Your tax rate in 2012, and past rates since 1913
What is your effective tax rate now versus years past? Ritchie King made an interactive to show you.
Having not been alive in the '50s or '60s, let alone filing taxes, I was struck by the high top income tax rate—exactly double the highest tax rate today. It made me wonder: what would my income tax be if I had earned the equivalent of what I earn now several decades ago—or even in 1913, when the current federal income tax program was first introduced? What would the history of income taxes look like through the collective eyes of people in my exact financial situation over the past 100 years?
Just enter your taxable income and filing status, and you get a time series of what your tax rate would've been years ago. It's kind of fun to mouse right to left to see your inflation-adjusted income.
See also the New York Times piece from last month, which makes for an interesting contrast. Similar data was used, but the views are quite different.
Longer life expectancy, more years of disease
Bonnie Berkowitz, Emily Chow and Todd Lindeman for the Washington Post plotted life expectancy against percentage of healthy years. Although life expectancy is increasing, the percentage of years living without disease isn't quite keeping up.
People are living longer lives, but the time they are gaining isn't entirely time with good health. For every year of life expectancy added since 1990, about 9 1/2 months is time in good health. The rest is time in a diminished state — in pain, immobility, mental incapacity or medical support such as dialysis. For people who survive to age 50, the added time is "discounted" even further. For every added year they get, only seven months are healthy.
On the other hand, total number of expected years in good health is still on the plus-side, and I think most people would choose years in poor health over fewer years. So it's not all bad news.
National Rifle Association grades for Congress members
The New York Times mapped ratings for members of Congress, as given by the NRA.
The National Rifle Association gives members of Congress a grade ranging from A to F that reflects their voting record on gun rights. But in response to the school shooting, some pro-gun Democrats have signaled an openness to new restrictions on guns, and the N.R.A. released a statement that said it was "prepared to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again."
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