Archive

Posts Tagged ‘Reason.tv’
March 7th, 2013 at 5:45 pm
Tax Bite Makes NFL’s Highest Paid Second in Net Income

Fresh off his Super Bowl win, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco signed a contract extension worth $120.6 million, making him the highest paid player in the National Football League.

But as Americans for Tax Reform points out, that’s just on paper.  After state and local taxes are factored in, Flacco actually makes less take home pay than the New Orleans Saints’ Drew Brees.

Reason TV ran a similar commentary when NBA star LeBron James left his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers to play for the Miami Heat.  Because Florida doesn’t have an income tax, some tax experts predicted that James could have a higher net income playing for the Heat even if the value of his contract was less than what he could make as a Cavalier.

While there’s no indication that professional athletes are making contract decisions based solely on a team’s state and local tax rates, it would certainly make sense in the long run.

After all, according to ATR’s analysis, after taxes Brees is projected to make $470,000 more every year than Flacco.  At $470,000 a year, that’s $2.82 million in extra taxes over the course of Flacco’s new contract.

With that kind of contribution to the city and state, Ravens fans should count any Super Bowl repeat as icing on the cake.

November 6th, 2010 at 4:10 pm
Reason TV Helps the Door Hit Keith Olbermann

The folks over at Reason.tv have a wicked sense of humor.  Their latest target is newly (and indefinitely) suspended pundit Keith Olbermann from MSNBC.  Apparently, all it took was $7,200 in near meaningless campaign donations to Democratic candidates to finally convince the network that Olbermann was too partisan to be on-air.

Here’s a sample of some his classic work:

September 25th, 2010 at 2:26 pm
Reduce Government? Grow Liberty? There’s An App For That.

The Prometheus Institute, an Irvine, CA-based think tank, is at the leading edge of using new media to make government more transparent, while spreading the good news about free markets.  Currently, the group’s signature initiative is the ‘Do-It-Yourself Democracy’ App.

The fruit of hundreds of hours of research, the DIY Democracy App allows users to instantly find the contact information for state and local officials, official forms for filing complaints, propose local initiatives, and research individual rights like freedom of speech and association.

Here’s an interview with the Institute’s founders from Reason.tv:

Prometheus is also gearing up to use the digital capabilities of the Apple I-Pad to promote free market classics like F.A. Hayek’s Road to Serfdom to a new generation of readers.  Not bad for a couple of guys trying to “pioneer innovative technology to advance liberty.”

July 30th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
What Does It Mean to be ‘Fair’?

If you’ve got less than 9 minutes to spare for the best YouTube video you’ll see this week, check out the newest contribution at Reason.tv.  Chapman University experimental economist Bart Wilson describes in fascinating detail how the concept of “fairness” has changed over time.  Per Reason’s description:

When lawmakers obscure the definition of this word, it may result in policy that is ineffective, arbitrary, and fundamentally unfair.