And, now banned :-{

Re(1): 'Brad DeLong', Wikipedia
Re(1): 'Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal', Brad DeLong
Re(2): 'Althouse.... The Stupidity Rays... Are Overwhelming...', Brad DeLong

Brad DeLong, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under President Clinton, banned me from his site. He worked for Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin - a person who I have deep respect for...

I got banned for commenting at the 'Althouse.... The Stupidity Rays... Are Overwhelming...' post. You can see my name burning in effigy throughout the comments.

I have asked Mr. DeLong to email me my comments stream. None of them were factually defeated by the commenters.

But I was told I was a troll - one who developed and wrote large, content driven, and primary sourced posts...

Here is a favorite response (part of a comment of mine italicized):

Boghie:

"What does this stat really mean? It means that to get ahead you have to take a
supervisory position. Your experience and skillset should progress to the point
that you should be able to attain a supervisory position."

When we're all--all 100% of us---suitably ensconced in supervisory positions, who will be the 'worker bees' whom we shall supervise?

Are you suggesting the reintroduction of slavery? Feudalism?

You are, aren't you? Not that we'd call it by those nasty names, naturally.

This is how you see the immigration problem, I presume. As a source of slaves and vassals.

How wonderfully fucking enlightened of you. Some of your rightwing buddies want to gas them, or at least shoot them on the barbed wire fence.

My comment dealt with a fact extrapolated from the starting and ending average wage for each President since LBJ - inflation adjusted to 2005 dollars. I would like to thank JLR for that information. Since Brad seems to be a happy hacker, here is the info:

Stunster-

The Bureau of Labor Statistics average hourly earning page does make for interesting reading. Just for fun I converted the average hourly earnings of all the available years for all private nonsupervisory positoins to 2005 dollars. Here are the numbers for the starting year and ending year of the presidents from 1964 on:

President(years) start/end (2005 dollars)

LBJ (1964/1968): 15.94/16.94
Nixon (1968/1974): 16.94/17.54
Ford (1974/1976): 17.54/17.36
Carter (1976/1980): 17.36/16.21
Reagan (1980/1988): 16.21/15.56
Bush I (1988/1992): 15.56/14.96
Clinton (1992/2000): 14.96/15.82
Bush II (2000/2005): 15.82/16.11

Here is an ordered list of these presidents with their fractional change per year of office

LBJ +1.6%
Clinton +0.72%
Nixon +0.59%
Bush II +0.37%
Reagan -0.50%
Ford -0.51%
Bush I -0.96%
Carter -1.66%

Not very scientific, but interesting to look at.
-JLR

Using JLR's inflation adjusted information I found that the average wage earners made (take home pay only reflects Federal taxes, not Social Security, Medicare, and State Tax):

Clinton:

Gross Income: $31,640
Taxable Income: 31,640 - 7,500 (Standard Deduction) = $24,140
Income Tax: $3,621
Annual Take Home: $28,019
Monthly Take Home: $2,335
Hourly Take Home: $14.01 off a gross salary of $15.82 per hour

Bush:

Gross Income: $32,220
Taxable Income: 31,640 - 10,000 (Standard Deduction) = $22,220
Income Tax: $2,578
Annual Take Home: $29,642
Monthly Take Home: $2,470
Hourly Take Home: $14.82 off a gross salary of $16.11 per hour

I simply asked this Stunster dude and his friend Anne (is that the PoliPundit troll of old) if they would rather have $29,642 take home pay or $28,019. It was an easy question. No tricks. I guess Brad did not like the fact that Bush gave this chap in the lowest income tax bracket an $0.81 per hour pay raise.

A hidden one, no doubt. And, one the President doesn't brag enough about.

But a pay raise no politico or company can take from him/her.

Love and Kisses Brad - kinda sad that the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury did not stoop low enough to contest these and other facts. I could have flaws in my computations, thinking, or general algorithm. A nice factual return by you or a top commenter would have been appreciated. That is something I get routinely at The Belmont Club and SecurityWatchTower. That is the least I could expect from a fine SESer such as yourself.

Enjoy the 'Fair, Balanced, and Reality-Based' community you created over there!!!