I’ve long wondered what sort deleterious effect all those years of effusive gushing over the Rose Ceremony had on Charlie Gibson’s brain.

It is incredibly irresponsible to think that incomes do not matter. In fact, I’m not sure how many of you caught the ABC/Facebook debate this past weekend but something very striking was let out of the bag by the moderator, Charlie Gibson. During the Democratic debate, he was talking about the fact that some candidates may raise taxes on higher income families. He threw out a hypothetical scenario in a very serious tone and said, “but what about a family of 2 professors, making $200,000 a year…” He would have gone on if it wasn’t such an absurd question and the audience hadn’t busted in laughing. He wanted to take back his statement but it was already out. The assumption is the majority of Americans make this much when if fact, it is a very small percentage of the population. The mainstream media is in the same bubble that Wall Street and Washington D.C. are in. They assume since their immediate circle of friends and confidants are making $250,000+ a year, they assume the vast majority of Americans are doing so. They are not. If anything it simply shows their elitist attitude and if the results in Iowa are any indication, people are simply frustrated with the status quo and the inability for these lifelong politicians and commentators to relate to the man and woman on the street. See, for these folks they do need the tax right off – there is an interesting piece at CNN called Millionaire in Chief. Suffice it to say that all leading candidates are financially okay and aren’t worrying about their interest payments. If you noticed as well, suddenly for both Democrats and Republicans the economy is the number one issue. If you lose your job, talking about tax benefits is like talking about a rocket trip to Uranus.

An excellent article on, among other things, the wild disconnect between real incomes and bubble housing prices that lies at the heart of the mortgage crisis. Why did people with decent incomes and good credit take out insane, gimmick laden mortgages on houses far out of their price rage? Because that’s the only way they could hope to pay the mind boggling price tag for even a modest home. And, of course, both God and Nature demand that real estate prices always rise. Go read the whole thing.