into pensions.

Something to keep in mind when Pres. Obama and other Democrats renew their call for a “balanced approach” to defusing the debt bomb.  I’m not suggesting the US is on the same spot on the Laffer Curve as the UK.  However, US history does show that the revenue/GDP ratio stays pretty stable (between 18-21%), regardless of the top marginal rate.  Progressives seem to think that allowing it to rise to 30% will solve the debt problem.  This seems… unlikely.

OK, let the sockpuppetry begin!

–Karl

126 Responses to “Sockpuppet Friday — The British Laffer Curve Edition”

  1. Well, it’s about bloody bleepin’ time.

    Michael Caine (255b30)

  2. What the President didn’t tell you is that “balanced approach” means He golfs, and you pay for it. He throws massive birthday bashes for himself and you can go dumpster diveraid your children’s college fund for your dinners.

    And speaking of balance, just where are this week’s allocated campaign donations? Pony up and quick, before He decrees the making of bricks without straw!

    Jay Carney (325a59)

  3. And that’s SIR Michael to most of you wankers.

    Michael Caine (255b30)

  4. So much to say, and so little time to say it.

    my sock puppet. (75c9eb)

  5. Well, SIR Michael certainly has some authority on what constitutes a wanker.

    Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, CBE (928bec)

  6. This thread is a paranoid schizophrenic’s dream come true.

    sock puppets' psychiatrist. (75c9eb)

  7. If at first you don’t succeed, failure may be your style.

    QuentinKrispy (d1f5ff)

  8. To know all is not to forgive all. It is to despise everybody.

    QuentinKrispy (d1f5ff)

  9. Is this a trap to get me to reveal all of my identities?

    my sock puppet #73 (75c9eb)

  10. Is this thread being monitored by the FBI?

    my sock puppet #61 (75c9eb)

  11. What? Aaron posted a pic of Scarlett Johansson in her Black Widow outfit?

    That’s IT! We’re through!!!

    Grace Park (87dbd9)

  12. Hmmm, shall I pretend to be a Republican or a Democrat?

    my sock puppet #32 (75c9eb)

  13. I like to get naked, smear peanut butter all over myself, and let a herd of Shetland ponies lick me clean.

    ronbryn (822109)

  14. I should apologize to Stashiu3 and Dustin for the vicious baseless lies and smears I have fabricated about them. But I won’t, because I am a crapweasel. I really yearn for both of them, they make me tingle. But since I could never have them, I choose to lash out.

    ronbryn (109425)

  15. That my opinions echo — sometimes word for word — popular liberal talking points is a total coincidence. I’m my own brand of leftard, and don’t none of you say otherwise!

    Luke (87dbd9)

  16. ronbryn, Don’t worry about it. Nobody reads your comments anyway.

    A Casual Observer (75c9eb)

  17. One way or another I will win ya.

    Blondie (d54602)

  18. When do youse guys start talking about me?

    Barack Hussein Obama, AKA teh Won (b35e65)

  19. “This is because when taxes are raised, Britain’s wealth creators use tax avoidance ploys to dodge income tax, putting money offshore or into pensions.”

    Why don’t the “wealth creators” (I guess they don’t mean the working class) use tax avoidance at 45p?

    cclass (6b1818)

  20. Excuse me. I am going to go curl up in the fetal position and diddle my squeakhole while gazing longingly at my posters old Rachel Maddow and Michael Moore.

    ronbryn (6e25b4)

  21. Comment by cclass — 8/5/2011 @ 10:19 am

    They do, they just use less of it, because “less is more”.

    Edmund G. Brown, Jr. (928bec)

  22. I disgust me.

    Ron Brynaert (109425)

  23. I am not a guy
    No matter how hard I try
    Guess God wired me wrong

    Madcow Haiku (87dbd9)

  24. Moo.

    Purple Cow (481f2a)

  25. Is it a sin to sock puppet yourself?

    Government wants to position itself at the top of the Laffer curve to maximize revenue. Maximum liberty, on the other hand, is on the lower tax rate end of the curve.

    Jeff Mitchell (481f2a)

  26. I am Cornholio, I need tee pee for my bunghole.

    Are you threatening me?

    Ron Brynaert (b98cae)

  27. Breitbart is a poopy head!

    PuffHo (87dbd9)

  28. BTW, I do have the information Patterico wants, and I do know he has been threatened by someone invested in that information. But what’s in it for me? When good people ask for my help, I ask back what’s in it for me?

    I talked to New York Times researcher Ron Brynaert on twitter about how sad sad sad it is these conservatives would call me a liar just because I lied to someone I didn’t actually know was fake.

    Then I sent someone at the NYT these DMs. I won’t tell you which NYT researched verified these DMs! It’s a secret, and you can’t see the DMs yourself… because what’s in it for me? The NYT researcher handled that with impeccable integrity and no interest in deception. Just like me!

    These DMs would prove your theories wrong, and I really really want you to know your theories are wrong, and I promise they do not show anything bad about me either! But … for some reason, all this ‘in it for me’ stuff is not enough! It’s kinda confusing!

    Gennette (b7410e)

  29. Also:

    Don’t worry, guys: I know who John Reid is. You don’t? hahahahahahahahah

    But it’s not such a laughing matter in public. Just in private! It’s kinda confusing! It’s like I’m not really concerned about it, but want people to think I am!

    Back when everyone ‘knew’ Weiner was hacked, I laughed that you all thought he had really sent that pic. Yet I kinda acted like I knew he had and was just pretending I could laugh it off. You guys are so stupid!

    Gennette (b7410e)

  30. GennetteC is a truth seeker, hater. SOCK!

    Ron Brynaert (b98cae)

  31. Yuppers. You old people are so out of touch and double plus uncool. I can always tell if some old person is trying to post like a cool and in-the-mix twenty something.

    I’m really smart that way. And no one else can do it!

    Gennette (c8876d)

  32. Obama at the Bat…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Tcahn7PwQU

    ColonelHaiku (d1f5ff)

  33. Al Shahab is not right wing.

    DohBiden (d54602)

  34. Dear Mr. Brynaert. Could you please stop talking about us so much? And if nothing else, could you buy some of that foot deodorant? Please? I’m just sayin’.

    Ron Brynaert's Only Pair of Socks (c8876d)

  35. How . . . DARE Rick Perry pray in public!!!

    Does he not know that our elected officials enjoy fewer liberties than the people they represent?

    Because, um, ya know — it’s bad enough for him to tell people he’s a Christian. To actually prove it by praying in a place where even one camera might catch him in the act, that right there is EXACTLY the same as if the Texas State Legislature enacted a law declaring Christianity to be the official religion of the state of Texas.

    Back pats all around, boys (and wannabe boy)! Gee, ain’t we smart?

    MoronicSuckassNarcissisticBullshittingCorrespondents (87dbd9)

  36. Are you threatening ? HACK!

    Excuse me, it is time for diaper play. Momma

    Ron Brynaert (d48c3b)

  37. Ron Brynert? Never heard of him.

    Gennette? Never heard of her either.

    Charlie Gibson (75c9eb)

  38. Dustin, would you please teabag me?

    Ron Brynaert (306f5d)

  39. I can always tell if some old person is trying to post like a cool and in-the-mix twenty something.

    YOU CAN TELL SHE’S REALLY A YOUTHFUL PERSON BECAUSE SHE SAID THAT! IT’S NOT SOMETHING AN FAKE WOULD SAY WHEN INSECURE THAT THEY SUCK AT ACTING!

    I’m gonna get you right wingers back for what you did to Weiner!!! I’m gonna get you!

    Stef (b7410e)

  40. Dustin, would you please teabag me?

    Comment by Ron Brynaert

    🙁

    Dustin (b7410e)

  41. Maybe Stashiu3 could interrogate me after Dustin teabags me. I am getting a little chubby just thinking about it.

    Ron Brynaert (85b089)

  42. BLOCKED! SOCK! HACK!

    Stash and Dusty – call me.

    Ron Brynaert (85b089)

  43. John Reed?
    You don’t know who John Reed is – I do!
    We watched the Russian Revolution together…

    Oh, you mean that other John Reed?

    Louise Bryant (928bec)

  44. Why am I feeling used?

    Tea Bag (b35e65)

  45. I absolutely must get home to my pomegranates.

    Hairy Reid (b35e65)

  46. You all missed a great party last night. It was for ME. I turned 50. In case you didn’t know.

    Barack Hussein Obama (b35e65)

  47. I am a criminal. Plus, I cannot get within 1000 feet of any school. You socks have ruined everything. I remember a time when you could masturbate on a park bench while licking an organ grinder monkey without the jackboots coming down on you.

    Ron Brynaert (85b089)

  48. 99+ weeks of funemployment creates and saves jobs like stimulus. Real stimulus is me having vivid graphic daydreams about Stashiu and Dustin.

    Ron Brynaert (85b089)

  49. “Miss me yet?”

    Dan Quayle (e546ca)

  50. Now they tell me.

    Amy Winehouse (daf1dc)

  51. Let me tell you how it will be,
    There’s one for you, and one for me.

    Just doesn’t have the same pop as “nineteen.”

    George Harrison (daf1dc)

  52. Unabashed voodoo economics, that.

    Lord Keynes (daf1dc)

  53. I feel so…used.

    And tired.

    Ron Brynaert's tin foil (6f2250)

  54. The radio station in St Louis has a caller calling in about a miniature service horse. MKDP and David Petranos Esp!

    Ron Brynaert (306f5d)

  55. Help! Keith Richards is snortin’ me ashes!!!

    Amy Wino-whore (87dbd9)

  56. Where are we going?

    And what’s with this hand basket?

    The Economy (6f2250)

  57. 709 sober…and counting!

    Ted Kennedy (6f2250)

  58. “And on the next Dirty Jobs, I’ll be removing Ron Brynaert’s alien anal probe…wait wait wait! I am so not getting paid enough for this…”

    Mike Rowe (6f2250)

  59. Screw you Mr. Rowe, try being me

    Ron Brynaert's anal probe (6f2250)

  60. Me & Gabby, we’re actually quite different.

    All of my head wounds were self-inflicted.

    Kinda like how the nation self-inflicted its own head wound by electing me VP. Whee!

    HeartbeatAway (87dbd9)

  61. The economy? Never heard of it.

    Charlie Gibson (6f2250)

  62. OOPS!

    Chris Hanson (29e1cd)

  63. I’m BACK, Baby!

    Volatility (3e06cb)

  64. Jolly good curve… and nothing to laff at!

    Reaganite Republican (c90bca)

  65. Who is Ron Brynaert, and why isn’t he appearing on my new television show?

    keith olberman (58dde3)

  66. I don’t have to put up with all your crap, you know.

    I can leave anytime.

    Go ahead, call my bluff.

    There’s a great guest blogging spot waiting for me over at Brad Blog where they really appreciate me.

    Ron Brynaert (bf33e9)

  67. Great news!

    Alcee Hastings just offered me a spot on his STAFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    I’m sooooooo excited.

    Gennettec (bf33e9)

  68. I have a puppet in my sock. Wanna see?

    Wiener (87dbd9)

  69. Dustin – call me. I yearn to hear the warm dulcet tones of your rich baritone wash over me like the gentlest of waves on a tropical shore. Please.

    Ron Brynaert (85b089)

  70. So there you have it, folks: the sum total of conservative riffin’ on the goings on around the country and the world, at Patterico’s Pontifications. Ron Brynaert and Gennette C — because they deserve to suck up all the attention in the room!

    Sockpuppet Letter # 23 (325a59)

  71. Yeah! I already told you my birthday party was yesterday! You’d think you’d be throwing me a big afterparty — you all owe me, you know, after that great debt deal I put together!

    President Barack H. Obama, Healer of Planets and Extinguisher of Birthday Candles (325a59)

  72. Gas-passing is due to Global Warming!

    Dr. Phil Jones (928bec)

  73. Okay be that way — I’m off to Camp David. Where I really want to go is Hawaii but that damn Plouffe won’t let me. And don’t call me. (storms out)

    President Barack H. Obama, Healer of Planets and Sulker Extraordinaire (325a59)

  74. Don’t worry, Mr. O. I will make you a special shave ice, just like from Hawaii. And a Spam sandwich on WHITE bread, just like you prefer. The weekend will be over before you know it and you will be off to Martha’s Vinyard.

    Big White Chef Sam Kass (b35e65)

  75. Please, sir. May I keep my lemonade stand open?

    Generic Child Of Non-distinct Race And Sex (73db5e)

  76. I am clinically insane.

    Ron Brynaert (6e25b4)

  77. What do you mean “none of it is about race”? You’re killing my act here!

    Alvie Sharp-tongue (76fd35)

  78. Froma mental asylum is calling the tea party ,terrorists.

    DohBiden (d54602)

  79. This is The Last Word on Mitt Romney:

    Ahem . . .

    He’s an effing Mormosexual! This automatically makes him a racist, misogynist, heathen. Instead of electing him we should be stoning him to death!

    Ah! Ah!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Larry OD'd on Sam Kinison (76fd35)

  80. Boy, I sure wish that Spartacvs would stop dragging me across Chris Hooten’s chin!

    Tea Bag (76fd35)

  81. Any resemblance between the POTUS & myself is entirely coincidental.

    Caesar (76fd35)

  82. Miss me yet?

    President ad nauseum, Jimmah Carter (75c9eb)

  83. puppet in my pants
    he has a hard job to do
    but he loves his work

    ColonelHaiku (d1f5ff)

  84. I apologize to the world for my intemperate insanity. I am not well. I am a non-compliant patient, with nobody that cares enough about me to lend a helping hand. Were I to have a life, a close friend would have intervened a long time ago. Now, I will return to hanging out with the domestic terrorists at brad log and my best buddy Bret Kimberlin.

    Ron Brynaert (92e366)

  85. so many tea bags
    and so little time at hand
    spartacvs lament

    ColonelHaiku (d1f5ff)

  86. Yahhhhhhhhhhhhhhoooooooooooo! Standard & Poor’s has downgraded America’s triple-A rating!! Now Uncle Sam has a triple A-hole rating, just like us! Higher interest rates for all!! Don’t thank us, you’re welcome, USA! We won! We won! Yahoooooooooooooooooooooo!

    The Tea Party (9d1bb3)

  87. Yahoos, indeed.

    S&P (9d1bb3)

  88. Wait! Downgraded? What do you mean you don’t use the same grading scale as the Atlanta Public School system??

    Barracky McMommyPantz (6f2250)

  89. Help, our credit rating has fallen, and it can’t get up

    USA (6f2250)

  90. I do love my job
    So don’t you dare kick me out
    That would piss me off

    The Haiku Obama (f68855)

  91. S&P?? Never heard of it.

    Charlie Gibson (b35e65)

  92. We have met the enemy and he is us. Oops! Nevermind.

    The Tea Party (9d1bb3)

  93. Crap…no lever is going to move that debt

    Archimedes (6f2250)

  94. Elect me president of the CSA…I mean USA… and I be gittin’ Uncle Sammy’s dang creditial ratings on a par with me grades in economics at Aggieland. Pray for me. Better still, pray for rain. y’all.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/05/rick-perry-college-transcript_n_919357.html

    Rick Perry (9d1bb3)

  95. Be careful what you wish for. You might just get it. D’oh!

    The Tea Party (9d1bb3)

  96. You gotta laugh at this crap, for it hurts too much to cry.

    Emmett Kelly (928bec)

  97. Debt? Deficits? Relax. If I’ve said it one, I’ve said it a thousand times. Reagan proved that deficits don’t matter. =quack=

    Dick Cheney (9d1bb3)

  98. Yeah, we have total responsibility for the deficit from 2007 to today.

    So what? We really hate Dick Cheney.

    Solving the problem? Out of the question. Balancing the budget? Out of the question. It is time to demonize and refuse to get this country on track.

    The Left (b7410e)

  99. Did you ever notice that Obama stole my dance moves? The bloody plonker…

    Rick Astley (6f2250)

  100. Are you guys done bombing me yet?

    M. Ghadaffi (b0fa47)

  101. We’re not bombing you, Mr Ghadaffi- we’re diversifying molecules and aerating the environment with velocity and vigor!

    You’re welcome!

    NATO (6f2250)

  102. Downgrade? So… you really, finally did it. You maniacs! Damn you!! Damn you all to Hell…

    Charlton Heston (9d1bb3)

  103. La, la, la, la, la, la ….

    It’s soooo cool to have our first black president …,

    and to have the Black Caucus running Congress, too.

    Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

    ditzy college student (75c9eb)

  104. Somebody pleeeeease kill me.

    Froma Harrop's Vibrator aka "Big Blackie" (f1c59f)

  105. La, la, la, la, I agree, ditzy college student. Woopee!!!

    ditzy woman voter (75c9eb)

  106. La, la, la, I love Obama. Don’t ask me why. La, la, la

    ditzy Jewish voter (75c9eb)

  107. As I have always said, we are a second-rate nation.

    And now S&P has confirmed it.

    I am a man of my word.

    Barack Who's-Just-Sayin' Obama (76fd35)

  108. #107 – If that was true, which it isn’t, which countries would be First Rate in your opinion?

    BTW, stop being so negative. We survived Wilson, FDR and Carter, and we’ll survive Obama, too.

    Summit, NJ (75c9eb)

  109. Miss us yet, bitches?!

    George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, LBJ, Ike Eisenhower, Harry S Truman, FDR, Herbert Hoover, Teddy Roosevelt, Abe Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and a few m (f1c59f)

  110. Tea Party steamed.
    Teabaggers boiling mad.
    And how.

    The Koffee Klatch (9d1bb3)

  111. Bitchpiss cleanup on aisle 108

    Spirit Worth GettIng Into (76fd35)

  112. Jigganomics at work ni*g*s!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    S. Carter aka J-Z (786e37)

  113. Dear Diary- Told Nancy ‘The Plan’ over champagne and jellybeans. Love the green ones. We charge everything to Uncle Sam’s credit card and pretend the 80’s are the 60’s. Boom times, Mommie! Smoke and mirrors, just like Jack Warner’s Hollywood. We’ll call it Reaganomics. With luck and some creative, ‘off-budget’ bookkeeping, we should get away with it for two or three decades. Young Cheney’s onboard to carry the flag. Sent Stockman to the woodshed before lunch to bring him around. Then, when the last roundup calls and the ride to the big ranch in the sky is over, all the debts will belong to the kiddies. Thirty years on, what will it matter. By then it’ll be their problem, not ours. – RR.

    Dear Diary (9d1bb3)

  114. I love how the leftists are trying to shift blame on this. It is so cute.

    JD (92e366)

  115. #111 – And that was nuanced. 🙂

    Summit, NJ (75c9eb)

  116. I love how lefties accuse us of racism because we oppose islam.

    DohBiden (d54602)

  117. “The beatings will continue until morale improves and we will continue spending until the deficit improves.”

    Captain Bligh (London Democrat) (f8a299)

  118. Standard & Poor’s? Listen you Yankee Doodle deadbeats, as of this moment, you’re on DOUBLE SECRET PROBATION!

    Dean Wormer (9d1bb3)

  119. Dean Wormer? Would you please tell sparticvs the advice you gave me?

    Flounder (c47db4)

  120. =musical intro= Thank you, Tea Party, for degrading Uncle Sam. Republicans may be rich, but your standards are poor.

    Jimmy Fallon (9d1bb3)

  121. #115 – Who changed #112 to #111 today? Man up.

    Summit, NJ (75c9eb)

  122. Somebody previously banned probably snuck a post in and got discovered, so no more post – it tends to screw the numbering up.

    Staish, how about leaving the number there, and just insert a note “removed by host for breaking curfew(whatever)”?

    AD-RtR/OS! (184e3b)

  123. #111 – Yeah right, cretin, like that’ll happen.

    Summit, NJ (75c9eb)

  124. #122 – No, I meant that, until today, it was

    #112 – And that was nuanced. 🙂

    And then today, somebody changed it to

    #111 – And that was nuanced. 🙂

    For some bizarre reason. Spooky, very spooky.

    Summit, NJ (75c9eb)

  125. Having trouble with that “worst sin” part?

    OneEleventy!!!1!!!1!1!1! (08b9d8)

  126. Once, just once I would like to see sparticvs respond to a comment without obfuscating. Nobody can lie, duck and run like he can. He certainly isn’t a credit to his party. He makes them look like fools.

    sock puppet (75c9eb)


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