The Health Care Mess

And speaking of the rich, we shouldn't be afraid at all at taxing them more to pay for major reform.

"We," of course, refers to Congress, which in turn is scared to death of offending campaign contributors.

There is no political will.

These arguments make little sense. According to a study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, very few small businesses would be affected. And small businesses that offer health insurance will see their costs reduced by the health plan. And as my colleague Jonathan Chait has pointed out, The Washington Post is arguing that we shouldn't use an effective means for reducing future deficits to reduce future deficits. If you can figure out the reasoning there, you are smarter than I am.

But I want to take the argument a step further and address the Republican/Blue Dog argument that taxing the rich will--in the words of one clumsily written congressional letter--"kill the goose that will lay the golden eggs of our recovery." I think it's important to realize that during a recession, taxing the rich can speed a recovery as long as the revenue it creates is spent rather than saved. And during a recovery, taxing the rich can help stabilize the economy. It can be a good thing to do in either case.

Judis' arguments are spot-on. But again the problem is these elected officials don't really represent the rank-and-file voters; they represent the tiny number of economic elites in this country whose ideas are ruining it.