Another turn with the gavel

Well, I guess Gatsby Wyden is going to be the chair of the Senate Finance Committee now. I remember the last time he had that gig. It was 2014 and 2015. During those two years, the Democrats had this list of accomplishments when it came to tax equity and fighting wealth inequality:

[This area intentionally left blank.]

Maybe this time? Bah. There's always some excuse.

Wyden's against the estate tax. He's against Medicare for all. He's even blocked a strong public option for health insurance. But somehow he passes as a progressive.

Hope springs eternal. The New York Times's Paul Krugman, who once famously called Wyden a "useful idiot," is currently on the bandwagon:

Wyden is a hero of the pandemic economy — largely responsible for the checks that reduced poverty at the worst of the crisis. And he's right here too. https://t.co/OJCfI1j9D7

— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) January 8, 2021

Krugman likes the idea of "automatic stabilizers," which apparently Wyden is pushing. What are those?

Automatic stabilizers are ongoing government policies that automatically adjust tax rates and transfer payments in a manner that is intended to stabilize incomes, consumption, and business spending over the business cycle.

By "transfer payments," they mean unemployment benefits, public assistance, that sort of thing.

It's an idea worth considering. The only problem is that nobody ever seems all that interested in Gatsby's ideas. They flutter and fall, and not much meaningful gets done. Contrast how much hard-core garbage that guys like Orrin Hatch have been able to ram through.