The Dish

Pete Davis writes that a Value Added Tax, a policy many economics favor, "won't produce instant revenue, easily collected revenue, or fairness." Bartlett agrees at VAT wouldn't produce revenue quickly and argues that "it needs to be implemented well in advance of a financial crisis, perhaps initially as a revenue-neutral tax reform." Avent applies these thoughts to other policy debates:

[C]ontra Greg Mankiw, the wonk who advocates for a policy based on an idealised and theoretical assessment of its merits relative to alternatives may be doing the world a disservice. Instead, more time should be spent thinking about how politics is likely to warp a policy and building a relatively resilient package of reforms.

A reader writes:

Are you guys going to talk about the April 19 Second Amendment demonstrations?  As a person from Oklahoma City, I find the entire idea upsetting beyond belief.  These protests are going to take place on the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing.  The idea of a bunch of armed right-wingers parading around on that day — especially here — makes me *ill*.  Do any of these people know what actually happened here on that day?

The most painful memory that I have is this:  Sitting up all night crying, watching television coverage of the rescue efforts, image after image of injured people, bloodied children.  And periodically, the television anchorpeople would stop and say to the camera: "For any kids who may be watching: if you're at home, waiting for mama or daddy to come home from work in downtown Oklahoma City, and they haven't come home, you're alone, and you need help, you can call this number, and someone will come and help you."  Every time, I would just lose it.  I'm sitting here with tears streaming down my cheeks from the memory.

Who — WHO — would think that this is anything to be celebrated?  To be invoked?  What the hell kind of monsters are these people?

Blue Oklahoma notes:

A statement is posted in the thread on the website: "The date was picked because it is the 235th anniversary of the battle of Lexington/Concord and it's also Patriots day. The OK bombing was never even thought of when the date was planned"

Another event that occurred on April 19:

1993 – The 51-day siege of the Branch Davidian building outside Waco, Texas, USA, ends when a fire breaks out. Eighty-one people die.

Drum had lunch with Felix Salmon. One takeaway:

We should all be more worried about the potential of a mass casualty event — an epidemic, a gigantic earthquake, a massive hurricane, etc. — to annihilate the insurance industry and take out the rest of the financial system as a side effect. The AIDS epidemic nearly did it, Felix says, and missed only because most of its victims weren't insured. A really big hurricane hitting Long Island could do it, though.

Today on the Dish we kept up our coverage of the Vatican crisis. The big news was the Legionaries of Christ condemning its founder, Marcial Maciel, for his long history of abuse. Theocons such as George Weigel continued to defend the Church and cast blame on the media – a strategy not unlike Palin's. Meanwhile, David Link got to the crux of the crisis.

In Dennis Ross coverage, Andrew defended Rozen's post against Goldblog, Steinglass countered Andrew, and Exum added two cents. Mario Loyola ventured that Israel has no real desire for a two-state solution, Andrew pointed out a potential UN veto on settlements, and a reader dissented over Andrew's analysis.

In other coverage, Musings In Iraq assessed the elections, Andrew reacted to the Christian militia story, Podhoretz and Hinderaker fawned over Palin, Kristol invoked the blowback argument, and Murdoch readied the paywall. Jill Lepore discussed the futility of marriage counseling, Ricky Martin came out, Iceland banned strippers, and readers responded to the gender wage gap.

More AEI-gate here. A fascinating photo series here, fart blogging here, and more animal-suicide blogging here. Weekend coverage here.

— C.B.

Listen up:

Chait whacks NPod's Palin puff piece. Larison is bored by "irrational admiration" of Palin:

Considering the low opinion of Obama most Palinites have, I have often thought it strange that so many of her fans damn her with what they must regard as extremely faint praise: “At least she’s better than Obama!” Leave aside for now how absurd this sort of claim makes them look when one fairly compares the political careers of the two, and just consider what contempt many of her so-called defenders must have for her that all they can bring themselves to say is that she is better than someone they regard as a dangerous incompetent.

I found the piece so boring and predictable in its deliberate stupidity I couldn't even muster a faint splutter of remonstrance.

The Brits show that they are about, you know, the issues. Here's one of the first TV-debates – this time between potential future chancellors, i.e. economics ministers in charge of the entire government budget. Time review here; Guardian's here. Massie's take here.

I'm hoping (threatening?) to live-blog the prime ministers' ones:

A reader writes:

Author Warren Farrell, the only man in the U.S. ever elected three times to the board of directors for the National Organization for Women in New York City, wrote this article in 2006:

After more than a decade of research for my book, Why Men Earn More, I discovered that men and women make 25 work-life choices that actually create a wage gap. Men make decisions that result in their making more money. On the other hand, women make decisions that earn them better lives (e.g., more family and friend time). But what happens when women make the same lucrative decisions typically made by men? The good news — for women, at least: Women actually earn more.

Another writes:

"Dashed?" Yes, dashed. I'm a 37-year-old woman with a journalism degree from a top school and 19 years' experience in alt weeklies, a very specialized journo subgenre.

A few years ago, after a dozen years as a very-well-respected alt's senior editor and our editor-in-chief's right-hand gal, I began applying for editorships as they became available. I applied for a dozen; I didn't hear back once, not so much as a form letter. Then I won a national award, and immediately was being flown all over the country for interviews. In each case, I was the runner up, and in each case, they went with a (white) man who was the city editor for the local daily. Their leg up on me? They knew the market. My leg up on them? Guys who work for mainstream dailies have an absolutely ZERO understanding of the alt-weekly ethos.

In some cases I was told I didn't have enough experience (only 15 years at the time, with tons of responsibility and a track record of concrete achievements). In some cases, I was told they didn't think I'd be tough enough to fire people when warranted. Once, I was told I wasn't a good enough listener. Twice I was told I exhibited "too much confidence."

It's entirely possible I just don't interview well, and that I come across abrasively or as a know-it-all. But while there was for a while plenty of work for a workhorse like myself, I was absolutely shocked that in the 21st century, there still remained a big thick stupid glass ceiling. It really, really does exist, even in the most progressive of workforces.

Another:

The pay disparity is probably one of the reasons why middle-aged males have been so hard hit in this economy. If a company just looks at the bottom line, it will lay off the male and keep the female who both are doing the same work. It is not some perverse reverse discrimination nonsense; it is just downsizing strictly by the numbers. So I'm guessing the pay disparity will even out a bit during this recession. It will be interesting to revisit the pay disparity 10 years from now.

By a thousand stories. Cowen sizes up the problem:

[M]edia coverage may be a bigger issue than the size of the [unpaid mandate] fee. If national media run stories about people who avoid the mandate and prosper, the practice could spread.  Massachusetts media have not had the same power or influence.  Keep in mind also that "right-wing media" may promote this point for political reasons.

From the streets of Jacksonville, Florida.