I think it's pretty funny (and telling) that the only time Richard Cohen will advocate policies favored exclusively by liberals is when he puts his thoughts into somebody else's mouth. If they were explicitly his ideas, he would no longer be a Very Serious Person. This weeks edition features his grandfather who, somewhat awesomely, talked a little bit like an intellectual Rocky Balboa.
"What's happened to the Democratic Party?" he asked.
"What do you mean?"
"What do I mean? What do I mean? Listen, college boy, in my day, the Democrats stood for the little man. You know the little man, boychik?"
"Yes, Grandpa."
"He's the working stiff. He's the guy with a lunch pail. You think it's right he pays a higher rate of taxes than those hedge-fund managers?"
"Oh, Grandpa, you're talking about something called the 'Carry.' It stands for carried interest, and it means that these money managers and hedge-fund guys, wonderful risk-takers and builders of wonderful wealth, get taxed as if their income is capital gains -- 15 percent. The IRS says it's legal."
"Legal, shmegal! You think it's fair?"
"Fair?"
"Yeah, fair. You heard of fair, Mr. Famous Columnist?"
"This is not a matter of fairness, Grandpa. Believe me, there are vast issues of macroeconomics and tax policy here, which, if not handled properly, will sink the economy."
"Who are you?" my grandfather bellowed. "The poor pay more than the rich, and you give me this macaroni economics stuff. You should be ashamed of yourself." He paused.
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