NPR’s Planet Money team has been covering the election by looking at, well, economics. Recently they unveiled their “Economist Candidate,” a fake presidential candidate who would run on the plan put together by a slate of economists (left & right) based on a six point plank:
- Eliminate the home mortgage interest deduction
- End the deduction that corporations get for paying for employee health insurance
- Eliminate the corporate income tax altogether
- Eliminate all personal income and payroll taxes
- Replace Federal tax income with a progressive national consumption tax and additional taxes on activities that cause environmental damage such as energy use
- Legalize drugs
This is their fake candidate’s first campaign ad.
“America, Fuck Yeah!”
We’re #1! Fuck yeah, ‘Merica!
Wait…
Oh.
#ThaPink
A simplistic, but amusing graphic.
I love beer.
- Portland, Oregon
- Seattle, Washington
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Miami, Florida
- San Francisco, California
- Dallas, Texas
- San Bernardino, California
- Denver, Colorado
- San Diego, California
- Houston, Texas
Plan your vacations accordingly.
(Source: The Huffington Post)
It is hard to think of a better deal than mailing a letter. In exchange for nothing more than a first-class stamp, the U.S. Postal Service will come to your house, pick up your envelope, and deliver it anywhere in the country. It will bring it from Hawaii to Miami. It will carry it from Bangor, Maine, to Dededo, Guam, a distance of 8,000 miles. If you got the address wrong, it will bring the letter back. These services are completed with extraordinary accuracy and speed. The cost? A mere 44 cents, less if you bought your forever stamps years ago. …
Changes to service are coming down the pike, too. The USPS wants Congress to loosen restrictions on how and when it delivers mail, who it hires, and how much it charges for its services. That could mean more contract and part-time employees. It could mean reduced pick-ups and drop-offs. It will probably mean the end of Saturday delivery.
There are more creative ideas out there as well. The USPS could add a cool service in which it accepts your physical mail but delivers it via email scan. It could let you pay to refuse junk mail, or turn a photograph into a postcard. …
One way or another, expect changes - and soon: A serious congressional fight over what to do with the USPS and how to do it is due when members come back from August recess, with advertisers, unions, and other delivery firms gearing up for a huge push. And expect a number of existential questions about - if not existential changes to - the mail service.
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