Jonathan Chait of the New Republic has a great rejoinder to the common claim that the rich pay all of our taxes while 47% of the population freeloads. Long story short, federal income tax isn’t the only tax and the percentage of taxes paid largely aligns with percentage of income.

Dave Gilson and Carolyn Perot have some killer charts highlighting wealth inequity in Mother Jones. I would love to see these as posters on the CTA.

Here’s one example – click to see the rest.

I was tickled by this quote from labor lawyer Tom Geoghegan in the New York Times discussion, “Why Americans Can’t Save Money.”

Maybe the career I should have picked was writing books accusing people of moral turpitude. Of course, in theory we can all save — even the poor. I am reading the great classic, “The Black Jacobins,” by C.L.R. James, and it seems that in a few miraculous cases, certain slaves of San Domingo could save enough to purchase their freedom. I’m sure our pundits now would say: “See, you can do it.” There’s no need to abolish slavery.

Geoghegan actually ran to replace Rahm when he left to become White House chief of staff in 2009. I collected signatures to get him on the ballot, but unfortunately, his campaign barely had an impact. Still, I think he’s a great alternative voice when he can get into these kinds of discussions. I’m looking forward to reading his latest book, “Were You Born on the Wrong Continent?: How the European Model Can Help You Get a Life.”

Some context for the tragic shooting of Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords: the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence catalogs anti-government violence or rhetoric promoting such violence since 2008.

Great New York Times piece by Nicholas Kristof examining income inqequality in the United States: “A Hedge Fund Republic?”

You can see the impact of our current tax structure as you drive down the street. As a friend of mine who’s lived in Europe for much of the past five years remarked during his last visit, “The United States looks more and more run down.”