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RELATED LINKSInternal LinksGrants to:
Profiles:
MORE LINKSNew York Times NY Times profile of retiring William F. Buckley doesn't mention $3.1 million from John M. Olin FoundationLessons in mainstream media ignoring Conservative Philanthropy sponsorship of Societal Institutions, #563
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PERSON PROFILEWilliam F. BuckleyIn April 2000 Buckley spoke at a Republican "think tank" in Minneapolis, Minnesota (the Center of the American Experiement, ) where he spoke a number of gross exagerations about US tax policy and effects (information, by the way, apparently derived from other exaggerations of the same figures--from the movement-sponsored Tax Foundation). Here's a rebuttal letter that appeared in the Minneapolis Star Tribune (which incidentally had run two stories about the Buckley visit, neither of which tried in any way to corroborate his "facts"): Buckley's misfires Conservative writer William Buckley was in town last week, and the Star Tribune devoted two separate articles to his thoughts. The articles quoted two statistics from him. Unfortunately, he got them both wrong. Buckley said government in this country, at all levels combined, takes and spends 44 to 45 percent of every dollar earned. His source may be figures from the conservative Tax Foundation, which puts the figure at around 40 percent. However, others, ranging from Republican congressional analysts to the progressive Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, have challenged the accuracy of those figures, pinpointing flaws in the analysis. The consensus figure is the total federal, state and local tax take is under 30 percent. The second Buckley whopper was his claim that 95 percent of income taxes are paid by the wealthiest 10 percent of Americans. Not even close. According to the most recent study by the (Republican) Congressional Budget Office, the 10 percent of Americans with the highest incomes paid 58 percent of the personal income tax in 1999. The CBO report finds that group had 35 percent of the pretax income and paid 45 percent of total federal taxes, which also included Social Security taxes and excise taxes. As a recent Washington Post article noted, progressive improvements to the federal income tax have now produced the lowest federal income tax bite for most taxpayers in over 40 years, without impairing the ability of those with very high incomes to actually increase their share of either pre-or post-tax income or wealth. Until Buckley can employ a fact-checker, accuracy is available at: http://www.cbo.gov/reports.html. -- Wayne Cox, Edina; executive director, Minnesota Citizens for Tax Justice. Read a Letter To Mpls. Star Tribune in response to Eric Black's coverage of Buckley speech.
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MORE LINKSWilliam F. Buckley, Jr. It Didn’t WorkOne can't doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed...Our mission has failed because Iraqi animosities have proved uncontainable by an invading army of 130,000 Americans...Mr. Bush has a very difficult internal problem here because to make the kind of concession that is strategically appropriate requires a mitigation of policies he has several times affirmed in high-flown pronouncements...
Brad DeLong What did William F. Buckley know, and when did he know it?William F. Buckley Jr. writes: On January 5, 1973, Howard Hunt...came to see me...He told me the appalling, inside story of Watergate, including the riveting news that one of the plumbers was ready and disposed to kill Jack Anderson, the journalist-commentator, if word came down to proceed to that lurid extreme. I took what I thought appropriate measures...
The New Republic Liberal UseDid William F. Buckley rip off another writer? We report, you decide
Chris Weinkopf William F. Buckley Jr.A friend of one of the country's leading conservatives looks at WFB's career as a writer and editor, his public life and the time he spent as an undercover CIA agent.
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