Taxes, taxes, taxes

In the republican debate last night,  between questions about Newt Gingrich's marriage and Peter King forgetting that Ron Paul was a participant, the candidates were asked whether they would or would not release their tax returns prior to the South Carolina primary.

Why do people care about these returns? The issue seems to be that people want to know whether any of the candidates pay a lower tax rate than they do. The problem? As David Leonhardt points out, many Americans don't know what their tax rate is and therefore wrongfully assume that if Romney pays 15% they must pay more.

Mitt Romney's hair shares its perspective on the GOP race

It's no secret that Mitt Romney's hair is a regular topic of discussion. In fact, we spent a decent amount of time discussing it during the last podcast. Its ears must have been ringing, because it has something to say.

I’d like to say something magnanimous about my competition, but come the hell on. Newt Gingrich looks like he’s wearing a bowl of boxed mashed potatoes on top of his fat watermelon face. Rick Perry parts his greasy mop in the middle, like a mental patient. Rick Santorum probably walks into his barber shop and says, “Give me the Bob Saget.” I could go on and on.

I was hoping that Romney's hair might have some insight into what is wrong with Michelle Bachmann's eyes, but it spent the whole piece discussing it's own perfection. Typical.