Modern Mouser

Update: Now in legible format!

The Jingle Cats – White Christmas

Report Says That the Rich Are Getting Richer Faster, Much Faster – New York Times

The increase in incomes of the top 1 percent of Americans from 2003 to 2005 exceeded the total income of the poorest 20 percent of Americans, data in a new report by the Congressional Budget Office shows.

The poorest fifth of households had total income of $383.4 billion in 2005, while just the increase in income for the top 1 percent came to $524.8 billion, a figure 37 percent higher.

Yes, you read that right. The increase in incomes of the top 1 percent of Americans over the two years from 2003 to 2005 exceeded the total income of the poorest 20 percent of Americans in 2005….

[much more at link]

Huckaboom to Huckabust? | Gerard Baker – Times Online

There’s a desultory quality to the way Republican voters are eyeing their options. A poll for The New York Times this week found that not a single one of the eight main candidates had favourable ratings above 50 per cent. The Republican field resembles a kind of faded carousel, where each gaudy horse gets a brief moment in the sun before rotating off into the shadows. First it was John McCain, then Mr Giuliani, then Mitt Romney, then Fred Thompson. Now it’s Mr Huckabee. Wait a few weeks and it could be Mr Romney again.

The particular problem for the new front-runner is this. Each candidate in succession has been propelled into the glare by a lack of enthusiasm for the others. But when the light shines harshly on his own candidacy, it shows up some of the rust and wear.