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From The Reporter’s Notebook
Say What?!
“I’m impressed by a lot of them, but particularly impressed with Thomas Jefferson…he tried to craft our Constitution in a way that it would control people’s natural tendencies and control the natural growth of the government.”
– Ben Carson inaccurately credited Thomas Jefferson with writing the Constitution.
BUZZING: Today in the Hive
From a TPM Prime member: “Part II of the John Judis Inequality Series (which is great, but I don’t need to tell you that) quotes Elizabeth Warren to the effect that she wants to reform government so that it is not run “for the top ten percent.” As best I can figure, if you measure the top ten percent of households by wealth, you’re looking at a net worth of about $3.3 million. That is a lot of money, though there’s no telling how liquid it all is. If you measure by income, you’re looking at a family making about $110,000 a year. That’s twice the median income, but I think that sets a low bar. $110,000 a year is a family doing well, but not great. The conundrum of Judis’ current piece is why people complain about income inequality but then tend to resist government solutions to the problem. I think Judis also has the answer, which is that the upper middle class, who may be better off than most but who still have struggles and bills to pay, are more than a bit skeptical that they will foot the majority of the bill when it comes to helping others.”
Related: John Judis on the paradoxical politics of income inequality.
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What We’re Reading
Residents of the first majority-Muslim U.S. city are tense about its future. (The Washington Post)
The founders of Tinder can’t swipe away its past. (Gawker)
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