The Taibbi Twitter Files (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
The Taibbi Twitter Files (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
Appears in this episode
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0:00 A brief message from Bob
0:55 Why Mickey thinks the first installment of the Twitter Files was a something-burger
8:05 What Bob thinks Taibbi (and Musk) flubbed
18:26 Do the files show a pro-Dem bias in pre-Musk Twitter?
25:19 Ukraine war update
42:24 Parrot Room preview: an (unwitting) win for Bob; a damning J.D. Vance quote for Mickey; the latest SBF allegation; the worst. Substack. Issue. Ever.; Bob submits a beef with Mickey for commenter consideration; commenter takes on Musk’s gun tweet; potential Parrot Room theme song(s); the Fed on why men are leaving the labor force; Janan Ganesh on why you should leave Twitter
Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded December 8, 2022.
Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65367
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The Taibbi Twitter Files (Robert Wright & Mickey Kaus)
Not sure how this whole comment thread thing works OR if anyone will ever see this… but just read NYTimes piece this morning about Mickey’s favorite subject… the refundable child tax credit (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/15/upshot/child-tax-credit.html)
So just realized that the amount of money they are talking about here is so small per family… in the recent version of this credit, families making less than $23,000/ year accessed progressively (regressively?) less of the $2000/year/child allowed to families making between $23k and $200k… this is because of the “non refundable” nature of the credit… you can’t claim more of the refund than you have tax liability.
Mickey constantly bemoans the fact that making the credit refundable (i.e., so that the poorest of the poor can also access the same help as the $23k - $200k set) would encourage people not to work.
Now that I see these numbers…. I can’t imagine that anyone would decide not to work simply because of receiving an extra $4k, $6k, $8k a year. If you are already only making $15k a year…. why would you quit your job just because you were eligible to get an $8k refundable child tax credit? You’ve just cut your income in half!
Mickey’s alarm reminds me of the stories about welfare mothers being given free Cadillacs that I used to hear back in the 80’s. Yes - promoting a strong work ethic is important. However, turning the screws on poor people until they simply see the light and decide to stop being poor is cruel. Try harder.
Re msnbc chris's wish to humiliate russia to discourage cross border aggression and war crimes: didnt work well after versailles.