The American Spectator : Skyfall Times Seven

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Skyfall Times Seven

By Ben Stein on 12.10.12 @ 6:43AM

Engaging the world on a Rancho Mirage Sunday.

Sunday
I awakened here in Rancho Mirage, looked out the window of my bedroom and could not believe what I saw. There was my pool, with its light blue tiles and light blue water, and a few palm trees, and then the golf course, and then some other houses, and then the mountains and then the sky. It is amazingly beautiful. Blue skies, occasional jet contrails. Great stuff. Better go back to sleep.

I did that for a while, then swam for a long time. I watched the contrails and thanked God for my wife, my son, daughter-in-law, granddaughter, my Julie Goodgirl, the light of my life. I thanked God for every soldier, Marine, sailor, Merchant Marine, Air Force warrior, and every cop, every firefighter, every teacher.

I thanked God for my parents, their parents, my sister, and all the Denman ancestors (those are my in-laws), pals like Wlady and Bob and Phil and the girls and women who illuminated my days and nights. As I swam, I tried to imagine what life was like for my ancestors in the tenth century. It must have been horrifyingly bleak and frightening.

They probably lived in some hellhole in Eastern Europe where they starved, were cold and dirty, and beaten and killed by Cossacks whenever the Cossacks felt bored. I wonder if they could have even conceived of the way their descendant lives. When I was a child, I could not have even dared think of living the way I live. At most I thought I might have a little ranch house or '50s modern the way my parents did, in Silver Spring. How did I get this life? A gift from God, every single bit of it.

By the way, I won’t have it much longer. It is just too tiring to maintain as many homes as we have. I can’t afford all of the time and effort required to manage this many houses. Plus, I am tired of all the travel. I really enjoy business travel more than “vacation” travel. I like meeting people. That’s what I like to do. I am a small town politician at heart. My ideal job would be just to mosey around town asking people how they’re doing.

Anyway, I made my spectacular brunch — scrambled egg, sausage, orange juice, English muffins, ate it, got dressed, and raced off for my 12-step meeting.

The weather was perfect. 70 degrees, zero humidity, light breeze. Perfect.

There was only a small crowd at the meeting and I was asked to “lead.” That means I get to talk about myself, my favorite subject. I mostly talked about what a bad, bad, boy I have been in the past, in my substance-abusing days. I cannot believe the terrible things I did. Just awful, involving drinking and driving. It is a miracle that I am alive.

It is all a gift from God. I wonder what my ancestors thought about God as they lived in some horrible hovel with chickens nearby. They probably prayed constantly. If anyone has any idea of how Jews lived in Eastern Europe in the tenth century, please let me know. (On the other hand, there were all of those super good looking Russian and Ukrainian girls floating around, I imagine. Wow, they are really a marvel.)

At the meeting, we loitered for a time talking about tax problems. We have them in a big way. It looks as if even once income taxes go up to Clinton levels, still that won’t be enough. We have to be realists: supply-side got us into a deep hole. Now, we have to pay the piper to get out of it. We owe that piper a lot of money and our good times, tax-wise, are over forever. Sad, but that’s what happens when we make mistakes. We have to pay for them. Please don’t bother writing me telling me what a horrible person I am for not recognizing that low taxes pay for themselves by generating economic growth. That’s just a fairy tale, for one thing, and the longer we believe it, the deeper in the hole we go.

Yes, I know this contradicts Friedman, but I also know Friedman was occasionally wrong. He thought, for example, that the post office was a real threat to freedom. He was a thorough genius and a great man, but even great men are often wrong. Thomas Jefferson had his slaves whipped when they didn’t work hard enough. He encouraged them to produce children so he could sell them. He wasn’t a saint, and yet he was Thomas Jefferson.

(I read about this in an article in Smithsonian Magazine, a truly great journal.)

One of my vows for this year is to not think of men and women as Republicans or Democrats but just as people and not to judge them until I hear what they have to say. In fact, why judge them at all? Why not just go to the Westfield Mall in Palm Desert, buy note cards with little kitties on them for my wife, then come home and sleep with my wifey and my dog next to me and the fire in the fireplace?

Meanwhile, B languishes in prison. I got a letter from him saying they were in lockdown and a number of the prisoners were screaming obscenities all night long. It sounds dreadful. Plus my pal A is going into what might be called a “fugue” state and my pal M is broke and wants to borrow money from me.

Even my wife was crabby last night because she was so tired. We had been to see Skyfall for the seventh time and I think she was a bit angry at me for forcing her to see it so many times. I can’t help it. I would see it every day, if I could.

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About the Author

Ben Stein is a writer, actor, economist, and lawyer living in Beverly Hills and Malibu. He writes “Ben Stein’s Diary” for every issue of The American Spectator.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (68) | Leave a comment Leave a comment

Appleby| 12.10.12 @ 7:31AM

Got up this morning at 5:30 a.m. and looked out the window of my apartment, saw that freezing rain is pelting down. Desperately wish I could go back to bed and sleep; alas, must trudge off to my temporary (since January) job to earn the money back that I spent on Christmas this weekend. Cannot afford this apartment or any apartment any more; no work here in Socialist Heaven for people over 60. Praying that my application to the Senior Housing in NY is accepted soon and that this job will last until I can scrape enough up to pay for the moving truck and the friends who will drive it (for a fee that I do not begrudge them) to get there. Giving a brief thought to a man whose worst problem is that he owns too many houses and thinks everybody else ought to be taxed into the poorhouse to assauge his liberal guilt. Wondering how soon I can afford a second pair of shoes. Shaking my head and heading for the subway in the freezing rain.

TLP| 12.10.12 @ 10:04AM

"I'm not rich."

So said our resident Indigent with the Pool, a few Palm Trees, the Golf Course, and that wonderful Mountain Sky.

I woke up at 5:30 as well this Morning. It's Foggy outside, wet and miserable. I take the obligatory Leak and make my way downstairs.

I make my Wife's Coffee and go outside to start her car. She'll be home by 10pm. Maybe.

I get the kids off to school, make myself something to chow on and throw the Stupid Dog out the front door, gazing through the window with a Child's sense of Wonderment, as he Pukes up something Yellow and Stringy that hangs off his chin for like an hour.

The Tarp on my roof makes noise as it is buffeted by the wind. I gaze up at the Water Marks on my Ceiling. I check that my 1998 Pickup Truck hasn't rolled down the hill because the Transmission blew out and it came outta Park.

It's Winter now, so I'm pretty much Housebound these days.

I go up the stairs where the Bed that I traded some old Stain Glass Windows one of my Customers had in their basement for, about 20 Years ago, sits. I'm trying to decide which Basket full of Dirty Clothes to take down in to the Basement and Wash

I need to go to the Gas Station, as I ran out of Fuel Oil for the Furnace. I get about 10 Gallons at a time of Diesel. It costs $43. I'd use the Fireplace but that became Unusable years ago and I can't seem to remember where I put that $5,000 that I always keep in my pocket.

If only someone would Raise my Taxes.

Then everything would get better.

Third Army| 12.10.12 @ 2:07PM

I hear you pefectly Brother. Stein lives in another universe than we do. His column now should be entitled: "Places I go and places I eat that you can never afford."

Coco| 12.10.12 @ 3:54PM

Benny Boy Stein may not be rich, but he's most certainly obsessive/compulsive.

Ben, if you see Skyfall one more time . . . you need to see a psychiatrist. Seven times!

You're sinking slowly into dementia. I've thought this for a long, long time.

Occam's Tool| 12.10.12 @ 5:50PM

Genius, TLP. I have watcheed your writing get better and better. Seriously, you need to start a Blog and make some money from this.

C. Vernon Crisler | 12.10.12 @ 10:37AM

I agree. I'm getting a little tired of Ben's socialism and anti-Reaganism. Ben is one of the few people who actually thinks Nixon was a great president. If Ben wants to soak the rich why doesn't he start with his own money. Sell all those houses, cash in all the investments, and give the money to the government. If he doesn't do that, he's a hypocrite.

R Martin| 12.10.12 @ 1:19PM

Appleby, you will be most welcome back in the U.S., hope your application is successful. I have no doubt that someone with your intellectual acumen will be able to find meaningful work here. However, I sense a certain despondency in your posts, and that has got to change. One way to improve your mood might be to join the Friday contests on this website which try to inject a little levity into the news. Your contributions would be welcome. Another way might be to join fellow competitors when we meet (probably next summer) in Delaware to celebrate our mutual interests. If finances are a problem, we’ll buy you a bus ticket. We might even upgrade you if you do your Lauren Bacall impersonation. Cheer up.

TLP| 12.10.12 @ 3:05PM

I have invited her, on more than one occassion.

I, too, was moved by her obvious state of depression. That's why I'm shipping her a portion of my Medical Maijuana, and a MAD Magazine, as we speak.

Occam's Tool| 12.10.12 @ 5:51PM

G-d Bless you, dear.

I , too, think Ben is a moron. I'm trying to put away money for my two kids' college/retirement/etc. and wishing Ben would just shut his worthless scumbag lawyer's mouth.

CJW| 12.10.12 @ 6:19PM

Appleby
I agree with R Martin. Participate in the Friday contests, and you can also use it as a vehicle to insult the participants, if you wish. You should be good with analogies

Cobalt| 12.10.12 @ 7:45AM

“I am favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it's possible.”
― Milton Friedman

sockmonkey| 12.10.12 @ 7:51AM

Honestly, can you just dump Ben Stein? I think he'd be better over on MSNBC where they don't let things like facts get in the way.

Mike W| 12.10.12 @ 8:32AM

In total agreement. Dump this waste of digitital space.

I keep his posts thinking someday he will say something of interest or value. Then he said he missed Bush 43 and his charisma. And his love of immigrants. I dont think that was sarcasm on Stein's part.

Thank goodness this stuff is free. I would not give money to a site that props that clown up.

Bob Grant| 12.10.12 @ 9:15AM

Agreed!

I would rather not witness Mr. Stein's slow conversion to liberalism via his "diary" on a supposed conservative web site.

He can go sit on Scarborough's lap over at LSDNBC.

TLP| 12.10.12 @ 10:09AM

Bob?

What happened last Friday?

You were missed.

You may think that you weren't, but you most definately were, by all of us.

CJW| 12.10.12 @ 6:13PM

Bob
Agree with TLP.
We need you.

R Martin| 12.10.12 @ 8:25AM

I am going to bother writing to you again, Mr. Stein, not to tell you what a horrible person you are (although that appellation might reasonably be applied to someone who “forces” his wife to watch a silly movie seven times) but to refute your warped view of economic theory.

First of all the “low taxes pay for themselves” comment is leftist ideology reflecting the belief that government owns the fruits of economic output and allowing the producers of that output to retain the benefits is somehow a cost. Absurd and offensive. More…

R Martin| 12.10.12 @ 8:27AM

Secondly history shows that low taxes do indeed generate economic growth as has been pointed out to you many times—Mellon in the 1920s, Kennedy in the 1960s and Reagan in the 1980s. Your aversion to the concept was learned from your father, a real economist, who got it wrong in the 1970s with wage and price controls and the gold standard and who later admitted, in his writings, that he was unsure of that economic wisdom. Again, look at history.

And as to interest rates, Bernanke is simply carrying water for the left by monetizing their massive debt. Tight money (higher interest rates) is part of supply side economists’ philosophy, and I’m surprised you embrace it. You do so, of course, in your own self interest (better return on your savings) rather than in recognition that higher rates encourage investment, including foreign money flows, that increase production and employment. Your know, increase SUPPLY. Your hypocrisy is sometimes quite apparent, Mr. Stein.

Pecos Pete| 12.10.12 @ 8:47AM

RM: Emphatically agreed.

TLP| 12.10.12 @ 10:16AM

My question is: How did this Mook get all this money?

He's not an Actor. (At least not a real one) He's not Funny, so he's not a Comedian. And, unless he's on the New York Time's payroll, he's not an Economists, either.

Thomas Sowell is an Economist. Walter E. Williams is an Economist.

Does anyone know if he ever Bit the Heads offa live chickens, at Carnivals?

Occam's Tool| 12.10.12 @ 5:45PM

He was a Federal Government employee, TLP. Speechwriter for Nixon. And his daddy wasn't poor.

JP| 12.10.12 @ 7:03PM

Ben earned his money as both a lawyer and an economist. His father never earned more than a very comfortable living. But, he was by no means wealthy. Ben was also a very talented investor. He made enough money (and lost quite a bit) playing the stock market and real estate markets. He made quite a bit in the 1980s and during the Tech Boom.

Anti-Statist| 12.10.12 @ 10:10AM

Excellent- thank you.

Butch| 12.10.12 @ 3:05PM

It also happened in Chili and India. I believe it has happened every single time it has been tried: lower tax rates, increase the revenue to the government. Mr. Stein is entitled to his own beliefs, but not to his own facts. Our problem is--and has been, ever since 1983--excessive spending.

Jacob McCandles| 12.10.12 @ 8:45AM

Supply side works if spending is not absurdly out of control Ben. Spending is the problem, always has been. You've forgotten more about economics than I will ever know, but this is common sense with a little historical evidence.

Bob Grant| 12.10.12 @ 8:55AM

"We have to be realists: supply-side got us into a deep hole."

-----

Mr. Stein:

Care to expand on THAT bomb you threw at us?

Did Supply Side Economics create Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac?

Did Supply Side Economics create the Community Reinvestment Act?

HOW DID Supply-Side Economics get us into this mess?

Your drive-by attacks on conservatism are getting old. Why don't you get out of your heated pool and spend a little time defending your diary entries?

How about it Mr. Stein?

Pecos Pete| 12.10.12 @ 9:00AM

Hey Ben, I live quite well next to my chickens. They lay eggs, you know, the ones you scramble?

When I rise in the morning the sun ain't up yet cause the horses need their oats, the cows need their frozen water tank cracked open. The pigs can wait until the sun is up. Then I have breakfast. And then I head out to fix fences, cut firewood; and, this time of the year, to enjoy the snow.

Your economic theories ... remind me of the Animal Farm: some pigs are more equal than others.

You watched Skyfall seven times? And you worry about spending money. Your wife is the Tea Party in your life.

Bob Grant| 12.10.12 @ 9:09AM

Pecos,

Mr. Stein is of the "I Got Mine, Screw the Rest of Y'all" crowd, ala Warren Buffett.

He's living off the fruits of the same Supply-Side Economics that he's now blaming for every economic ill of this country.

EastTexasRancher| 12.10.12 @ 9:03AM

Mr. Stein,
I thank God for your grateful heart. Times are hard for many people but starting each day with a heart grateful to God, prayerful for those who fought for your freedoms (my son and husband are among them), and living the life we have created in gratitude, is possibly the best life we could have.
I am on a ranch. It is cold this morning. In Texas we need rain everywhere and I stood last week in the middle of a once full 34 acre lake---now completely empty, on my Dad's place, and prayed for rain, with my Bible open. I expect God will see us through. He has before and I have seen His hand in my life as I sent my son to war some 11 times.
Blessings, Mr. Stein. May you keep that grateful heart carefully and prayerfully.
B. Gunn
The East Texas Rancher

TLP| 12.10.12 @ 10:31AM

Obviously, that Post above me was meant for a Frank Stein, or maybe a Jerry Stein, over in accounting.

Ben Stein is the guy with the CROOK Friend, who's probably picking up a Bar a Soap, as we speak.

You can thank him for his Grateful Heart, if you wanna. The rest of us hope he has a Stroke in the pool. And, I don't mean a Backstroke.

He's got his, and I guarantee that he's made every arrangement, this side of Hell, to keep Uncle Sam away from His Cash Stash. Even as he bemoans the Fact (in his Stupid Head) that the rest of us get to keep too much of what we've EARNED.

Apparently, Pot is Legal where you live.

You might wanna right another one, after you come down.

Frank Drackman| 12.10.12 @ 9:35AM

I haven't even read Bens piece but I'm betting there's at least one mention of an "Amazingly Beautiful" Waffle House waitress.....

Frank

Jacob McCandles| 12.10.12 @ 9:37AM

I hope I still love women that much when I'm an old geezer.

Bob Grant| 12.10.12 @ 9:47AM

The trick is to do so without appearing lecherous. Mr. Stein and Benny Hill are the masters.

Now, if we could just have him spend more time thinking about "amazingly beautiful women" and less on economics...

Bill8472| 12.10.12 @ 9:42AM

There's no revolution because Americans have become all lumpenproletarians. That's the quick answer.

In previous times, Americans have put the lie to the fantasy that Americans are soft and unwilling to sacrifice themselves. I bet Americans would sacrifice themselves and fight over someone trying to take away their Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. It's just when it comes to the idea of fighting for a seeming abstraction like liberty that Americans have come to shun fighting. We take liberty for granted and assume that it grows without having to be fertilized by our blood.

Peppermint Tea | 12.10.12 @ 10:07AM

Ben has an affection for the Skyfall villain.
He also has an affection for higher taxes.
Both do terrible things.

Just a word of advice, Ben, stick to describing beautiful women. I watch James Bond for the women, not the villains. I'm still waiting for your review of the Skyfall women....

JMM | 12.10.12 @ 10:07AM

It is the patriotic duty of every American to keep as much money as possible out of the hands of their Government.

Perhaps Mr, Stein must sell one or two of his mansions to pay the increased taxes he desires?

JP| 12.10.12 @ 10:22AM

I'm no economist, but if you look at the debt incurred since 2009 it is equal to the increases in spending that began in mid 2008. As a matter of fact if you divide the 2009 -2012 debt by 4 it comes to $1.4 trillion - almost exactly the annual spending increases imposed by Obama/Congress.

The 2007 year spending levels were $2.5 trillion. Add $1.4 and you get $3.9 trillion. Without Obama, our deficits would have been between $250 and $300 billion. That could have been erased by a combination of spending decreases and loophole closings. Very doable.

No Ben, we have a spending problem.

Bob Grant| 12.10.12 @ 10:33AM

Get with the program. It's that evil Trickle Down economics - better known as Supply-Side Economics - that put us in the ditch.

holmegm| 12.10.12 @ 10:54AM

Surely these Stein columns have to be some kind of social media experiment ?

He can't really write "I Am Not Rich!" in one column and then complain about how hard it is to hold on to multiple homes in the next column, can he?

Bill8472| 12.10.12 @ 10:55AM

I like the idea of 47% of Americans not paying income taxes. That's a great step in the right direction. Now let's get the other 53% out from under income tax too. After all, it isn't like we've had income taxes for all that long. My grandmother was born into a family that never had to pay a penny of income tax because the nation didn't have any income tax.

However, if we go over the fiscal cliff, ALL Americans should have to pay for that. It's the politicians that we elected that are making that happen, and we ought to pay the price for electing such self-serving clowns.

Bob K| 12.10.12 @ 11:15AM

Ben has gotten boring. He has become indolent and is mailing this nonsense in.

The memory of his father, Herbert Stein, who grew up poor and waited on tables in frat houses at Williams College to help pay for his tuition and who went on to become a world famous free market economist, is being shamed by Ben!

I haven't been able to finish one of Ben's articles in months.

Lyoncelt| 12.10.12 @ 12:02PM

It really gets a bit nauseating reading about Ben Stein's wonderful life, and his greatest problem of having too many houses (Malibu, Rancho Mirage, Beverly Hills), while telling us that our taxes have to go up. He can put his ideas where the sun doesn't shine. He should be smart enough to realize that the problem is too much government spending, not insufficient taxation. That, yes, tax increases do hurt the economy, and make life more difficult for those of us who live more like his ancestors in Russia fleeing Cossacks. Enjoy your wonderful brunch, Ben, but stop with the tax increase crap. We need to drastically cut government spending. Why don't you donate a house or two to the government if you so badly want to raise our taxes, and need to get rid of a few of your homes. What hypocrisy. I hope you get stuck on the tarmac for at least 3 hours with a Beuhler next to you on your next flight.

BRIANM| 12.10.12 @ 1:45PM

Don't forget his apartment in DC at the Watergate and his place in Sandy Point, ID, where he delights in hearing 'Mr. Buffet's trains' go by. It really is a bit much.

Pecos Pete| 12.10.12 @ 2:40PM

And his apartment in Beverly Hills, or is it Hollywood?

Hardcard| 12.10.12 @ 12:04PM

Ben....be a mench and stop whining! Stop going to the movies, most of us are screwed and the country is ruled by despotic shytheads.

TLP| 12.10.12 @ 12:47PM

How was the Restaurant?

Frank Drackman| 12.10.12 @ 1:51PM

its "Mensch" thats kraut for "Dude".

Ronsch| 12.10.12 @ 1:58PM

Ben is one messed up individual...Talk about an "economist" who cannot seem to control his spending (sound familiar anyone?)...Seeing a Hollyweird production 7 times at what $50.00 a shot (not counting dinner?) C'mon Ben, be smart and wait for the DVD, seriously, instead of blowing $350.00 + on a crappy movie...

Glad you have the money to spend, really and truly glad that capitalism has worked for you...But let it work for all of us too, instead of retreating to the liberal mindset of "having mine now screw you all."

Sorry, friends...rant off.

Occam's Tool| 12.10.12 @ 5:44PM

He's selling his homes---if he can find someone to buy. G-d luck, Ben. People with drive are leaving California.

Seek| 12.11.12 @ 12:02PM

"Skyfall" was anything but "crappy." In fact, it may have been the best James Bond film ever. Reality check: ALL Bond movies are British, not "Hollyweird," productions, from the days of the Broccoli-Saltzman onward. Get your facts right. And a movie today still costs about $10 a shot, which strikes me as a far better bargain than listening to empty, loud, cliched, vapid speakers at a Tea Party rally.

Joellen| 12.10.12 @ 2:00PM

Tim, you're one of the lucky ones, some one say.

As for me, Ben, I dont thank every teacher. Sorry, they are part of the problem with the endoctrination they have been spewing for many years, especially the college, I refuse to call them professors, impersonators.

And as for judging republicans and democrats, that's a bad thing why? I am so sick of those who are perpetuating in this unholy environment not to judge. You know what, by everybody being so freaking PC for the past thirty years, things have gotten worse instead of better. Dont you think it's time to call a thief a thief, or a murderer a murderer.

Guess I am in a cranky mood too, but for most of the folks who participate on this website - they understand its for obviously different reasons.

Occam's Tool| 12.10.12 @ 5:43PM

I had some great instructors in psychopharmacology in residency. I would like to thank George T. Bidder, MD, in particular, for teaching me how to learn my profession, as well as how to diagnose and think about my patients' needs. RIP George, and may G-d Bless your family.

But the vast majority of public school teachers served more to inhibit my intellect rather than free it. I do thank Mr. Lays, my incredibly patient high school calculus teacher, however. Thanks to him I got a year's credit for math at TCU. I remember, before I left, showing him my '5' and telling him that his patient answering of my questions did pay off. (I also got a 5 in AP Chem and English---triple 5s.)

But the teachers in grade school today indoctrinate their kids and hold little parties. My kids are home schooled. Joellen, you are correct.

Hardcard| 12.10.12 @ 2:03PM

Good food bad service !!!

TLP| 12.10.12 @ 3:09PM

You got that right.

I ordered the Spicy Hardcard Dog, and I'm still waiting for it.

Mnestheus| 12.10.12 @ 3:13PM

NationStates | The Kingdom of Bilsk
www.nationstates.net/nation=bilskThe Kingdom of Bilsk is a very large, economically powerful nation, notable for its absence of drug laws. Its hard-working, cynical population of 104 million are ...

TeaPartyNow| 12.10.12 @ 3:26PM

Mr. Stein, are you afraid to tell the truth about what America has become? Have you given up? & are you utterly defeated? I'm just curious. It seems like the only thing coming from the right is an odd suicidal dance of niceness. Never saying the word tyranny out loud. Never opposing any one republican. Never really objecting anything.

Just lying down & letting America be concentrated. The Jews did the same during the Holocaust. There is a point when the bad guys win. I just wonder if you have conceded to the devil now. You are awfully nice.

Which at times like these is deadly.

Occam's Tool| 12.10.12 @ 5:35PM

Low taxes do increase tax rates you imbecile. Your dad was wrong, Ben. Life under Reagan was much better than life under Nixon, you ass.

You know, people who work hard and achieve honestly DO deserve the life they make for themselves, Ben. This is America. Your friend B is finding out that the inside of prisons are marked by incredible amounts of noise from the cretins who occupy them. As a prison psychiatrist in the past, I can tell you that's one part of prison life never mentioned in movies. Maybe he shouldn't have stolen 8 million dollars from people.

Your dad, by the way, raised an idiot. Friedman will live on where your father will be forgotten. Lower tax rates on a greater economic universe will create more tax revenue than higher rates on a lower economic universe. This was shown under Reagan. The correct thing we should be doing now is LOWERING tax rates. Of course, that is what is known as REALITY based thinking.

John Navratil| 12.11.12 @ 5:30PM

Occam's Tool,

Are you trying to take Art Laffer's job? I wonder what the optimum point REALLY is. It would be nice to see the other side just once.

How 'bout we just start with confiscating the entire wealth of the richest person in America every day until people being to complain. Bill, Warren, Larry? Are you in?

Burlington| 12.10.12 @ 5:45PM

Ben is one of the few people of the world who gets it.

Pecos Pete| 12.10.12 @ 6:44PM

Gets what? That Skyfall is a movie?

rubbersole| 12.10.12 @ 8:37PM

While I normally agree with Ben Stein on most things, I vehemently disagree with the position of raising taxes. The American taxpayers coffers have swindled constantly since LBJ put SS into the general fund. This is not an income problem, this is a spending problem. Until we as a people understand that, stand firm on it, and elect like-minded leaders, we are doomed to the very fate we are hurtling towards right now. They could raise taxes up to a 50% flat tax for every American and find a way to line their gd pockets with it. Enough is enough. Time to draw a gd line in the sand!

rubbersole| 12.10.12 @ 8:42PM

And another thing. Alot of the people you appeal to don't have a pool with a view, and a cushy ass job where they're not too exhausted every night for a moonlight swim. How about not rubbing our gd noses in it? We know you're rich, but we really don't care to hear about it in technicolor.

2blumutts| 12.10.12 @ 9:31PM

To Mike W. Free? Yes, on this site. I subscribe to the Spectator, so I am paying to read Stein's mental meanderings which I skip over. Stein's day has passed. Why, to leave, must he be asked?!

Balducci2| 12.10.12 @ 10:28PM

"By the way, I won't have it much longer. It is just too tiring to maintain as many homes as we have. I can't afford all of the time and effort required to manage this many houses."

Ben is worried about the time.

He is worried about the effort.

But the cost doesn't even enter into it (or at most is a passing thought, one he fails to even mention).

But, he's "NOT RICH".

Priceless.

Balducci2| 12.10.12 @ 11:37PM

I should say, even though I find most of Ben's column's laughable, I absolutely agree with him that taxes have to rise (for a while). And spending must also be cut. It IS a fairy tale that cuts in taxes always rise revenue. Notwithstanding the cherry picked examples Sowell gave that people keep citing, the correlation is just not that good. Lots of times, it went the other way.

2blumutts| 12.10.12 @ 10:37PM

A reminder for old Ben. Some unfinished business :
Benghazi!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?f.....P9Cben3cuY

sdfhlk | 12.12.12 @ 3:33AM

Merry Christmas

Oatley| 12.31.12 @ 6:50PM

Ben, supply side wasn't the problem...Uncontrolled spending was.

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What Are the Risks of Syria Involvement?

Christopher Orlet|23 comments

Obama’s Imbroglios

R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.|31 comments

Obama’s Drone War

Jed Babbin|15 comments

Catholic Culture In America

G. Tracy Mehan, III|25 comments

The Spectacle Blog

Lois Lerner Now on Administrative Leave

Kaylin Bugos | 6:13PM

Crisis Looms, and Kevin Williamson Can Hardly Wait

Luca Gattoni-Celli | 5:48PM

Dismantling Networks, Preventing Footholds

Ross Kaminsky | 5:30PM

Bill Would Ban All Abortions After 20 Weeks

Jordan Gonzalez | 4:15PM

Harry Reid Pushes for the Nuclear Option

Claire Healey | 1:11PM

Weiner: More Photos of My Junk Might Surface

Kyle Peterson | 12:55PM

#FreeKate? Movement to Normalize Pedophilia Finds Its Poster Girl

Robert Stacy McCain | 10:09AM

Morning Round-Up 5-23

Patrick Ryan | 10:06AM

FLASHBACK TO: 1995

Pope Culture

By George Sim Johnston

A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck

By P.J. O'Rourke

Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
Dames at Sea

By John Corry
In the Absence of Guns

By Mark Steyn

In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
The Metaphysical Martini

By Werner J. Dannhauser
Counting the Costs of Clintonism

By Robert H. Bork

The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
Chuck McHagel

By George Neumayr

It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted

By Douglas Bartholomew
It’s the Best Time of the Year

By Mark Steyn

The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
The Bush Crack-Up

By Brit Hume

Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?

The American Spectator