The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Spiritual Gains, Material Losses

1.15.03 @ 12:01AM

CAPITAL IDEA
Re: Lawrence Henry's The Dividend Tax Cut: The Right Questions:

Bush's plan eliminates taxes on capital gains as well as dividends. Corporate profits that have already been taxed could be excluded from gains when an investor sold his stock. This means that almost all U.S. stocks would get a boost from this plan, and not just dividend-paying ones. However, it's very doubtful that this plan will make its way through the Senate. I wouldn't count my dividends before they're hatched.
-- unsigned

Lawrence Henry replies: The writer is right, but of course the tax cut on capital gains (on an imputed basis) requires a fair amount of explanation. It looks like the Bush administration has been fiendishly clever, putting through a capital gains tax cut in a form that no Democrat can get into a sound bite. Demagogue-proof? We'll see.

IF IT'S BROKAW, FIX IT
Re: David Hogberg's Media Bias and the Bush Plan:

A great and timely article.

Please check on this. Last night (Monday), on NBC's evening news with Tom Brokaw, the following was presented:

In discussing the income tax cut plan, they interviewed a college professor who presented this example, purported to show how the "average" taxpayer definition can be misleading.

Ten taxpayers, one of whom is Bill Gates, nine other ordinary citizens.

Bill had an income of $1,000,000, and each of the others had income of $30,000. The professor then, on a chalkboard, summed the incomes, arriving at a total of $1,270,000. She then made the statement that the average income was over a million dollars.

I had been reading while listening, and didn't pay much attention until I heard that last assertion. I looked, but couldn't see the chalkboard math that resulted in that average; I was also sorry that I missed the name of the college at which this professor mangled her math. I still can't believe that I heard what I think I heard.

Perhaps you could check on this, and if my recollections are correct, obtain a copy of the broadcast. If possible, it should be rerun daily somewhere (Fox News?) every time the discussion of media bias arises.

Regards,
-- Richard Renken

THE BEST POST-BEATLE
Re: Paul Beston's Remembering George Harrison:

When discussing George Harrison's solo career, overlooked by most writers, Paul Beston included, is a sweet nugget of an album by Ringo Starr, simply titled, Ringo. This late 1973 release was touted as a virtual Beatles reunion. All four Beatles appeared on the record, though not all four were on any single song, and each Beatle wrote songs.

I'm sure it did not pass unnoticed by Lennon or McCartney that the album's hits were the cover of "You're Sixteen" (by Richard and Robert Sherman, perhaps best known for their work in 1960s Walt Disney musicals), and "Photograph" (Starkey/Harrison).

Letter to the Editor

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