C-Span deux, Tax Policy, New America Foundation

Ok, this is going to be tough. Watching people talk about tax policy is like my own personal nightmare, so I'm going to have to put a lot of heart into this.

EUGENE STEUERLE, SENIOR FELLOW AT THE URBAN INSTITUTE, ON THE MIZZZIIIKE! YEAH! Ooh, he's getting giddy talking about economists. Spicy. He's done.

Who's up, who's up. Swing, batta, batta,

Who's this guy? MICHAEL GRAETZ, TAX LAW PROF AT YALE! WEARIN A BOW TIE! Apparently studying taxes makes you go bald, because both of these guys have a landing strip on the top of their head that a 747 could land on. He's done.

KAREN KORNBLUH, WORK AND FAMILY DIRECTOR OF THE NEW AMERICA FOUNDATION! Ok, everyone reading this has to do a shot every time Kornbluh says "asset building." Starting....NOW!

BRUCE BARTLETT, SENIOR FELLOW AT THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR POLICY ANALYSIS, KICKING THE COMBOVER!

BOW TIE GUY, saying boring stuff! What does OECD mean? This guy is talking about getting 150,000,000 people out of the income tax, so props for that. All these people say "my" when they are talking about anything to do with their tax plan. ("The thing with MY 14% is where I'm going to put that money...") I think they should have to name their tax proposals, like "Big Betsy," or "Franky Flowers."

Eugene "Stewie" Steuerle is talking about income tax vs. consumtion tax. I think they should tax people for having E's in their name, this guy would be screwed.

Whoa, look at this guys hair! I have a hard time believing he know's anything about taxes, because he's got hair like Ted Danson on cheers. DALTON CONLEY, SOC PROFESSOR AT NYU, LOOKING GOOD!

Bow Tie Guy just said "regressivity." He's saying that we shouldn't waste our time rehauling the payroll tax. What's the difference between the income tax and the payroll tax.

Ooooh, new speaker... MAYA MacGUINEAS, FISCAL POLICY PROGRAM DIRECTOR AT THE NEW AMERICA FOUNDATION. I don't understand what she's talking about, but it sure sounds like she knows what she's talking about. This lady just exudes confidence. She could tell me my pants were on fire and I would believe her even if my legs didn't feel warm.

Combover guy looks like a combination of Rush Limbaugh and John McCain. Check it out: He's responding to burning pants lady. "The system on the whole is progressive so you miss the point when you emphasize the regressivity."

Yo! I think that's my cousin asking a question! No way!

Bow Tie Guy is the author of "Death by a Thousand Cuts" in case you were wondering. Now he's talking about the AMT, the automatic minumum tax.

Stewie just quoted Herb Stein, his favorite economist. "If something can't continue it won't." I think that's a pretty good line. Also, I would like to have my own favorite economist. I'm going with Adam Smith. Why not go with one of the big guns right?
Adam Smith really is the bomb actually, it's a travesty that people use him to defend unrestrained capitalism even when it screws over the common man. The whole reason he liked laissez fair was that he saw that leaders were using regulation to screw over the common man.

This guy asking a question looks like Al Franken, if Al lost 40 pounds and was homeless.

BILL FRENZEL, GOVERNANCE STUDIES GUEST SCHOLAR AT THE BROOKINGS INST, WRAPPING THINGS UP!

By the way, I got rid of the rule where I sprint while people are milling around on C-span. It was a good rule, I know, but I just can't afford to sweat like that. I get all itchy.

So that's the end of that show, I'm at 3.24 miles, going 3.1 miles an hour...